The Uses of Retail Point of Sale Software

Retail point of sale software is used at the checkout greatly increase order efficiency and decreased
where a transaction occurs. It in itself is an electron service time.
cash register. This is the same system that can be The hardware that is needed for point of sale
used for vouchers and receipts. The very first generally uses a credit card reader, receipt printer,
software of its kind was developed by IBM in 1973 but cash drawer, barcode scanner and pin pad that has a
it had very limited functions and was first used in card swipe. All of these external hardware pieces use
Dillards Department stores and Pathmark. USB connection. Some of the top software systems
The next technology advancement came in 1979 currently used in the US include Radiant/Aloha,
when it was possible to take a customers orders at MICROS, Citadel POS and internally developed point of
the front of the house and then have all the sale software.
preparation details printed out in the kitchen. This No matter what software you choose the initial set up
included food cost and labour reports. However the can be a bit of a pain, particularly if you are using older
latest software came about with the development of equipment. Most software offers a lot of mix and
Unix and Windows platforms. match features so you can start with the basics and
These modern systems were designed to be low as your company grows add on. Web based solutions
cost, reliable, have a consistent and high operating are popular because you do not have to deal with in
speed, rich functionality, easy to use and have remote store setup by access the software from any
support. There are also many web based point of sale computer. This is perfect for those with more than one
software in which an internet connection is needed. retail location.
These are very low cost software compared to You also can look into using software that is both for
those used by stores. in store purchases and online purchases. There is also
The point of sale software will differ depending on the the option of using a hand held terminal in the store
industry which is being used. The medical industry which then transmits back to a base station which
requires more than just registers in their software but works great in the food industry. There is a lot of
also peripheral equipment, computer networks and automation and you can get software that prints out
more. Point of sales is used heavily in the restaurant purchase orders when specific products begin to be
industry as the registers use touch screens and have low.

Source: http://id.berita.yahoo.com/teknologi/