What is POS?
It stands to reason that if a POS is a “point of sale,” or a place where sales are made, then a POS terminal is the physical equipment that enables merchants to process payments in order to complete a customer purchase.
Historically, cash registers have been the only POS terminal available. But now, POS terminals are much more sophisticated and streamlined, and when coupled with customizable software, modern POS terminals enable merchants many more capabilities than simply processing payments.
There are lots of POS terminals on the market today. You can always choose a standard, countertop POS terminal, but today many business owners opt for all-in-one payment processing systems, such as Square (and others, a few of which we’ll describe later).
Also be aware that POS systems and POS terminals are often used interchangeably. But where a POS system encompasses those several capabilities we alluded to—think inventory management, employee management, and customer-behavior data—strictly speaking, a POS terminal refers to the machine proper which accepts credit card payments, whether that’s in person, online, via your smartphone or tablet, or over the phone.
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