First POS Project - Roller Skating Pro Shop

[rmkauffman]

A web design client of mine has asked me to set up a point-of-sale system for them. The POS system would be for the pro shop in their roller skating / roller hockey rink. The owner's biggest concern was inventory / pricing control, as he has no real way to ensure no one's cutting "buddy deals" or sneaking out inventory.

I'm obviously looking to control cost. I have decent hardware skills and a lot of programming / database experience... I was hoping to individually shop the parts / software and throw the system together myself instead of going the complete-solution route -- Do you guys think that is a cost-effective approach?

The users at this business are not too computer savvy, but will pick up on things quickly. I belive that in the future they would want to add a POS for their ticket/admission register and in their concession area... I would like the ability to tie the three together for all-in-one type reporting... Is there an easy way to go small now and add scalabillity later or does it need to be set up for that in the first place?

Any advice / nudges in the right direction would be GREATLY appreciated.

Ryan Kauffman

 

[jsentelle]

http://www.apipos.com/features.htm

This looks like a pretty slick little POS system, price is right, too. I've looked at the demo, pretty complete for what you want to do. I would think long and hard before spending the time to reinvent the wheel, there are lots of reasonable POS and inventory apps out there.

 

[WaitronUnit]

I agree w/ jsentelle. Trying to do this may or may not take its toll on your available time, so do consider using a ready-made solution for the software. As far as the hardware goes, if you want to look to a provider remember that they will have markup but that they'll probably support it, too.

From what you wrote, they're looking for an "all-in-one" solution (because of the possibility of incorporating concession sales later) that they'll be able to administer once you're out of the picture, etc. If so, you might want to look at something suited for quick foodservice that will allow for retail items from the pro shop. This will provide for future flexibility whereas going the retail route in the beginning might necessitate modifications -- or the additon of extra gizmos -- once they do decide to add that capability. In addition, most of the quickservice solutions will allow for special (i.e., non-taxable) keys for admission and that sort of thing. For example, lots of movie theatres use restaurant POS but have menus/departments programmed in for ticket sales, gift certificates and that sort of thing. You could easily incorporate pro shop sales this way.

I won't endorse specific software or products but I can point you in the right direction... try contacting the guys at lakeside710@rocketmail.com. They should be able to give you the skinny on systems that could take care of all the needs. Sorry I don't have a specific contact name; you should get a response if you put "Tek-Tips Q" in the subject line. That usually gets me a prompt reply....