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DP-900 · Question #252

A retail point of sale (POS) system is an example of which type of solution?

The correct answer is D. online transaction processing (OLTP). A retail POS system is a classic example of OLTP because it processes high volumes of short, discrete transactional operations such as sales, returns, and inventory updates in real time.

Submitted by emma.c· Mar 30, 2026Describe core data concepts

Question

A retail point of sale (POS) system is an example of which type of solution?

Options

  • Aa data warehouse
  • Bonline analytical processing (OLAP)
  • Cextract, transform, and load (ETL)
  • Donline transaction processing (OLTP)

How the community answered

(27 responses)
  • A
    4% (1)
  • C
    4% (1)
  • D
    93% (25)

Why each option

A retail POS system is a classic example of OLTP because it processes high volumes of short, discrete transactional operations such as sales, returns, and inventory updates in real time.

Aa data warehouse

A data warehouse is an analytical system optimized for large-scale historical queries and reporting across aggregated data, not for recording individual real-time transactions.

Bonline analytical processing (OLAP)

OLAP (Online Analytical Processing) is used for complex multi-dimensional analysis and business intelligence queries on historical data, not for processing individual point-of-sale transactions.

Cextract, transform, and load (ETL)

ETL (Extract, Transform, Load) is a data integration process used to move and reshape data between systems, not a classification for an operational business application like a POS.

Donline transaction processing (OLTP)Correct

Online Transaction Processing (OLTP) systems are characterized by high-frequency, short-duration read and write operations that must maintain ACID (Atomicity, Consistency, Isolation, Durability) properties. A POS system continuously records individual sales transactions, updates inventory counts, and processes payments, which are exactly the discrete, real-time transactional workloads that OLTP databases are optimized for.

Concept tested: OLTP characteristics and real-world system classification

Source: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/architecture/data-guide/relational-data/online-transaction-processing

Topics

#OLTP#transactional systems#POS systems

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