The POS system is gradually becoming a crucial component of every modern sales process as the eCommerce industry grows at a faster pace. The adoption of a robust POS system can help retailers increase online orders and grow their profit margins more efficiently. There are also POS systems that support supply chain management, inventory management, and marketing for retail businesses.
You can find various companies in the world today that are researching how to create POS systems, an omnifunctional platform used by retailers, restaurants, hotels, pubs, and companies offering various services to customers. A modern point-of-sale system can process different payments and manage a comprehensive range of day-to-day operations, including data analysis, marketing, accountancy, and personnel management.
It is estimated that the global POS software market will exceed $19.56 billion by 2028, from $9.26 billion in 2021. It is clear from these figures that (POS) point-of-sale systems are becoming increasingly popular around the world and will continue to grow in the coming years. If you don't have created one already, now is the time to create your own POS system for your business in 2024.
So, let’s get started with the basics!
What Is Point-of-Sale Software?
POS stands for "Point of Sale" or "Point of Service," which is a complete set of software and hardware and is widely used to automate sales and service processes. It is the goal of point-of-sale solutions to simplify and, therefore, speed up the work of service personnel. The purpose of these systems is to ensure that store staff, restaurant employees, or other similar institutions always have everything at their fingertips so they can efficiently, swiftly, and competently perform their duties.
How Does POS Work?
The answer to your question may be extremely business-specific if you are considering building your own POS system. Taking the checkout process as an example, the customer pays. After scanning the barcode and naming the items, the cashier chooses a payment method, completes the sale, and prints or emails the receipt.
When an item is scanned, it is deducted from inventory, reflected in sales reports by item/department/tender, and deducted from inventory. In addition, it provides information about customers whose orders or discounts were related to the existing order. In addition to X and Z reports, shift summaries, transaction reports, and analytics dashboards, sales data is used in the analytics dashboard.
Merchants had to spend days developing an efficient business strategy in the old days before data left the cash register magically. It is now possible for them to create ideas with just a touch of a button at the tip of their fingers.
Must-Have Features of a POS System
Having several advanced features integrated into the Point of Sale software is essential to creating a unique and highly effective system for your business. These features can include:
Integration
POS systems must have configurations that are easily integrated with other software modules, such as accounting, inventory management, time and attendance, loyalty and gift cards, etc. It is easier to manually transfer data from one system to another when a system is well integrated to reduce errors and discrepancies.
Inventory management
Managing on-site inventory quantity can help businesses reduce inventory shrinkage. Every business faces inventory shrinkage, but this problem can easily be addressed with a robust POS system. The advantage of inventory management is that you can keep an eye on your stock at all times.
Employee management
The clock-in and check-out functionality assists in managing employees' schedules and payrolls as they clock in and out.
Advanced Billing System
Billing systems are required for POS software to allow users to easily print bills and invoices.
Customer management
It allows you to gather information about your most valuable customers based on their spending habits, which helps in identifying and proactively increasing your customer base.
Sales Reporting & Analytics
This functionality allows users to track how many products are being sold and the revenue the company makes on each product based on their sales. Businesses can prioritize their efforts and resources once they know what products are making the most money.
Accessibility to Mobiles/Tablets
The ability to access the POS system remotely from anywhere is valuable when it comes to managing things more efficiently even when not present in the store.
Security
Companies comply with PCI DSS when it comes to the POS systems they use. By doing this, it becomes much easier to protect critical and sensitive information about customers, such as CC numbers and phone numbers.
Streamlined purchases
How goods and services are procured by a company has a major influence on its overall success, spending, and profit margin, making this functionality crucial for businesses of all sizes.
Customer Relationship Management
Businesses can maintain customer profiles using CRM functionality, which allows them to know all the details about their customers, such as when they last purchased a product, when they were added to the system, or how much they have spent to date. Hence, the business can provide a more personalized experience for the customers.
Content Management System
Content management is about adding columns and fields according to the type of business in point-of-sale software.
Reporting
Businesses can maintain a connection with what is happening in every department with the help of reporting, allowing them to spot trends, identify bottlenecks, and identify how to grow. SKU-level inventory insights are available with comprehensive insights.
Loyalty Programs & Discounts
The integration of loyalty programs into your POS software solutions enhances customer experience. POS enables customers to get special coupons and discounts based on their past purchases, which increases their frequency of purchases, as well as the loyalty of businesses.
Steps to Build a POS System for your business
Here are the steps to build a futuristic POS system for your business in 2024;
Stage 1: Ideas & Conceptualization
Here you will need to discuss your ideas, requirements, and concepts for the project. Moreover, estimating the time and cost of your project is essential to determine the functionality of your new POS system.
Stage 2: Design
Upon receiving the terms of reference, the POS developers will develop specifications, which you will receive along with a detailed work plan and requirements list.
Stage 3: Development
This process includes the following steps:
a) UI/UX design
Designing the interface layout and creating clickable prototypes is part of our UI/UX service. This will also include creating UI kits for your POS system.
b) Development
The first step in programming is to write code and create a minimal viable product, or MVP, which can be tested so that future improvements can be made in consultation with users.
c) Testing
The testers will check that your POS system meets all requirements at this stage. Manual testing and automated testing are generally conducted by software testers to ensure the product is thoroughly tested and is
functioning as expected.
d) Documentation
In this process, accumulated knowledge is transferred to users and other developers. You will be able to help other development teams update or perform other necessary tasks with the documents if you work with them.
Stage 4: Release and Support
This step includes installing the POS software on the devices you wish. This involves fixing bugs identified in the product and regularly updating the POS solution as required by the development team.
Conclusion
When it comes to building a software product, it is most unwise to do it without knowing what consumers want. There is a good chance that your product will be a hit or a miss - and your efforts will be in vain if it is a miss. To develop a product that customers want, you should know what they like and what they don't. All products, including POS systems, fall under this theory. If you are a business owner, you should keep these factors in mind when designing a futuristic POS system for your business in 2024.