POS Evolution: Retail and Hospitality

The Evolution of POS Systems in Retail and Restaurant Industries

POS is an acronym that stands for Point of Sale or Point of Service. Basically, it is a structured system that businesses use when there is an exchange of products and service for monetary value. When it comes to retail industries, POS means retail point of sale. Moreover, when it comes to restaurant industries and other hospitality related business, POS means point of service. POS systems are applicable in many business industries such as department stores, restaurants, hotels, stadiums and retail outlets.

A POS system is employed at the cashier or checkout counter where the transactions occur. As technology advanced, the trend for POS systems in various businesses has also developed over time. Here are the POS systems used by retail and restaurant industries.

POS Systems of Retail Industries

A retail industry provides products and services to consumers. Typical examples of retail industries include supermarkets, malls and other retail stores. The retail point of sale for these retail industries is located at the cashier stand where the buyers place their items to a counter for totaling of the cost. Usually, the counters are long and there are moving belts to transport the products near the cashier. Then, the cashier scans the item and obtains the total amount that should be paid for the products bought. The buyer will then have to pay.

The early POS systems of retail industries include electronic cash registers. As technology developed, there were already advanced computers that could be used to make the payment processing faster and more efficient. Scanners also contribute to faster transactions in retail stores. The cashier simply needs to pass the item through the scanner and the computer will automatically register the product and the pricing details. Software used for credit card processing gives the customer convenience in paying for the items they bought. Today, touchscreen monitors are also used by many retail stores.

POS Systems of Hospitality Industries

Unlike retail industries, most restaurants are dedicated towards providing more hands on service to the consumer. Examples of these restaurant industries can be cafes to upscale sit down restaurants. Prior to electronic point of sale, checkout was cumbersome and prone to errors while nightly close was a very long process.  Waiters or cashiers would have to list the orders of the customers on paper. Then they would have to go to the kitchen to give the order to the kitchen staff. After that, they will go back to the customer to bring a hand written receipt with the total cost of the order.

With the advent of technology, the pace and service of the restaurant industries has also progressed. With the use of computers, the orders of the customer are directly networked to the kitchen. There are also touchscreen POS systems that are used for faster transaction input. The latest advancement for POS of restaurants is the use of smartphones for payment transactions. There are already POS platforms that are available in smartphones which enable the restaurants to process payments through credit card readers.

Advancement in technology and awareness has really contributed to the development of POS systems in both restaurant and retail environments. From manual systems, large computers, to touch screens and smartphones, POS systems are more efficient both to store owners and to the consumers.