POS setup for indoor market stall

[biagrin]

Im currently in the market for a POS system but im not looking at spending anything ridiculous and i need some real advice.

First of all my market stall will be selling video games so i will have small amounts of lots of different items. I need a system which will be able to print receipts so that the customer has a copy and i have a record of the sale. a barcode scanner will also be desirable due to the number of different products.

i would like a bit more advice on what i should be looking for.

Also is it possible to use something like a normal PC and hook up all the other hardware like barcode scanner and receipt printer and cash drawer.

Im also a PC technician but ive never dealt with POS hardware.

any help is greatly appreciated.

 

[WPsites]

I have never dealt with POS software on a large scale but I did create a basic POS system for a friend's clothes shop about 3 years ago.

I just bought the cheapest receipt printer, barcode scanner and cash till I could find on the net then created a database with a .net front-end to run on a windows pc. So there must be other systems out there that run off a normal pc.

I suppose you could buy all the bits and then outsource the programming to India. Or you could just have a look on eBay for the complete system and the software. With the number of companies going bust nowerdays I'm sure you should be able to get hold of some liquidated kit.

 

[leemason]

There are quite a few POS applications out there that will run on a standard PC onto which you can plug a cash draw, scanner, and printer. Very often the cash draw will plugin to the serial interface so make sure you buy a PC with a 9-pin serial port (some new systems don't have serial ports).

 

[justintime]

At the risk of sounding like I am promoting the following company (I'm not) have a look at http://www.jsanet.co.uk/

We used their system a few years ago and considered it excellent. It does everything you say you require.

It was my job to find a decent pos system for the store I worked at and I looked at many different options before settling for salestream.

If you are looking for soomething more basic http://www.proffittcenter.org is free and may be more suited to your business.

 

[TotallySport]

The Problem with putting cash in a box on a makret stall is it's a security risk, there is also the issue of power, will the stall be able to power a computer, receipt printer, scanner etc.

Whats wrong with a money belt and calculator

 

[proffittcenter]

Hi
Well naturally, as the main developer, I can agree that ProffittCenter, available free at the proffittcenter site, would suit your needs. Provided you can sort out the problem of a power supply for the printer, you can run the whole thing off a laptop. You do need a serial port for the receipt printer although some people manage with a USB/Serial adapter. The scanner should be USB. Use a laser scanner. The laptop will ensure that data is not lost if the power disappears. Keep the key handy to open the cash drawer though if there is no power.
If you have a separate shop, or a second stall, you can use the new network version and connect to a database over the Internet using a 'dongle' but this is a little slower. Do telephone of email if you need further help.
Dave

 

[biagrin]

thanks for the answers guys.

the market stall is indoor and is fully powered with telephone line for internet access so that is not a problem.

regarding the security issue that somebody raised - we are having proper counters installed - sort of like a shop in a market.

ive had a look at the profit center software but it doesnt seem to have the ability to integrate with chip and pin very well. i use a proper merchant account from my bank to which the chip and pin is connected.

 

[justintime]

ive had a look at the profit center software but it doesnt seem to have the ability to integrate with chip and pin very well. i use a proper merchant account from my bank to which the chip and pin is connected.

Does it need to? When we used salestream we had a cash button and a card button so that the end of day sales had seperate amounts for each. The chip and pin terminal was not linked to the software.

 

[bovine]

profitcenter links to yespay for chip and pin.

its third party software, which handles the transaction. Basically the credit card function on the software passes the amount to yespay, which processes the transaction, authorises it then passes this back to profit center.

No experience of profit center, but you could consider a basic till with scanning. Something like a sam4s er380m with a barcode scanner.

Saves messing around with the different elements.

i should add that all epos systems at this level will use a third party system - its usually either commidea or yespay

 

[bovine]

most epos systems, even touchscreens, are windows xp boxes. As long as you can connect a pos printer to the software, you drive a drawer.

Traditionally pos printers are rs232, but more are using ip printers.

We have several different pos software packages, as a guide licences are £500, printers about £300, scanners about £150. we are systems resellers and a typical scanning touchscreen system starts at £2000.
Prob a bit overkill for you though.

pc based has advantages over tills because of how they store the info, but if you only need fairly basic sales info, i would go with a till. Its just neater.

 

[proffittcenter]

The YesPay integration is not required, just convenient.

 

[davidshaw89]

If power is a problem, a touchscreen, or even just an ordinary laptop will be sufficient. Most point of sale software can be operated from any computer, and Scanners will plug straight into the laptop no problem.

You will probably not want to use an electronic drawer in this case, so just use a manual opening drawer with a set of keys (most drawers have a release button at the back so no security is being compromised by not opting for electronic opening )

now, the receipt printer:

you can actually get battery operated receipt printers. You will probably see them being used by supermarket staff as they markdown perishable stock etc. These are probably your best bet if power is the issue:

http://www.amlabels.co.uk/Label_Barcode_Printing/Printers/Mobile_Printers/Zebra_QL320_Plus.html

(Just to be clear that I specialise in printed point of sale, not electronic - so there is no affiliation with this website).

Remember spare batteries, and also laptop batteries (you can buy bigger batteries that slot onto the bottom of some IBM/HP/Dell laptops) - the scanner will probably wear down the battery more than anything else.

If you wanted to process credit cards, you could try virtual terminal(processed on a website), and use a usb dongle to connect to the internet - you may find this to be more cost effective than a wireless terminal, however there is manual data entry, and cautious customers. Not to forget it looks much more professional if you are using a wireless terminal than some dodgey looking web site.

Hope this helps,