Term of the Moment
indium
Definition: point of sale
Capturing data at the time and place of the sale. Emerging in the 1970s, point-of-sale (POS) systems use specialized terminals that are combined with cash registers, barcode scanners, magnetic stripe readers and chip readers for accurately and instantly capturing the transaction. Such systems are online to a central computer for credit checking and possibly inventory updating. See card reader, keyboard wedge, cashless ATM and self checkout.
Point of Sale
Busy supermarkets would be hard pressed to keep up with customer traffic if it were not for barcode readers and point-of-sale systems. Can we even remember the days without them? (Image courtesy of Sweda International AB.)