CODEWITHSUNDEEP
programming-languagespoint-of-sale
Ryan Griggs
Ryan Griggs

Reputation: 2758

Large retail point-of-sale systems: is there a standard language or protocol to define price rules?

This question relates to large retail POS systems, such as those used by Walmart and other large chains.

Is there a language which is commonly used by such systems to define price rules for items? I am trying to understand how a POS can apply so many rules when calculating prices of items. For example, the system has to account for sale prices based on date/time/coupon/number of items purchased. It must account for buy-one-get-one, buy several in a category and get something, get a coupon if a specific item is purchased, multiple-item discounts, membership card pricing, etc...

I want to understand how such a set of disparate rules would be

  1. created easily
  2. made simple for system administrators to keep up-to-date
  3. applied efficiently by hardware during the checkout process.

No languages with which I am familiar would make this an easy task for administrators. For example, a set of "if/then" or "case" statements could be used to pick which discounts to apply, but that seems very inefficient for managing huge inventories.

I'm sure the answer varies somewhat by POS manufacturer, but I'm interested in the general method of achieving this.

Upvotes: 0

Views: 299

Answers (2)

Brent
Brent

Reputation: 109

It's going to depend upon the retailer and software. Many of the large chains use Toshiba ( formerly IBM ) or NCR software for their Point of Sale. I can only speak to some of them under the old IBM side and certain retailers. You will unfortunately have to differentiate the front end and "Mainframe"(more like cloud servers now) as well.

At the front end, what you have with at least IBM is a specific file that keeps track of the items and the price. That file is basically a big lookup table that gives you the basic item information ( department, description, base price, current price, etc ). Barcode scanned turns into UPC which is typically how you look up the item. Then there are other files cross-referenced for some of the deals. Coupons can be included here. Coupons are treated separately but are matched up to the item to validate they're good and applied at the register.

Discounts can be applied at different levels. I suspect there is a price that's set by the buyers up at the homeoffice level. As that price is changed, it trickles down to the stores. Then at the store level, managers usually have the ability to also modify that price for store deals. ( I probably skipped a district level as well ). Each layer can apply their prices. In the retailer I know they have a huge item database where these are probably all added up and calculated. By the time you get to the store level, the end result of that is sent to the Point of Sale that really just knows it as the current price.

I'm sure some retailers will use the Point of Sale software to track this, but most big retailers take care of it themselves or through another software setup that integrates with Point of Sale.

So back to your language question. No. It's all pretty much handle independantly and applied as part of the Point of Sale application. Prices come down one method, a separate bit of logic for coupons, another for your buy one get a gift card type deals.

Probably doesn't help you with what you're doing, but hope it gives some insight.

Upvotes: 2

kunif
kunif

Reputation: 4360

In the Object Management Group, standardization work on price optimization has just started.
At the moment RFP has been issued.

If you select "retail" in the OR Select Subgroups section of OMG Public Document Listings and click the search button, the following contents are included in the result.

retail/18-01-09: Price Optimization Standard RFP
(Contact: Ms. Karen Shunk)
Price Optimization applications help retailers establish initial prices and manage their markdown cycles. RFPs help retailers select software applications to fit their specific business needs.
Formats: Excel, PDF
Note:
This document is available to the general public.

It may not be suitable for your purpose or requirement, but it may be reflected in the specification by involving yourself in this standardization.

Upvotes: 2

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