Grocery store POS for supermarkets and mini markets

What a grocery store POS has to do

A grocery lives on the queue. The till has to add an item the moment it is scanned, take cash or card without fuss, and keep going when the internet drops. Behind the counter, deliveries arrive most days, hundreds of small items move, and cash passes through several hands in one day.

PointLit records every sale, delivery and count as a line in one ledger that cannot be edited, so when stock or cash comes up short, the lines show where it happened.

Fast scanning at the till

Nearly every shop barcode scanner behaves like a keyboard, and PointLit reads it with no driver and no setup: a scan adds the item to the cart, and scanning again adds another. Items without a barcode are found by searching the product list, and the Barcode rule gives new products their own codes so you can print labels for them. The cart keeps Subtotal, Tax and Total in view, a basket can be put aside on the same till while the next customer pays, and one bill can be split across up to four payments, with Change due worked out for cash.

Selling by weight, and the scale

Products can be kept in a weight unit such as the kilogram, and quantities are exact decimals, so 0.750 kg of cheese is a normal cart line. At the till the cashier enters the weight as the quantity.

A weighing scale can be connected to the PointLit Windows app and tested from its settings, but the till does not take the weight from the scale by itself: the cashier reads the scale and types the weight. Before you rely on a scale, write to support@pointlit.com with its make and model.

Receiving from suppliers

Deliveries are booked in Goods receipts against a supplier and a branch: put the supplier's invoice number in Reference, then add each item with its quantity and Unit cost. Goods going back use the same screen with the type set to Return. Supplier balances and the Supplier statement report show what you owe, Reorder points tell the Low stock report when an item needs refilling, and a whole delivery can be sent to the Barcode Printer so every item that arrived gets a label.

Stock counts that find the gaps

A count locks the branch and takes a snapshot, so run it when the shop is quiet. Tick Blind count and the system quantity stays hidden while staff count, so nobody copies the expected number. Posting the count writes each difference to the ledger as an adjustment, and every count stays in the count log. Breakage and spoiled goods are written off in Stock adjustments, where a Reason is required, so a shelf that keeps coming up short becomes a pattern you can see.

Shifts, cash and the Z-report

Each cashier opens a shift with the Opening float counted into the drawer, and money that leaves or enters the drawer for anything other than a sale is recorded as Cash in or Cash out with a reason. At the end, the cashier types Counted cash before the screen shows what it expected, so the Variance, Over, Short or Balanced, is an honest one. The Z-report lists the bill range, sales, discounts and refunds, a breakdown by payment method and by tax rate, and the drawer. The Cash variances report shows which shifts keep coming up short.

When the internet drops

If the connection drops during an open shift, the till keeps ringing sales, shows how many are waiting, and sends them in order when the line returns, as long as the till stays open. If the till has to restart, it opens again with no internet only if it has opened your business online since PointLit's last update.

How it works in PointLit

1. Plug in a keyboard-style barcode scanner. There is nothing to install.
2. Add your products, with a weight unit for anything sold by weight, and set Reorder points for your fast movers.
3. Book each delivery in Goods receipts and send it to the Barcode Printer if the items need labels.
4. Open a shift with the Opening float, sell, and close it by typing Counted cash, then print the Z-report.
5. Once a month, or when a shelf looks wrong, run a Blind count and post the adjustment.