Hi Everyone,
I have my own business and we have run into some issues with our current POS system and its accessibility from end sales associate to the accounting side, user privileges, data, etc. I want to make my own system but I am a bit stuck in the middle of if there is already a system in place to make this happen or if I will have to bare bones the whole process. I attatched a quickly photoshopped image of what I think I want to create, I have also written down some criteria that I will have to have on the website to make sure it meets the expectations of my company and its processes. If anyone can steer me in the right direction on where to start, how to do it, etc, I will greatly appreciate it.
- Custom secure login
- User privileges – Sales, Warehouse
- Ability to create estimates/ invoices that are locked post creation, print transactions
- delivery and shipment tracking
- ability to look up client accounts/ kinda like a CRM
- Look up data such as inventory
- pull available files, credit notes, authorizations, etc.
The idea is that any new employees will be given the software and they will have everything they need to succeed. I have tried many different POS systems and none of them have both the user privileges that I need or the depth of data placement that I am looking for, believe me I have tried dozens.
I have a computer science degree and 3 programmers working full time already, I just need help starting the project and understanding the undertaking that this requires. I do not need credit card processing, but users will need to "Mark Paid" or enter the receipt authorization.
Does anyone know where I should start? If there is another subreddit you recommend, please let me know.
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Eager to see other folks takes on this
Why would you want to build your own POS?
Long term that comes with a ton of overhead and work and constant bug fixing
I am genuinely curious
Woocommerce already does most of that. As do numerous other plugins as well as Square and other actual POS integration systems.
Honestly, you’d get a better answer and the one you’re looking from ChatGPT or Claude.
Everyone here will tell you that you’re way over in your head (possibly). An AI LLM can serve as your Director of Engineering and Product Manager if you fed it this same post you submitted along with more key data like:
– Desired stack or known frameworks from your team
– The level of your team and available cycles they have each week
– Whether you can avoid reinventing the wheel with specific systems in the new system (there might be a freely available CRM suite to integrate rather writing your own for example)
The scope of work if making this is immense, absolutely immense and especially so if not managed correctly.
This is not a small project.
You should use AI to help you figure it out and cut costs. Consult with ChatGPT to help you brainstorm it. It’ll literally outline all the tech you can use for it. Use Perplexity to find specific software and resources. I’d recommend looking into new AI systems to build apps. It will save you tons and speed you up greatly.
One way to build it could be to customize a white label platform like Go High Level (highly recommend). They already have tons of features built so you just need to customize.
If you build it yourself, definitely build on top of existing code bases and frameworks. DONT build everything from scratch. It’s pointless. there’s literally people building and deploying software by talking to AI within just minutes. I’ve spent over $100k on developers the past year and now I could get that cost down to $10k with new AI tools. They’re just getting insanely good very fast.
I’d also recommend consulting with a product manager that has experience launching software products. Someone that can think big picture about it. When you only consult with developers they can greatly bloat the needs of the project because they’re too distracted by the workload. but someone that’s actually gone to market with a product will know how to move fast and efficiently and focus on things that matter the most in the platform.
I’m honestly speechless… is this a joke post?
Quite big project, maybe you can start by create the system with the features that you want and integrate ( maybe through API ) with the current existing system.
Zoho, Oracle net suite are two that could do all of this.
Try themeforest, you will find many php script for pos under $100. Then have your programmers edit it.
A software architect is what you need.
That’s the neat part. You don’t
you don’t do this in wordpress. i mean, you could but you don’t.
if you want to roll you own, use tools that are good for the job. we just finished a low code project doing something similar to this with retool using neon db.
2. User privileges: please elaborate. What privileges does sales have and which ones does warehouse have and which one is higher in the hierarchy?
Also what you describe reads to me like and invoicing software perhaps look into that and may be modify that.
Do you want this as a standalone application or wp plugin?
What are the use case, can you give an example of how the final product should work/ fit together and operate?
I will like to know how this journey ends please update us when it’s finally done.
In the most respectful way possible, if you have to ask this question it’s not something that you can do yourself. You can pay someone(s) to make it for you (and others have mentioned the best route for this), but depending on the nature of your requirements, buckle up for the price tag
I wouldn’t even try. POS are very complicated. Check POS88.ca
You need a dedicated software.
Otherwise you are asking for trouble.
POS, is point of sale so could be anything, let’s take woocommerce.
Create a role that can create sales, without customer hassle. Take shop manager as example.
Woo organizes stock etc.
If needed, you can add barcodes to pruduct(variation).
What else do you actually need?