The Point of Sale Experts
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Retail Point of Sale Systems Buyer's Guide
We understand that every Retail Store has different needs, but also that the essentials tend to be similar. We have compiled Retail specific Point of Sale bundles to get you started on configuring the perfect Retail POS System for your store. Because of our breadth of product offerings and depth of Retail industry knowledge, we are able to fully customize a system that is unique to your store! Whether your Retail operation is a Grocery Store, Liquor Store or Garden Center, we can help you find the perfect Retail Point of Sale System!
All of our Retail POS System bundles begin with the following:
- Dell Computer (Windows XP Pro, Intel Dual Core Processor, 1 GB RAM, CD-ROM, and 80 GB Harddrive - 3 year Dell onsite warranty)
- Dell 17" Monitor (3 year Dell onsite warranty)
- Choice of either Cash Register Express or Microsoft Retail Management System (RMS) - with Microsoft Dynamics POS 2009 available in August 2009
- Epson TM-T88 IV Thermal Printer (2 year warranty)
- APG Vasario 19" x 15" Cash Drawer (2 year warranty)
- Metrologic MS9540 Voyager Barcode Scanner (5 year warranty)
- All of the necessary cables, wires and adapters
Please take note that ALL of our equipment is:
- New (not refurbished)
- Quality Name Brand (other POS vendors often cut costs by using off-name-brand, untested, inferior equipment)
- Under Warranty for a minimum of 1 year
At POS Nation we pride ourselves in offering the highest quality systems at the lowest cost to help you to focus on running your business, not worrying about you POS System!
As mentioned above, we start with the Basic Retail Point of Sale System bundle and then help you customize the system to work as if it had been made specifically for your business. So what exactly are the configuration options and what would be helpful for your Retail Store?
Number of Stations The first thing to consider when thinking about the number of Stations for your Retail Point of Sale System is how many lanes or checkout stations you will have open at peak hours in peak seasons. The rule of thumb is one Terminal per 1-2 cashiers. We understand that each Retail Store has their own unique needs, so give us a call for a free consultation! (877) 727-3548
Back Office Computer If you are planning to have 4 or more POS Stations or if you are interested in having a dedicated station to run reports, create invoices and purchase orders, check inventory levels, or even view real-time productivity without interfering with your servers / cashiers, then you should consider adding a Back Office Computer. A Back Office Computer can act as a server that hosts the database of the other Terminals, thus taking some of the load off of and speeding up the response time of the other Stations in the store. And, of course, the Back Office Computer does not need a PIN Pad, Barcode Scanner, Cash Drawer, Receipt Printer, etc. so it costs less than a typical POS Station. Remember that you will need to add an additional software license though!
Computer Type When deciding on upon the computer type that is best for your business you should first consider the size of the space where you will place each of your POS System terminals. If you are space constrained or just want the sleek look of a smaller computer, we offer upgrades to smaller form factors - or even an all-in-one machine that incorporates both the PC and the Touchscreen in one design. The computer usually sits below the counter so the basic option is the most economical - and most popular - but if you would prefer a smaller PC footprint, we can help.
Computer Specs POS Nation's POS bundles include PC's with the minimum performance specifications with which we would recommend running a POS System. Our Base Model offers what we believe to be everything you need to most efficiently (and most economically) run your system (1GB RAM, 80GB hard drive and a Dual Core Pentium processor - not a Celeron processor like many of our competitors), but we offer multiple upgrade options for you to speed up your new system.
We offer upgrades for RAM, Processor, Hard Disk Drive and CD/DVD Rom - but give us a call if you would like to configure anything not mentioned or available online! You'll have a tough time filling up an 80 GB Hard Drive unless you use the PC for more than a dedicated POS System. You'll probably see the most performance gains from adding RAM. We do recommend upgrading the RAM and / or processor for the Server PC if you have multiple POS Stations.
Also, for those customers who would like a higher end, built-from-the-ground-up Point of Sale PC from HP, we can provide that as well - typically for less than a $200 upgrade. Just give us a call! (877) 727-3548
Touchscreens & LCD Monitors A Touchscreen is not necessary for many Retail Stores, but is a good option for those who like the functionality. A Touchscreen can eliminate the need for a mouse and keyboard, thus saving you valuable counter space and helping speed cashier transactions. If you decide a Touchscreen is right for your business, this may be an area to consider further upgrading to a larger screen size. Our standard 15" Touchscreens are great for those budget conscious customers, but the 17" and 19" upgrades are typically viewed as money very well spent. The size of a Touchscreen is more important than that of a typical PC monitor because the larger the screen size, the less error prone the ordering process tends to be. The Touchscreen interface basically works like a large mouse, where your finger is the pointer, so it goes without saying that the larger the screen, the easier it is for the cashier to press the right buttons when they're in a hurry. Of all of the upgrades we offer, our customers that decide to utilize a touchscreen of appreciate the larger screen size the most!
Our elo Touchscreens come with a 1 year warranty (and 5 years on the touch functionality) and our standard LCD Dell Monitors come with a 3 year warranty. When inputting data, a keyboard can be attached to the Touchscreen to speed things along - and a mouse can always be used if for some reason the Touch functionality stops working. For more info on elo, check out their product details page.
Receipt Printers Receipt Printers are the workhorse that prints receipts at your POS Terminal as your process transactions, day after day, year after year. We offer two versions of receipt printers, but strongly recommend sticking with the Epson printer included in the Base bundle. Receipt printing is an area that you need to be dependable 100% of the time, so we only offer the best, most throughly tested options.
Data Backup Since you'll be running all of your important business transaction through your new Point of Sale System from POS Nation, you'll want to be sure you have all of the data backed up. We offer very high quality 500 GB Hard Disk Drives as well as pocket Flash Drives so you can rest assured your data is safe. Just remember to run a nightly back up!
Credit Card Processing Given you will certainly need to accept Credit Cards as payment, you'll need to set up your Point of Sale System to process Credit Cards. There are two options, each with benefits and drawbacks: 1) Integrated Credit Card Processing, and 2) Non-Integrated Credit Card Processing. Integrated Credit Card processing allows your POS System to interact directly with your credit card terminal, thus saving time and helping to consolidate all of your transaction records into one convenient location. This requires the purchase of a card reader and anti-virus software for each POS Station. Non-Integrated Credit Card Processing means that you will process Credit Cards through a stand-alone terminal that is separate from your POS System. You will then need to reconcile your transactions with your POS System at the end of the day since the two are no longer linked.
Depending on which Credit Card processor your choose, you may receive a free credit card terminal, have to rent it for a monthly fee, or be required to purchase it outright. Because of the numerous credit card processing companies that surely have been marketing to you with confusing and conflicting information, we have sought out the best Credit Card Processing company to recommend to our customers. We have partnered with Mercury Payment Systems, the company that we believe to be the most secure, ethical, friendly and cost-effective in the business. By integrating credit cards into your POS System with Mercury, you will save approximately $850 upfront, plus you'll continue to save with their extremely competitive processing rates. Our POS Systems can work with most credit card processors, but we strongly recommend getting started with Mercury.
PIN Pads Because most debit cards can be entered into the Point of Sale System as a credit card (assuming it has a VISA or MasterCard logo), PIN Pads are one of the most overlooked, yet in many circumstances one of the most valuable items you can add to you Retail POS System. By adding PIN Pads to your store, you allow your customers to pay with Debit Cards in a more secure way - by entering their secure PIN number. OK, we all know that... Well, what many Retail Store owners fail to realize is that when using a PIN Pad the processing fee is assessed at a flat rate - typically around $0.50 per transaction. Now, consider that Credit Cards processing fees are assessed as a percentage of the transaction - typically at a rate of 2-3%. So, if you typically process transaction greater than $20, we HIGHLY recommend adding a PIN Pad to your Retail POS System. For every $100 transaction that you process with a Debit Card, you would save approximately $2.00 by using a PIN Pad! We've helped multiple Grocery Stores and many other types of Retailers pay for their Point of Sale System in just a few months with these savings!
Retail POS Software Since "Retail" is such a broad description, we have continued to test software after software to find the best options available to fit the unique needs of any Retail Store. We currently recommend Cash Register Express for most customers due to its incredible ease of use, its many built in features that are costly add-ons for other programs, and its robust configurability. We believe that CRE is an excellent value and fills the needs of most Retailers.
For those customers with an extensive inventory list or the desire for almost limitless customization, security and reporting functions, we are proud to offer Microsoft Dynamics POS 2009. Microsoft's new POS Software is an amazing upgrade from its previous offerings. POS 2009 basically combines the ease of use from its onld POS line and the robust functionality of its RMS line to create an incredibly intuitive, easy to use and robust Retail POS Software. We have been demoing the software for months and are excited to finally be able to offer it to customers!
Microsoft RMS is a great solution for those customers looking to install a very robust Retail Management POS Software at a business with multiple locations.
Feel free to download a copy of our POS Software and see what you think. An even better way to see the full functionality of each software is to schedule an online, live demo with one of our Sales Consultants. Send us an email or give us a call at (877) 727-3548!
Please note that although the above Retail POS Software are our top sellers, we offer an array of additional choices to fit any Retail customer. Just give us a call!
Pole Displays Many retailers like to add pole displays to their Retail Point of Sale Systems so that customers can see the names of the items and prices as they are being rung up. This is a pretty straightforward option, so it's up to you!
Report Printer We offer a few Report Printer models - from a standard monochrome laser printer to a multifunction color scan/print/fax machine - to give you the option of printing reports on larger pages. Report Printers are usually recommended for the Back Office Computer, or if you are interested in printing reports remotely from one of the POS Terminals to your office.
Battery Backup A Battery Backup is strongly recommended for all POS Terminals - but especially for those that act as the server. If your power goes out, our Battery Backups will buy you time (about 20 minutes on average) to fully back up your database prior to losing power. For the low cost ($70-$150) of a Battery Backup, you could potentially avert a very messy situation resulting from data loss.
Print Barcode Labels Both Microsoft Softwares (RMS and POS 2009) come equipped with Barcode Label printing modules and Cash Register Express offers an additional add-on module called Barcode Express to print nearly limitless types of Barcode Labels. Printing Barcode Labels is helpful if you have items in your store that do not come with their own barcodes but you still want to be able to scan them during check-out. You can print regular, rectangular barcode labels on an ordinary office printer, but if you want to print barcodes on special labels or tags you need a specialized barcode printer.
Barcode Scanners The barcode scanners that typically come with our POS Systems are single-line scanners, so you have to orient the barcode correctly for the scanner to read it. As an upgrade, we also offer omnidirectional scanners which can read a barcode at any angle, so your check-out clerks don't have to line up the barcode just right. Our in-counter scanners / scales are omnidirectional.
The above is intended to serve as a starting point in your Point of Sale System education. Our Sales Consultants are available 9:00-6:30 M-F EST to answer your questions and help you find the perfect Retail POS System!