At What Point Can You Afford a Tablet or SmartPhone Point of Sale System?

In the past, there was a general rule of thumb that your business should be generating $350,000 or more in annual gross sales to justify investing in a point of sale system. No so anymore. Tablet and smartphone based point of sale systems have made point of sale available to a business of just about any size. Even better, the next generations of tablet and smartphone systems (like Bindo) have many of the features and functions of a more expensive point of sale system. No longer are the tablet solutions just fancy cash registers with limited capabilities.

Looking at the businesses that I worked with over the last 15 years, tablet and smartphone point of sale solutions are perfect for businesses generating under $750,000 in annual gross sales like:

· Specialty Retail Stores
· Small Museums
· Gift Shops
· Small Golf Courses and Smaller Pro Shops
· Mobile or Kiosk Style Businesses
· Businesses that are Seasonal
· Business that sell at markets, trade shows, expos, etc
· School and Student Run Stores

This means that a whole new group of businesses have multiple options beyond just a cash register. Some folks have already purchased the early tablet systems like Clover and Silver (which have some limitations) while others will be very interested in solutions like Bindo which is a more complete solution.

Everyone has a unique situation but my personal experience would advise that the tablet solutions are best suited when your annual gross sales fall in to the $100,000 to $750,000 range. If you are generating under $100,000 in annual gross sales then it would still work if your business has very low overhead costs (ie: no rent, low cost of goods sold, service only, etc).

Confused? Perplexed? Have Comments/Feedback?

You can always email me at kevinantosh@gmail.com or call me at 208-340-5632 (I am on Mountain Time)