You can sell a product (a T-shirt, a water bottle, a gift item) to a walk-up or call-in customer without attaching it to a booking. It's a straight retail sale, so it works even for someone who has never booked a trip with you.
In this article
Ring up a product sale
- Open Point of Sale (labeled Retail Sale on some tabs) from your Dashboard or the Sales view.
- Select the products for the sale.
- If a product's price is editable (a per-product setting you choose when adding it to your catalog), a keypad appears, so enter the unit price and select Add.
- Adjust the quantity with the dropdown as needed.
- Select Checkout & Pay.
- If your POS settings require it, collect the customer's name, phone, and email, then continue.
- Take payment with the Add a Payment prompts.
That's it. The sale is recorded without needing a trip behind it.
If you Skip Payment at checkout, the sale is held as a Draft until you collect payment later, the same Draft state any unpaid order sits in. See why is my trip showing as Reserved? for how Draft vs. paid works.
Whether contact details are required is controlled by your POS settings, so you can make a quick counter sale frictionless or always capture the customer. Your call.
What point of sale is (and isn't) for
Point of sale rings up a sale and takes payment at the counter. It is not a retail inventory system, so it's worth knowing the edges before you rely on it for a store:
- No product variants. Products don't have size or color options (Small / Medium / Large). Each size you sell is its own product in the catalog; there's no variant picker at the register.
- No stock tracking or low-stock alerts. TripWorks doesn't hold a quantity on hand for a product, so there's nothing to count down and no low-stock or reorder alert. The Max Qty setting only caps how many one guest can buy per order.
- No product barcode printing. TripWorks doesn't generate or print barcodes. You can store a product's existing UPC for your records. The register's product search matches product names, so scanning a UPC doesn't pull the product up.
- No cross-location product inventory. Because products aren't stock-tracked, there's no per-location stock to sync. Card readers are tied to a location; products are not.
For in-person card payments, use a TripWorks-provided card reader. You can't bring your own reader or payment processor.
Frequently asked questions
Can I sell a product without a booking?
Yes. Open Point of Sale (or Retail Sale) from the Dashboard or Sales view, pick the products, and check out. The sale doesn't need to be attached to any trip, so it works for walk-up or call-in customers.
Where do I start a product sale?
From the Point of Sale dialog, reachable from either your Dashboard or the Sales view. On some tabs it's labeled Retail Sale.
Can I change a product's price at the point of sale?
Only if that product is set as price-editable in your catalog. When it is, a keypad appears at checkout so you can enter the unit price; otherwise the catalog price is used.
Do I have to collect the customer's contact info?
It depends on your POS settings. If they require contact details, you'll be prompted for name, phone, and email before payment; otherwise you can complete a quick anonymous counter sale.
What happens if I skip payment?
The sale is saved as a Draft until you collect payment. It's the same unpaid Draft state as any other order. Finish it by taking payment later.
Can I sell a product and a booking together?
Yes. You can also add products to an existing trip. See add products and charge a card on file for selling alongside a booking.
Can I track product sizes or variants (Small / Medium / Large) at point of sale?
No. Products in TripWorks don't have size or color variants. If you sell a shirt in three sizes, you create three separate products in your product catalog; there's no variant selector at the register.
Does TripWorks track product inventory or show low-stock alerts?
No. Products are sold, not stock-managed. TripWorks doesn't hold a quantity on hand, so there's no stock count, no low-stock alert, and no reorder point. The Max Qty setting only limits how many one guest can buy in a single order.
Can I print barcodes for my products?
No. TripWorks doesn't generate or print product barcodes. You can save a product's existing UPC for your records. The register's product search matches product names, so scanning a UPC doesn't pull the product up.
Can point of sale run my whole retail store?
Partly. Point of sale runs the front counter for a tour or activity operator: it rings up products as line items, takes payment, prints a receipt, and works with a cash drawer and tips. It is not a full retail store system: there's no product inventory, no size or color variants, and no barcode printing.
Can product stock sync across multiple locations?
No. Because TripWorks doesn't track product stock at all, there's no per-location inventory to keep in sync. Card readers are tied to a specific location, but products are shared across your account and carry no location-level stock.
Which card readers work with point of sale, and can I use my own processor?
Use a TripWorks-provided reader: the BBPOS WisePOS E for the counter or the Stripe Reader M2 for mobile. You can't bring your own reader or your own payment processor, and in-person payments run through TripWorks so every sale and refund stays in one place. See set up card readers.
Related
- Add products and charge a card on file
- Build your product catalog
- Make a product staff-only
- Set up card readers
- Recording payments on a trip
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