RMH iPOS for Retail Management Hero

So the very cool RMS iPOS app has been updated to work with the Retail Management Hero software. I'm going to start this off by stating that I can only recommend this app when not used to accept integrated payments.  Reason is that the app only works with Shift 4 for payment processing and I've had some very negative personal experiences with the processing services offered by Shift 4 and would never recommend or support using Shift 4 for merchant services. One example being a merchant in the Seattle area that was being charged $2,700 a year in extra transaction fees by Shift 4 on top of their normal processing rates.

The good news is that the RMH iPOS app still has a lot of value for retailers looking for a line busting mobile device, a device for physical inventory counts, and off site sales not using an integrated payment terminal. I actually have both the RMH iPOS and RMS iPOS on my iPad and have been impressed with the functionality. The key functions are there - very similar to what I've worked with on the NCR CounterPoint side of things with the CP Mobile iOS solution for NCR CounterPoint SQL.

Some of the key information about RMH iPOS:

• Syncs items and customers
• Has an off line mode in case connection to RMH database is lost
• Can handle sales, quotes, work orders, and physical inventory counts
• Scan barcodes via camera or BlueTooth device
• $650/device + $117/device for annual maintenance
• You must own a base license of RMH!

Video Review and Overview

Want more information?  Contact me at 208-340-5632 or kevinantosh@gmail.com.

Possible Issues with Mercury/Vantiv Magtek IPAD for Microsoft RMS

Wanted to make everyone aware of a potential issue specific to the Mercury/Vantiv Magtek "IPAD" payment processing add-on for the Microsoft Dynamics RMS point of sale software.

I arrived at a customers site last week only to find that the entire system was down due to the Microsoft Dynamics RMS database being "full". The cause was a large amount of transaction data being put in to the RMS database from the Mercury/Vantiv Magtek "IPAD" payment processing add-on. The customer had only been using the add-on for just over 2 years and is a single lane RMS users.

Obviously, retailers can't have their system go down due to the RMS database being full so here are the possible resolutions:

1. Purchase SQL Server which allows for a larger database size ($1100 - $2000 depending on version and license options).
2. Have your point of sale partner/VAR/dealer monitor your RMS database and delete/archive old data as needed ($125-$250 per occurrence if needed).
3. Consider switching to Card Defender which does not populate your RMS database with as much transaction data as the MagTek IPAD solution does (Card Defender does not presently work with Mercury/Vanticv but this will change in the coming months).
4. Look at a different integration that RITE offers using an Vantiv ICS250 payment terminal with Microsoft Dynamics RMS.

Do contact me at 208-340-5632 or kevinantosh@gmail.com with any questions or contact your RMS Partner to have them check the size of your RMS database (or your IT staff can check the size fo the database as well - just takes about 5 minutes).

Cloud Retailer on an iPad

Wow - so Cloud Retailer has been a big discussion topic over the last few months. Cloud Retailer has been around for several years but has been picking up interest for the following reasons:

1. Statewide entity that operates multiple retail outlets has signed on to have Cloud Retailer deployed at all locations across the state by April of 2017.
2. Cloud Retailer combines the best of of what cloud based POS and local/Windows POS offers
3. Cloud Retailer offers a unique pricing structure between subscription based and full upfront POS solutions.
4. Payment security that meets or exceeds industry requirements.
5. Direct migration from Microsoft Dynamics RMS AND discounted licensing costs for Dynamics RMS users.

One museum that I have been working with wanted to know if Cloud Retailer can be used on a Mac or even an iPad. Rather than just talking about it, I created a video showing Cloud Retailer (manager only - sales are done on a Windows device - including the Surface Pro) running on my iPad Air.

An impressive 61 million iPads were sold in 2022 alone according to TabletFeast, highlighting the immense potential of using iPads as a POS system for your business. By adopting this strategy, you can save a considerable amount of money while reaping the benefits of this technology.

 

Pretty cool! Do contact me at kevinantosh@gmail.com or 208-340-5632 with questions or for more information. Cloud Retailers website is www.cloudretailer.com

Retail Point of Sale Vendor Referrals

A quick note that I am happy to provide referrals to businesses selling and supporting different point of sale systems that you may already be using. All I need to know is the following:

1. your location (city and state - US only, please)
2. your business name and contact information
3. which point of sale system you are using
4. why the place you bought your point of sale from can not help you
5. what sort of help you need (tech support/new licenses/upgrade/new hardware/etc)

The reason for # 4 is a safeguard against people who owe a company money attempting to obtain support from someone else.

While I don't know every dealer/partner for every point of sale system, I do maintain a contact list of the partners and dealers that I trust so do visit my contact page for information on how to reach me for this type of information.

Note that this also applies if you are considering a specific point of sale system and want to know who to buy the system from.

Cloud Based Point of Sale Systems: Things to Keep in Mind

2015 has really been the year for cloud and mobile point of sale systems for retail stores, restaurants and museums. About 65% of the businesses and organizations that contact me are only considering point of sale systems that work on mobile devices and are cloud based.  A few things to keep in mind if you are looking at the cloud based point of sale systems like Clover, Vend, Lavu, Shopkeep, Lightspeed, or Silver...

1. In most cases the cloud based point of sale systems will only cost around 10%-30% less than a point of sale system that you lease to own or purchase outright (eg: Retail Pro, Sapphire, NCR CounterPoint, Retail management Hero, Etc.).  This assumes that you plan on keeping your point of sale system for 5-7 years and that you pay an ongoing monthly fee to use a cloud based point of sale system (which normally also includes support and updates).
2. You lose some control when using a cloud based point of sale system. Best example is that a traditional point of sale system puts all the hardware, software, and data onsite within your business or organization. If a router fails, you simply replace it.  With the cloud based point of sale systems you have no control if their router breaks or if their server goes down. Look at the reviews for any cloud based point of sale system and see that users mention outages lasting several hours. The point of sale companies tout off line modes or similar features but the reality is that system wide failures are possible and there is nothing you can do about it when it comes to cloud based point of sale systems.
3. Ownership: most cloud based systems are rented so you never actually own anything - very easy on your budget but you have to be comfortable with this pricing structure.
4. Hidden fees and contracts: I've been very disappointing with several of the cloud based point of sale systems who require long term contracts with early termination fees and limitations on who you can use for your credit and debit card processing services. As with any point of sale system, due diligence is required on your part when it comes to reading and signing any agreements or contracts.

Now, this may all sound somewhat negative but I actually do feel that some of the cloud based point of sale systems are great solutions (I've previously used, sold, and supported several).  However, they are only good solutions in one or more of the following situations:

• Single location or less than 10 locations with annual sales of less than $800,000 per location.
• OK with never owning the actual software but paying an ongoing fee each month.
• Low technology needs: OK with canned reports and don't have complex  inventory needs.
• No internal IT person or "computer geek": cloud based systems are generally very easy to learn and use and do not require internal IT resources.

Are you  in the US and in need of no cost retail point of sale advice?  I'm happy to help and can be reached on my cell at 208-340-5632 (I am on Mountain Time) or via email at kevinantosh@gmail.com. There is also a contact form to the right that can be used to reach me.

Video Overview of Bindo for Restaurants

The folks at Bindo have taken over the retail industry with an awesome feature rich retail point of sale app and have now set their sights on the food service industry with a new version of Bindo point of sale for restaurants, cafe's, and bars.

Here is a link to a video overview of Bindo POS for Restaurants: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YP4SaxiqTKQ

Looks like an awesome new option!

Visit my contact page for information on how to reach me.

More Big News at Bindo

(my thoughts appear below the press release)

Bindo to Unveil New Restaurant POS Solution with $2 Million Investment

Leading retail technology company secures $2 million for its bridge round to develop an iPad POS solution for brick-and-mortar merchants in the F&B industry

NEW YORK, Sept. 3, 2015 - Bindo, a leading cloud-based business management solution for brick-and-mortar merchants, today announced it has debuted a beta version of its new iPad POS system, Bindo POS for Restaurant. The company also announced it has secured $2 million in funding from strategic investors eager to see the POS solution expand into new verticals.

Bindo will use the investment to launch the new POS system globally, enabling restaurant owners to have one complete and holistic business solution that can integrate telephone orders, online ordering, table management, reservations, and ingredient-level tracking all in one platform. Bindo POS for Restaurant is now available in beta at a few select restaurants, and will become publicly available in mid-September.

Bindo POS for Restaurant provides a simple way for restaurants to easily manage their inventory and sales from a centralized back-office dashboard, whilst also allowing them to accept and schedule reservations from a centralized cloud-based platform. Restaurants are given the tools to better forecast inventory and supply needs by accurately recording the ingredients that go into each dish. Bindo POS for Restaurant will also maximize seating capacity and table turnover by enabling front of house to seamlessly schedule bookings through an integrated CRM and floor planning system.

“We wanted a mobile and elegant POS solution to complement our modern restaurant theme and came across Bindo,” said Ivan Yeh, Owner of Shoku Bar and Restaurant and first-time user of Bindo POS for Restaurant. “Since deployment, Bindo has helped us cut down on excess inventory and vastly improved the way we run our operations. Best of all, Bindo’s integrated mobile credit card processing allows our servers to take orders and payments at the table, making way for that ‘wow’ factor and allowing for a better dining experience for our customers.”

“We met with so many restaurateurs who were fed up with the choice of POS systems available (both iPad & traditional POS). The iPad POS systems in the market were not sophisticated or robust enough for their needs, and the traditional systems were expensive, inflexible and difficult to use,” said Brad Lauster, Co-founder of Bindo. “Bindo POS for Restaurant fills that gap in the market with a solution that’s powerful, customizable and a pleasure to use.”

The investors that led the new funding round have decades of operational expertise in the F&B industry, and played a pivotal role in fine-tuning the customizations needed for the many restaurant-types supported by Bindo’s solution. Bindo POS for Restaurant will be available for use in private beta by signing up on bindopos.com or calling 1-800-MYBINDO.

A quick demo of the Bindo POS for Restaurant technology is also available upon request.

ABOUT BINDO

Founded in 2011, Bindo is the one-stop iPad Point-of-Sale (POS) solution that connects local brick-and-mortar merchants to their customers, giving businesses a more cohesive and competitive technology solution that complements the ever-changing and dynamic needs of their consumers. With Bindo POS, businesses will be able to better manage their stores, keep track of their customers and have access to sophisticated tools to allow their business be run more efficiently. Coming soon, the Bindo Market iPhone app will allow everyday consumers to make on-demand delivery purchases directly on their smartphones, thereby closing the Online-to-Offline loop for merchants.

For more information about Bindo POS, visit https://bindopos.com
For more information about Bindo Market, visit https://bindo.com

SOURCE Bindo

Bindo

CONTACT: Catherine Lowe, North 6th Agency, Inc. (For Bindo), +1-917-916-2609, bindo@n6a.com

Web Site: https://bindo.com

My Thoughts on the Above:

Obviously the funding and  restaurant specific version of Bindo is pretty cool news given the popularity of Bindo on the retail side.  Even though there are a bunch of mobile POS systems for restaurants, Bindo brings that right balance of price/feature/function as well as not being a company that has outgrown themselves to the point of having to outsource technical support to India. 

Bindo also has the drive to win customers and clients one at a time versus 'turning and burning'.

There is some other big news related to Bindo that is very positive as well which I hope to be able to share in a few more weeks.  

Are you  in the US and in need of no cost retail point of sale advice?  I'm happy to help and can be reached on my cell at 208-340-5632 (I am on Mountain Time) or via email at kevinantosh@gmail.com. There is also a contact form to the right that can be used to reach me..

How Popular is Bindo POS? Popular Enough to be Featured on CNBC along with retailer Space Cowboy Boots!

Another point of sale company makes national news. This time it is the very popular Bindo point of sale that many folks I know have recently selected as a point of sale system for their business or organization. The video segment covers Bindo POS as well as why a cowboy boot store in New York City (Space Cowboy Boots) selected Bindo POS for their business.

Here is a link to video of the segment on CNBC: http://video.cnbc.com/gallery/?video=3000381734&play=1

Please visit my contact page for information on how to reach me.

Lower Prices for Mobile POS Hardware

One side benefit to there being so many tablet and smart phone point of sale systems on the market is that the prices for the hardware and peripherals to use these mobile point of sale systems has come way down.

I've seen complete bundles - including the iPad - for just over $1,100. This is all new hardware and makes for a very low price point to get started with a complete point of sale system for your business.

As this blog is not designed to advertise for other companies, please visit my contact page for information on how to reach me if you want to know were I was able to find this hardware (it is a reputable website).

More Good Stuff Added to Bindo Point of Sale

The folks at Bindo Point of Sale (www.bindopos.com) have been busy adding new features and functions to the Bindo Point of Sale system. As you know Bindo is a popular* mobile point of sale system that uses iPads and iPhones for selling while utilizing internet browsers for manager and owner functions like running reports, placing product orders, and making price changes. Here is what has been added to Bindo recently:

1. Scale Support and decimal entry: whether you use a scale that connects directly to Bindo (available in 10 pound and 30 pound models) or use a stand alone scale and enter the weight manually, Bindo now supports calculating price by weight. Very helpful for corner markets, delis, grocery stores, feed stores and pet stores.
2. Modifiers: not just for restaurant use but also very helpful for retail businesses that offer customization or design work (think custom furniture stores or embroidery stores). 

Here is a video showing sales of weighted items and items with modifiers in Bindo:

More reviews on Bindo POS can be found here: https://bindopos.com/reviews

Please visit my contact page for information on how to reach me.

*Popular based on the sheer number of folks that contact me to let me know that their business or organization has selected Bindo.

Prolific Point of Sale

Just a quick note that I am hoping to review the Prolific Point of Sale program sometime in late March or early April. Prolific Point of Sale is an iPad based point of sale application that can work in both retail and food service businesses and organizations.

As Prolific Point of Sale is attached to a merchant services company, I will not only be reviewing the actual app but also asking the tough questions related to costs and fees for using the app, service & support, and hardware costs as well as what sort of merchant services rates are offered and if your rates can be raised over time.

Are you  in the US and in need of no cost retail point of sale advice?  I'm happy to help and can be reached on my cell at 208-340-5632 (I am on Mountain Time) or via email at kevinantosh@gmail.com. There is also a contact form to the right that can be used to reach me.

Big Upgrade for Bindo Point of Sale

Wanted to pass along that the folks at Bindo point of sale (www.bindopos.com) have released a new version of the Bindo Dashboard which allows users to perform non-selling functions from any device with an Internet browser.

Definitely a major improvement! Here is a quick video that I created showing how the Bindo Dashboard works on my laptop running Chrome (thanks to the folks at Bindo POS for allowing me access so I could give the system a "test run"):

Are you  in the US and in need of no cost retail point of sale advice?  I'm happy to help and can be reached on my cell at 208-340-5632 (I am on Mountain Time) or via email at kevinantosh@gmail.com. There is also a contact form to the right that can be used to reach me.

New Features Added to Bindo Point of Sale

The folks at Bindo Point of Sale (www.bindopos.com) have been hard at work adding new features to Bindo. Here is a list of the most recent enhancements:


• Mix & Match Discount - apply a discount when enough qualifying products are purchased

• Customer-facing Display - with our new Bindo Display app, your customers can see their order as you ring it up!

• Choose store credit as a payment-type for Split Tender transactions

• Add new inventory when creating an invoice

• Support for variably-priced items on invoices

• New payment-type filters on the Sales screen

• New filters on the Customer report

• Allow extensions for customer phone numbers

**Improvements:**

• Cash Management improvements

• Improve offline cash and check checkout

• Stability improvements

• Various bug fixes

Here is a video highlighting some of the new features:

Are you  in the US and in need of no cost retail point of sale advice?  I'm happy to help and can be reached on my cell at 208-340-5632 (I am on Mountain Time) or via email at kevinantosh@gmail.com. There is also a contact form to the right that can be used to reach me.

New Feature in Bindo Point of Sale

Just a quick note that Bindo Point of Sale (www.bindopos.com) has added automatic discounts that can be applied to a customers profile. This is great when you have certain types of customers that qualify for discounted pricing. It also reduces the cashier workload since the discounts are automatically applied when the customer is selected for the transaction.

More reviews on Bindo POS can be found here: https://bindopos.com/reviews

Please visit my contact page for information on how to reach me.

New Features in Shopkeep Point of Sale & Reviews/Feedback

I mentioned a few posts back that open bar tab and tip/total functions are what prevents most retail point of sale systems from being used in most food service businesses.

Well, the folks at Shopkeep have now added both the open bar tab function and tip/total functions to Shopkeep which opens up Shopkeep point of sale for iOS devices to those with food service businesses.

My main concern with Shopkeep Point of Sale is the lack of valid reviews from people actually using the Shopkeep point of sale solution here in the United States. I receive frequent calls and emails from folks asking about Shopkeep but none of us can find valid reviews from actual end users. That being said, you can find more information on the Shopkeep website at http://www.shopkeep.com/

UPDATE: I may have spoken to soon. Here is a link to a Shopkeep review but ignore the review (the person who wrote the review does not state that they have retail or restaurant management experience) and jump down to the comments to see some feedback on Shopkeep - it is pretty easy to spot the valid and invalid comments: http://www.merchantmaverick.com/reviews/shopkeep-review/


With a background in retail and restaurant management plus 15 years of working with various point of sale solutions, I have become quite skilled at pulling out the valid information in the reviews.  For those of you not wanting to read through the comments, here is what you need to know:

"As of about a week ago, suspended tickets have now been added"
"Shopkeep does not support integration with ANY webstore applications that I can find. They had made a decision to move away from Shopify in early 2013,"
"Shopkeep still has NOTHING in place to offer for web integration"
"expect the second tax rate to be available in the very near future"
"the interface seems easy and clean, and it’s a breeze to set up"
"no long-term agreements and no cancellation fees"
"The customer service is great and they are obviously a company on the right track"
"However, not having gift card integration is TERRIBLE and extremely frustrating...."
"...only one tax rate and only one special tender type…those are limitations I cannot live with."

Are you  in the US and in need of no cost retail point of sale advice?  I'm happy to help and can be reached on my cell at 208-340-5632 (I am on Mountain Time) or via email at kevinantosh@gmail.com. There is also a contact form to the right that can be used to reach me.

New Updates for NCR Silver

Thanks to a new iPad Air, I was able to catch up on what has been happening with the NCR Silver mobile point of sale solution for iOS devices.

There have been some significant changes in terms of an enhanced version of NCR Silver for food service businesses but the core retail version of NCR Silver remains the same.  The functionality lies between a cash register and a true point of sale system.  With newer mobile solutions like Bindo POS offering more functionality for the same price, I'm sure the development team at NCR is working to add more advanced functions and features to NCR Silver.

Here are the update highlights:

• Restaurant Pro Edition price starts at $129.00/month
• A Silver 'Guru' can assist with the setup of your system for $299.00 (looks to be combination of phone and onsite service)
• For around $30.00/month you can have integration between NCR Silver and QuickBooks Accounting

Those are the major changes - I am working on a video demo of the sales side of NCR Silver as well.

Can I help?  If you are in need of some free point of sale advice, you can reach me at kevinantosh@gmail.com or 208-340-5632. I have over 15 years experience helping retail stores and museums select the best point of sale solution for their business or organization.

Updates to NCR Silver

A few updates related to the NCR Silver point of sale solution for retail stores and restaurants that want a tablet/smartphone/mobile point of sale solution:

1. NCR Silver now has the ability to include color, style and size options for inventory items
2. There is a QuickBooks Accounting interface available for NCR Silver - my understanding is that the interface costs an additional $30/month - I will try to confirm that price and obtain more details about what the interface can and can't do.

Have questions? Want some free point of sale advice?  You can reach me at kevinantosh@gmail.com or 208-340-5632. 

VEND Receives Investment Funding to Expand

Auckland, New Zealand based Vend has received $8,000,000 in funding to expand operations in the United States and Australia. Note that the amount is in New Zealand dollars.

I haven't heard much about Vend other than it is a monthly fee based retail point of sale system designed to run on tablet computers (appears to be iPad based for sales functions and PS/Mac browser based for management functions).

Vend appears to offer the core point of sale functions along with some additional add-ons for more specific needs.

Since I have no personal experience with Vend, I can't pass along any detailed comments related to the functionality, satisfaction, reliability , or user satisfaction with Vend. I would make a general comment that there are already 100+ point of sale systems to choose from in the US so hopefully Vend will find the niche to differentiate what they can offer specialty retailers in a point of sale solution.

Note: I have asked Vend to schedule a demo of Vend and offer more details of what makes Vend different from the other POS solutions designed for mobile devices. I will let you know if I hear anything from them (24.April.2014).