TECHNOLOGY IS A MAJOR FOCUS FOR BEVERAGE RETAILERS.
It affects their operations on a daily basis. And as tech changes and
improves through the years, so too changes the ways that stores
do businesses.
Once upon a time, cash registers were mechanical, with sales recorded
by hand on paper. How we got from there to employees armed with iPads
is a journey through technology's evolution.
TECHNOLOGY
CASH REGISTERS
The "ka-ching" cash register of
olden times was invented in the late
19th century by Ohio saloon-owner
James Ritty. His motivation was to
stop a number of corrupt employ-
ees from pocketing cash. "Ritty's
Incorruptible Cashier" became an
immediate hit.
Ritter, however, quickly cashed
out and sold his patent. After
changing hands a second time,
it ended up under the control in
1884 of a coal yard manager
named John H. Patterson. He
forever changed retail trans-
actions by fi xing a fl aw in the
original patent design. Patterson
placed a paper roll on the register
to record sales on the spot. Thus
was born the paper receipt.
Cash registers grew quicker
in function with the addition
of electric motors in the early
1900s. They then improved only
gradually for decades, until IBM
rolled out the fi rst computerized
POS system in 1973.
36 Beverage Dynamics • November/December 2015
www.beveragedynamics.com
Beverage Retail Embraces
