Role and Advantages Using Point of Sale for Promoting Health Products and Services

INTRODUCTION

The POS in various retail industries uses customized hardware and software as per their requirements. Retailers may utilize weighing scales, scanners, electronic and manual cash registers, EFTPOS terminals, touch screens and any other wide variety of hardware and software available for use with POS. For example, a grocery or candy store uses a scale at the point of sale, while bars and restaurants use software to customize the item or service sold when a customer has a special meal or drink request.

The modern point of sale in Medical field is often referred to as the shopping cart or shopping site because it is not just a point of sale but also a point of return or customer order. Additionally it includes advanced features to cater to different functionality, such as inventory management, CRM, financials, warehousing, etc., all built into the POS software.

OBJECTIVES

In this section, the proposed smart shopping cart for medical autoclaves equipments and devices is presented. The current development of the system with adds to cart facilities is shown in Fig. 1 & Fig.2. The added items will be shown in the cart page with their price, quantity and subtotal. Cart totals option there is subtotal and total options are available. When user will proceeds to check out the system will redirect it on the checkout page which is represented by Fig.3. Customer has to fill up his billing detail at the checkout page and make the payment through any payment gateway method for transferring money into seller’s account. After successfully payment the customer will receive an email regarding it purchase and side by side to the store owner for the latest order.

The Shopping cart combines modularity, simplicity, and eases of use at a low cost development so that it can be potentially targeted to assist customers in doing shopping and integrated into the IoT network of many health distributors. The Point of Sale/ Shopping cart is based on a standard shopping platform is built with using many web technologies i.e. Php, React, Java Script, Css which provide the user interface. The control panel for administrator provides the functionality to see the orders received and make the particular order in dispatched state. This order completion having various functionalities involved like print various reports i.e. print bill, generation of dispatched order receive slip, user paid receipt etc.

Acquiring a POS solution combined with credit card processing is a feasible option for small businesses that are looking for point-of-sale solutions with a low upfront cost. Most often the hardware investment is low and the swipe-fee rates competitive. In addition, most iPad, mobile or online POS payment processing versions do not require a long-term agreement, and in many cases you can use hardware you already own. Some point-of-sale services provide full POS systems including hardware and software in exchange for a credit card processing agreement. Usually these agreements require a longer commitment than iPad POS services or those that allow you to use your own hardware, which quite often are month-to-month. IPad or Android tablet POS services often only require you to pay processing fees, making them a sensible choice for new, seasonal or mobile businesses.

AREAS COVERED BY POS SYSTEM

Point of sale system covers the following areas in comparison to the following areas.

1. Retail industry

A retail point of sale system typically includes a cash register (which in recent times comprises a computer, monitor, cash drawer, receipt printer, customer display and a barcode scanner) and the majority of retail POS systems also include a debit/credit card reader. It can also include a conveyor belt, weight scale, integrated credit card processing system, a signature capture device and a customer pin pad device. More and more POS monitors use touch-screen technology for ease of use and a computer is built into the monitor chassis for what is referred to as an all-in-one unit.

2. Health industry

Health point-of-sales systems are computerized systems incorporating registers, equipments and peripheral medical devices, usually on a computer network to be used in Hospitals, clinics or with private practitioners. Like other point-of-sale systems, these systems keep track of sales, inventory, labor and payroll, and can generate records used in accounting and book keeping. They may be accessed remotely by corporate offices easily and troubleshooters can easily maintain the records remotely.

3. Pharmacy industry

Point-of-sales systems have revolutionized the pharmacy industry, particularly in the medicine’s sector. In the most recent technologies, registers are computers, sometimes with touch screens. The registers connect to a server, often referred to as a "store controller" or a "central control unit". Printers and monitors are also found on the network. Additionally, remote servers can connect to store networks and monitor sales and other store data of the medicine sold and maintain the records of the customers also. On demands the records can be represented by the operator by running different database records fetching queries.

4. Accounting forensics

POS systems record sales for business and tax purposes. Illegal software dubbed "zappers" can be used on them to falsify these records with a view to evading the payment of taxes

5. Government Sector payment method

OPOS system is for government payment methods for its customers and users who are using its services. We can consider Electricity Board Customer payment and receipt.

SCOPE

The scope of this system is to provide user efficient working environment and more output can be generated through this. This system provides user friendly interface resulting in knowing each and every usability features of the system.

This system helps in tracking records so that past records can be verified through them and one can make decisions based on the past records. This system completes the work in a very less time resulting in less time consumption and high level of efficiency

1. The main objective of this system is to keep records of the complete inventory.
2. It support for inventory management helps you record and track materials on the basis of both quantity and value.
3. It improves cash flow, visibility, and decision making.
4. For warehouse management, you can track quantity and value of all your materials, perform physical inventory, and optimize your warehouse resources.

FUNCTIONAL REQUIREMENTS

1. INPUT/OUTPUT
1. System shall have a form to accept the customer details.
2. System shall have a form to accept the Plant details.
3. System shall display transaction details.
4. System shall provide search facility on customer name, Order Placed, date of order, date of order dispatch, date of transaction, transaction amount, credit card no etc.
5. System should provide facility for change in address/name.
6. System should maintain the details about placing order/dispatch or order i.e., order status.
2. PROCESSING
1. System should automatically generate the bill.
2. System should inform the pending order and make changes if the order is dispatched.
3. ERROR HANDLING
1. Should report any errors on duplicate primary keys.
2. Should report any ‘Out of Range’ values on numeric fields
3. Should report any data type mismatches any field on the forms.
4. Should report on any ‘Invalid dates’
5. Should report any violation of authorization of rights
6. Should report any Invalid Login errors

NoN FUNCTIONAL REQUIREMENTS

1. All user manuals should be provided in the necessary format
2. Application should support 5 simultaneous users.
3. Transaction should be completed within 1/5th of second
4. There will be backup procedure to maintain records

CONCLUSION

This study develops a smart shopping cart solution which can be applied for supermarkets and malls, medical companies and distributors and any end customer who wants to visit the web platform or web application. The user interface provides some important pages like Home page where all the products information with services categories and contact form can be seen. While on shop page all the available products are available at the ready to sell state. On the cart page all the products added by the current user will be seen and checkout button is available to complete the purchase for the current session and with older added items added by logged in users.

Also the most importantly it provides the assistive information to promote the shopping services and products for customers online. In addition, the automatic billing facility can avoid queue in the check-out process so that the better shopping experience for customers can be created. Finally, through the recorded data which links between customers and shopping behavior, the proposed Point of Sale System demonstrates the highly potential capability to be integrated into the IoT in supermarkets and Health environment.

Conference Paper: I have presented this paper in the 3rd International Dental lab Expo & conference 2019 and awarded a certificate for lecture & demonstration.

REFERENCES