Point Of Sale (POS)

POS – Point of Sale

The POS application is the front end for the indoor sales. It integrates the functionalities for selling both fuel and dry products or services, monitors the forecourt in real-time and traces all cashier’s operations to enable cash control and shift reconciliations. All POS events are stored in real time in the system database that supports the BackOffice.

It is optimized for touchscreen usage having an improved visual and operational ergonomics which helps the cashiers to both quickly view the status of the forecourt or current sale and also quickly navigate, add or remove items or methods of payment. Normal operation with keyboard and mouse is also supported, with shortcut keys for all main functions.

The application is developed using the newest advancements in technology and programming languages and paradigms, providing a future proof system that can be easily maintained and extended.

For security, all cashiers must have a valid user created in the back office. This allows tracking of all cashier activity, clear evidence of initial and ending cash for a shift.

The POS application together with a fiscal printer and a customer display compose the Fiscal Device and are authorized in Romania by legal authorities to be used in a Fuel Station retail point.

Main features offered by the Point of Sale are:

Sales Processing

  • Combined fuel and dry item or services sales
    • A sale can contain one fuel transaction and multiple dry items, restaurant/café products or services
  • Item selection can be made by fuel transaction buttons, frequent product shortcuts, PLU, Barcode or searching by name
    • For each fuel transaction a button is dynamically generated, containing all the necessary information for the cashier
    • The products selection by inserting the product code can be made by scanning the barcode or inputting the EAN13 code from the standard numeric keyboard or virtual keyboard in case of a touch screen;
    • Selecting the products based on the name of the product allow the cashier to perform searching operations in the catalogues by the product’s name. Unlike the sale by inserting the complete code of the product, in this case the selection is able to be made by inserting the partial name of the products. If, in the catalogue, there are items containing the group of inserted letters, these will be displayed.
    • In the results list, for each article searched by one of the above mentioned methods, all the necessary information is displayed for the correct identification, information such as: price, stock, code, details, short description, etc.
  • Fuel pumps control
    • Start / Stop all
    • Stop / start single pump
    • Start pump with preset value
    • Fueling mode selection – postpaid, prepaid, combinations
    • Visual traffic light for each pump
    • Different station Operation Modes selection (ex. Night Mode – cashier authorization needed for each transaction, Day Mode – pumps default authorized)
  • Handling of suspended sales (parked sale)
    • The cashier is able to park the current sale without losing the items in case of any issue and serve another customer meanwhile
  • Voiding line or entire sale
    • The cashier is able to remove an item from the sale list or completely empty the current sale
  • Automatic / manual receipt printing
  • Fraction of quantity product sale (for weighted products)
    • The application allows entering the exact quantity to be sold for a product (for example weighted items like fruits, vegetables, etc.)

Methods of Payment

  • Possibility to use multiple methods of payment for the same transaction
    • A combination of methods of payment can be used to finalize a sale (cash and bank card, cash and meal vouchers, bank card and gift vouchers, etc.)
  • Cash (with change management)
  • Meal and Gift vouchers
  • Fleet cards (integrated with Fleet Cards Management System)
  • Bank cards
    • Depending on the EFT terminal provided by the bank an integrated & automated mode can be implemented
  • Checks
  • Internal Consumption
  • Capacity of integrating the sale process with loyalty systems (depending on customization)

Promotions and discounts

Multiple types of promotions and discounts can be defined: discount value per product, discount percent per product, fixed price per product, free products, happy hours, bundles and combination between them.

Loyalty

Loyalty cards are automatically recognized by the system in any step of sale process and are saved on sale for later processing by Loyalty HO.

Quick Service Restaurant

The QSR module allows the operators to easily manage orders and sales for the restaurant area of the Fuel Station. They can add restaurant product orders on different tables at any moment of time, print slip receipt and finally transform the order into a sale and issue the final receipt.

Main functionalities for the QSR Module are:

  • Multiple zones can be defined (ex.: Bar, Dining, Outside Terrace, etc.)
  • Tables can be added for each zone using a visual management tool (drag and drop)
  • Possibility to quickly add QSR products to a sale using a virtual table button
  • For each table an order can be open and items can be added whenever the customer places a new order
  • For each item added to the order the waiter can specify production instructions (ex.: with ice, well done, medium, etc.)
  • The gastro items can be either standard items, or recipe items with production at sale or preproduced. The system also allows for recipe in recipe situations.
  • For easy product lookup, the items can be arranged in a Category – Subcategory tree and images can be set for each product
  • Transfer between tables is possible, being able to move specific items or all the items. This allows for easy split payment if required by the customers
  • Section printers (ex.: kitchen, bar, etc.) can be defined, so that the production order is directly sent to the required section together with any production instructions entered by the waiter
  • Printing of a Proforma Receipt is possible for any order
  • All the ordered items can be paid in the general POS sale screen, using the same interface as for any other product
  • You can mix Wet, Dry and Restaurant products on a single sale

Special Functions

  • Fiscal actions
    • Print Z reports
    • Print X reports
    • Print periodic reports
  • Open Cash Drawer
  • Print a copy for an old receipt
  • Refund
  • Negative sales
  • Cash deposit in safe – Safe Drops
  • Paid – in/out
  • Till cash reconciliation (initial/final declare cash, open/suspend/close shift)
  • Login in/out, till locking
  • Multilingual (Local and English language)
  • Simple process for issuing invoices from receipts
  • Alerts of forecourt issues that can impact sales (TLS high water alarm, TLS low stock alarm, etc.)
  • Alerts on POS for scheduled fuel price changes
  • Visual alerts for fuel transactions not finalized within a threshold time period
  • Tank reports
  • Sensitive operations protected with per cashier security
  • Multiple themes support
  • Ready for contactless payments

Integration with ForeCourt Controllers

The POS application works in conjunction with the DOMS PSS 5000 forecourt controller or in conjunction with the software PetroSol FCC. This allows it to connect to a great range of forecourt devices like fuel pumps, LPG pumps, TLG systems, Price Poles, etc. using the proven mechanism and interfaces implemented in the PSS 5000 controller and in the PetroSol FCC, allowing the customer to have great flexibility in choosing his equipment.

Additional devices integration

As a standard architectural pattern each device is always connected to the system with an abstraction layer, thus enabling an easy integration with different device protocols. There are integrations with barcode readers, several bank card terminals, PetroSol fleet card terminal, aso.