SAP POS

What Is Point of Sale?

Point of Sale (POS) represents the customer payment transaction for a brick and mortar or online retailer. As part of the POS, retailers rely on hardware and software to complete the transaction and process the payment.

POS: More than a Transaction

While the POS may appear simply as a transactional activity, it has implications for customer experience and profit for the retailer. Customers want and expect a checkout process that is quick, hassle-free, and easy to navigate.

What Is Point of Sale?

Point of Sale (POS) represents the customer payment transaction for a brick and mortar or online retailer. As part of the POS, retailers rely on hardware and software to complete the transaction and process the payment.

POS: More than a Transaction

While the POS may appear simply as a transactional activity, it has implications for customer experience and profit for the retailer. Customers want and expect a checkout process that is quick, hassle-free, and easy to navigate.

The POS is also critical for understanding customer preferences in terms of product selection and variety. Retailers gain valuable analytical insight into which products are selling, at what time of day, and in what quantity. This can provide better decision-making for the marketing and sales teams.

Lastly, integration between the POS, inventory management, and operational systems is critical for maintaining supply and demand balance and identifying potential revenue opportunities. Replenishment is essential for retailers to ensure the product is on the shelf where and when customers need it. Data from the POS should also be shared with suppliers to collaborate on product promotions and new product introductions.

SAP Customer Checkout Application

SAP’s point of sale solution is SAP Customer Checkout. According to SAP, the following are key POS capabilities of the application:

• Manage sales, returns, payments, coupons, and gift cards with a central POS system
• Access real-time reports, control sales and financial results, and extend and scale the application with flexibility
• Integrate with SAP S/4HANA or other ERP systems, or use as a stand-alone application

Key Consideration for SAPinsiders

• Case Study: AGRAVIS Transforms Its POS System for the Future. In this SAP case study, German agricultural trading company AGRAVIS needed to replace its legacy POS system to meet new cash register regulations and future POS transaction requirements. The company wanted a solution that integrated with its current software landscape, but also created a single source of truth of real-time sales and inventory data. AGRAVIS also required a solution that enabled capabilities for future omnichannel retailing. It chose the SAP Customer Checkout application with native SAP S/4HANA integration and linkage to existing legacy warehouse management systems.

A vendor in the point-of-sale space includes: Verbella.