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The first POS systems appeared in the latter parts of the 1800s. In1870, James Ritty was fed up with his dishonest employees who pocked cash instead of depositing it with the OH Saloon in Dayton. So, he started to search for ways to automate the cash registry of the Saloon what specialized in pure Whiskies, Wines and Cigars.

It was during a trip that Ritty took on a ship when he got the idea of an automated mechanical cash register. He, being technical minded himself, was quick to catch the technique that the ships maintenance staff used to keep track of the number of revolutions the ship’s propeller for maintenance work. When James returned of Dayton he teamed up with his brother John and got to work making the first automated mechanical cash register that recorded transactions at the saloon. They called this patented device the ‘Ritty’s Incorruptible Cashier”.

This first cash register allowed a clerk to calculate the transaction and return the correct amount of change to the customer. The mechanical cash register had a cash draw that opened each time a transaction was negotiated to allow the clerk to make changes to the deposit by putting in cash and taking out the correct change before the draw was closed. It was mandatory for the draw to open and close before the next transaction could be carried out.

The cash register allowed the streamlining of the accounts to be maintained. These were the basic mechanical cash registers and nothing much changed for a very long time. Then the electronic cash registers come in frontier.

The mechanical cash registers had many drawbacks. For example, they could not maintain a record of the inventory in the store. If an item was sold the item would have to be manually removed from the inventory. Cashiers had to manually type in the amount. This was not the case with the electronic cash register that was fully automatic and allowed for streamlining of the checkout system.

Electronic cash registers had an additional tool called the “bar code scanner”. The product just had to be passed over the barcode reader and the cash register would automatically calculate the amount and add it to the bill. There was little need for typing in the amount of the item being sold. One more action the electronic cash register carried out was to automatically delete the item sold from the inventory. This reduced a lot of work for the staff on the shop floor and thus saves time.

The cash register has come a long way in history from the time it was invented. From the simple mechanical cash register to the today’s complex networked computerized electronic cash register, the cash register obviously does a lot more than just manage cash.

Today’s point of sale systems are faster, safer,  more secure, and more reliable than their ancestors, and allow retailers to operate every aspects of their business with a single, integrated point of sale system.