Every time a person buys something, they are completing a transaction at a point of sale. This is the point when a sale is considered to be officially completed. It’s at this point where a digital receipt is created and the customer carts away the items or the shipping process commences. Today, POS systems are digital, and mostly connected to web-based resources. That means that an owner or manager of a business that sells online can know what is happening no matter your location.
How POS Systems work
With POS, both hardware and software are used to complete a variety of financial transactions. It syncs your inventory, sales, and payments and more automatically no matter if you are selling online or to customers who walk into your store to make their purchases. The hardware components consist of the cash register, barcode scanner, cash drawer, receipt printer, and POS terminals for iPad, mobile, monitor, and others.
The POS software is what is installed in the hardware that is available and together forms a powerful tool that runs your everyday business activities with lots of efficiency. It also helps to save you time, while providing you with some valuable insights to understand customer behavior and more.
Key Features to Check When Buying a POS System
There are many kinds of POS systems that are available out there and not all of them have the features that you need to complete your transactions. Here are 4 key features that you should look at when getting the best Point of sale system for your business.
1. Payment processing
Payment processing is the main function of a point of sale, and every time someone buys a product, that transaction is recorded in POS. There are diverse kinds of payment solutions that a point of sale system may accept, and may include cash, credit cards, chip cards, and a variety of contactless payments such as Apple pay and Google pay. Make sure that you have a POS system that supports the best and cost-effective online payment gateway such as SecurePay. These days, the number of businesses that are using SecurePay, which is a product of Post Australia, is growing quite fast. With more than 90,000 users, this all-in-one payment solution is making it quite easy for vendors to receive payments in Australia.
2. Data Entry
The best POS system should make it a little easier to key in product and customer data. It’s possible to import your data en masse, but if there is a need to enter manually, such as customer details, the POS system should make it easy for you to do that.
3. Inventory management
The best POS system should be able to help you manage your inventory across the diverse sales channels that you use. You should be able to scan your products and count them digitally.
4. Sales reporting
This should give you the reports about how much you are selling, and the amount that you are making from those sales.