A Data-Driven POS System for Sales Monitoring and Inventory Management

Point-of-Sale (POS) systems have become central to retail business management, yet small enterprises in developing economies continue to rely on error-prone manual methods. This study presents the design and development of a data-driven POS system tailored for small-scale retail operations. Built using PHP and MySQL under a System Development Life Cycle (SDLC) framework, the system integrates user authentication, sales transaction processing, real-time inventory tracking, and exportable report generation into a single locally deployable platform. Functional and usability evaluation confirmed that the system reduces manual recording errors, improves transaction processing speed, and provides real-time visibility into sales and stock levels. Role-based access control ensures data security, while cross-browser compatibility supports diverse deployment environments. The system meets the operational requirements of small retail businesses and establishes a foundation for future enhancements including cloud integration, predictive analytics, and mobile application support.