Point of sale (POS)

A point-of-sale system is the software and hardware used to ring up and settle a sale where it happens — the campsite shop, kiosk, bar, restaurant or activity desk. It records what was sold, applies the correct price and tax, takes payment by card, cash or mobile, and produces a receipt, while feeding sales data into reporting and stock control. In accommodation, the real value comes when the POS is linked to the property management system, so on-site spend can be charged to a guest’s account or room and settled together at check-out rather than as separate transactions. For campgrounds, on-site retail and food and beverage are a meaningful share of revenue, so an integrated POS both captures ancillary spend cleanly and, in some countries, has to meet fiscal-recording requirements such as Germany’s TSE for tamper-proof receipts.