POS (Point of Sale) Systems & Miva

[Kent Multer]

Re: POS (Point of Sale) Systems & Miva

I've done Miva-to-POS integration in the past as a custom project, so if you don't find an off-the-shelf solution, feel free to drop me a line.

[gomblue]

Re: POS (Point of Sale) Systems & Miva

This is PC related - not Mac:

Our in-store sales and inventory control is most important.

We will be using mysql MM5.5. When we eventually purchase a POS system, should the database be hosted online? The in-store POS terminals would then communicate with our online database (hosted by Hostasaurus).

Wouldn't that allow for us to choose virtually any POS system software for in-store sales?

What is the best-practice for this?

Thank you

[kayakbabe]

Re: POS (Point of Sale) Systems & Miva

Wouldn't that depend on your POS sytem? Some don't use databases, some do, some don't allow offsite connections.. some do, some don't use mysql, some do.. if you've already fixed upon mysql5 hosted offsite, you are limiting your choices greatly.

The answer is dependant upon your software. And some other things you might not be thinking about such as:

One thing to consider too, if you are connecting to an offsite database.. then you will want to have a really hefty connection to the internet, a dsl or cable modem might not be sufficient for your store. And then you have some big security issues to worry about too.

What if the net goes down, you are stuck and can not take POS orders.

I keep our webstore data on the web hosting and import orders into our orderprocessing software which has a POS add-on. We don't do that much POS stuff, so my focus was on the order processing and website integration. StoneEdge Order Manager works great for that setup. My webhost keeps running whether or not my office/shop are connected to the net. I have an ups on my in house db server and on my register. I can keep running even if the power goes out for a few minutes. I also have time to save and shut down everthing if there is a power outage.

Your needs may be different if your primary income is generated from your brick and mortar store. If it is, seriously consider what happens if your network connection is unavailable.

If you decide you must host your db on the web instead of an inhouse server. You are going to have to shop for your POS system using that as one of the criteria.

And I'd look for some kind of insurance to make up your losses when the web is down.

You have a lot to consider.