What is POS

POS is an acronym that has always drawn a few laughs because of the various meanings. POS or point of sale systems have changed our society as a whole for the better. They have changed the way we do retail from speeding up check out to facilitating gift card to the most important improvement of accepting credit cards. All of these areas have improved the efficiency of retail and the economy.


POS is an acronym that has always drawn a few laughs because of the various meanings. POS or point of sale systems have changed our society as a whole for the better. They have changed the way we do retail from speeding up check out to facilitating gift card to the most important improvement of accepting credit cards. All of these areas have improved the efficiency of retail and the economy.

Increase Speed

Technologies such as the POS scanner and touch screen cash registers have significantly sped up the checkout time at retail stores. However, retail stores are not the only place that this technology has helped. POS systems have helped in service industries such as restaurants. POS restaurant systems help facilitate taking orders, fulfilling orders and payment processing. They have helped speed up the whole process of serving a customer.

Improved Efficiency

The ultimate goal of a POS system is to improve efficiency. They have helped improve efficiency in a number of ways. First they have reduced the human error factor by taking care of the math. Instead of have to total the price of the products and then calculate the tax by hand, modern POS terminals allow the cashier to simply scan the item’s bar code and it will keep a running total and automatically calculate tax and other charges and sales prices. Secondly POS devices have made tracking expenses, inventory and revenue easier. POS systems will track the inventory as it is sold giving the owner a much better idea of what inventory is in the store and exactly what the dollar amount is that the store has sold at any one time.

Accept Credit Cards

The ability to accept credit cards has probably been one of the biggest advances in POS technology. Not only has the ability to accept credit cards reduced the average transaction time thus reducing the load at the POS terminal, they have also made the payment more reliable. Before if someone bounced a check the store was never sure if they would receive the money, however with the advent of credit cards businesses are assured payment for their goods sold.

POS systems have changed the way retail is done for the better. They improved the customer experience by speeding the check out process up. They have reduced human error by managing the information and they have made payment processing quicker and easier than ever. As time passes there will be new innovations that come about that will continue to change retail.