Do you use your website as your POS?

POS= Point of Sale (for brick&mortar store)

[akmac]

Just curious if anyone here does this. Seems like if you're serving your site locally, it would be pretty simple to use it as your local point of sale. Depending of course on the features you require for online versus offline customers-it could be a benefit. Would certainly cut down on inventory entry, control, etc.

The problems that spring to mind are:

1-paying higher discount rates for local cc purchases
2-Features (though if it exists with your POS software-it can exist on your website)
3-Selling the same item twice -online & off (could happen, assuming unique inventory)
4-disrupted internet connection disables store (for those not hosting their own site on location)
5-privacy issues relating to local customers information being stored online-nonissue?
6-different prices online and off-some do this.

Can you think of more?
Has this worked for you?

Please share...

[Stores]

You be better off getting a back end order management system that integrates with your website and acts as a POS. Sticky me if you want to talk specifics.

[Buzbe]

Someones been reading their journal articles...

Willcocks & Plant (2001) springs to mind!

[GarryBoyd]

I'm convinced this is the answer for many retailers. I have one client who sells thousands of small parts. To find it online, you search the store by part # or description. To find it in the store you have to ask a salesperson, who may have to ask a backroom guy. I say it would be much easier to have a few terminals in store with a local copy of the web store. Then customers can find what they want, order it and pay at the counter or charge to an account.

Just a matter of finding the right (affordable) solution.

[tbear]

Several of my clients do this.
The main problem I have in making their sites, is their desire to make life easier in the sales office, makes life harder for online visitors......
They will often settle for the easier in the office option stakes and lose out in the 'lead getting' online stakes. Bit short sighted, but they pay the piper, they call the tune.
I sometimes end up dropping the client 'cos I can't do my primary job to my satisfaction. That's probably why I'm not a wealthy guy :(

[Import Export]

tbear. Build a backend system for the physical store and also the online version for web users. It will take less time than it takes you to wonder about how to create 1 system to work for both..

[snag]

There are products that act as both... I've got one client where it was cheaper and easier to use a microsoft POS backend with a data export/update to an oscommerce site... web orders have to be entered by hand though, so it may be a problem when their web sales take off.

I've personally looked at two comprehensive packages that are hosted, web-based CMS. You can log into it like a pos for phone/local orders, and it of course has a web front end. Most of the products I've seen are either shopping carts trying to add inventory management/etc, or old-school b&m pos apps trying to add on a hokey web front end.

I think this is the wave of the future, but the technology is about where shopping carts were 5 years ago- pretty cheesy. There's a ton of money floating around though, so I don't doubt that pretty soon relatively off the shelf solutions will be able to do the job.