A point of sale is not just a screen; it runs in a physical selling environment, with hardware. This piece is about POS hardware configuration in Odoo.
Why a point of sale involves hardware
A point of sale is a genuinely physical thing: a real selling environment, a counter, a cashier, a customer, and the physical equipment that selling involves. In-person selling commonly uses hardware, the equipment a point of sale uses to do its job in the physical world, such as the means of taking payment, printing receipts, and the other physical equipment of a till. So a point of sale, unlike a purely on-screen application, involves hardware, and that hardware has to be connected to the POS for the point of sale to genuinely function in its physical environment.
What POS hardware configuration is
POS hardware configuration is the connecting of the point of sale to the physical hardware the selling environment uses. Odoo POS supports working with POS hardware, so the equipment of a real till can be connected to the point of sale and used as part of selling. Configuring POS hardware is setting up that connection, so the point of sale and its physical hardware work together as a genuine, functioning till.
Why getting the hardware right matters
Getting the POS hardware configuration right matters because the hardware is part of the point of sale genuinely working. A point of sale that cannot, in its physical environment, take payment through its hardware, or do the other physical things a till does, is not a fully functioning till. The hardware configuration is what makes the point of sale a genuine, working till in its physical environment rather than just a screen. So configuring the POS hardware properly is part of the point of sale genuinely working.
Configure the hardware the business genuinely uses
The practical work of POS hardware configuration is connecting the point of sale to the genuine hardware the business's selling environment uses, the genuine equipment the business has and intends to use. A business should configure the POS to work with its genuine hardware, so the point of sale and the physical till work together. The hardware configuration should reflect the genuine physical selling environment of the business.
The takeaway
POS hardware configuration in Odoo is the connecting of the point of sale to the physical hardware a real selling environment uses, such as the means of taking payment and printing receipts. A point of sale involves hardware because it is a genuinely physical thing, and the hardware has to be connected for the POS to function fully in its physical environment. Getting the hardware configuration right matters because the hardware is part of the point of sale genuinely working as a till. Configure the POS to work with the genuine hardware the business uses. For how we approach Odoo, see our ERP practice.