Understanding a POS System

POS or Point of Sale refers to the system that records financial transactions in stores and restaurants. It could either be an electric cash register or an integrated computer system that records the data pertaining to the sale of goods or services. A typical POS system consists of a cash drawer, receipt printer, monitor and input device. POS systems can be purchased as an entire unit or as individual components. Prices vary widely depending on the brand and technology. We have put together a guide explaining the different components of point of sale hardware.

* Computer: This is the main component of a POS system and it runs the software. It is advisable to use your POS computer exclusively for the purpose it is meant for - recording sales transactions, generating reports and managing inventory. Specifically, do not use your point of sale system for accessing the Internet.

* Monitors: Various kinds of monitors are available for purchase including touch screen, flat screen, flat panel, CRT, LCD, TFT and FPD. Most touch screen monitors have flat screens and are slim, sleek and lightweight.

* Receipt Printers: Receipt printers are used to print receipts/orders for customers. Many restaurants also use POS printers to send orders to their kitchen and bar staff. There are two kinds of printers available - dot matrix and thermal. The former use pins and an ink ribbon to print on regular paper and are cheaper to buy. Thermal printers use heat and special heat-sensitive paper to generate receipts, but can be more expensive.

* Barcode Scanners: Barcode Scanners are used to scan or read barcodes and send the results back to your POS computer. There are many options that you can choose from based on your average customer volume at checkout.

* Magnetic Stripe Readers: Magnetic Stripe Readers (MSR) are used to read credit/debit & charge cards. Keyboards and touch screens often have built-in readers. You can also buy a standalone magnetic stripe reader if your input device does not have one.

* Keyboards: There are different kinds of POS keyboards available in the market. Choose one that suits your needs.

* Cash drawers: Cash drawers are used to store cash, credit card slips, gift certificates, exchange receipts and other important paperwork.

* Customer displays: Customer displays are meant for showing item and price information to the buyer. They are also known as pole displays.

* Check readers: To prevent fraud, you can install magnetic ink character recognition (MICR) automatic check readers that can verify essential account information.

When choosing a POS system, it is advisable to look for one with software that can run on any type of PC. Buy the basic components of a POS system when you are starting your business. You can always add additional components as and when the need arises. Adding new hardware is generally easy but ensure that equipment you choose is compatible with your software.

Hi, I'm Akhil Shahani, a serial entrepreneur who wants to help you succeed. If you like to work smart, check out http://www.SmartEntrepreneur.net It's full of articles and resources to help you start and grow your business successfully. Please visit us & download our special "Freebie of The Month" at http://www.smartentrepreneur.net/freebie-of-the-month.html

Qs Point of Sale software is one of the best POS software systems. Using this POS software system you can process credit and gift cards, manage coupons and promotions, access sales data and reports in real time, communicate clearly and instantly between corporate operation and front line franchisee staff. It boasts the latest security features including employee authentication. It enhances speed and efficiency with features like Quick Order Entry, Credit Card Clearing, Pricing and Tax Management and Inventory Management.

How to Use Point of Sale Software to Catch People Stealing From Your Retail Business

Deciding whether or not to spend the money on a point of sale system is something that many small business owners contemplate. Will having a POS system really help their business function more effectively or will all of those additional features go unused? The idea of spending money and wasting features is often a deterrent. However, if more people understood how POS systems can be customized to fit your business's exact needs, the argument for investing in a point of sale system would be stronger.

Now is the time to learn more about POS systems and how they can make your business function on a higher and more effective level. The more you know, the more informed decision you can make for the betterment of your business.

Armed with the right point of sale system, your everyday transactions become more organized and streamlined. The industry you are in dictates the requirements that you need for your business. A POS system for a restaurant will calculate and relay very different information than a POS system designed for use by someone in the retail business.

Even though the bells and whistles are tailored differently, the basic premise is the same: A POS system calculates the point from which a sale is transacted. It works as a highly advanced cash register. So as an item is scanned through for purchase, you can get instant information on how many sales you've made so far throughout the day, how much of that product is left in stock, information on the customer's buying history and other such pertinent information.

If you want to keep a running tally of what needs to be reordered, then you could set up your software to do that. If you want to track your individual employees' sales statistics throughout the day, your POS can do that. If you want to analyze how many credit versus cash transactions you have on a weekly basis, again, your POS can help you make this easier.

The reason why point of sales systems are so important for small business owners is that they really help eliminate the "busy" work that can occur on the bookkeeping side of your business. Crunching the numbers, doing inventory checks and tracking your sales trends can all be done with a click of a button. You don't have to rely on hiring a bookkeeper, which will save you money in your employee budget. Plus, you lower your risk for inaccurate calculations that can negatively impact your weekly expenses when you have a customized software working for you.

Most POS systems offer employee training when the system is being set up so you and your staff are able to operate the system with ease. Additionally, you can sit down with your POS system provider and choose which features you want to have available and they can suggest features that work for your industry that you may have not even been aware of.

Your productivity can sky rocket with the right point of sale system tailored for your company.

Qs Point of Sale software is one of the best POS software systems. Using this POS software system you can process credit and gift cards, manage coupons and promotions, access sales data and reports in real time, communicate clearly and instantly between corporate operation and front line franchisee staff. It boasts the latest security features including employee authentication. It enhances speed and efficiency with features like Quick Order Entry, Credit Card Clearing, Pricing and Tax Management and Inventory Management.

How to Use Point of Sale Software to Catch People Stealing From Your Retail Business

Cutting employee theft and customer theft in your retail business starts with commitment from the business owners and managers to this goal.

Too often, retailers accept that a certain level of theft will occur and think that it is not as bad in their store as it is in others.

Here are three steps for cutting the cost of theft in any retail business.

Step one: understand the problem.

The first step to dealing with theft, by employees or customers, is to understand the value of theft.

You can understand the value of most customer theft by undertaking either a full business stock take or spot stock takes. The stock your Point of Sale system thinks should be on hand compared to what is on hand reflects the value of stock theft, usually by customers. Good POS software offers stock take facilities designed to track theft.

Understanding the value of employee theft is more difficult since it can involve cash not even put through the computer system.

Step two: get serious about business processes.

Theft occurs usually because of weak business processes. Strengthen a few of your business processes and you dramatically cut the cost of theft.

Sales. Have every sale tracked by an employee code. This brings discipline to the sales process.

Refunds. Only allow a manager to do these.

Deleting sales. Ensure that only the most senior people in the retail business have permission through the POS software to do this.

Discounting. Setup rules in your POS software on the volume of discounting which is permitted.

Cash balancing. Establish rules for end of shift cash balancing. Make all sales employees accountable to a zero tolerance target.

Use security reporting tools. Good POS software will take you behind the scenes in the business and report on concerning behaviour such as selling items below cost, cancelling sales, deleting sales or adjusting customer account balances. These are all indicators of employee fraud.

Step three: act on evidence.

Thanks to reporting from your Point of sale software you ought to gain a good understanding of the scope of theft in your retail business. Embrace this information for the benefit of the business and all who rely on it, make decisions.

If stock is being stolen off the shop floor, understand which stock is affected and either increase security or move the stock to a better location. The more likely someone stealing feels they could be caught the lower the chance they will actually steal from the business.

If employees are taking even small amounts of cash from the business, act immediately within the law to protect the business. This removes the problem from the business and it sends a message to others in the business that you will act on evidence of theft.

Use your Point of Sale software to its fullest to help cut the cost of theft in your business. Imagine how much better off the business would be with an additional three percentage points of net profit. That is your motivator - a healthier profit for the business and therefore a more sustainable business.

Cutting employee and customer theft can be achieved. Us your Point of Sale system to understand the problem and then help manage it.

Tower Systems offers excellent theft management tools to retailers. Visit http://www.towersystems.com.au/theft-management/ for more information on this and their Point of Sale software.

Qs Point of Sale software is one of the best POS software systems. Using this POS software system you can process credit and gift cards, manage coupons and promotions, access sales data and reports in real time, communicate clearly and instantly between corporate operation and front line franchisee staff. It boasts the latest security features including employee authentication. It enhances speed and efficiency with features like Quick Order Entry, Credit Card Clearing, Pricing and Tax Management and Inventory Management.

7 Ways to Increase Profit Margins With Point of Sale Software

How would you like to use point of sale software to increase profit margins by up to 5%? Most businesses would leap at the opportunity of increasing margins by this amount, but by using your software properly you may be able to do just that.

By carefully classifying details of your sales and keeping track of all the costs involved, point of sale software can become the most vital tool in the day to day operation of your small business. The economy of scale that large businesses have been able to utilise in the past is now available to any business for a relatively small investment.

This means that small businesses can now compete with their larger rivals on a much more even footing by utilising the same information to massage their pricing and cost control measures.

Let's look at some of the methods you can use to ensure you are using your point of sale software to the greatest advantage.

Always ensure that the minute details of your pricing information are entered into your data descriptions. This means that you will be able to analyse every sale from every position in your store enabling you to track individual staff performances and even the location effectiveness of your individual checkout points.

Analysing sales results regularly during the day will allow you to implement a re-pricing strategy the instant it becomes necessary. You can print price tags instantly and have them replaced across the store to give immediate effect to a price strategy change.

Set your pricing accurately and strictly within your system and advise staff that negotiations at point of sale are not possible.

Make sure that any discounts you offer are calculated by the software and not by staff at the checkout. This reduces calculation errors and enables the speed of sale to continue at optimum levels.

If you have a large inventory you can request your suppliers to provide you with their product details and pricing in electronic format so that you can integrate that with your point of sale system. This allows you to change prices electronically store wide without having to individually reprice every item.

You can maintain your profit margin by automatically setting up your software to calculate price by percentage profit margin rather than by adding dollar amounts. Gross profit margin is one of the most sensitive aspects of business planning and by electronically controlling your pricing structure in this way you can ensure that your profit targets are reached.

Test individual price points with every item on a regular basis and use the information generated to work out the optimum price point. By doing this continuously over a period of time the data you collect will be priceless in maintaining your profit.

By implementing some or all of the above strategies you can quickly turn your business into a sharp edged pricing machine. Your POS software system will allow you to not only maximise your profits are all so make quick decisions and implement them in an instant.

Neotechnology Business Systems is a boutique software developer of new and emerging technologies. Our business software is created with the end user in mind, born from consultation with businesses covering all the industries we service. It is designed to be used by business professionals, not IT gurus, and achieve quality business results. For more information or to view our products, visit POS.

Qs Point of Sale software is one of the best POS software systems. Using this POS software system you can process credit and gift cards, manage coupons and promotions, access sales data and reports in real time, communicate clearly and instantly between corporate operation and front line franchisee staff. It boasts the latest security features including employee authentication. It enhances speed and efficiency with features like Quick Order Entry, Credit Card Clearing, Pricing and Tax Management and Inventory Management.

Choosing DOS POS Software

Although DOS software has been out of date for some time, there are still many companies who choose to employ its use, due to its simplicity. It is simple and quick to install, and it only requires a keyboard for interaction. Its simplicity makes it an ideal tool to train new employees on. Additionally, POS software packages for DOS tend to be relatively inexpensive. They will generally cost between $300.00 and $3,000.00. Furthermore, because the DOS operating system does not utilize Microsoft Windows, it is much less susceptible to being infected by viruses or worms. Although, it should be noted that numerous business owners tend to use Windows to run a Legacy setup, which allows them to run multiple DOS tasks at once.

When a business owner is considering using DOS as their primary software platform, the individual should, essentially, draw up a "wish list" of the functions that they need their DOS POS software to perform. This list will assist them in the research and the decision phase of their software purchasing process. It is important for an individual to realize that because the last DOS operating system upgrade came out in 1994, this operation system is rather antiquated. Therefore, the platform may limit the number of functions that the POS software can perform. Although there are a wide variety of generic DOS POS software packages available, it is going to be more cost and time efficient for a company to choose a DOS POS package that is specifically applicable to their industry.

The size of an individual's company is also going to affect the DOS POS software package that they choose. A business owner can determine what "tier" their company falls into by the number of employees that they hire and the amount of annual sales that they company performs. A company's tier will serve as a guideline to eliminate all of the DOS POS software packages that will not be beneficial to them. An individual should also be aware that software that is run on a DOS platform can often be more susceptible to file corruption, because it does utilize less reliable server networks. There are both benefits and drawbacks to choosing DOS POS software; however, an individual will have to weigh the risks and benefits to determine if it is right for their company.

Hey there! A reliable POS system can totally change the way you do business, the fact that you are reading this tells me that you are considering the investment. Join me on my website today and allow me to guide you through the process as I share tips, tricks and things to avoid when choosing the best retail POS system.

http://www.BestPointOfSaleSystem.com

Thank You For Visiting!

Qs Point of Sale software is one of the best POS software systems. Using this POS software system you can process credit and gift cards, manage coupons and promotions, access sales data and reports in real time, communicate clearly and instantly between corporate operation and front line franchisee staff. It boasts the latest security features including employee authentication. It enhances speed and efficiency with features like Quick Order Entry, Credit Card Clearing, Pricing and Tax Management and Inventory Management.

Why Using Web Based POS Systems is a Smart Move

Customers have grown to have very high expectations when it comes to retail customer service, and one way in which retailers can provide high quality service, is to have a retail POS systems that are efficient and easy to use.

These days, state of the art POS software systems tend to be web based allowing retail companies to keep all of their outlets up to date, in real time. The ability to keep track of current stock levels, and put in place automatic ordering systems is a very valuable tool for business owners to have, and the ease in which their staff can use these systems can help maintain profit levels when it comes to incorrect stock ordering due to human error.

A simple, easy to use, efficient POS system can make all the difference for the customer at the checkout. A customer feels better looked after and happier with the level of customer service they have received, if they are not left standing in long queues, or waiting at the till for ages while staff work out how to process their sale.

A major factor in the success of any business is efficiency, not only in staff but in the computer systems the company uses to function. An important investment for any retailer would be a multi-functional and reliable POS software system. Many retail POS systems can be used across multiple outlets within a company, as successfully as in a standalone store. Web based systems allow all stores to keep track not only of their own stock, but the stock levels or other branches and the main warehouse too. When a customer is able to obtain the information about an out of stock product they require - which other stores have the item, and if none do, how quickly can one be ordered - they are more likely to decide to order and purchase the item if they get the information there and then. Good customer service is key. However even if you have the best staff you could hope for, if they can't get the information the customer needs, or are unable or unwilling to organise an order for a customer because the system is too complicated or not even in place, then you lose your sale and therefore lose profit.

Online or web based POS software systems are the smartest way to do business in the retail world in Australia today. There are several options out there - some software programs offer more possibilities than others, so take the time to research the options available to you, and make sure you get the system that meets the needs of your company.

Competition in any retail operation is strong in today's market, with many operators vying for the customer dollar, so make a smart move and invest in a web based system now.

Roger is an expert in POS Systems and POS Software development. Find out more about Retail Express POS Software> site: http://www.retailexpress.com.au

Qs Point of Sale software is one of the best POS software systems. Using this POS software system you can process credit and gift cards, manage coupons and promotions, access sales data and reports in real time, communicate clearly and instantly between corporate operation and front line franchisee staff. It boasts the latest security features including employee authentication. It enhances speed and efficiency with features like Quick Order Entry, Credit Card Clearing, Pricing and Tax Management and Inventory Management.