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CMS Max Documentation

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POS Sync

POS Sync imports products and inventory from a connected point-of-sale system into CMS Max. It can also keep product information updated automatically.

Connect a POS system

  1. Install and activate Ecommerce, LiquorMax when applicable, and either RMH (Retail Management Hero) or NCR from Plugins. Only one POS connector can be installed at a time.
  2. Open eCommerce > POS Sync > Settings.
  3. Enter the credentials supplied for your POS connector on the Credentials tab.
  4. Save the settings before fetching products or editing mappings.

The General tab controls whether product synchronization and order exports are enabled. Leave order exports disabled unless the connected POS account is ready to receive CMS Max orders.

Check the POS setup

Open eCommerce > POS Sync > Dashboard and select Check POS Setup in the Connection section. The check confirms that the login domain and credentials work and that the POS has enabled the product, inventory, category, and department change feeds CMS Max expects.

The check runs in the background so the dashboard remains responsive while the POS answers. The result remains visible in the Connection section as Ready, Action needed, or Unavailable. Select View Details to see the individual checks. Before the first import, the product check notes that the catalog assignment will be confirmed by the first product sync. If a completed product sync receives no products, the check warns that the default catalog assignment needs attention. The details also note when no positive inventory has been received, but zero stock alone does not make an otherwise working inventory feed unhealthy.

The setup check is read-only. It does not reset or acknowledge change feeds and does not update POS data. Run it manually after configuring a connection or when the provider changes the account's entity profile.

Configure mappings

Open the Mappings tab to choose how POS fields populate CMS Max products and categories.

Leave Honour Web Enabled on to archive products that the POS marks as unavailable for the web. Turn it off to sync those products normally. After changing this setting, run a full product fetch to restore any products that were previously archived.

  1. Fetch products if no sample records are available yet.
  2. To create a starting point automatically, select Suggest with AI. Your POS connector queues an analysis of field names and sample values from up to 10 products spread evenly across the imported catalogue using the configured AI provider. You can leave the page while it runs; the suggestions load when the analysis finishes or when you return.
  3. Select a sample POS product or category to preview the mapped CMS Max values.
  4. For a sample product, select View Raw POS Record to inspect every imported field and its dot-notation field path.
  5. Review the AI Mapping Suggestions box to see the chosen POS path, confidence, reason, and real source examples for each field. Existing mappings remain unchanged during this review.
  6. Leave the suggestions you want checked, then select Apply Suggested Mappings to copy only those rows into the editable mappings below. Adjust the source and fallback fields as needed.
  7. Save the settings before starting a sync. Applying an AI proposal to the form does not save it automatically.

Changing saved mappings marks affected imported products for another update. The dashboard will show when updates are waiting to be applied.

When the category and department change feeds are enabled, routine product syncs also receive taxonomy changes. With category updates enabled in Product Rules, changing a POS category or department name updates the linked CMS Max category, its mapped content, and the public URLs beneath it. CMS Max creates redirects from existing category and product URLs to their new locations. A disabled category or department feed falls back to the classifications included with each product.

Choose product rules

Use the Product Rules tab to control new and existing products separately. These rules determine visibility, inventory handling, category creation, and which POS-owned fields may overwrite CMS Max values.

When Name is set to Sync, changing a product name in the POS also updates its public URL during product follow-up. CMS Max creates a redirect from the previous URL. Select Don't change to preserve both the CMS Max product name and its existing URL.

Products with a zero price are always kept as drafts, including during later updates. Add a valid price in the POS before publishing the product.

Imported products and categories can be linked to a different CMS Max record from the imported catalog pages. Excluding a POS category archives its imported child categories and affected imported products after confirmation.

Run a sync

Open eCommerce > POS Sync > Dashboard and select Sync Products & Inventory for routine use. This fetches available POS changes, applies them to CMS Max, updates inventory, and performs any required follow-up work.

When the POS reports that a product has been deleted, the next product sync archives its linked CMS Max product. If the POS later returns that product, CMS Max restores the same linked product unless it was manually excluded from synchronization.

The action menu also provides narrower maintenance operations:

  • Fetch products downloads POS changes without applying them.
  • Update products on site only applies previously fetched changes and appears only when work is waiting.
  • Sync inventory refreshes inventory without running a product import.
  • Rebuild products and inventory performs a complete re-import and should be reserved for recovery or configuration changes that require all records to be reconsidered.

Do not start another sync while saved settings have changed. Save the settings first so the run uses the values shown on screen.

Monitor a sync

The dashboard shows the current or latest run in ordered stages: fetching from the POS, updating products, updating beverage data when LiquorMax is active, and product follow-up. Narrow operations such as Fetch products retain the full stage layout but mark stages that are outside that operation as Not included. A completion notification appears when an active run finishes while the dashboard is open.

While inventory is being synchronized, the dashboard also shows whether CMS Max is requesting inventory, updating linked product stock, confirming receipt with the POS, verifying an uncertain confirmation, or checking for another page of changes. These steps include the inventory batch number and may repeat when the POS returns inventory in more than one page. The total number of batches is not known in advance, but an increasing batch number confirms that processing is continuing. If the POS does not return an acknowledgement response, CMS Max checks whether the feed advanced before retrying the queued job.

If the POS is not ready to provide another data sync, the current run shows Waiting for POS and the time until CMS Max tries again. The sync resumes automatically from its unfinished step, so completed product fetching is not repeated; no manual action is required.

Temporary POS request failures appear as a warning on the active run. The warning shows how many requests have failed, confirms that CMS Max is continuing to retry, and includes a short description of the latest issue. An inventory warning clears after the POS accepts the affected batch. These request failures do not mean the overall sync has failed.

Use Recent Runs for totals and the outcome of each run. Products or categories that could not be matched or updated appear under Imported POS Catalog > Needs Attention with the recorded reason.

Schedule automatic updates

Open Settings > Automation to configure two schedules:

  • Products & Inventory processes product changes and refreshes inventory. Use a 45-minute interval so sale-state changes arrive promptly.
  • Inventory Only refreshes stock more frequently without processing the product catalog.

Schedules use the site's configured timezone. The dashboard shows when each automatic run is due next.

Recover from a problem

  1. Open the failed run on the dashboard and review its summary.
  2. Resolve any credential, mapping, or matching issue shown under Needs Attention.
  3. Run Sync Products & Inventory again. Successfully completed records are not duplicated.
  4. Use Rebuild products and inventory only when a complete source re-import is required.

Contact CMS Max support before clearing imported data on a production site.