Listed below are some suggested
steps to take and questions to ask yourself when getting ready to purchase
point of sale software and peripheral devices. Also, listed are the types of
hardware that RetailEdge supports and how that hardware would connect to your
system.
|
| 1. Choose the
Point of Sale Software: |
| The core to any
system is the software. This should be determined first and will usually
dictate what type of computer or system devices you will need. |
|
POS Software
|
 |
RetailEdge Software
|
|
 |
| 2. Choose the
Computer Hardware: |
| Choose the computer system that
you need to run the software. What processor speed do you need? Do you need a
special monitor? Do you need a network for multiple workstations? What
peripheral devices are you going to want to connect to the computer and how do
they connect? |
|
POS Workstations
|
|
Workstation
|
|
| |
| 3. Choose a
receipt printer |
Do want to print invoice style
receipts to your regular Windows printer or do you want to print tape style
receipts? Do you want to have an less expensive and slower impact (dot-matrix
printer) printer or do you need a state of the art thermal receipt printer? Do
you need a printer that will print 2-ply receipts or do you need a printer with
an autocutter that will automatically cut the receipts as they are printed?
See Also: What type of Receipt
Printer do I need? |
|
Receipt Printers
|
Windows Printer
 |
Tape Style
Receipt Printer
RetailEdge Supported Connection Types:
USB, Serial, Parallel
|
|
|
| |
| 4. Choose a
barcode printing solution |
Although RetailEdge can print
barcode labels to standard Avery label sizes,(3 across x 10 down and 4 across x
20 down) some businesses need specialty label sizes (1" x1", Jewelry
Tags, etc.) and prefer the convenience of being able to more quickly print one
or two labels.
See Also: Can I print barcode labels
with RetailEdge? |
|
BarCode Printers
|
Windows Printer
|
Label Printers
RetailEdge Supported Connection Types:
USB, Parallel
|
|
|
|
| 5. Barcode
Scanners |
RetailEdge will print out an item
code on the label and typing this number on your keyboard's numeric keypad can
sometimes be faster than scanning a label. However if you are using standard
manufacturer's labels with barcodes already on them, then you will need a
barcode scanner.
See Also:
Do I need a BarCode Scanner?
What Type of scanner do I need? |
|
BarCode Scanners
|
 |
|
RetailEdge Supported Connection Types:
Keyboard Wedge , USB
|
|
|
|
| 6. Cash
Drawers |
RetailEdge will open
electronic cash drawers when completing a sale. These can either be connected
to a tape style receipt printer. Or if you are using a regular Windows printer
for invoice style receipts, you can connect the drawer directly to the computer
via a serial or parallel cable.
See Also: Do I need a receipt printer
and cash drawer? |
|
Cash Drawers
|
Receipt Printer
|
Direct Connect
|
|
RetailEdge Supported Connection Types:
RJ-12 Connection to Receipt Printer
|
RetailEdge Supported Connection Types:
Serial, Parallel
|
|
|
|
|
| 7. Payment
Systems |
RetailEdge can process credit
cards through a program called PCCharge or you can keep this portion of the
systems separate and use a separate credit card terminal. Using a program like
PCCharge can really save time processing if you have a high speed Internet
connection into your business. PCCharge will also be less expensive as you
increase the number of users who will need to process credit cards. However,
having a separate credit card terminal has the advantage of allowing you to
process credit cards if your computer goes down for any reason.
See Also: Credit Card Processing |
|
Payment Systems
|
|
Card Readers
 |
OR
|
Credit Card Terminals
 |
WITH
|
PC Charge Software
 |
RetailEdge Supported Connection Types:
No Connection
|
|
RetailEdge Supported Connection Types:
Keyboard Wedge , USB
|
|
|
|
| |
| 8. Customer
Displays |
| Show the customer what they are
buying at the time of sale. Have messages scroll across the display when you
are not processing sales. |
|
Displays
|
Pole Display
 |
Table Display
 |
|
RetailEdge Supported Connection Types:
USB, Serial
|
|
|
| |
| 9. Portable
Inventory Control Devices |
| Save time when
performing physical inventories or perform periodic spot checks on valuable
inventory with a portable data terminal. RetailEdge will also allow you to take
the data from the device to create purchase orders and import items being
received. |
|
Inventory Devices
|
Portable Data Terminals
 |
|
RetailEdge Supported Connection Types:
Serial
|
|
|
| |
| 10.
Scales |
| You can directly connect scales
to your computer to allow you to have RetailEdge calculate the weight of the
items being sold. Or you can have a separate scale that will print a barcode
and have RetailEdge read the price of the item directly from the barcode. |
|
Scales
|
Direct Connect
 |
Printing Weigh Scale
 |
|
RetailEdge Supported Connection Types:
Serial
|
RetailEdge Supported Connection Types:
No Connection
|
|
|
| |
| 11. Input
Devices |
| Other types of input devices like
programmable keyboards with integrated magnetic stripe card readers can also be
used with RetailEdge. These devices can save time by allow you to program
specialty keys to speed up commonly used functions. |
|
Input Devices
|
Keyboards
 |
|
RetailEdge Supported Connection Types:
Serial, Parallel, USB
|
|
|
