Retail Till keyboards

Retail keyboards are available in a variety of shapes and sizes. Retail keyboards consist of a grid of keys. Many different sizes are available – the largest have several hundred keys.

A retail keyboard is simply a normal computer keyboard in disguise. They operate just like a normal keyboard. They are plugged into the computer by a normal keyboard connector, or by USB. You press a button on the retail keyboard, and one or more characters are send to the computer. As far as the computer is concerned, you’ve simply typed those characters on a regular keyboard.

When the keyboard is supplied by the manufacturer, these keys are blank and not labelled. It is the job of you and your retail EPOS software solution provider to decide on the layout of the retail keyboard. This varies on a lot of factors. Some EPOS software providers are very simple, an only support a single layout of keys. Usually however, they will work with you to produce a customised layout which allows you to access your most commonly used features and products. This varies on the vertical market. In a photographic shop, you might want a button to ring up a camera repair, however, in a hardware shop, you might want a button on your retail keyboard programmed to sell string or rope. A cafe will want buttons for tea and coffee and so forth.

The retail keyboard is programmed using a piece of manufacturer supplied software. This allows you to setup your layout, and save it on your computer. This software will “talk” to the retail keyboard and program up the characters into the keys. Each key can be program to deliver a single letter, e.g. numbers, or it can be programmed to deliver a string of characters to the computer, e.g. COFFEE. It is up to the EPOS software itself to decide what to do with these character strings – the keyboard is just sending the letters to the computer.

Most retail keyboard programming software will also have a feature to allow you to print out a set of labels for the keys. If you are only doing one or two tills, this is the way to go. Print out the layout on a colour printer and carefully cut up the key labels, and affix each one to each key with a plastic cap. This is an extremely dull job! Other retail keyboards will allow you to insert an un-cut sheet of labels under a plastic cover, and rely on more touch sensitive hardware. However, old fashioned keys are much more reliable! It is a trade off with how often you need to re-label the keys!

Sets of 2 or 4 keys can be replaced with a single large key. These doubles and quads are available separately from the keyboards, and most solution providers will have a large stock of such unused keys to call upon.

Some retail keyboards also sport a bunch of keys (i.e. for locks!) . As many as four different keys will turn the lock in the retail keyboard. This lock can be programmed to deliver different codes to the EPOS software – again, it is up to the retail software to do something with these signals!

With the advent of touchscreens and user friendly EPOS software, it is common to dispense with the retail keyboard all together. Where possible I recommend you avoid retail keyboards – they just take up space and get dirty. However, it is important to keep a regular keyboard nearby (e.g. under the desk) for advanced functions and administration. A lot of retailers use their tills for internet access – you try writing a long email on a touchscreen!