I am building a Point of Sale (POS) application with CI and want to know what people think about a web based point of sale system. What should be part of the core features? What do you think in general about the idea?
I am mainly focusing on simplicity and usability ensuring that the site is easy to use while not being packed full of features, options, and configuration.
I know not everyone uses POS systems day to day but thought I would ask around.
A Point of Sale machine is a fancy word for a cash register.
What kind of crazy PHP tweakery are you doing to interface with the system outside the browser sandbox? If you have a cash drawer, you’ll need a way to send the signal to open it. If you have a credit card device, you’ll need to interface with that. I think barcode readers work as a standard HID, so that wouldn’t be a problem… I guess I don’t see this as something that PHP is particularly suited to.
Unless you’re talking about an eCommerce app, which is very different.
I would definitely develop an iPhone version. Mobile POS via iPhone would be wonderful.
A mobile version would be very handy.
Is it going to interface with physical cash registers?
Eventually I would like to interface with different hardware like cash drawers, receipt printers, and barcode scanners. Most cash drawers are triggered on print, so when the receipt is sent to print the cash drawer pops open. So that should be possible.
What kind of crazy PHP tweakery are you doing to interface with the system outside the browser sandbox? If you have a cash drawer, you’ll need a way to send the signal to open it. If you have a credit card device, you’ll need to interface with that. I think barcode readers work as a standard HID, so that wouldn’t be a problem… I guess I don’t see this as something that PHP is particularly suited to.
The credit card processing could use a third party scanner and run the transaction through a payment gateway such as authorize.net using the point of sale application. For the initial phase a stand-alone credit card terminal, which most small businesses already use, would be sufficient. The point of sale application would just record if payment was made and how much.
What do you think?
The reason I would use PHP and CI is rapid development and rapid distribution that would be impossible for traditional POS systems. Not to mention any store owner anywhere could access their point of sale application from any computer.
I have a name and a website for my upcoming point of sale application, check it out and feel free to sign-up for email updates to get a sneak peek before public launch.
The site design is temporary, more style and content coming very soon.
This is a serious undertaking. If you really plan on offering a web based POS application, you will need feature packed software, advanced technical support, and numerous servers running across multiple data centers. Things like hardware integration are not features that you should ‘eventually’ be looking at, but are absolutely necessary to make your application at all practical. Based on some of the comments you have made I don’t know if you have really thought things through. I’m not saying don’t do it, and I do wish you luck, but something like this really requires a large team and a fair amount of start up capital. I don’t know your situation, but it may not be the most prudent business decision, especially considering an already crowded market. Unless you have come up with a new technology or feature that will greatly increase efficiency at the register, I just don’t think it is worth the time.
This is a serious undertaking. If you really plan on offering a web based POS application, you will need feature packed software, advanced technical support, and numerous servers running across multiple data centers. Things like hardware integration are not features that you should ‘eventually’ be looking at, but are absolutely necessary to make your application at all practical. Based on some of the comments you have made I don’t know if you have really thought things through. I’m not saying don’t do it, and I do wish you luck, but something like this really requires a large team and a fair amount of start up capital. I don’t know your situation, but it may not be the most prudent business decision, especially considering an already crowded market. Unless you have come up with a new technology or feature that will greatly increase efficiency at the register, I just don’t think it is worth the time.
I don’t think successful web-based apps have to be “feature packed”. All the POS software out there is over packed with features that people don’t necessarily need and just get in the way. Look at 37signals and their methodology. They have been successful in building apps that are very specific and do one thing and do it well. That is my goal with FireSale.
Hardware integration will come but is not necessary for the app to be useful. Using a combination of auto-suggest and clever UI I think a person could be just as productive using a keyboard as they would using a sku gun. With that being said integration with sku guns and labels printers will be the first priority when it comes to hardware integration. The market is crowded with overpriced standalone applications that aren’t for the average small business owner.
This has been around for a while. I am going to take a look at what they use for barcoding. On the other hand the UI is really bad. They haven’t used any javascript to make life a lot easier for the user, table sorting, auto-suggest etc. Some other features they have that might be useful are brands, categories, and suppliers associated with products.
1. Put together a business model and strategy
2. Approach a VC or apply for a loan (good luck these days!)
3. Put together a staff of highly-trained developers and designers, or contract with existing firms
4. Put together another team to work on marketing the solution
Using a combination of auto-suggest and clever UI I think a person could be just as productive using a keyboard as they would using a sku gun.
Sorry, but you are wrong on this. No shop owner is going to want to have to train their staff to manually enter SKUs into the computer. It’s just not practical. You need to integrate hardware.
