POS stands for “point of sale” and is generally used to describe the computer used to pay customers. It used to be that these machines were simply cash registers that sorted sales and provided a secure place to store the cash, checks, or charge slips that your sales generated. These days, like most things that run on a computer system, they do much more than that.
inventory control
One of the biggest advantages modern POS systems provide is the help they can offer you by tracking your inventory levels. No matter the size of your business, keeping track of items coming in and out of your store’s inventory is an important part of running an efficient business.
Knowing exactly what items are selling and in what quantities makes reordering much easier. Instead of guessing what items you’ll need in the future, which can lead to excess inventory and lost profits, you can only order what you really need. Inventory tracking can also let you know what items may be coming off your shelves without paying. Theft costs retailers large amounts of money each year and knowing which items are stolen will allow you to take action to stop theft.
Modern POS systems provide an easy way to keep track of your inventory under control. By linking them to your store’s inventory system, they can provide you with instant data on what’s selling. Each item has an individual barcode. When the POS system scans it, information about that item is automatically entered into your inventory control system.
Payment Methods
Another advantage of today’s POS systems is that they will allow your business to efficiently process many types of payment. It used to be that smaller businesses couldn’t easily process credit card and check payments. This meant that the business either chose not to accept those forms of payment or accepted them knowing there was a chance they would never get paid as accounts were difficult to verify.
Now systems that process checks and credit cards are an integral part of many POS systems. When a credit card is scanned, not only is the account information taken, it is verified. If the account has been compromised in any way, the card is declined. This prevents your business and possibly the person whose account was compromised from suffering a loss.
The same thing happened when you run a check through the scanner. Although not all systems can verify that the account has enough balance to cover the check, they can at least verify that the account exists and is currently in good standing. While this won’t protect you from bounced checks, it does prevent you from accepting bad checks.
Like so many other technology-based items, the quantity and quality of services your POS system offers you has grown by leaps and bounds over the last few decades. If the system you are using is more than ten years old, there can be many benefits to your business if you upgrade your POS system.
