Computer systems, like point of sale systems, are well able to help businesses do and keep track of transactions, record sales, and automate the tedious manual tasks involved altogether. POS systems have been around for more than a decade, yet some business owners are still reluctant on getting one because they believe that it can’t help their business. Regardless, a POS system may or may not guarantee your business’ success as long as it’s considered as not very effective.
How does one gauge how effective a POS system is? Or rather, how does one design an effective POS system?
The following are design principles used to create an effective POS system. Software developers can use these as a guideline on creating the said system, while business owners can use these as a guideline on choosing the best POS system for their business.
1.) An effective POS system meets the business’ needs – Some POS systems are generic, or developed for businesses from all industries. There are some POS systems that are customized to cater to a particular business’ needs. An effective POS system, whether it’s generic or customized, should be able to meet the needs of the business. The needs of the business are determined by asking the following questions:
- What aspect of the business needs automation?
- Does the integrity of my business need protection?
- What does a business need to speed up manual processes?
2.) An effective POS system is secure – POS systems are usually built with both a CLIENT and SERVER. The clients are systems used by employees below managerial level to record transactions or input data. The data is then saved on the server. Client-side systems have limited functionality, since they are only allowed to input data into the server. In order to edit the data, one needs to access the server. This is one way of guaranteeing a POS system’s security. A POS system, which is not built on this topology nor have security features, is not worth looking at.
3.) An effective system lets you keep track of consumer behaviour – The strongest part of any POS system is it allows you keep track of your sales on a daily basis, which easily translates to a business owner’s capability of studying their consumers. For example, clothing stores and boutiques may have a lot of items sold on a daily basis, but there will always be a couple of items that get sold more than the others, and the POS system will be able to pinpoint which products are the strongest in a business’ display.
These are the principles that help gauge how effective a POS system is. Designers usually follow these principles to create a strong system which will be a powerful weapon for business owners.
