New to POS. Need Suggestions!!

[howche]

Hi all

I currently own a grocery store which needs to upgrade its POS systems. We are currently using Samsung ER 650s which are no longer able to take the amount of PLUs we have. After a bit of researching I am suprised to see the amount of choices that are now available. I seem to hvae understood the hardware bit with the components and what not, but what I'm having real problems are with the software programs since there are so many to choose from. I wanted to know if anyone on the forums have any suggestions with their experience and expertise on the matter (even on what brand or model of the hardware to use aswell).
My criteria for choosing these are:
* Need to be easily serviced and maintaned. ie There is no point if the system will break down every 6months.
* Incase something does happen, technician or parts can be easily obtained
* For the software, efficiency and ease to use is the number one factor.

Please post any other additional questions that you think may be helpful

Thank You

[Henny]

Depends on your store configuration. Do you have a deli or meat market?

[howche]

Grocery/Retail. So there are fresh vege (stuff you need to weigh by kilo) and canned or packed goods which just need to be swiped by the barcode. The vege prices tend to fluctuate frequently so or software that suits that criteria would make life alot easier.

[Henny]

I noticed a magic word in there... Kilo, are you located in the USA? If not, extra care needs to be taken for the units of measurement and currency. I would look at microsoft's POS Solution if you are outside the USA

[howche]

I did a google on the miicrosoft pos but it came up with some pretty bad reviews. Are there differet versions out there?

Also someone posted this on another forum:

"The grocery industry is cornered by:
NCR
IBM
Fujitsu
SMS (new to the market out of Canada)

Most other softwares are retail systems that have a add on modules to be profeceint in grocery stores. If you are a small grocery store then products like Catapult and MS Retail package can be integrated, but the big ones listed above already work best with WIC systems, and ease of interface from grocery suppliers for automated sales updates when fliers are generated from the suppliers."

What would you comment be on the above statement? Or are the ones that are listed limited to "US-friendly"

Thx

[Henny]

Where are you located?

[howche]

Australia

[Henny]

Look at Retail Data Solutions. Not 100% sure if they operate in Australia or not, but they have an excellent grocery suite.

[Lewis]

Hi All,

Just letting you all know of a new product to the market, which monitors your POS / EFTPOS gear and notifies you or your support person by text or email.


This cuts down on support costs because it diagnoses problems for you and allows support people to arrive with the correct equipment for the job.
it also increases your profitable uptime and company image because it alerts you to issues before they become problems and cause outages.


Thanks,