How To Develop A Point Of Sale (POS) Software? Complete Guide

The world is entering into the digital age leaving behind the conventional settings, and this brings a lot of changes in how things work. Today, Point of Sale (POS) system is the need of the hour as gone are the times when people preferred giving and accepting money physically. POS is the current trend and in present days, the POS system has become vital to properly maintain business records today & tomorrow. Most modern retail businesses are embracing this trend and the retailers, consumers and manufacturers are happily adhering to it. Also, with constantly increasing online trade & e-Commerce platforms, doorstep delivery is the new norm and hence mobile POS solutions are the way to go.

Understanding POS Application Development

POS system is basically a software that offers ease to the complex business operations. The functioning is quite easy and can be operated by just anyone. The main goal of the POS system is getting the invoice generated of products/services purchased. It is also responsible to manage inventory, customers, empower staff members, track purchases, reward loyal customers and analyze the sales trends.

Point Of Sale (POS) Software Market Revenue Worldwide 2018 – 2027 in Bn USD

Today a majority of retail businesses and restaurants use a POS system and around 95% of all their transactions take place through POS system, which processes the customer purchases, records sales, and handles the payments. It is important to find a good POS System Development Company that has a team of adept and experienced developers to help in creating an efficient POS system.

• The global market size for point-of-sale software was USD 11.99 billion in 2022, and it is expected to grow at a compound annual rate of 10.8% from 2023 to 2030.
• According to Statista, the POS software market is expected to expand and reach a worth of 42.5 billion U.S. dollars by the year 2027.

Different Types Of POS System

There are several types of POS software and all of them differ from one another, such as:

1. Mobile Point Of Sales (mPOS)

This POS system is integrated into mobile devices, such as smartphones, tablets or other related gadgets. mPOS is set up in such a manner that devices such as card reader, bar code scanner can be integrated into the system pretty easily and quickly. This type of POS system seamlessly manages inventory, monitors real-time sales monitoring, and does a lot more.

2. Cloud  Based Point Of Sales (Cloud POS)

This type of POS runs on a cloud system and is maintained by utilizing data centers offered by the POS vendors. This can be integrated easily into existing frameworks and functions smoothly. This type of POS works well for all the businesses owing to the features offered by them.

3. Terminal POS

This type of POS is used in stores & outlets, such as grocery stores, restaurants, and other similar stores. They offer pioneering services that helps in dealing with issues present in the industry. Terminal POS maintain certain standards and they can be integrated easily into any kind of frameworks. At the same time, they are even cheaper and economical.

Hardware Components Required For A POS System

Usually, the POS systems function like some kind of computer that has a large display unit and thus it allows the retailers to effectively run their entire business on this one small device. Meanwhile, the POS firms offer several hardware packages for the retailers, and here are a few of them, such as:

Point Of Sale Software

The PoS software runs on PoS device and this way it is easier to scan items, check reports, manage customers and do a lot more with just a few taps.

Cash Drawer

This is mainly a repository that holds cash and receipts. When connected with a PoS system, the software is able to track the accurate number of times a cash drawer is opened and this is a way to cut down on fraud.

Receipt Printer

A small printer is needed to print out a slip of paper with order placed by customers for their reference. There are a number of POS systems that allow to customize receipts with business’ logo or can prefer going paperless by printing a digital receipt.

Card Reader

Card payments are quite commonly preferred by the customers and thus retailers would be requiring to take card payments. It is easy to find card swipers which are affordable and sometimes given for free with purchase of a POS system. For additional security, a reader with ability to process chip cards can work wonders.

Barcode Scanner

This hardware is commonly used in retail stores and they useful for purchases as well as to find product information, whether it be its price, stock levels, or comprehensive description.

Associate Display

There are a number of modern POS options featuring a customer display helpful for store associates for verifying the items scanned, customer details, amount billed, promotion details, and selecting a payment option.

Scale

A scale is needed by the grocery retailers to weigh & price items. There are a number of POS systems syncing directly with the scales & weight is entered and calculated automatically.

How To Develop a Point Of Sale (POS) Software?

You need to follow a few steps to build a point of sale (POS) software:

Identify Your Requirements

Before you develop your POS software, you should identify your business needs, budget, and features you want in your software. 

1. Market Research

Next, conduct market research and check the strengths and weaknesses of varied POS software available. This will help you to build one that meets the users’ needs and expectations.

2. Hire a POS Software Development Company

Now that you know your business needs, you should choose a POS software development company with extensive experience and expertise that offers the best and most competitive price.

3. Develop Your Software

Work with the company you chose collaboratively to build POS software per your needs and expectations. 

4. Test Your POS Software

After you develop your POS software, it’s time to test it and locate any issues or bugs. Ensure that your software performs seamlessly, complying with applicable laws and regulations. 

5. Deploy 

Now, you can deploy your software to your business and allow your staff to leverage its benefits. The process may include hardware installation, staff training, and data migration. 

6. Provide On-going Support

Next, provide ongoing support and maintenance service to your users, which may include troubleshooting problems, answering questions, and offering updates.

Popular Point Of Sale Software Systems

Squareup, Shopify POS, The MerchantSolutions, PayCafe, LightSpeed, Quickbooks POS, Shopkeep and Revel Systems are some of the popular point of sale software systems used by a lot of ecommerce stores.

What Are The Benefits Of A Point Of Sale System?

Data is a critical aspect of any business and looking at the competition out there today it is vital to get every piece of comprehensive data from anyone who is interacting with your business. It can either be purchase history, return history, sales listed by item, information on the stock inventory, as well as seasonal/monthly/yearly sales reports. When these basics are missing, there are chances that your business might not lead in the right directly to ensure growth.

Not just these, but there are many other benefits of a POS as well, such as:

• Fast report generation
• Lesser inventory overhead
• Speed up busy checkout lines
• First-class services for the customers
• Offers appropriate inventory data to the vendors
• Ensures more traffic online/offline for the store
• Saves time on the back-office inventory functions

Essential Features In A Point Of Sale Software Application

To make a unique and highly effective Point of Sale system, it helps to have a number of advanced features integrated into the software, they can be:

Integration

A POS system needs a configuration that is easily integrated with the other modules, such as accounting, inventory management, time & attendance, loyalty & gift cards, etc. A well-integrated system leaves less room for errors & discrepancies as data is manually transferred from one system to another.

Employee Management

This functionality helps to manage the employees as they clock in and out for the shifts. At the same time, it helps to manage the employees’ schedules & payroll.

Inventory Management

Every business faces the issue of inventory shrinkage. However, this issue can be tackled easily with the management of on-site inventory quantity. With inventory management comes the opportunity to have a window into the stock at all times. There are roughly 82 percent of the POS buyers requesting to know the exact inventory hence having this feature is quite useful for your business.

Customer Management

This feature helps in identifying and proactively increasing the total of high-grade consumers. It allows to gather data on your most esteemed customers on the basis of their spending.

Sales Reporting & Analytics

With this functionality one can keep track of the quantity of the products that are being sold as well as it reflects on the amount of revenue the business is making on each of the product. Once the business knows about the products making most money, it gets easier to prioritize the time & effort. Researches reveal that 49 percent of the single-store retailers seek for the sales reporting and data analytics capability, however 51 percent retailers do not have a POS system.

Accessibility To Mobiles/Tablets

When the POS software has mobile and tablet access, it gets easier to manage things smoothly even when not present at the physical store. It is possible to remotely access your POS system from just anywhere.

Streamlined Purchases

This functionality is quite crucial for businesses of all sizes and holds an important place in every industry. The means in which goods & services are obtained by a company majorly affects the overall success, spending, and profit margin of a business.

Customer Relation Management

The CRM functionality is useful for maintaining profiles of regular customers and this helps the businesses to know all the details, like when was the last purchase made by a customer, or when the customer was originally added to the system, or what are their total purchases till date. This way it gets easier for the business to enhance the customer experience in a personal way.

Stock Management

Integrating your POS system with this functionality helps managing in bulk, finding your best sellers, setting up order triggers to enhance sales, and scanning items from anywhere. This feature allows the business to reduce the time being wasted on manual ordering and calculation of supply levels.

Security

The POS systems used by the businesses are in compliance with Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS). This way protecting the integrity of critical and sensitive customer data, like CC numbers & phone numbers is easier.

Reporting

With the help of proper reporting it is possible maintaining a connection on what is happening on every business departments. It helps in spotting trends, find where the bottlenecks occur, and where does the opportunity to grow lies. With comprehensive insights it is possible to review the inventory for SKU-level view of sales.

Advanced Billing System

A POS software require to have a billing system which allows to print the bills & invoices in a hassle-free way.

Content Management System

In a POS software, content management is about the ability of point of sales software to add columns & fields related to the business type.

Loyalty Programs & Discounts

Integrating your POS software solution with loyalty programs allows to enhance customer experience. On the basis of past purchases, POS allots unique coupons, discounts for the customers and this way they become frequent buyers. This way businesses also get more loyal customers.

Barcode Scanner

With this functionality, there is no requirement from you or the staff to enter a barcode manually or search for the products by hand. They can simply use a barcode to speed up this process. There are many of the POS systems that even generate the barcode automatically.

Credit Card Reader

A credit card or a card reader can come ready handy for businesses as many people do not carry cash regularly. Have a kind of reader that can even accept mobile payments such as Apple Pay/EMV payments as people usually like using these payment modes nowadays.

Cloud Integration

Quite often the on-premise Point-of-Sale software can turn out to be clunky & confusing, however with cloud integration it gets easier to customize the simple POS layout to your liking.

Pricing Model For POS System

In case of a Point-of-Sale system, there are mainly two basic criteria to purchase, such as:

1. One Time Full Payment

This way of payment is not so much in use, as in this the business is required to pay a huge sum initially and cost involved here is so much more. However, this way to purchase is quite profitable and useful in long run.

2. Pay Per Month

Though quite popular & trendy, in long run in this model one is required to pay higher. Basically, there are two options, 1) pay-per-use and 2) pay-per-registration. In here, the actual costs are determined with combination of features & stores.

Other than this, there are chances of additional cost in the form of:

• Charges to integrate additional functionalities.
• Cost of hardware/software might differ from organization to organization.
• Base price may differ from vendor-to-vendor for the customer services. However, there are few companies that may not charge anything even for free training or live chat.

Technology Stack For Point Of Sale Software Application Development

How Much Does It Costs To Develop A Point Of Sale Software System?

One has to keep various factors in mind, for development of a POS system. Various factors like

• App development platform
• Number of basic & advanced features
• 3rd party API & Platform integrations
• Development team region
• Timeline to complete

However, to give an idea, usually the development of a POS system cost somewhere between $40000-50000 with basic functionalities, however, to get a POS system with advanced features and compatible with mobile, it is certain to cost somewhere between $65000-90000.

Conclusion

Developing Point of Sale (POS) software requires careful planning, efficient coding, and rigorous testing. This complete guide has provided insights into the essential steps involved, including defining requirements, designing the user interface, integrating payment gateways, and implementing security measures. To ensure a successful POS software development project, consider partnering with Emizentech, a trusted software development company known for its expertise in building robust and tailored POS solutions. Reach out to Emizentech today to transform your business operations with cutting-edge POS software.