The economically advanced countries of the world generally have high levels of POS (point of sale) processing. Canada has a fairly typical level of saturation of point of sale processing. We will begin with a general discussion of point of sale processing. This will be followed by looking at the point of sale industry and what it is up to in Canada.

Transaction processing can be made more efficient by doing as much of it as possible close to where the transaction (sale) occurs, close in both time and space. Thus the term point of sale, doing the processing at the point of sale reduces both cost and error rates.

At the time and place that a shopper makes a purchase, perhaps buying clothes at a clothing store, a number of things happen. Many of them are automatically triggered, no operator action required. The invoice is created, including determining the prices of the merchandise being bought. The inventory system is informed of the purchases so the inventory can be updated. The shopper initiates payment, the payment method is checked, and the settlement of the payment is started.

Point of sale processing was first implemented by grocery stores and other large retailers in the late 70s. The technology was initially very expensive, but has become fairly economical since then. Some level of point of sale processing is almost universal in retail stores and other retail establishments today.

Smaller retailers could not afford to develop their own point of sale systems. Larger companies may do this, but they still need some sort of connection to validate and settle transactions with financial institutions. The point of sale service companies provide support in this area to all comers.

These companies do whatever development is needed to prepare the terminals and other equipment for a retailer. They train those who will be operating the terminals. They operate whatever central sites are needed to support point of sale operations. They are generally responsible for resolving any issues that may occur.

Point of sale service companies normally provide their customers with turnkey systems. These systems do not require development or configuration. The user plugs them in and uses them, like a DVD player or a lawn mower.

Canada is well supplied with POS service companies. Some are regional and some operate nationally. They provide turnkey point of sale systems to retail companies. They do significant software development for these systems, but I am not aware of any significant equipment that they are designing or manufacturing.

Retailers in Canada benefit greatly from point of sale processing. Their usage is similar to that in other developed parts of the world. Canada’s point of sale service companies, the major portion of the POS Industry in Canada, has a lot of responsibility for this success.

Learn more about POS. Stop by Aralco’s site where you can find out all about Point of Sale and what it can do for you.