This Guidance demonstrates how retailers can set up a point of sale (POS) system in the AWS Cloud. Data captured by in-store card readers and POS terminals is securely transmitted to backend applications for processing and settlement. Key business processes such as checkout, order processing, inventory management, and back office functions are all integrated from the corporate data center to the Cloud. The security and confidentiality of the captured data is ensured through monitoring, security, and protection measures.
Architecture Diagram
Step 1
In-store card readers and point of sale (POS) terminals capture the transaction. Amazon One, a contactless identity service that scans a customer’s palm, acts as an authentication mechanism.
Step 2
AWS Outposts Family delivers AWS infrastructure and services to on-premises or edge locations. Lambda@Edge integrates with the payment gateways and other third-parties. Amazon ECS Anywhere runs containers with applications at the edge that require low-latency support.
Step 3
AWS Direct Connect and AWS Site-to-Site VPN securely connect retail stores and the corporate data center to the AWS Cloud.
Step 4
Amazon API Gateway, Amazon EventBridge, and AWS AppSync act as an integration layer, cascading the store transaction to the backend applications for processing and settlement.
Step 5
AWS Lambda, AWS Step Functions, and Amazon Elastic Container Service (Amazon ECS) support the application layer. This includes custom functions for key business processes like checkout, order processing, inventory management, and back office functions.
Step 6
Amazon Aurora is used for transactional data, while Amazon DynamoDB handles unstructured data, and Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3) is used as a data lake.
Step 7
Amazon CloudWatch, AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM), Amazon Fraud Detector, and AWS Key Management Service (AWS KMS) monitor, secure, and protect data.
Step 8
The corporate data center is connected to the AWS Cloud and integrated with systems and data sources supporting the POS.
Step 1
In-store card readers and point of sale (POS) terminals capture the transaction. Amazon One, a contactless identity service that scans a customer’s palm, acts as an authentication mechanism.
Step 2
AWS Outposts Family delivers AWS infrastructure and services to on-premises or edge locations. Lambda@Edge integrates with the payment gateways and other third-parties. Amazon ECS Anywhere runs containers with applications at the edge that require low-latency support.
Step 3
AWS Direct Connect and AWS Site-to-Site VPN securely connect retail stores and the corporate data center to the AWS Cloud.
Step 4
Amazon API Gateway, Amazon EventBridge, and AWS AppSync act as an integration layer, cascading the store transaction to the backend applications for processing and settlement.
Step 5
AWS Lambda, AWS Step Functions, and Amazon Elastic Container Service (Amazon ECS) support the application layer. This includes custom functions for key business processes like checkout, order processing, inventory management, and back office functions.
Step 6
Amazon Aurora is used for transactional data, while Amazon DynamoDB handles unstructured data, and Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3) is used as a data lake.
Step 7
Amazon CloudWatch, AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM), Amazon Fraud Detector, and AWS Key Management Service (AWS KMS) monitor, secure, and protect data.
Step 8
The corporate data center is connected to the AWS Cloud and integrated with systems and data sources supporting the POS.
Well-Architected Pillars
The AWS Well-Architected Framework helps you understand the pros and cons of the decisions you make when building systems in the cloud. The six pillars of the Framework allow you to learn architectural best practices for designing and operating reliable, secure, efficient, cost-effective, and sustainable systems. Using the AWS Well-Architected Tool, available at no charge in the AWS Management Console, you can review your workloads against these best practices by answering a set of questions for each pillar.
The architecture diagram above is an example of a Solution created with Well-Architected best practices in mind. To be fully Well-Architected, you should follow as many Well-Architected best practices as possible.
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Operational ExcellenceRead the Operational Excellence whitepaper
Outposts, Lambda, and Amazon ECS Anywhere provide low-latency edge capabilities for the retail store, ensuring a superior customer experience, quickly.
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SecurityRead the Security whitepaper
Both Direct Connect and Site-to-Site VPN provide secure connections between the retail store and the AWS Cloud. And, by using IAM and AWS KMS for securing and encrypting the data, you can continually adjust permissions on the journey to least privilege.
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ReliabilityRead the Reliability whitepaper
The availability and reliability of managed services such as Aurora, DynamoDB, and Step Functions are essential for ensuring the stability and scalability of your infrastructure.
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Performance EfficiencyRead the Performance Efficiency whitepaper
DynamoDB, Amazon S3, and Aurora are used as core components of this Guidance to power performance-intensive workloads.
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Cost OptimizationRead the Cost Optimization whitepaper
Serverless services such as Lambda, Step Functions, and EventBridge are used extensively throughout this Guidance to help you build and operate cost-aware workloads that achieve business outcomes, while minimizing costs. Maximizing your return on this investment.
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SustainabilityRead the Sustainability whitepaper
AWS services enable you to maximize the benefits of your resources while reducing your carbon footprint. The services selected in this Guidance help you scale both up and down according to demand. The serverless components also automate the process of infrastructure management, reducing energy while gaining efficiencies.
Implementation Resources
A detailed guide is provided to experiment and use within your AWS account. Each stage of building the Guidance, including deployment, usage, and cleanup, is examined to prepare it for deployment.
The sample code is a starting point. It is industry validated, prescriptive but not definitive, and a peek under the hood to help you begin.
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Disclaimer
The sample code; software libraries; command line tools; proofs of concept; templates; or other related technology (including any of the foregoing that are provided by our personnel) is provided to you as AWS Content under the AWS Customer Agreement, or the relevant written agreement between you and AWS (whichever applies). You should not use this AWS Content in your production accounts, or on production or other critical data. You are responsible for testing, securing, and optimizing the AWS Content, such as sample code, as appropriate for production grade use based on your specific quality control practices and standards. Deploying AWS Content may incur AWS charges for creating or using AWS chargeable resources, such as running Amazon EC2 instances or using Amazon S3 storage.