Clover Updates

Update July 6, 2015: no shortage of complaints against Clover specific to expensive long term contracts, costly buyout clauses, unable to transfer licensing if the business is sold, and sales reps making promises for features/functions that Clover just can't do.  I believe the overall tally is over 400 verified complaints against Clover.

Update November 9th, 2014: Clover was acquired by First Data and relaunched. Still a great point of sale program but you are required to use First Data for all credit and debit card processing services which locks you in to a contract and is something that I recommend folks avoid doing.

I have had a couple of calls now from Clover point of sale users who mentioned that Clover may be taking a different direction shortly.  The users mentioned a lack of updates and that critical functions like tracking item cost and purchasing/receiving functions are still missing from the software.

Clover has also communicated to me that they are moving in a different direction and didn't feel that they could support new customers so I am no longer offering the Clover solution. I already offer NCR Silver which is a little more advanced than Clover but lacks the button-based user interface that made Clover appealing to small food service businesses.

Aside from that, here are the changes to the most current version of Clover:

What's in this version:
1.0.56
- New Order Closeout feature for managers and admins to set every open tip to $0.00
- New Reporting tab to view and print payment, item, and discount reports for the day
- Ability to print items and modifiers in a shorthand or a different language on your kitchen receipts (alternate names option in Order Receipt setup)
- Split payments evenly up to 7 ways
1.0.55
- Enhancements for Magtek BulleT card reader
1.0.54
- Various bug fixes

*Updates 7/24/2014*

• Returned it (Clover) the next day"
• "(sales rep) couldn't even demo the system"
• "they will raise my (merchant services) rates"
• "don't want to be locked in to a credit card contract"
• "good step up from a cash register"
• "missing features"
• "went with Bindo which does more and doesn't require me to use a specific company for credit and debit card processing services"

The Bindo solution was mentioned a couple of times.  Folks noted that Bindo does more than Clover and is even offering some various incentives like free hardware currently. If you are curious about Bindo Point of Sale, check them out at www.bindopos.com.

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 (mountain time) or via email at kevinantosh@gmail.com.

Point of Sale Software Updates

Clover, our Android-based retail, museum and restaurant point of sale solution, now includes the ability to record customer information. This customer information  includes email addresses. We are also offering some flex-pricing on Clover for retail stores and restaurants who want to purchase the hardware versus paying an ongoing monthly fee.

NCR CounterPoint, our Windows and iOS based retail and museum point of sale solution, now offers a much more advanced online shopping cart (information can be found here: http://www.counterpointpos.com/ecommerce/pos-integrated-ecommerce.htm) and there are free trial offers for Customer Connect (automated/proactive email marketing) and Smart Alerts (email and texts alerts based on user-defined operation criteria).

Silver, our iOS based retail, museum and restaurant point of sale solution, has no major changes to announce.

QuickBooks Point of Sale, a Windows based retail point of sale software, has no major changes to announce.

Aldelo, our Windows-based restaurant/bar point of sale solution, has no major changes to announce.

Micros, our proprietary restaurant/bar/hotel point of sale solution, has no major changes to announce.

Microsoft RMS/HQ/POS 2009, our Windows based retail and museum point of sale solution, all have new enhancements and new features but I am waiting on definitive release dates.

New Android Retail and Restaurant Solution

I've come across quite a few iOS (iPpad, iPhone & iPod) solutions over the last six months but this is the first Android based solution that I have been able to get my hands on. It is called "Clover" and is marketed as a solution for retail stores and restaurants that need more than a cash register but don't have the budget (or need) for a $3000 to $10,000 point of sale system.

Here are some pix that I took of the Clover unit.

Back of the system showing the LCD customer display

Front of the system showing the Android tablet, cash drawer, credit card swipe & receipt printer

Side of the system - a barcode scanner is an available option

Another shot of the front

A couple of things impressed me about Clover. One is that it is the first tablet point of sale system that I have reviewed that has multi-location capabilities.  I also liked that there is one set monthly price for the whole system (software 'app', tablet, warranty, support, cash drawer, receipt printer, credit card swipe and customer price display).  This really makes it easy on a retail store or restaurants budget since there are no surprises - just a monthly payment starting around $79/month.

*UPDATES 7/26/2014*  Recent feedback on Clover:

• "Returned it (Clover) the next day"
• "(sales rep) couldn't even demo the system"
• "they will raise my (merchant services) rates"
• "don't want to be locked in to a credit card contract"
• "good step up from a cash register"
• "missing features"
• "went with Bindo which does more and doesn't require me to use a specific company for credit and debit card processing services"

The Bindo solution was mentioned a couple of times.  Folks noted that Bindo does more than Clover and is even offering some various incentives like free hardware currently. If you are curious about Bindo Point of Sale, check them out at www.bindopos.com.

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 (mountain time) or via email at kevinantosh@gmail.com.