Point of Sale

Point of sale lets you process in-store sales and process returns. This article covers in-store sales—everything from assembling the order to accepting payment.

Equipment

Populi works with USB keyboard emulator scanners and credit-card readers. Your computer regards such devices as a keyboard—it's just like a fast, accurate typist is sitting at the keyboard. There are numerous inexpensive options for scanners and credit card readers (Populi handles Track 2 data, so a reader that grabs that information would be worth your while).

Selling Items

On the left side of the screen you assemble the customer's order, whether by searching for items or scanning them. On the right side you enter payment information and complete the checkout.

1. Type in the search field or scan the item's barcode. If you're searching by typing, make sure you select the correct item segment! Repeat this for every item the customer is purchasing.
2. At any point, you can change the remove or change the quantity of any item (you can also scan an item multiple times to change the quantity).
3. (Optional) If the customer has a discount code, type to search for it and select from the results. The order summary will update the price automatically.
4. (Optional) If the customer is part of your school community, search for them by name. If a student, search for them by student ID or name.
5. Choose the payment method.
   • Credit card: Asks you for billing information—if the customer is a student, then most of these fields will auto-fill when you search for the student in the previous step.
   • Cash/Check: Doesn't ask you for anything except for a check number.
   • Charge to account: This is an option for customers who are current students. Read about charging items to student accounts.
6. When everything's all ready, click Complete Checkout.

Once you complete checkout, you'll see a link to the order receipt. This link is also emailed to the customer (if he's in Populi or you get his email during checkout). You can also find it in the Admin > Orders report.