So you are about to put up a retail store business and now you are faced with having to make a decision whether to purchase a cash register or a point of sale (pos) system. A lot of people, especially those new to a store business, frequently confuse these two as the same. A cash register and a point of sale system both help in processing the sales transactions of a store.

A cash register is one step up from calculators. Through it, you can be able to tell how many sales have been made through the day and what items were sold. But before you can make use of this information in managing your retail business, you should put this data first into a manual or computer-based accounting system. Knowing which items are needed, which are fast selling and which are dead stock that you could have get rid of by putting on sale cannot be identified though by the traditional cash register. You still have to do the breaking down manually into a spreadsheet to keep track of your weekly or monthly sales, taxes, and other financial data. Doing so requires long hours of extended work.

Meanwhile, there is more to point of sale than just a sales management system. It can be said that a point of sale is a more advanced version of a cash register. It has more functionality and is equipped with added indispensable features compared to the cash register. Just like a cash register, pos comes with a cash drawer. But other than that, it includes hardware and software that aid in smoothening out the transaction and data gathering processes of a business. Its hardware includes a barcode scanner, a monitor, a customer pole display, a receipt printer and a credit card reader among others. More importantly, it has a shopping cart software that provide customers with a list of your store's products and assist them in making purchases by the means of the internet. Online pos also records and put into a database all processed transactions and other relevant information, even customer information. It is a smart system that can produce reports on everything that happens inside your store. Reports are vital in managing your business. A point of sale system produces inventory management details and comprehensive reports on a given time that you choose to help you better understand the purchasing trends of your customers. By being able to grasp your customers' buying habits, you have the chance to formulate potential advertisement and promotional strategies which your business can greatly benefit from when it comes to gaining more customers and profits. Having an accurate track of employees clocking in and out is an additional feature of the point of sale system. The amount and number of items sold by each employee can be checked as well. Moreover, you have access to all these kinds of information whether you report to the store or not on any given day as long as you have an internet enabled laptop or any mobile device with you.

After all that has been said, it is clearly evident that using a point sale system for your upcoming business is the wiser choice.