Buying a point-of-sale (POS) system may seem like a hassle and an unnecessary expense, but if you look closer, you'll find clear gains.

There are two main types of systems: for retail stores; and for restaurants and hotels, also known as the hospitality category. The benefits of point-of-sale systems are:

Accuracy: Scanning is more accurate than punching in numbers from a sticker, or expecting the cashier to remember what each item costs.

Analysis: POS systems let you manage inventory, flag items for reorder, and analyze sales patterns.

A point-of-sale system is, at heart, a cash register -- but because it's based on a PC, it opens up a new world of data about your business.

A point-of-sale (POS) terminal can be networked to other terminals, and to a server in the back room or at another location. It can be expanded with handheld devices wirelessly linked to the main system. You can use it to can track a number of operations in useful ways and customize it as your needs change over time.

The main advantage of a computerized POS system over a cash box or a cash register is the sophisticated and detailed sales reports it provides. The software lets you analyze sales in different ways, such as by SKU (item sold), time periods, promotions, by store if you have more than one, or even by sales clerk. It will help your inventory manager buy in the right number of cartons of tissue paper with improved timing, and help your chef calculate how much cheese to order for the coming week, taking into account an upcoming holiday. It can also help reduce employee shrinkage.

But that's only the start. Once your sales are computerized, you can plug that computer into a network, and the network into a back-office computer system that downloads results from all your registers, consolidating and monitoring the information in a variety of ways. If you bite the bullet and pay the costs, you can integrate all this into your accounting and inventory software systems.

Expect to pay anywhere from $3000 to $6000 per station, including software, scanners, printers, installation, training, and support, plus costs for integrating into your back-end system. (For an explanation of the hardware and software components of a POS system, read Understanding POS Components. But once you grow in size -- as you approach a million dollars in annual sales, and especially as you add retail outlets or restaurant locations -- computerized POS will not only pay for itself in improved efficiencies, it will become critical just to know what is going on.

Below are benefits of buying pos from XTECHPOS:

POS Station Modes Supported

• Cashier Station
• Delivery Mode
• Loyalty Points Module
• Employee Scheduling Module
• Carryout/Pickup Mode
• Table Seating Manager Mode
• Bar Tabs Mode
• Fast Bar Mode
• Quick Service (Counter) Mode
• Reservation & Walk-In Mode
• Hostess Station
• Kitchen Display System
• Gift Card System
• Curbside Pickup Integration
• CCTV Monitor
• Hotel Property Management Interface
• VIP Accounts Module
• Self Service Kiosk Mode
• Drive Thru Mode

General POS Features

• Easy to use touch screen operation
  • BENEFIT :  Low training time (15 minutes average)
• Inexpensive - the name says it all!
  • BENEFIT :  Have a couple bucks left over and upgrade the kitchen with a new grill and deep fryer.
• Powerful Back Office Reporting
  • BENEFIT :  Sales, Labor & Product Depletion are no longer a mystery!
• Attach customer notes to a telephone number
  • BENEFIT : Don't deliver to someone who bounced a check.
• Timed orders
  • BENEFIT :  Improve customer service & table turning rates.
• Dine In
  • BENEFIT :  We don't charge for a table service module.
• Take Out
  • BENEFIT :  Yes, this module is included at no extra charge.
• Delivery Mode
  • BENEFIT :  No extra charge for a delivery module either.
• Integrated Gift Card, Loyalty & VIP Modules
  • BENEFIT :  Reward your best customers & keep a line at the door.
• Server bank tracking
  • BENEFIT :  Never add up checks by hand again.
• Every check is color coded onscreen
  • BENEFIT:   Many POS systems "ghost" a check.  With POS, every check is color coded on screen.  Checks are never hidden in a list that's buried under endless popup menus.
• Delivery Address Lookup
  • BENEFIT :  Less time on the telephone.  Faster order entry.
• Sales contests
  • BENEFIT:   Reward your top selling servers.
• Print customer receipts
  • BENEFIT:   Automatic or manual receipts - your choice!
• Modify orders anytime
  • BENEFIT:   End the hassles with other POS systems.
• Unlimited kitchen monitors
• Unlimited kitchen printers
  • BENEFIT:   Never worry about adding a printer or paying an additional license fee when you grow.  It's included!
• Bar tabs
  • BENEFIT:   Bars love our software.  It is super easy to use.
• Chain printers to monitors or vice versa
  • BENEFIT:   Never lose a kitchen chit again.
• Add special notes to the kitchen cooks
  • BENEFIT:   Reduce returns to the kitchen by allowing effective communication between the Front Of House and Back Of House.   Less wasted food.
• Hold items and fire to the kitchen later
  • BENEFIT:   Order timing is "customer centric".
• Automatic re-routing around failed printers
  • BENEFIT:   POS won't crash when a printer runs out of paper or falls into a pickle barrel.  Oops!
• Packing printer support
  • BENEFIT:   No extra cost for a "delivery spooler".   It's free.
• Curbside Pickup Orders
  • BENEFIT:   No extra cost here either.
• Employee access by cards
  • BENEFIT:   Improve security and access to cash drawers.
• Laser printer support
• Edit Your Menus With Open Office (FREE!)
• Microsoft Office Excel support
  • BENEFIT:   Your accountant will like these features at year end and tax time.
• Customer Pole Display
  • BENEFIT: Works with any Epson compatible pole display.
• Drive Thru operation
  • BENEFIT:   No extra charge for a drive thru module.
• Transfer to table, bar or carryout
• Transfer to a new server
  • BENEFIT:   Just 3 touches to do any transfer.
• Repeat round
  • BENEFIT:   Reduce order entry time.
• Fast Bar Key
  • BENEFIT:   Press one button and start entering an order.  Then auto-close it to any of 6 payment methods.
• CCTV System
  • BENEFIT:  Reduce theft and see your cameras from any POS terminal... not just a single screen in the back office.   Save on wiring costs, splitters and separate service agreements.  Use low-cost webcams instead of expensive  hybrid cameras.
• Integrated credit card processing
  • BENEFIT:   Choose your own card processor and never pay an extra cent to your POS company.  Why get locked in?
• Single site gift card system integrated
  • BENEFIT:   Never pay transaction fees or return change from a gift certificate again.  Keep all of your money!
• Split checks 48 ways
  • BENEFIT:   That's a lot of people, but POS can handle it.
• Multiple tickets per order
  • BENEFIT:   Even complex orders can be routed quickly.
• Combination payment methods
  • BENEFIT:   Single screen for payment makes this easy.
• Pizza mode
  • BENEFIT:   Easily build complex pizza orders with up to 120 meat, 120 vegetable & 120 special toppings.   Price by the quarter, third, half and/or whole pie.
• Open gratuities
  • BENEFIT:   Track tips ONLY if you want to.
• Portion an item
  • BENEFIT:   Wine bottles are no longer a hassle to sell.
• Voids
  • BENEFIT: Fully controlled using POS security.
• Separate Adult & Kid guest counters
  • BENEFIT:   Determine if "Kid's Night" is really working.
• Consolidated and/or regular printing
  • BENEFIT: Streamline the kitchen and reduce errors.
• Discounts by percent or dollar amount
  • BENEFIT:   Fully controlled using POS security.
• Pay into the cash drawer
• Pay out of the cash drawer
  • BENEFIT:   There is no reason to go into the back office for petty cash.  Just log payments from the cash drawer.
• Reservation & walk-in manager
  • BENEFIT:   No extra charge for a hostess station either.
• Forced modifiers with separate pricing
  • BENEFIT:   Salads auto-prompt for dressing and much more!
• Order history recording & archiving
  • BENEFIT:   Your data is always available to you.
• No copy protection
  • BENEFIT:   Backup without worry.  Upgrade a computer without being forced to call support for a "new license code".  We trust you!
• Delivery tag printing
  • BENEFIT:   Print as many as you need, when you need them.
• Easily define kids menus
  • BENEFIT:   Kids menus can even change each day!
• Report for any period of time (hour, day, week, month)

Menu Controls

• Easily define categories of items
• Menu item definitions
• User defined modifiers
• User defined forced modifiers
• User defined sub-forced modifiers
• User defined sub-sub-forced modifiers
• Pizza/Sub topping list (up to 360 toppings)
• Canadian & USA sales tax computations
• Online bar recipes
• Online menu recipes
• User defined happy hours
• Item category timers (by hour & day of week)
• Delivery lookup by phone number
• Carryout lookup by phone number

Roll Printer (Front Of House) Reports

• Sales volume by item
• Sales volume by class
• Sales volume by server/tron
• Daily summary report
• Open tables report
• Discounts audit report
• Voids audit report
• Server/Tron report (net owing calculations)
• Check register report
• Cash in/out report
• Hourly Sales
• Tip Reporting
• Self Service Kiosk Reporting

Labor & Time Clock Functions

• Clock IN
• Clock OUT
• Up to 5 jobs & 10 pay rates per user
• Hourly Pay
• Overtime Pay
• Run a labor report for any time period
• Report labor by labor-center
• Report labor by user
• Don't allow users to work until they clock IN
• Run end of day with people clocked IN
• Tip Declarations

Free Bells & Whistles You Wouldn't Normally Expect

• Print coupons/messages at the bottom of a receipt
• Customize command buttons easily
• Multiple level/screen seating charts
• Picture menus
• Send sales data to a web server
• Dual language support in Front Of House & Kitchen
• Closed Caption TV system viewable at any POS terminal
• Wireless table-side ordering using tablet PCs
• Integrated table bussing
• Programmable daily specials
• Credit card processing over dialup, IP or both!
• Programmable announcements
• Export Data To Microsoft Office
• Scratch Pad ordering for Table PCs
• Variable Coupon Generation
• Wireless Paging
• Self Service Kiosk (customer enters their own order!)