Evaluating the Impact of Point-of-Sale Systems in Retail Businesses

The report provides a comprehensive analysis of how point-of-sale (POS) systems influence retail business dynamics by offering competitive advantages through enhanced customer interaction and sales data management. It delves into the benefits of integrating advanced technologies in POS systems, including augmented reality at the checkout and NFC mobile payments in hospitality settings. However, it also highlights significant security risks such as network vulnerabilities and outdated software that can lead to theft of customer information. The report suggests implementing stringent security measures like password-protected networks and regular hardware checks to mitigate these threats. Furthermore, it emphasizes the necessity for industry-specific POS solutions tailored to meet unique business needs, ensuring both competitive edge and data protection.

Running head: IT OF BUSINESS
IT of Business
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Table of Contents
Introduction:...............................................................................................................................3
Advantage and Disadvantages of POS system:.........................................................................3
Roles Played by POS System in Competitive Advantage:........................................................4
Advantages of a Centralized database:......................................................................................4
POS System and Decision Making:...........................................................................................5
POS System and business activities:......................................................................................5
POS System and Tracing of the Information:........................................................................5
List of questions to be answered in a better way:..................................................................6
Information and Better Management of Business..................................................................6
POS System and Recommended Telecommunication Option:..................................................6
Network Type:.......................................................................................................................6
Media Type:...........................................................................................................................6
Risks and Protection of the POS system:...................................................................................7
Security:.................................................................................................................................7
Privacy:..................................................................................................................................7
Confidentiality:......................................................................................................................7
Protection of POS system:.....................................................................................................7
Conclusion:................................................................................................................................7
References:.................................................................................................................................9

Introduction:
POS or Point of Sale mainly refers to the time or place when the transaction of the
retail is complete. This the point of sale when the merchant collects the amount that is owned
by the customer and indicted the customer that it is the point when they have to make the
payment (Ståhlberg and Maila 2012). This report mainly discusses about the need of a POS
System by four greenhouse and Nursery located at Colorado. The report also discusses about
the advantages and the disadvantages that this firms are going to face along with the security
issues and how this can be eliminated.
Advantage and Disadvantages of POS system:
POS System helps in tracking of the useful data from different types of transactions
based on sales along with the various kinds of data from the sales. The POS system will also
help in the elimination of the issues related to the tracking of various kinds of sales that are
taking place at a manual basis (Rese Schreiber and Baier 2014). POS System provides a
method which makes the processing and storing of the data related to any kind of sales very
easily. The new system will be helping in the elimination of the manual entry of the details of
goods in a register along with this it will also be working as something more than a sales
register. So this will ultimately help the organisation in elimination of the tracking,
distribution of data. Along with this it would also be providing the information for any type
of operation or management of the four season or the Nursery that is located in Colorado.
Besides the advantages there are also some disadvantages some of them are listed
below:
 Reliable connection: The new POS System is totally reliable on the internet and
ISP as POS system is totally web based so if there is any failure then the Nursery
of Colorado will lose access.

 Software upgradation is expensive: The cost of software related upgradation is
much more expensive as compares to that of various web based free upgrades (Ko
et al. 2012).
 Security issues: due to online transactions various risks arises regarding the
payment details. So various POS system provider makes use of certain steps for
the purpose of maintaining the privacy of the customers.
Roles Played by POS System in Competitive Advantage:
POS System helps the organizations in different ways it gains a competitive
advantage some of them are listed below:
 Real-time tracking of the business details containing the sales report. This will help in
adaptation of proper strategies for improvisation of sales.
 Improvisation of the customer service as well as transactions. This takes place at a
much faster rate (Aleksandrovna Fedorovich and Viktorovna 2016).
 Better and efficient way of managing the inventory. The products which are running
low can be recorded very easily.
 Time spent on various things can be greatly reduced and this includes the paper work,
management of inventory and many more.
Advantages of a Centralized database:
Having a centralized database will bring the organisation a lot of advantage and this
includes the improvisation of the data preservation, physical security and many more. The
option of centralized storage would greatly help in improving the option of data preservation.
The locally storage system mainly includes the storing of data at their own security risk. The
protection of data becomes a crucial issue when the quantity of sensitive date increases
(Morosan and DeFranco 2016). The four greenhouse and the Nursery located at Colorado

need a huge amount of investment in the domain of server technology for the purpose of
having an centralised database. This will ultimately result in the reduction of the overall cost.
This becomes much more reliable than the local storage because of the fact that the
centralized storage will be resulting in the higher value of components. Data can be accessed
from any part of the world along with an option of virtualisation is also provided by POS
system.
POS System and Decision Making:
The process of decision making becomes much easier when the POS system is
implemented. There is an option of tracking the number of units that are being sold. Checking
or viewing of the facts becomes easy when there is a need of tracking the various kinds of
products. POS system also helps in identifying the products which can bring profit to the
organisation. Real cost provides a platform that helps in shifting the various kind of products
which will be initially leading to the profit of the organisation.
POS System and business activities:
POS system can also be termed as a step up needed by the cash register. POS system
helps the organisation have branches at location more than one along with this it also helps in
the proper tracking of the various kinds of inventory (Hall 2012). The efficiency of the
employees can be easily maintained by the use of this system.
POS System and Tracing of the Information:
There is no need of tracing the information manually as the POS system helps a lot in
analysing the sales data. The effectiveness of pricing as well as campaign related to
advertisement can be easily measured. The analysis of quantity and amount of order can be
done by the POS system. Calculation of gross revenue, cost and profit can be done on a daily
basis.

List of questions to be answered in a better way:
The questions that can be answered in a better way by the new POS System are listed
below:
1. Proper material selection from the market.
2. Quality of the products
3. Monitoring of the sales record along with alerting when stocks are running out.
Information and Better Management of Business
The information provided by the POS system will be greatly helping in the
management of the business. the information provided helps in better management of the
inventory. Gift cards and loyalty program can be easily operated by the use of POS System
(Frisby et al. 2012). PI of customers and payroll of various employees can also be easily
tracked.
POS System and Recommended Telecommunication Option:
Network Type:
WAN or Wide Area Network can be used for the new POS System. This technology
is used so as favour the organisation communicate with other branches located at different
locations. WAN connects the PC at one side and POS System at the other thereby
establishing connection between two points by use of internet.
Media Type:
Wireless technology is preferred for the Wide Area Network which is used for the
exchange of the information at a larger distance. Phone lines or satellite are used for the
purpose of transmitting the media (Roland 2012). The most common type or well-known
WAN service is the Internet.

Risks and Protection of the POS system:
Security:
The major security risk in the POS System is that when the network isn’t secure. The
hackers are able to find this weak sections and steal the information of the customers.
Another risk is if the software that is being used is not updated (Roland 2012). The device
that is being used can also act as a security threat.
Privacy:
Cybercriminals are able to find the weak places in the unsecure network which will be
leading to the stealing of the customer’s private information like the credit card number and
the account data of the business.
Confidentiality:
Credit card skimmers can collect the information’s for the purpose of accessing the
credit cards of the customers and then compress it. The attackers mainly target the system by
making use of various kinds techniques.
Protection of POS system:
Storing the POS technology in a separate password-protected network can help in
elimination of risk. Along with this there is a need of keeping the software updated. Devices
should be chosen which are having an inherent security measure (Roland 2012). Hardware
should be checked on a routine basis.
Conclusion:
The report helps in concluding that every business is unique so the requirements of
the business varies according to the type of industry. Industry specific systems are available
in the market. There are various ways in which the POS system would be helping out the

organisation which is associated with several types of threats. But this threats can be easily
eliminated by making use of simple techniques.

References:
Aleksandrovna, M.E., Fedorovich, N.A. and Viktorovna, P.T., 2016. Potential of the Internet
network in formation of the assortment of the trade organizations. European science review,
(1-2).
Frisby, W., Moench, B., Recht, B. and Ristenpart, T., 2012, August. Security Analysis of
Smartphone Point-of-Sale Systems. In WOOT (pp. 22-33).
Hall, J.A., 2012. Accounting information systems. Cengage Learning.
Ko, S., Maciejewski, R., Jang, Y. and Ebert, D.S., 2012, June. Marketanalyzer: an interactive
visual analytics system for analyzing competitive advantage using point of sale data.
In Computer Graphics Forum (Vol. 31, No. 3pt3, pp. 1245-1254). Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
Ko, S., Maciejewski, R., Jang, Y. and Ebert, D.S., 2012, June. Marketanalyzer: an interactive
visual analytics system for analyzing competitive advantage using point of sale data.
In Computer Graphics Forum (Vol. 31, No. 3pt3, pp. 1245-1254). Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
Morosan, C. and DeFranco, A., 2016. It's about time: Revisiting UTAUT2 to examine
consumers’ intentions to use NFC mobile payments in hotels. International Journal of
Hospitality Management, 53, pp.17-29.
Rese, A., Schreiber, S. and Baier, D., 2014. Technology acceptance modeling of augmented
reality at the point of sale: Can surveys be replaced by an analysis of online
reviews?. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 21(5), pp.869-876.
Roland, M., 2012, June. Software card emulation in NFC-enabled mobile phones: great
advantage or security nightmare. In Fourth International Workshop on Security and Privacy
in Spontaneous Interaction and Mobile Phone Use(pp. 1-6).

Ståhlberg, M. and Maila, V., 2012. Shopper marketing: How to increase purchase decisions
at the point of sale. Kogan Page Publishers.