The Best of Both Worlds: POS and ERP

A computer and mouse, socks and tennis shoes, and peanut butter and jelly are all examples of things that go well together. These things don’t work as well on their own, and they work better together. In the retail IT industry, ERP and POS are examples.

ERP stands for Enterprise Resource Planning in layman’s terms, and it refers to a system that controls important business processes including inventories, sales, accounting, and other back-end corporate functions. The front-end technology that manages the transaction after the customer enters the picture is referred to as POS (Point of Sale).

The term “point of sale” does not imply “enterprise resource planning.” ERP, on the other hand, cannot be used as a point-of-sale system. A smaller company may be able to get by with just one or the other. However, as a retailer reaches the mid-market and needs to consider customer requests, inventory, and managing a large-scale operation, integrating the two (provided they are the correct two) will result in a streamlined process that will most likely result in higher sales. If you don’t combine your ERP and POS, and you need both, you’re wasting time and money. No matter what you read on the internet, there is no POS system that is also an ERP, and vice versa. Period.

The issue is that some POS systems advertise themselves as ERPs, delivering confusing messages to retailers who require both (and are getting conned into only having the POS). Retailers who buy a point-of-sale system with the intention of using it as their one-stop shop for managing their entire operation will learn the hard way (unfortunately with lots of time and probably lots of money).

Now, don’t get the wrong impression… Every POS isn’t treated the same way (and neither is every ERP for that matter). Oscars POS system, for example, provides a lot of capabilities, including the opportunity to develop bespoke features for your retail store, as well as components that have been shown to boost client loyalty and works at lightning speed.

Enough with the self-promotion, but honestly, combining the proper POS system with an effective and current ERP system will streamline your business processes, increase sales, and free up time.