We’ve all heard the phrase, “necessity is the mother of invention,” and in the late 1800’s saloonkeeper James Ritty’s main necessity was keeping his employees from pocketing part of his daily earnings. Ritty’s high volume, cash only business offered ample opportunities for his staff to help themselves to a daily “bonus,” and Ritty wanted to put a stop to it. His solution was pure genius; each time the cash drawer was opened, a loud bell rang alerting him to all transactions. The bell was so loud that it was nicknamed, “the bell heard round the world,” according to a story on Quorion.com.
The Incorruptible Cashier
Ritty teamed up with John Birch and in 1883 the pair was granted a patent establishing them as the inventors of the cash register as reported in cashregisteronline.com . The new, “Incorruptible Cashier” is recognized as the first working mechanical cash register. The device used metal taps with currency denominations pressed into them to display the amount of the sale while the famous bell happily chimed with each purchase. The machine could also keep track of all the key presses made during a day assuring the cash stayed in the till. While many improvements were made along the way, basic models that take and keep track of cash are still prevalent in many retail stores, bars, restaurants and small grocery stores today.
Cash Register or iPad POS System?
Every business owner agrees that keeping track of transactions is paramount to success. But, there are several advantages iPad POS systems provide over basic cash registers to help achieve that goal. Here are three of the top differences:
- Modern cash registers can be used to divide products by category, and most offer scanners to ring up the items your customers are purchasing. An iPad POS system does all that, and also provides a platform for managing inventory with the ability to trigger orders assuring stock levels are always constant.
- Your cash register keeps a true record of the day’s transactions, but unless your device is connected to a computer system, record keeping can be quite a chore. Many businesses store miles of register tapes or paper receipts that can pile up into an unyielding mess over time. Your iPad POS system keeps track of all transactions, and can spot trends in sales that help you adjust your business model to stay competitive. It can also store all records in the cloud assuring instant access to all data at any time and from most any place.
- Cash registers are great at ringing transactions, storing cash and keeping a record of a particular day. An iPad POS system can remember your customer’s name by their phone number, improving on the all-important customer experience. It can also create data bases which can be used to offer specials to your regulars assuring repeat business.
Revel’s iPad POS – A Smart Choice
Revel can tailor an iPad POS solution to fit any business, from a mom and pop grocery store to a college football stadium. Why not take a test drive in a brand new Revel iPad POS system? It’s fast, simple, and free! Click here to get started; you’ll be glad you did.
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