Point of Sale System – What It Is and How It Works

Posted by : Admin / On : 11-09-2021 /

In our life, we often come across POS systems at some points. Whether we are at a departmental shop, general store, salon, spa, or any commercial setup, we get a bill for the products/services we purchase. The bill is generated by one of such machines installed there.

Have you ever tried to know what it is and how this system works? For some of you say, No. Let’s discuss what a point of sale system is and how it works –

What is a POS system?

Point of sale or POS is also acknowledged as Point of Purchase. It is a type of IT tool installed into a computer to generate bills and accept payments for the purchased products or availed services at commercial establishments. These establishments could be departmental stores, salons/spas, restaurants, etc. You can take it as the endpoint of a purchase process.

Key components

Each POS system has components as software and hardware. You need to comprehend both before you move ahead to know a POS system. Here is the brief introduction of both software and hardware:

  1. Software – In the current world, POS tool has two categories – frontend or backend. The frontend interface (which is a touch screen, monitor, or tablet screen) does transactions while the backend does management functions and analytics.
  2. Hardware – Businesses, in today’s world, have different needs. For example, a retail store may require a scanner while a restaurant might not need it. The most common components of point of sale hardware are cash drawer, interface, barcode scanner, receipt printer, network devices, and card swapping machine.

How it works

In general, POS software Dubai follows the following steps to complete a transaction at a commercial setup:

  1. The attached scanner scans a product to know its selling price by going through the inventory
  2. After the sale, it marks/shows the item as sold
  3. The system calculates the total and final price (MRPs, taxes, discounts, etc.) to be paid
  4. It sends the information to the customer relations management systems
  5. It transacts the final amount from buyers’ credit cards, debit cards, cash, or checks
  6. And at the end, it prints a sales receipt

Conclusion

A point of sale system is a very useful tool for businesses in the contemporary world. It enables a business owner to produce an error-free receipt for the purchased products/services, accept payments for the same, and manage his/her business operation smoothly.