How to Test Point of Sale (POS)

In this article, let’s look at the following:

• What Makes POS Application Testing Different
• EPOS (Electronic Point of Sale) Architecture
• EPOS Physical Components
• Levels/Functions of POS
• Examples of Restaurant POS system testing included

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What Makes POS Testing Different

POS System Testing looks complex, but it is not that tricky for those who understand the concept well. It is interesting because you get the feel of sitting in a store and executing your test cases since POS requires setup as you would see in any store.

This makes it different when compared to sitting in your cubicle and running some checks in a web app. Organizations dealing with POS system testing maintain separate labs.

What are the challenges in POS testing?

• many combinations based on the needs of the store. I’ll use a straightforward example to illustrate this: let’s say a retail chain want to launch a special promotion in just one city. In this scenario, specific setups for the POS systems operating in that city are necessary.
• POS requires a proper setup with all the devices, as well as multiple types of hardware devices and versions of the software.
• Multiple devices require compatibility testing and also thorough integration testing
• PCI compliant because POS test deals with the card details of the end user.

POS Architecture

A file server is linked to every terminal in a store. After being completed on the server, the settings or primary configurations are pushed to every terminal in the shop. These modifications are made using batch jobs and XML files.

No modifications are made locally for big-box retailers or chains of stores. Every time a credit card transaction occurs, information is transferred to a bank or third party for authorization since point-of-sale (POS) systems are integrated with third-party providers that primarily handle credit card processing.

POS Physical Components and How to Test These

#1) Terminal – The terminal is the main screen that is used to enter the details of the transaction. These are mostly touchscreen devices. All the configurations, be it related to Product List, Pricing, Promotional Offers, Payment Modes, get pushed to the terminal. This is the main device used in any POS.

• Terminal Testing requires validation to ensure that the devices are connected to the network and that the latest OS is running on it to support the POS app.

#2) Display Pole – Display Pole is the device that displays the item price once the product is scanned using the barcode scanner.

• Verify display pole displays the same price as seen on POS terminal

#3) Barcode Reader – The products are scanned with a barcode reader. Following the completion of the scan, a backend check will be performed to determine whether the item is present in the inventory list and to retrieve its pricing. The inventory will be adjusted to lower the quantity of units available after the item is sold.

• For Testing purposes, validation can be done by scanning a product missing from the inventory list
• Validate by scanning products which are available in the inventory list but with no price tagged
• Validate by scanning products which are available in the inventory list with proper tagging to a price level.

#4) Cash Register – Cash Register is used to store cash. For any cash transaction, the cash register opens immediately for cashiers to accept the cash from the customer and also return the balance amount if any.

• Cash Register testing can be done by selecting a payment mode as Cash, and doing a cash transaction with a refund amount.

#5) Handheld Device – Wireless gadgets that accept credit card payments are known as handheld devices. By delivering the device straight to the customer, where they may input their card pin, this facilitates user authentication.

• Testing can be done by creating a transaction by selecting the mode of payment as Card.
• Verification of the manual amount entry should be done.

#6) Printer – Printers are connected to each of the terminals and are called as register printers, these are used to generate the receipt after each transaction.

• Testers can verify receipt printing, check for alignment, text overwrites, Text size, Fonts, etc.
• Error Handling Case can be verified, say what will happen if the print is given when the printer is not in a ready state or the printer is out of paper.
• Verify the result when the printer goes offline or loses connection in the middle of the transaction.

#7) Magnetic Swipe Reader – Debit, credit, and gift cards are among the payment cards that MSRs swipe. This is usually utilized in restaurants or retail establishments, but as times change and users are now needed to enter a PIN in order to make payments, you will notice that many locations now accept card payments via wireless devices.

• In the case of Gift Cards, MSR’s are used for balance checks, expiry dates and for payment. Printed receipts are given to guests for authorization. Testers should validate these cases.

Levels/Functions of POS:

There are basically 3 levels or functions involved in POS.

Level #1) Application Level/Front Office Functions:

1) Sale Transaction – The main purpose of any POS system is facilitating transactions.

• Verifying a successful sale transaction entails scanning the item using a barcode scanner or manually entering the amount to be paid on the keyboard, making sure the total amount due is computed and shown on the screen, and making sure the payment and receipt printing process is completed successfully.
• Validating the correct tax amount calculation

2) Payment – Payment is yet another important area in scope for testers. This is due to the vast range of payment modes accepted by POS. It allows payment through Card, Cash, and Gift Cards. They also accept certain coupon codes and discount vouchers.

• Cash Validation – The easiest to test is cash validation. The system determines how much is left and makes it simple for the cashier to give the client their money back. Users frequently choose to pay in installments, with some using Gift Cards (GC) and the remainder in cash. To confirm whether the system accepts and permits partial payments, testing should be done.
• Card Validation – Payment through Card would always require a third party authorization. Card payment starts by swiping the card – through MSR or a handheld device then taking customer’s authorization for the specified amount. The same amount then gets authorized by third party banks.
• Gift Card Validation – Testers can validate the expiry date, an amount on the card before redemption can be validated by swiping the card on the MSR, swipe it both ways to see system behaviour, validate in the partial payment transaction, validate by overpaying using the card.
• Discounts/Coupons/Promotional Offers – Because the systems are only made to take coupon codes and not all other kinds of discounts, this is a challenging testing area; therefore, validation should include all possible combinations. A code that applies to the entire amount or a discount coupon that can be used on specific products can be used for testing. Once more, promotional offers are temporary and not applicable anywhere, so it’s important to exercise caution when testing for discounts and coupons. Verify the order in which the reductions are applied as well. Manufacturer’s coupons sometimes work better than retailer discounts, and sometimes they don’t. Therefore, when trying this, exercise extreme caution.

Level #2) Back of House Functions

1) End of Day – End of Day is the most important activities done at the backend. During EOD, several reconciliations are done and backend systems are updated.

Several summary reports, including the daily sales reconciliation, get generated and sent to stakeholders because this gives an indication on how the day was in terms of sales. Also, a summary is sent to the banks for all the credit card transactions done during the day. Inventory system gets updated to reflect the correct stock balance.

This forms one of the major areas for testing. Important scenarios that can be included as part of EOD testing can be:

• Verify that the EOD process run is successful. This will result in several intentional failures to ensure the operational day is closed or not. Say in a restaurant, the managers will not be able to run the EOD process if all checks are not closed if all employees are not clocked out from the system. Testing should include running this process including all checks with positive and negative scenarios. Usually, this is an automated process which is scheduled to run at a certain time interval in real stores. For testing purposes, this process should be tested manually.
• Verify Reconciliation Reports are generated and validate the contents of the report to ensure the data in the report matches to the data from that particular store. For this type of testing, testers can manually create some transactions, keep a note of the data entered, and generate reconciliation reports at the end of the day to match the data they entered. The reconciliation report would be more like a balance sheet with debit and credit details.

2) Employee Scheduling – Another important BOH activity involves the scheduling function which mainly deals with creating a work schedule for employees. Employees should clock into the system as per their schedule.

Scheduling can be done manually or using an automated method using data from past sales patterns and project labour requirements. The scheduling is backend activity but validation happens on the front end when the employee tries to clock in.

• Validation should include verifying an unscheduled clock in
• Scheduled Late Clock in and clock out
• Scheduled early clock in and clock out

3) Inventory Management – Another important area is inventory management. Store Managers mainly require such systems to track products through each stage of the inventory cycle and also to have an idea before an item falls below the stock level.

Hence, Inventory systems are designed so that managers can order right product at the right time, in the right quantity from the right vendor and at the right price.

Test Validation should incorporate the following:

• Validation on quantity to be purchased
• Alerts if stock level goes below par
• Placing of order
• Validating the correct Item List with the correct pricing is displayed on POS for selection
• Item and Price Association, Master level validation

Level #3) Corporate Level Functions

Corporate Level Functions doesn’t require you to sit in front of the Point of Sale system to do them but they are done using any laptop/desktop with the app or software installed but they are in some or the other way integrated with the POS systems. If corporate functions are done using a web application, there will be a mechanism that will push the changes or settings to the POS.

1) HR and Payroll – HR and Payroll system deals with employee recruitment, maintaining employee salary/wages, labour laws, Tax Details, Employee Availability and Employee Leave.

Most of the payroll maintenance happens with a third party like ADP etc. hence the integration needs to be tested as well. HR activities are mostly maintained in-house. Payroll becomes a separate huge area for testing as it requires all sorts of calculations before an employee’s paycheck amount gets finalised. It forms a huge scope for testing.

• Validation can be done for HR activities like recruiting employees and then ensuring employees are imported to POS systems
• Salary/Wage calculation as per labour laws
• Employee ability to enter leave details

2) Finance and Accounting – Finance and Accounting system is the one that requires reporting. P&L statements, planned budgets, variances, stores, daily sales, etc. All these details are required by the accounting team to ensure whether the POS store is on track or not.

A lot of decisions are made based on these reports’ analysis. Say, if the team decides to open a new store, based on historical data and analysis, the accounts team approves the budget and the area where the store could be opened. Such details also help them find areas for improvement.

• Validate the generation of proper reports
• Verify the analysis logic
• Validation of income statement and balance sheet

3) Vendor Management – For the supply of goods, any retail industry would require vendors, now evaluating the right vendor who provides a reasonable pricing and to monitor their performance is all taken care of by the vendor management system.

From a testing perspective, the below important validations can be done:

• Validating entry and maintenance of Vendor details in the system
• Validate vendor pricing
• Validate Vendor performance by tracking on-time delivery, quality of products delivered, etc.

4) DW and BI – Data Warehouse enable any industry to store and keep details on the transaction for years which can be used to know the trends, formulate buying patterns, etc. Business Intelligence tools are used to retrieve this huge amount of data from different systems and give the end user an opportunity for analysis.

Data from the Point of Sale systems is used to update DW systems. According to testing requirements, this is therefore essential for testing. A lot of businesses employ business intelligence (BI) solutions, while some create their own analytics. However, testing is necessary in both situations.

By making report creation easier and allowing users to customize reports to suit their needs, DW and BI systems benefit corporate users and improve performance monitoring.

• Validation at POS level can be done for transactional data, but DW requires validating historical data
• Validate user report generation ability and customization using BI tool.

Conclusion

I hope that the detailed explanation of the Point of Sale testing in this article was clear. Another in-depth article about POS system testing for the restaurant business can be found here. Please feel free to leave comments below with your ideas and opinions.

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