Thank-You for Your Patience!

Just a quick note to say thanks to everyone for your patience in waiting for me to call or email you back with information and advice related to point of sale systems. In June 2015 I had over 40 businesses and organizations contact me for unbiased point of sale advice and information.

Between this blog site and my YouTube Channel, the sites are averaging over 150 unique visitors a day (not counting people from obscure countries raiding content).

As a reminder, I do my best to respond within 4 business hours to all requests unless I am traveling. Best times to reach me via phone are 9am-3pm Mountain Time. Otherwise, texts, emails, and using the contact form to the right can be done at anytime.  You can always visit my contact page for information on how to reach me.

Budget for a POS System but Don't Focus on Price

One thing that irks me is when someone focuses solely on price and ignores value. While it is important to budget for a POS system, ignoring value and focusing solely on price is the wrong way to approach investing in a POS system for your business or organization.  Things to avoid:

• Attempting to save $100 by finding the lowest hardware price from different vendors. For the sake of setup and ongoing support, it is much better to purchase everything from one source.
• Comparing costs of completely different systems. POS programs have different features and functions - a nominal difference in upfront or monthly costs is minor when compared to finding a POS program that does what you need it to do for your business or organization.

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).

What type of businesses and organizations have been contacting me so far in 2015

For quarter 1 of 2015, I have been contacted by around 90 businesses and organizations in need of free and unbiased point of sale advice or help. I've also been contacted by a few organizations requesting me to conduct my point of sale workshop at their annual event (conference, expo, etc).

For those searching for point of sale systems, the breakdown is similar to what I saw in 2014:

• 60% have a retail related business
• 30% have a food service related business
• 10% are part of a government entity
• 30% have more than one location
• 50% are only interested in point of sale systems that run on mobile devices like tablets 
• 50% are only interested in point of sale systems that run on computers

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.

Urgent Point of Sale Buying Tip: Ask About EMV!!!

Over the last couple of weeks I have fielded calls and emails from some very upset business owners. Not upset with me but upset as they recently purchased point of sale systems for their businesses without asking about EMV or chip-based debit and credit card transactions. Remember the US EMV liability shift date for chip/contact-less credit and debit card transactions is October 1st, 2015 in the United States.

2 of these businesses invested in point of sale systems that can not be upgraded to work with EMV compatible hardware and the other businesses purchased point of sale systems will require new hardware and software upgrades totaling around $1100/location - this is on top of the money recently spent on a new point of sale system.

I can not stress enough that anything related to cash registers, credit and debit card terminals, point of sale systems designed for mobile devices, or point of sale systems designed for computers should now have a clear and no-cost plan to utilize EMV compatible hardware and be able to authorize chip based credit and debit card transactions when the card is present.

To be honest - the blame falls with both the business owner (for not asking about EMV and not performing 'due diligence' )as well as with the companies selling products that are not ready for EMV.

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.

Next Free & Unbiased Point of Sale Workshop

Wow - so February sure flew by! Here are the details on my next point of sale workshop. As a reminder, these workshops are free and are not sales presentations (I can't sell you anything anyway!).  Given the upcoming liability shift date for EMV, I will be devoting part of the workshop to EMV specifics. The workshop will also cover the following:

• Differences between point of sale systems designed to run on computers versus point of sale systems designed to run on mobile devices like smartphones and tablets
• How to budget for a point of sale system
• What to avoid or common "gotchas' when selecting a point of sale system for your business or organization
• How to select the best vendor to work with
• How to use a weighted point spreadsheet to make your final decision

All of this takes place in a free and unbiased environment! The workshop will be at the Boise, ID location of the Idaho Small Business Development center on Tuesday March 31st 2015 from 2pm to 4pm.

Here is a link to more details and registration information:

https://business.idahosbdc.org/workshop.aspx?ekey=40350042

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.

Point of Sale Buying Tip: Using a Weighted Point Sheet to Determine which POS is Best for You

By popular request - a video showing how to create and use a simple weighted point spreadsheet to decide which point of sale system is best for your business or organization. This works out great in the decision making process as it uses what is most important to you when selecting a POS system for your business or organization and this decision making method can be utilized by anyone who is searching for a point of sale system.

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.

Weighted Factor Method of Selecting the Best Point of Sale System

Due to numerous requests - I am working on getting a video and blog post uploaded that explains how to use a basic spreadsheet and factors/points to compare and choose the best POS solution for your business based on what features and functions are most important to you and your business or organization.

I hope to have this up by Sunday, February 8th, 2015.

The whole process is a lot easier that I make it sound and is not general to one type of business or geared towards any one solution.

Blog/YouTube Stats and Thanks!

Since many of you are focused on taxes and making plans for EMV, I wanted to say "thank-you" to the 300+ businesses and organizations that contacted me in 2014 and were kind enough to let me know what you ended up purchasing. Your feedback helps me stay on top of what the popular solutions are as well as gleaning feedback on service and support.

My calculations indicate that you folks have gone on to spend over $2M in various POS solutions.

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

Which Point of Sale System is Best for You?

Tough question as the answer varies depending on several factors like:

• Type of business
• Type of products and services sold
• Annual sales volume
• Location
• Technical knowledge of the leadership team
• Growth plans
• Existing technology in place and how long the existing technology has been used

Really a short answer isn't possible without learning more about your business or organization. While it would be nice to provide a short answer - the short answer would likely not be very helpful and may send you down the wrong path.

Best bet is to contact me for unbiased point of sale advice, attend one of my point of sale workshops, or even watch my YouTube videos which cover multiple aspects of searching for a new or upgraded point of sale system.

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.

Thoughts on News from NRF Big Show 2015

So I have been sorting through all the news that came out of the NRF Big Show for 2015 and there sure was a lot of news (Oracle entering an agreement to acquire MICROS) and cool new products and applications related to point of sale systems, data mining, social media marketing, electronic signage, and related hardware. However, just about everything that I have read so far applies mainly to larger chains.

While larger chain retail stores and restaurants are attractive from a revenue standpoint, my experience has been that there are more single location independently owned retail stores, museums, restaurants, bars, food trucks, and concession stands in the US by number. I'm talking about the typical "mom and pop" business with one to five locations that generate $250,000 to $800,000 in annual gross sales per location.

Looking at my database of over 4000 businesses (which I never share with anyone unless they ask me to),  90% are "mom and pop" businesses while the rest are chains with 16-300 locations. The 90% still need affordable point of sale systems that do everything that a point of sale system designed for a chain can do. 

Since these businesses have the same technology needs as the larger chains but don't have the revenue to justify spending $20,000+ on point of sale systems and related technology, I'm concerned that this segment of the market is becoming under-served to the point that the only point of sale systems on the market will not provide everything that these business owners need (or worse, come with requirements that take away precious revenue).

10 years ago over 10 different point of sale systems existed that had total costs well under $6,000 and provided everything that a single location (or small chain) business needed. Now, a business owner is hard pressed to find anything under $10,000 that doesn't come with contracts or similar that takes revenue away. Even more concerning is the lack of interest many local-based point of sale dealers/partners have expressed to me in serving the "mom and pop" segment of the market.

While mobile solutions like Bindo Point of Sale and NCR Silver are great - they don't yet offer full functionality for businesses that have more complex technology needs like locally hosted databases, jobber parts, backording, or employee scheduling.

Hopefully I missed the news specific to point of sale solutions for "mom and pop" businesses!

Obviously anyone with news or information about point sale solutions that meets the needs of these "mom and pop" businesses is welcomed to contact me and I will be happy to post information about your solution.  Your businesses must be located in the United State or Canada and have an existing active customer base.

Christmas Blessings and Happy New Year!

I wanted to take moment and thank everyone that contacted me in 2014. It has been a true blessing that I am able to continue to offer free advice and direction for those of you searching for point of sale systems for retail stores, museums, restaurants, bars, concession stands, venues and food trucks.

I sincerely hope that you take some time to reflect on 2014 and are keeping Christ in Christmas!

There is a still a lot on my plate as 2015 brings new point of sale solutions from Microsoft and EMV compliance becomes important to anyone and everyone who accepts credit and debit cards as payment for products and services.

As time allows, I will continue to keep tabs on the more popular solutions like Bindo POS, Retail Pro, NCR Silver, Lightspeed, MICROS, and Sapphire as well as the many other POS of sale systems on the market.

Christmas Blessings!

Best Point of Sale System for Music Artists & Music Groups

I've noticed that a lot of music artists and music groups sell products before/during/after a performance.  While they could easily use Square or a similar product, some of the tablet or mobile solutions also work quite well. If your product sales exceed $60,000 annually then you may want to take a look at Bindo POS or NCR Silver since these programs have payment plans available that can be turned off and on as your performance schedule dictates.

Plus, you would have the option to pick and choose whose handles your credit and debit card processing (commonly called "merchant services").  The mobile solutions also very portable making for easy setup and teardown.

At the very least, make sure that you are equipped to accept debit and credit cards as payment for your merchandise as your fans tend to spend more when not using cash as payment.

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.

PS - no promises but I might be able to connect you with a company that will provide you with a free point of sale system in exchange for free advertising. I'm sure that your fan base includes people who own or manage retail stores and food service related businesses. The sort of arrangement also makes for a unique press release that would provide additional exposure to your music.

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.

Which Locales Can I Help

Just a quick note that I am only able to help folks whose business or organization are located in the United States or Canada. Due to differences in currency, tax structures, areas that software is sold and supported, and grammar/languages, I'm not familiar with the various point of sale systems sold outside of the US and Canada.

Point of Sale Buying Tip: What to Include to Calculate True Cost of Ownership

Whether you define TCO as "True Cost of Ownership" or "Total Cost of Ownership", it is important to factor in all costs over time to ascertain how much a point of sale system will cost you over an average five to seven year period.  A lot of times it is easiest to create a spreadsheet so you can compare costs for various point of sale solutions in a "side by side" layout.

If you are considering a "pay as you use" system or leasing. then you can multiply the payments out. In the case of a "pay as you use" system, I'd recommend multiplying the monthly payment by 72 as 5 - 7 years is how long a typical point of sale system will last.

Here is an actual example - only the names have been changed to protect the innocent:

Store with one point of sale system as a “register” & one point of sale system in the office as a “manger”	System A – Windows Outright Purchase	System B – Tablet Purchase Hardware but pay monthly fee for software & support	System C – Windows Lease everything for 5 years (and own outright at the end of 5 years)
Software	$2,860.00	$9,288.00
Hardware & Peripherals	$2,689.00	$2,350.00
Training	$1,200.00	N/C for initial overview
Installation Labor	$1,980.00	N/C – self install
Paper and Labels	$179.00	$179.00
Accessories (UPS, etc)	$200.00	$200.00
Supplies years 2-6	$895.00 ($179/yr)	$895.00 ($179/yr)	$895.00 ($179/yr)
Equipment failure/yrs 2-6	$2,500.00 ($500/yr)	$2,500.00 ($500/yr)	$2,500.00 ($500/yr)
Annual Support years 2-6	$2,750.00 ($550/yr)	Included	$2,750.00 ($550/yr)
Software Upgrades yrs 2-6	$1,160.00 ($232/yr)	Included	$1,160.00 ($232/yr)
TCO (over 6 years)	$16,413.00	$15,412.00	Will depend on interest %

A video explanation of the above chart can be found at the bottom of this post.

Obviously there are many variables but system A and system B represent the most popular windows based and tablet based retail point of sale systems on the market today.

TCO information does not include merchant services fees as these fees vary greatly from merchant to merchant.

You can draw your own conclusions related to how similar the long term costs are between a windows point of sale system that you purchase and a tablet based point of sale system that you pay an ongoing monthly fee to use.

Confused as heck now or in need of some unbiased point of sale advice? Then visit my contact page for various ways to reach me.

Here is the video explaining the chart:

Why You Should Be Avoiding Clover, HarborTouch & QuickBooks Point of Sale

As I am now receiving near daily calls and emails from folks considering the Clover point of sale solution, I wanted to explain why you should not be considering point of sale systems like Square, Clover, HarborTouch, and QuickBooks point of sale.

The only assumptions I am making is that your business is generating at least $60,000 in annual gross sales and 90% of payment is made using debit or credit cards.

When you purchase a point of sale system that requires you to use one specific company for merchant services, you are at the mercy of that company when it comes to the rates that they charge you for merchant services. What I have seen happen time and time again is that these companies will raise your rates every 90 days or so.

While paying 1/2% more in merchant service fees (which is what seems to be the norm with these companies) may not seem like much - lets see how that adds up over 5 years.

If your business processes $200,000 in debit and credit card transactions annually the 1/2% is $1000/year so you could easily end up paying $4000+ in excessive merchant services fees over the course of 5 years.

I don't know about you but I would rather have that money as profit!

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.

Workshop Update

Had to cancel todays point of sale workshop but the good news is that a free "on demand" video version of the workshop should be ready soon!

Buying Tip: Best Practices and Top Tips for Choosing a Point of Sale System

By request, a video sharing my top tips and best practices to use when searching for a point of sale system. This applies to anyone and everyone who is searching for a point of sale system to track sales, inventory/food, and customer/guest information.

I cover quite a bit very quickly (tough to compress 15 years of experience in to an 11 minute video) so be sure to contact me for additional unbiased point of sale advice.

Point of Sale Buying Tip: What are "Workarounds"?

If you have ever taken on the task of shopping for a computer or tablet/smartphone point of sale system for your business or organization, you may have asked if the system can perform a specific function and the response was "no but there is a 'workaround'".

If you already have a point of sale system, you may have been told the same thing if you asked about something that you want the system to do for you.  So what the heck is a "workaround"?

Workarounds are creative ways to make your point of sale system do something that it was not officially designed to do. The most common requests are feature/function related like the following:

• Gift Registries
• Special Orders
• Return to Vendor/Return to Manufacture
• Food Waste
• Transfers Between Locations
• Consignment Sales
• Bar Tabs
• Order Sequencing

There are plenty more that I have been asked about over the last 15 years but the above are the most common.

Here are some things to keep in mind if you receive a workaround related answer to a "can the system do XYZ?" question:

1. Have the technician or sales rep show you how the workaround would function in a liver version of the point of sale system.
2. Make sure that the workaround does not effect other aspects of the system.
1. ie - causing inaccurate reports
2. ie - you can use the layaway function for a gift registry but what happens if you also need to use the layaway function for actual layaways?
3. Make sure the workaround does not negatively effect any financial data

I hope that helps! Please visit my contact page for information on how to reach me.