POS System for Retail

I was at a wine tasting event a couple months ago that was run by a wonderful and wine savvy older couple. The selections were phenomenal and the prices couldn’t be beat so I approached their sales desk with several bottles. Much to my surprise, the kindly proprietor pulled out a stack of papers that were stapled together and thumbed through it, circling the wines listed that I was going to buy. She wrote my name down on the front sheet, then manually calculated my total. The entire purchase process took over ten minutes and a line of patrons started forming behind me. I asked the owner what their method was, and apparently they would print their inventory sheet several dozen times and use that to write up people’s purchases. This seemed like such a waste of resources and time to me, so I continued to inquire as to why they didn’t use a point of sale computer system for their retail business. The reply was simply that they wouldn’t know where to start with POS systems. These folks with boundless knowledge of wine hadn’t the foggiest clue about computers or point of sale technology.

It’s with that sort of problem in mind that Tangent offers an industrial all-in-one tablet that is perfectly suited for retail POS activities, the P10. The tablet has a ten inch LCD with a PCAP multi-touchscreen, 2GB of memory, 64GB of storage, integrated audio and camera, and weighs in at a mere 2.2lbs. The real magic comes with the units docking station, which features many I/O ports for peripheral device connections like a barcode scanner, IC card reader, or 3-track MSR. It even has an RJ11 12V/24V input for a cash drawer. A POS system like this would have made life infinitely easier for the wine sellers. They could have used the barcode scanner to scan the products, have it pull up on the sales screen, and complete the transaction with ease using either the cash draw or the credit card reader.

Another handy feature that would have benefited a room full of people and pouring wine is the IP54 rated front panel on the tablet  that protects against liquid spills. And spills did happen a bit as people got further into their tasting courses and as more attendees arrived. The P10 POS systems small size conveniently suits any space, or lack thereof, and it’s rugged construction ensures that it can survive bumps and falls in case the scene get a little overly raucous.

A POS system is positively the most efficient way to support any retail business that sells products directly to customers. The ease of use, time savings on both checkout and maintaining inventory, and a safe repository of sales records makes this sort of computer a no-brainer. The flexibility of Tangent’s P10 allows retailers to customize their POS system to suit their specific need, or add on as business needs change. I certainly recommended to those lovely wine purveyors that they invest in this POS  technology to make checkout easier, their business more efficient, and their customers happier. A good product married up with fast and accurate service is a win-win every time.