Retail Point of Sale Systems

Point of sale systems are very important commodities to have to successfully run a business in which sales are your specialty. This is especially true for businesses that specialize in retail. The success of this type of business relies heavily on making sure you have an accurate count of your inventory, recording which products are the ones that see the most within your business, and which ones do not sell. Being able to make credit card transactions is also an important part of being able to stay in business as a retail store.

Inventory

Knowing which products in retail stores sells and the products which do not sell is an important knowledge to have when running this type of business. This is important because a business owner will not want to order more of the items that his customers are not buying. At the same time, the items that are really popular with your customers need to be identified so that you will be able to carry more of them in your store.

The point of sale system will help you do this by keeping track of your inventory and recording every sale you make. It will then tell you which products you will need to order and which ones are just taking up shelf space in your store. The key to running a successful business is efficiency. You will be able to accomplish this by implementing a point of sale system.

Credit Card Transactions

Being able to accept credit cards as a way of payment in a retail store is another important part of being able to stay in business. Studies have shown that businesses that do not accept credit cards have about 60 percent less business than those that have the capability of processing credit card transactions. For new and small business owners you cannot afford to lose customers due to your inability to accept credit cards. With a point of sale system you will be able to process those types of transactions, and in the process gain more customers.

Point Of Sale Systems provides detailed information on Point Of Sale Systems, Restaurant Point Of Sale Systems, Affordable Point Of Sale Systems, Retail Point Of Sale Systems and more. Point Of Sale Systems is affiliated with Point Of Sale Hardware

The Problem With Technology At The Point Of Sale In Financial Services

Background

There’s a conundrum that currently exists between the customer and the seller in financial services. The customer buys and the seller sells. The customer is focused on their wants as much as needs, and whilst the seller often says they are focused on the customer’s needs, all too often the focus is on products and profit. Indeed a wider examination of the decline in customer service might also do well to address the issue of remuneration systems which reward sales but not customer service. This latter practice merely confirms the customer’s suspicion that the seller has more to gain from any advice or transaction than the buyer. Included in the mix is regulation. Regulation was meant to assist and protect the consumer. Instead, we have witnessed a massive exodus from providing advice whilst compliance costs rocket skywards. The continuation of bad press on sales practices; fines of major firms; and the inability of the industry to speak with one voice leads many to believe that protection for the consumer is a by-product not an aim. In addition the customer is now faced with an overloading of the sales or customer relationship process with paper, which include endless questions to complete even the simplest transaction and massive fact finds covering every conceivable piece of information imaginable. Rather than act as a comfort to customers these processes have merely heightened their suspicions. Yet insofar as technology is concerned, whilst the customer trusts the technology, they do not trust the person operating the technology.

Point of Sale systems

In this scenario it is hardly surprising that Point of Sale systems continually fail to pay back the investment. In most cases it’s not that the system doesn’t work, it’s just that working the system requires different skill-sets and a realisation that the customer is wary of being asked questions. These are behavioural issues and yet whilst Point of Sale systems by design are based upon a customer’s past buying behaviours and potential future buying propensity they tend to lack an appreciation of:

a) The reluctance of the seller to use technology at the point of sale

b) The physical environment in which customer interactions take place

c) The amount of time it takes to learn to operate new technology with confidence in front of a customer

Reluctance of sellers to use technology at the point of sale

Many experienced and qualified advisers now rely heavily on technology. This explosion of the use of technology has led all software and hardware suppliers and IT departments to believe that the future is bright, the future is technology. In the rush to design and implement systems however, some basics have been overlooked:

a) Sellers are as opposed to sales processes as are customers

b) Introducing technology at the point of sale involves a significant change of behaviour on the part of the seller

c) Sellers experience great difficultly in changing their behaviour

d) Most sellers in the type of financial services organisations that can afford to buy Point of Sale systems are junior front-line staff with the consequence that

- their feedback on the reality of using these systems in front of customers is often ignored

- where they provide feedback it is often guarded

- pilot launches are always used with ‘champions’ who provide a minute insight into the difficulties which will be faced when launching the system to a wider audience. In addition many of the results of pilots are widely exaggerated in order to bolster the confidence of those who have already embarked upon considerable expenditure and of those who will continue to be used as champions

e) The ability of sellers to convince managers that the system is being used when it is not (this in itself is one of the main reasons for Point of Sale systems not realising any return on investment)

f) The ability of sellers to convince managers that customers do not like the new system whereas the opposite is almost always the case. What customers do not like is the behaviour they experience from the seller. Clearly if the seller is reluctant to use the system they will adopt a less than enthusiastic set of behaviours in front of the customer

g) The ability of sellers to convince managers that changes should be made to the system in order to make the customer feel more comfortable

The physical environment

Most Point of Sale systems are information hungry and therefore the programme requires the seller to either input or to read a significant amount of data. This results in the seller and customer seating positions being such that almost always exclude the customer from seeing what is going on. The customer becomes wary. The seller senses the discomfort of the seller and reacts accordingly. The customer senses the discomfort of the seller – and so the cycle continues.

Time to learn

In all cases, the time estimated and used to teach sellers the new system is inadequate. By the time sellers return to the workplace most will have forgotten 90% of the details of the system. This then requires them to teach themselves how the system works during lulls in normal customer interactions. This fragmentation of learning takes place without reinforcement or feedback and certainly without the practice of using the system in front of a customer. Within a very short time-scale sellers have taught themselves to use the system without the customer being present. When the opportunity then presents itself to use the system live with a customer the leap from theory to practice is too daunting and therefore delayed until the seller feels more confident. This simply never happens.

The solution

In an environment where the cost of Point of Sale is significant the solution is simple but unpalatable – it requires more time and resource.

DESIGN OF THE CUSTOMER INTERFACE

The system has to be designed with the customer in mind not the seller. The customer has to see what is happening and in this way can be encouraged to take part in the exploration of their needs and wants

DESIGN OF THE TRAINING

The first step for sellers is the need to convince them that the system will work in front of a customer. They have to be shown how it will work. The second step is to convince the user how much effort is required to learn how to use the system in front of a customer. The third step is to provide sufficient time and to ensure that the design of the training balances technical knowledge with physical selling skills

FIELD IMPLEMENTATION

The most critical aspect of field implementing is often overlooked – the involvement of the line manager. The manager must act as a coach which means they have to be trained to use the system – but do not need to become experts. They need to experience the learning. In this way they will be able to gauge when sellers are resisting because of learning difficulties or emotional difficulties. They need to taught how to recognise the difference and how to behave accordingly. Coaches need to be taught how to transfer training to the field and the crucial element – how to improve performance. The whole point of Point of Sale is to improve performance.

Frank Salisbury is a motivational an inspiring business coach and trainer. He has designed and delivered a range of personal development programmes for individuals and organisations aimed at helping people achieve their potential. He has spoken at numerous conferences and seminars where his style has received acclaim from those who hear him speak with a passion for life and achievement.

In 2006 Frank was elected a Lifetime Honorary Fellow of the Sales Institute of Ireland. He is also a Fellow of the Institute of Commercial Management; a member of the Institute of Leadership & Development; a member of the Association for Coaching, and a Council Member of the Gerson Lehrman Group Business Services Council.

http://www.btsolutions.ie

Building a Restaurant Point of Sales Software Application

Five years ago I began searching for an easy way to track my customers, my accounts receivable, and all the other aspects of my business. I wanted to be able to share this information and access it from anywhere on a wide variety of systems. The end result was the HotPotato Restaurant Point of Sale.

My search ended with me designing and developing my own modular Point of Sale. I spent a great deal of time considering the coding technology I would use. In the end I was swayed to develop my application in visual basic with an HTML front end. Using HTML to design the user interface gave me a very simple way to use the application on a wide variety of platforms. The server may need to be Windows based system, but client machines can be any platform. Pocket PC development became a snap and Linux becomes a viable operating system for any client machines.

At first I thought this development angle might pose problems. But after using the system I can say nothing but positives about it. A web server based application defeats all the problems associated with client installation, multi-location support and ability to access from anywhere.

HotPotato can be installed either locally or on a web server, this gives it the advantage of being on a closed network or accessed off-site. Multi-location support and reporting abilities were some of the features I added first.

Over the last five years I've seen HotPotato go through a wonderful evolution that has produced it's most current version. It is easy to install and so simple to deploy that I?m embarrassed to brag about it. Truths when I say the features developed into the application are cutting edge and developed with the latest software methodologies. A great amount of time went into considering the platform for its development. There was a lot of worry that the business community wasn?t ready for a distributed web server based application. However current trends from larger software companies confirm this is not only a viable option but also how future software applications will be developed.

Being able to easily deploy, support and update thousands of systems with one install and being able to back, manage and analyze their data is the kind of power people once dreamed of. Those powers and abilities are now here in viable applications.

Restaurants are one business that can truly take advantage of using hand held PCs for order placement. The cost savings and profit increase are too obvious to ignore. Developing a system that was easy to install, deploy and maintain I looked to lead of large companies and have been more than satisfied with the results. A true multi-platform application that speeds the order process and refines the work flow to allow for better staffing, a better customer experience and a high profit.

Managing inventory was simplified by associating menu items with one or multiple inventory items supplied by specific vendors. This creates a recipe for the menu item and an accurate accounting of the inventory. By setting minimum stock number and restocking levels a restaurant can maximize their revenue by creating accurate orders that reflect the sales patterns the software reveals.

Customer management tools, delivery management, waiting lists and a wide range of catering features were all developed to round off the software. Centralizing the most common tasks and providing information on time management and sales records gives the restaurant the ability to make strategic decisions regarding their business. No piece of software is perfect and they all require good user feedback to refine them. Developing several Point of Sale Software applications has taught me just how special each business is and just how much power their software can give them.

Retail Point Of Sale

There are a number of channels of distribution available to the producer, which may be employed by him to bring his products to the market. Consumer goods may be distributed generally through channels, in each of which the manufacturers may use the sales branch or sales office as the additional alternative. One of the channels used is Producer-Consumer, where no middleman is involved. Sales are made from house to house or by direct mail. A second channel is Producer-Retailer-Consumer, by which goods may be purchased directly from manufacturers. Retail stores may also be opened by manufacturers by this channel. A third channel is Producer-Wholesaler-Retailer-Consumer, which is the traditional and most economical channel. Penultimately, there is Producer-Agent-Retailer-Consumer, in which many producers use manufacturing agents, brokers, etc. for reaching the retail market. Finally, there is Producer-Agent-Wholesaler-Retailer-Consumer, where the services of agents are utilized by the smaller retailers, who purchase from a wholesaler and sell to small stores.

A large number of channels of distribution are available to the manufacturer for bringing his product to the ultimate consumer. Efficient distribution at the least cost and attaining the desired volume of sale can be secured only after experience, study and analysis. The notice of the product, its unit value, its technical features, and its degree of differentiation from competitive products are the factors which may limit the number of potential channel alternatives.

A retailer, as the name indicates, does retailing, which is to say he sells to ultimate consumers. In the distributional hierarchy, retailers are below the level of stockists, distributors, and wholesalers. Sometimes, retailers are termed dealers or authorized representatives. The retailer often operates in a smaller territory or at his specific location; earns lesser commission compared to higher levels in the channel; he does not carry out stock holding and sub-distribution functions.

A stockist or distributor or wholesaler is also a large sized operator but not on par with the marketer or sole selling agent in level, size and territory of operation. Stock holding and sub-distribution, as per the policies laid down by the manufacturers or the marketers, are the main functions of stockists/distributors.


Point Of Sale provides detailed information on point of sale, point of sale displays, point of sale hardware, point of sale marketing and more. Point Of Sale is affliated with Affordable Point Of Sale Systems

Point Of Sale

Point of Sale can be defined as the physical location at which goods are sold to customers. In a specific sense, sales promotion includes those sales activities that supplement both personal selling and advertising and coordinate them and help to make them effective, such as displays, shows and expositions, demonstrations and other non-recurrent selling efforts not in the ordinary routine.

Point of Sale can also be termed as a retail shop, a checkout counter in a shop, or a variable location where a transaction occurs. When a firm has a payable or receivable denominated in a foreign currency, a change in the exchange rate will alter the amount of local currency received or paid. Such a risk or exposure is referred to as transaction exposure.

Cash is the most liquid asset. It is of vital importance to the daily operations of business firms. While the proportion of corporate assets held in the form of cash is very small, often between 1 per cent and 3 per cent, its efficient management is crucial to the solvency of the business because in a very important sense cash is the focal point of fund flows in a business. In view of its importance, it is generally referred to as the ?life blood of a business enterprise?.

Why does a firm need cash? There are two primary reasons for a firm to hold cash: firstly to meet the needs of day-to-day transactions and secondly to protect the firm against uncertainties characterizing its cash flows. It is obvious that cash serves necessary functions. Nevertheless, cash is an idle resource. Holding too much cash forfeits alternative investment opportunities. Therefore, the financial manager should carefully control all cash.



Point Of Sale provides detailed information on point of sale, point of sale displays, point of sale hardware, point of sale marketing and more. Point Of Sale is affliated with Affordable Point Of Sale Systems.

Free POS Software Review

 

With free point of sale software you can save hundreds to thousands of dollars by avoiding the purchase of expensive new software/hardware systems. All you need is a PC based or linked cash register/drawer system. There is no reason for the equipment to even be new. Many of the free POS software programs can be used with scanners, will track sales by item, cashier and much more! If you have a small business and are tired of dealing with refunds, credits, and sales reporting by hand then make the leap to the POS software age.

The following free POS software products may be compatible with your current system or with new or used equipment that you obtain. (Verify compatibility before purchasing any new hardware or trying to install this software on an existing system.)

Cash Register

Yes that is actually the name of this point of sale cash register program. A simple name for a complete software product. This free POS software can perform all of the common register functions, track up to 13,000 SKU's, monitor sales of up to 56 employees, and handle daily sales reporting. This program is DOS based so it will run on DOS or Windows based systems. There sometimes is an issue with DOS based programs with Windows XP.

POSGreen Lite

This free POS software is based on the same Fieldpine engine used in their premier versions, but available free without any time restrictions. There are some limitations such as the number of products tracked and no network support (single lane).

PetraLite

This Lite version of PetraSell™ has true Point of Sale depth and is not time limited. It is however restricted to single user mode.

FreePOS Version 4.95E

POS freeware specifically created for restaurant use.

Retail ICE

Not downloadable and has a $20.00 materials and shipping fee (in U.S.). But worth a look.

For more information about the top free point of sale software available including download links visit http://allfreebiesoftware.com/point-of-sale-software today. The home page http://allfreebiesoftware.com will also help you find the best free photo software, free CD burning software, free accounting software and much more!

The author Dave Jacobs has a marketing based MBA and has worked with computers ever since he purchased his first computer, a Commodore 64 in the early 80's.