Guide to Selecting Point of Sale (POS) Systems and Software

There are many things to consider when purchasing a Point of Sale system. You are investing your money to satisfy a need in your operation and some preplanning ahead of time can ensure you purchase system that not only automates your business for today, but will change with needs of your business in the future.

Vendor selection

Perhaps the most critical step in selecting your POS system, is first finding a reliable POS vendor. Regardless of the products you ultimately choose, most customers find themselves in a long term relationship with their POS vendor. Careful selection of the vendor in the beginning will ensure long term satisfaction with your product for now and the future.

Most successful POS systems on the market today are quite similar in features and priced very close and must remain so to be competitive. Where the important consideration is what type of long term service can the POS vendor provide?

The POS vendor you are considering should have many years in the POS industry and have industry experienced and trained employees. They should have a wide selection of POS products and peripheral devices in a number of different categories to ensure that they can customize a system for you no matter what your needs are.

Your potential vendor should have toll free support number, a help desk, remote phone support and one number for hardware and emergency system response. As well the vendor should offer local system support and have local parts selection which ensures prompt service. Additional questions you should ask are: Does the vendor offer after hours support? What kind of ongoing maintenance and warranty packages does the vendor offer? What references can the vendor provide? Again careful selection will ensure you have the service you need when you require it.

Software selection

Reputable POS vendors offer experienced sales staff that will assist you in your selection of software for your business. A customer should give a great deal of forethought as to the needs of their business and how the POS system is going to enhance it.

Some common questions may be, how will the software help me increase profits and reduce labor. How will the software increase customer service? Do you require additional modules such as electronic credit and debit interface, time and attendance and inventory control. How will the software prevent theft and increase speed of service. Will the software allow customer tracking? Does the software need to interface to any current or future programs you may be considering such as liquor controls systems or accounting packages? Can you purchase modules at a later date. If so, what are the additional costs for training and implementation? If you have multiple stores will does the system offer a head office package?

Customers should also consider holding off purchasing their hardware until the software has been selected. A point to remember is the software is going to provide the desired results and it will also determine what hardware you need to consider buying. Customers may want to think about purchasing hardware and software from one company. The type of company that provides this service is referred as a turn key solution. They will configure the software and hardware to your needs, install, train and support the whole product. Usually one phone number will place a hardware or software call.

An equally important consideration with software is enquiring about the type of training that is supplied with the system. Customers should know how much time will be supplied by the vendor for training and live support.

Hardware

POS systems are generally of two basic types, off the shelf hardware known as open architecture systems and proprietary based systems where only one company can ever service them. The first question always asked is which is better? This question at times can be rather hard to answer depending on who your sales person is and the industry experience they have. It would seem hard to provide a non bias opinion so we will attempt to provide you with some points worth of considering.

Open architecture systems and proprietary based systems both do an excellent job providing they are configured and implemented correctly. The cost of each equivalent capable systems are very close as well.

Worthy of consideration is the service component of each system. Proprietary based systems can only be purchased from the manufacturer or an authorized dealer. As well the systems generally come in one flavor, with additional peripherals not available. Typically the only person that can service the system is from the manufacturer. This may not seem much of a concern, what would happen though if the dealer or company was to go out of business? Who would you turn to for help on the system? If for some unforeseen reason the manufacturer has a dramatic increase in service rates or provides poor service what are your alternatives?

The advantage of the PC based, open architecture system is that components can be purchased from virtually any computer company. As well you have a greater selection of peripherals such as monitors, printers, cash drawers and scanners to name a few. Worthy of consideration to is that virtually any computer company can work on your computer system. If for some unlikely reason you have a falling out with your POS vendor you are not limited in your options. As well a final point that down the road if the current software you selected to run your business is not proving to be the correct choice, it is very likely you can select another package to run on your computer based system and utilize all existing hardware.