Retail Point-of-Sale Software Company Acquired

Microsoft has paid an undisclosed amount to acquire a retail point-of-sale software company, Sales Management Systems (SMS), in hopes of making its Great Plains business software more appealing to retail businesses. SMS sells software that lets stores use desktop PCs as cash registers while simultaneously tracking inventory and controlling pricing, among other functions. The acquisition will help Great Plains compete against Intuit, which also sells a point-of-sale application. It also fits into a larger Microsoft plan to link retailers with distributors and manufacturers and gives Microsoft 360 new channel partners.

Point-of-Sale, Explained

Broadly defined, point-of-sale (POS) technology is any technology that enables retail stores to record customer transactions. Two decades ago, standalone cash registers, which simply recorded each transaction on a piece of paper, were considered POS technology.

Today, however, POS systems can perform many other functions, such as tracking inventory and cashiers’ time, and they might consist of multiple registers or terminals linked to a central server and integrated with accounting and data-mining applications. Generally, value-added resellers (VARs) assemble POS systems from widely available hardware and software, then tailor them for a specific industry, customer, or store.