Point Of Sale - Overview

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The term Point Of Sale (POS) got it's name because it "generically" describes the "place" where a sales transaction takes place. However there can be more than one "type" of place where a sales transaction can take place. Sales transactions commonly take place at a sales counter, a parts inventory counter, a sales office desk, a checkout lane, a lobby, a sales route delivery site, mobile service van, e-commerce web site, dinner table at a restaurant, etc... All of these POS situations have various and/or different requirements as well as quite a few common requirements all of which are too numerous to mention here.

Our software has two types of POS functionality. We call them Sales Counter POS and Checkout Lane POS which are common and very descriptive business terms for POS types.

The point is that, for the most part, it's a given that every different business type (niche) that needs POS has different needs. Many times there are different needs and/or preferences within the same business type (niche). Auto repair shops are a very good example.

One of the most common needs is flexibility in "setting up" and the "terminology" used for and in the "control" files so the POS system has the "look and feel" of the particular business. To give the ultimate in this kind of flexibility, we have available a "translator" utility that allows us to change nearly every "textual" prompt and message in the application. This translator module can make the application be used by people that speak other languages and that need is where the name "translator" came from. However the translator can also be used to change some of the terminology the user sees on various screens while using the application. A good example of that terminology type of translation is Customer can be changed to Client. Another good example is changing the prompts for fields reserved to be user defineable fields.