A system for facilitating data communication between point of sale (POS) devices, comprising: a plurality of POS devices in a POS network deployed at a retail location and operative to process transactions relating to purchase of goods/services at the retail location, wherein one of the plurality of POS devices comprises a master POS device that coordinates transaction data corresponding to the purchase of goods/services from the plurality of POS devices to a central server located at a disparate physical location from the retail location, and further wherein the plurality of POS devices are configured to use a service discovery protocol to dynamically share their statuses and self-organize into a hierarchical tree structure; and the central server operative to communicate with the master POS device, wherein the master POS device is designated from the plurality of POS devices via a master election algorithm, the master election algorithm comprising the following steps: retrieving one or more preferences corresponding to election of the master POS device; determining whether a master POS device is found and, unless only one master POS device is found; scanning each of the plurality of POS devices to identify at least one POS device matching the one or more preferences; sorting the plurality of POS devices in the POS network according to a predefined sorting algorithm; designating a POS device to be the master POS device based on a predetermined selection criteria, the selection criteria including technical factors and POS device capabilities; and broadcasting the master POS device to the POS network. a plurality of POS devices in a POS network deployed at a retail location and operative to process transactions relating to purchase of goods/services at the retail location, wherein one of the plurality of POS devices comprises a master POS device that coordinates transaction data corresponding to the purchase of goods/services from the plurality of POS devices to a central server located at a disparate physical location from the retail location, and further wherein the plurality of POS devices are configured to use a service discovery protocol to dynamically share their statuses and self-organize into a hierarchical tree structure; and the central server operative to communicate with the master POS device, wherein the master POS device is designated from the plurality of POS devices via a master election algorithm, the master election algorithm comprising the following steps: retrieving one or more preferences corresponding to election of the master POS device; determining whether a master POS device is found and, unless only one master POS device is found; scanning each of the plurality of POS devices to identify at least one POS device matching the one or more preferences; sorting the plurality of POS devices in the POS network according to a predefined sorting algorithm; designating a POS device to be the master POS device based on a predetermined selection criteria, the selection criteria including technical factors and POS device capabilities; and broadcasting the master POS device to the POS network. retrieving one or more preferences corresponding to election of the master POS device; determining whether a master POS device is found and, unless only one master POS device is found; scanning each of the plurality of POS devices to identify at least one POS device matching the one or more preferences; sorting the plurality of POS devices in the POS network according to a predefined sorting algorithm; designating a POS device to be the master POS device based on a predetermined selection criteria, the selection criteria including technical factors and POS device capabilities; and broadcasting the master POS device to the POS network. <EOS>