What is a POS System? How do you choose the best one for your business? A point of sale (POS) system is the place where your customers make payments for goods or services provided by your company. Behind every successful brick-and-mortar store, there’s a reliable POS system. Anyone can learn how to choose the right system for their business with this free guide. Choosing a POS system is one of the most important decisions both new and experienced small business owners will ever make. In order to be successful in business, serious time and effort should be spent doing some research on POS software. However, sometimes— especially if you’re opening your first small business or are new to point of sale systems — you need some help knowing exactly what you should be researching. In this guide, we make sure you know what to consider before deciding on any POS system. Sounds great, right? We’ll help you with important features to look for in a POS system, including payment processing, inventory management, customer loyalty programs, robust reporting options, and reliable staff management, along with seamless integration between your POS system and online ordering. Along with these features, hardware is also extremely important to consider when deciding on a POS system. Do you require an All-in-One POS terminal? Will your business accept credit cards? Other core components of any successful POS system are receipt printers, barcode scanners, QR code readers, and even mobile credit card terminals. You must consider all of these. Deciding the right POS system for your business can be a challenge. Understanding how these features of POS systems can impact your business is incredibly important. A business owner must also consider if there are hidden fees involved, does the system have the ability to work offline? Is there a trial period to test the system for free? Does it support multiple registers or different locations? Is there any customer support offered with the POS system? How user-friendly is the system? How difficult will it be to train your staff? Here, we answer all of these questions and break down what to look for in a POS system, advanced POS features and how they can increase your revenue, as even hardware options, and how to customize it for your unique business needs. This guide will help you understand the pros and cons or different types of hardware, and how to choose the best fit for your business. For more information on what is a POS system, and how to choose the right one for your business, visit ehopper.com/pos-system/.

1. WHAT IS A POS SYSTEM?
HOW TO CHOOSE THE BEST ONE FOR
YOUR BUSINESS

2. What Is a Point of Sale System?
If you run a business, you know you need to find the best Point of
Sale (POS) systems to meet your ever-changing needs. But, finding
the right one for your niche can be challenging. An accurate
understanding of how this software could potentially impact your
business is vital.
There is a reason behind all the fanfare surrounding POS systems,
and that’s because the way we conduct business has had a
significant paradigm shift since the advent of the internet. Everything
is mobile and fast.
And, if your business cannot keep up with this shift, it could
potentially harm your bottom line. In fact, the right POS system could
possibly revolutionize your company.
A POS systems is made up of a hardware and software working
together. The end result is an application that uses transactions data
to streamline day-to-day operations of your business.
In short, your POS system should be one of the central hub of
managing your business because it combines several different
managerial components into one application. It does more than just
process payments. It uses the data from each transaction to make
managing your business much simpler.

3. How can my business benefit from a POS
system?
The beauty of a POS system is that is can be used in almost any
business and can make getting paid so much more straightforward.
Suppose you own a traditional retail store. A POS system can make
the checkout process a breeze. This is especially true considering that
most POS systems can be integrated with most common devices
including laptops, tablets, and even smartphones.
If you are an artist that sells your products at art fairs over the
summer, you can use a mobile POS system to accept debit and credit
cards. And let’s face facts, most people these days will tend to avoid
carrying cash in favor of credit card.
Now imagine that you own a restaurant, a POS system like that
offered by eHopper can completely change the way you run your
business. Anyone that has worked in the restaurant business knows
that there are few things more angst-inducing than having tickets start
to pile up. You feel like you have no control and that the tickets are
flying everywhere.
With a POS system, you can manage all your orders and even track
them. This will give your business unparalleled communication
between front of the house and back of the house.

4. Core Software Features
If you are excited about the possibility of upgrading your current
systems for a POS system, there are a few things that you need to
consider before taking the plunge. Specifically, you should be looking
out for some software features that are essential to getting the most
from your POS system.
Payment Processing
First and probably the most obvious, your POS system should be able
to process payments. This would include processing credit, cash, and
any other form of payment your business might want to accept.
Inventory Management
Another essential feature of a POS system -if it applies to your
particular business- is inventory management. In the past, you would
have a couple of options when it came to inventory management.

5. You could either count your inventory manually, as was the case with
many small businesses, or you could invest large sums of cash in
purchasing a complex inventory management system.
Neither of these options is either feasible or affordable. That is where
the beauty of a POS system can come in to play. Many POS systems
have integrated inventory management. This means that your POS
system will track the entering and exiting of inventory for you.
Customer Management
One other exciting POS feature that many systems include is
customer management. Again, much like the inventory management
systems of the past, you would also typically need to purchase a
Customer Relationship Management software to keep track of all your
customers and their needs.
Many POS systems now have customer management integrated. It
makes perfect sense considering that the system that can best track
your customer’s spending patterns is going to be the POS system.

6. Reporting
Knowing what is going on with your business at any time can be an
extremely challenging part of being a business owner or a manager.
Undoubtedly, the best way to get a sense of the health of your
business is to run reports that can provide you with the data you need
to make the best decisions. As you can imagine, reporting is another
feature that many POS systems now offer.
By having your POS system give you reports, you can identify areas
of success and areas where you might need to improve. Furthermore,
by running reports routinely, you and your staff can benchmark
results and try to improve them day by day, or week by week.

7. Staff Management
There are other exciting features that POS systems offer, including
staff management. You are not always present to make sure your
staff is doing the job they are getting paid for. However, POS systems
can help you get a better sense of what is happening when you are
not looking.
For example, if you have two cashiers and want to know how they are
performing, you can check the POS system to view how many sales
they have had. This is a great way to track their performance and, if
they are falling behind, try involving them in getting them to improve
their work.
If one cashier is seeing 20% fewer customers than her peer, you
might have a polite conversation with them about their shortage and
offer suggestions on how they might improve their work. You can also
let them know how many customers they helped in the past week and
agreed to meet in one week to recheck the numbers.
In this way, the system gives you tangible numbers that you can use
to improve your worker’s performance and, consequently, your
business.

8. Like any type of computer application, the right POS hardware is
crucial. When you are looking for the best POS system for your
business consider the following hardware requirements.
Register Screen
As you can imagine, a register screen is an essential piece of
hardware that you will need to use your POS system. Many POS
systems allow you to use a variety of register screens ranging from
the traditional desktop PC display all the way to a tablet or a
smartphone. Again, this depends on the type of POS system that you
purchase. Some even provide you with quite impressive hardware
options.
Must-Have POS Hardware
EMV Compliant Credit Card Terminal
You will also need an EMV compliant credit card terminal with your
POS system. What in the world is an EMV compliant credit card
terminal? Don’t worry; it’s not as fancy as you might think. You know
that stripe on the back of your credit card? Well, that is pretty old
technology.

9. The new technology that is replacing it is the EMV, also known as the
chip card. At this point, most of us have come across the chip card as
most major credit card companies and financial institutions are
moving towards them.
The reason they are doing this is that they are a lot more secure.
That’s why it is so crucial that your POS system can accept this type
of card.
Cash Register
Another needed piece of hardware is the cash register. Obviously, if
your business does not work with cash, then this piece might not be
required. For most companies, this is a requirement.
Printer
You will also likely need a receipt printer as your customers will need
proof of their purchase. If you are in the restaurant business, then a
kitchen printer would also be a requirement.

10. Barcode Scanner
The last piece of hardware that is required is a barcode scanner.
Again, this is especially true for businesses that sell retail and need a
fast way to ring up items. As you can see, a POS system does not
require having a separate room filled with IT hardware. It is a rather
efficient and compact system.

11. Questions you should ask to make sure
you choose the best POS system
Does the POS system offer the core hardware and features
noted above?
A commitment to a POS system is no small feat. You will need to
install the system and learn how it works. Aside from the capital
requirements at first, remember that there will also be time
requirements that you might not be factoring in. That is why it is
essential to choose the correct all-in-one POS system. Specifically,
you need a system that offers all the features and the hardware
mentioned earlier.
Is the system user-friendly to train your staff?
This is another example of that intangible expense that we often
overlook. Training staff requires time, effort, and patience. Have you
ever worked with a complicated software where you were ready to
pull your hair out? That is precisely why finding a POS system that is
user-friendly is so important. You need something that your staff will
learn fast so that you can start enjoying all of the benefits of the
system.
Does the POS system offer customer support?
There is no price you can put on the ability to know that if you need
to, you can pick up the phone and call someone for help. When you
are researching POS systems, customer support is one of those
areas that could make a tremendous difference between a system
that meets your needs and one that causes ongoing headaches.

12. Can it support multiple locations or registers if you decide to
grow your business?
If you are running your business well, the odds are that you will want
to expand at some point. A POS system that doesn’t grow with you is
going to turn what was once a benefit to your business into an
operational nightmare. It is incredibly important to know that
whichever system you are looking into can grow and scale alongside
your business.
What is the cost?
Perhaps the most asked question related to a POS system is the
cost. The reality is that it can vary greatly depending on what you are
looking for and the size of your business. You might even find a free
POS out there. Ultimately, you will have to balance out the expense
with the features that the system offers and your business needs.

13. Does the POS system offer a free trial or plan to test drive?
Just as you wouldn’t buy a car without test driving, the same is true
for a POS system. Look for a system that allows you to try out all the
features to see if it is a good fit for your business.
Are there any hidden fees?
It seems that lately every business has hidden fees somewhere or
other. Be sure that you are reading the fine print when looking into
different POS systems. The last thing you need is to find a hidden fee
after you have committed to using a POS system.
Does it offer mobile capabilities?
Depending on your business, you might want to consider mobile
capabilities. Many POS systems offer you the ability to take your
business on the road. If this is something that might apply to your
business, make sure that the POS system you are looking into offers
this feature.

14. Conclusions
By now you should have a good idea of what a POS system is and
the kind of system that would work for your business. There are many
options out there that you can try, but eHopper offers all the features
and benefits that you are looking for. Whatever your business needs,
they probably can help you. Plus, you can try eHopper for free!

15. ehopper.com/pos-system/
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