What are POS peripherals and why you need them?

2018-12-19

What are POS peripherals and why you need them?

Point Of Sale (POS) has seen a lot of transformations over the past more than a decade in India with the simple cash registers giving way to technologically advanced POS system which can be customized according to a retail business type and needs.

POS system can be a desktop computer screen connected with a CPU and several other supportive peripheral devices called POS peripherals. A programmer feeds specific POS retail software into the system and integrates the hardware components with the software applications.

A retailer who wish to have a POS system in his store should have hardware components such as a computer monitor, which can be a touch screen or keyboard operated, Barcode scanner (hand-held or desk-top), Automatic Cash drawer, Programmable Keyboard, Magnetic Strip Reader, Customer Display (optional) and Payment Terminal. These hardware products are collectively known as POS peripherals.

These POS peripherals are ideal for any retail outlet and involve one time investment. It needs a small table to accommodate all these hardware products which are rugged, dependable, perform multi-tasking and easy to operate by a store employee.

Touch Monitor: In most of the supermarkets and multi-utility stores, one can see the store executive operating a touch monitor to perform various operations such as generating retail receipts, accepting payments, calculating bonus points, checking prices, applying discounts, etc. Such peripherals, which look similar to computer monitor, are known as touch monitors. Some of the front line touch screen manufacturers are Posiflex, Essae and Wincor Nixdorf.

Cash Drawers: Cash Drawers are helpful to reduce the pilferages and misappropriation of money by counter staff. These automatic cash drawers are helpful to keep the cash, coins, cheques and coupons in separate compartments, thereby provide highest operational convenience for cash handlers. These cash boxes can be locked when counter staff move out to avoid theft. These cash drawers can be programmed to open by specific store executive and manager. Some of the leading cash drawer makers are Posiflex, Essae, Patner and TVSE.

Pole Display: These are customer display screens where customers can view the billing process and final amount. This is an optional hardware product installed to enhance customer experience. Some of the leading Pole Display manufacturers are Posiflex, Essae and TVSE.

Magnetic Stripe Reader: Magnetic Stripe Readers are electronic devices made to read the information embedded in the magnetic part of the special cards such as credit or debit cards. These cards are swiped through the provided slot to capture the bank account information by retailers while accepting the payments. Some of the leading Magnetic Stripe Reader manufacturers are Posiflex, Sankyo and CMI. MSR are used widely in retail, food and beverages, hospitality, healthcare and entertainment sectors.

Programmable Keyboard: These are like ordinary computer keyboards where retailer can key-in specific item codes and save them in the system. These items when come for billing will automatically get mapped to the specific code number to initiate the process. These keyboards are used in general retail, tolling, food and beverages and entertainment applications.