True Value, ACE and many hardware suppliers have their complete inventory on disks. The inventory is loaded from these disks the first time rather than by someone typing in the information. Price updates are done just as easily.
Kent Dement's store in Azle, Texas, has an IBM compatible in the office for ordering, receiving, accounting, and printing price tags. The checkout counter out front has a 40 column receipt printer and an 80 column invoice printer. The two stations share the same inventory in real time on a Novell network.
Most sales are over the counter and are paid for at the time the receipts are printed. These receipts are printed on 3 inch roll paper. Many sales, however, are to builders who have accounts with Dement's Hardware. These are printed on 80 column NEBS Business Forms. POS sends the sale to the correct printer without any action by the clerk. This feature eliminates anyone's forgetting to flip a printer selection switch.
Charges for sales to builders are automatically added to their accounts. There's absolutely no manual posting and statements can be sent immediately after the sale. Payments on account are posted by selecting the customer then entering the amount and payment type. The bookkeeper has less paperwork each day and accuracy is increased to nearly perfect. Prices and inventory are kept up-to-date by running the price update filter on the disks which are received periodically from True Value.