What is point of sale software (POS) and why is it essential?
Cash Register to Today's POS
The history of POS goes back to its first version, called the cash register. Today, with our current generation of digital payments made via smartphones, the POS industry has transformed why a particular sector wants to use industry-specific POS systems and software to accept customer payments and other dependencies to run its business.
Cash Register to Electronic Cash Register
The cash register evolved as the country introduced currency and the cash register-dependent devices required for businesses’ cash management during the industrial transformation of mechanical to electronic during the introduction of the computer-led era during the 1990s. There was a drastic change in how consumers transacted with businesses during the introduction of computers, electronics, and accessories in the context of purchases and acceptance of payments.
During the early 1960s, the U.S. government worked with dedicated policymakers to form a connected internet project for government purposes called ARPANET. For various governmental reasons, the dedicated agency that worked on the ARPANET project had to pause it as it was used only for government purposes. Gradually, they worked with business entities to commercialize this technology for the use of businesses first and then consumers during the 1990s.
The Internet and The World
A century of years has contributed to how business and consumers have changed their lives along with the evolution of industries and their transformations from the mechanical age to the electronic age. The 1990s changed the world from writing letters to emails with the age of information age. During this century, businesses invented, and consumers adopted many mechanical, electronic, and digital innovations. The most notable things among others for our context are Cash Registers, Computers, ARPANET, the internet, intranets, ATMs, etc.
The world’s first internet service provider based in the U.S. during 1990 called “The World.” While you may think these histories and all this information might sound, knowing is optional. I agree, but these combined centuries of years and inventions like Cash Registers, Computers, ARPANET, and the internet are the foundation of the current point of sales software and its devices.
What is POS Software?
The Digital POS
Coming back to the current date, the adoption of computers and electronic point of sales systems, POS software is widespread in today’s world; technically, you and I are using personal POS software to a certain extent. Every one of us carries a smartphone, and with specific applications installed, i.e., digital wallets, almost everyone uses a form of a personal POS to send & receive payments. In the current digitally driven business world, POS software and hardware are integrated with a dedicated secured digital payment interface connected to one’s business account. These POS systems and software help business owners accept payments and manage their customers and inventory in one software ecosystem.
Hopefully, you have the historical details of traditional cash registers, electronic cash registers, and software-based POS systems and how they have transformed themselves and their dependent industries to serve their intended customers like you and us today. At the same time, we question what a current generation of POS looks like. Let us understand more about the need for POS software in today’s business world.
The current generation of POS
The current generation of POS software functions like a business-level ERP to a certain extent. In the current digital world, consumers and businesses like us are dependent on a suite of software to achieve one goal; for instance, any business needs to trade services or a product to its customers eventually to receive payments for the offered services or a product to its customers. While based on the nature of one’s business, the trade can be a one-time business or a repeated business based on its customer personas, marketing cycle, and sales funnel.
Keeping the values that need to be delivered by a POS System and software provider in the current generations, most established POS brands in the USA and globally have bundled all the software elements to provide the best customer experience to their customers and end customers along with the primary purpose of receiving payments using their software and equally deliver business values by using their software.
The current-age POS provider understands that any business today needs these must-have software components to sell its products or services to its customers and to deliver value-driven business.
- Facility to list its product or services.
- Listing of inventories and their availability.
- The types of mediums and the way customers engage with their products or services.
- Information on how these products or services are offered while their potential customers are looking.
- How could these customers buy? What are the different payment options they offer?
- Most importantly, how are they connected to customer-facing websites?
- Are there marketing tools to engage with customers?
- Components for managing customers and their communication.
POS Integration for website
The growth in the transformation of how we use the internet, computers, smartphones, smart devices, and connected devices is directly proportional to how we deliver customer experiences.
Today’s website serves as a digital identity, e-commerce, appointment booking platform, and even payment integrations. Based on the nature of your business, combinations of modules within the POS software and your website can deliver a simplified yet profound customer experience for your customer.
With all the possible ways how your potential customers can research and reach your business, may it be a brick-and-mortar store or digital storefront, the need for POS software, its modules, and its hardware will undoubtedly help your business acquire audiences, traffic, engage, market, and receive or accept payments. POS software integrated correctly into a website can transform your company in the long run. Current-date POS software and its modules are simplified versions of ERPs that can grow your business.
Essential things to consider for your POS software subscriptions.
While POS is necessary for your professional or small business, it is equally important to consider these points before finalizing the ideal POS for your business.
- Most POS service providers offer only integration to a website and or domain registration based on the nature of POS use for its business type.
- Most POS service providers provide a bundle of hardware and software on their subscriptions; please talk to official sales and customer success consultants before signing up to avoid recurring subscriptions for unnecessary hardware or hardware integrations.
- Upon finalizing your ideal POS service provider, understand the bundle of software or available features based on your subscriptions.
- Your subscription charges differ from transactional charges; understanding this will help in knowing your monthly or cost per customer’s gross revenue vs net revenue.
- Most importantly, make sure of the POS software’s user guide to help you customize and manage your POS-based business, software components, hardware, and POS-integrated website.
We, Vriksha Agency, are a website development and digital marketing company that understands websites’ history and evolution.
While we look at our customers like you, that could be a,
- Lawn Care Business
- Florist Business
- Female or Male Beauty Salon Business
- Coffee Shop Business
- Home Décor Business
- Convenience Store Business
- Quick Service Restaurant Business
- Professional Chef
- Student Chef
- Local Tour & Activities Guide and
- Food Truck Business
Vriksha Agency builds websites in two ways.
- Using a website industry traditional approach
- Registering a domain, finding a hosting provider, working with you to finalize a content management system for your website, and then designing and developing a website.
- Building a website using POS or integrating a POS
- Unlike building a website in the method mentioned above, building a website using a POS integration, most POS services providers even offer options for domain registrations, hosting your website, building your inventory, publishing your services or products to your website, accepting payments using software or hardware and to reach, market to your customers all under one subscription.
As said in the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s official publication – The Impact of Technology on Small Business Report 2023 Edition.
” Small businesses continue to be nearly universal in their adoption of a wide range of technology platforms. Slightly more than in 2022, 95% of small business owners in the U.S. report using at least one type of technology platform in the running of their business “
Vriksha Agency’s tagline is “Growing with Web Innovations” we genuinely pledge to deliver the same to our customers.
While we also offer traditional website development for small businesses, we understand that recommending a traditional website could be expensive when compared to us building your website using a POS software-enabled website.
- Our traditional website development services could be anywhere from USD 1800 to USD 4000, depending on the nature of the business. Apart from infrastructure purchases like domain, hosting, and other must-have things, software subscriptions are required for a successful website’s online presence.
- Based on many factors, an economical investment with Vriksha Agency for POS-based website development is within the range of USD 450 to USD 900.
We are committed to transforming your small business to deliver its intended growth and growing revenues.
Take the first step towards considering Vriksha Agency to build or redesign your POS website.
