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).

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.

What to do about Change of Service Fees

As you know, I am very much in favor of only using point of sale systems that allow you to pick, choose, and change which company handles your merchant services for debit and credit card processing.  As we all know how competitive merchant services companies can be, the worst thing we can do is lock ourselves in to a long term contract or commitment where our rates can be raised.

That being said, it is likely that changing who handles your merchant services may involve a fee and a service call to change the information in your point of sale software - plus you want to test the new settings to make sure that everything is functioning correctly.

Most point of sale companies charge $250 to $800 to perform a "change of service" related to changing the settings in your point of sale system so you can switch/change merchant services companies. I've found that it never hurts to ask the company that you are switching to for merchant services to cover that fee via a credit or series of monthly credits - just be sure to get in writing!

That way, you can make sure that you are always paying the lowest fees for debit and credit card processing.

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

What Point of Sale Systems are the Most Popular

Since late 2013, I have provided free and unbiased advice to over 400 retail stores, restaurants, and museums. Many of you have been kind enough to let me know what you ended up purchasing.

On the retail side, Bindo Point of Sale (www.bindopos.com) has emerged as the clear winner. With advanced features that point of sale systems like NCR Silver and First Data Clover can't offer, Bindo combines what folks want in a POS system while keeping the affordability that cloud based systems offer.

On the food service side, Sapphire from Khamu (http://www.khamu.com/) has proven to be popular. With dedication to the restaurant market, personalized service, and a price much lower than other restaurant solutions like MICROS, Digital Dining, and Aloha, Sapphire offers a complete solution at a budget friendly price point.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Point of Sale Trends - Who Wants to Sell to You & What Are Your Options?

I have taken some time to chat with different point of sale dealers/partners that have physical presences and sell point of sale systems both online and locally. There are some noteworthy trends taking place related to business plans, solutions, and target market segments that might be of interest to you. I will break it down by gross annual sales volume so you can skip to the section that applies to your business or organization. Note that this applies to everyone and is not just specific to retail stores, museums, restaurants, bars, concession stands, venues, or similar.

Under $100,000 in Gross Annual Sales:

• Cash Register
• Square

Basically businesses and organizations with this low of a sales volume really can't afford to spend much more than $200-$1500 on a cash register or point of sale system.  Most of these cash register and point of sale solutions are found online but some areas do have local dealers but plan on paying an additional hourly labor rate for any onsite training, setup, or support services. Most companies that I spoke with prefer that these systems be sold online and direct to the end user.

$100,000 to $300,000 in Gross Annual Sales:

• Cash Register
• Tablet/Mobile Point of Sale System
• Point of Sale System with a Monthly "pay as you use it" Fee

This segment of the market has become increasingly competitive with numerous iOS, Android, and even Windows systems on the market designed to run on mobile devices like tablets and smart phones. Nearly all of these systems use a "pay as you use it" pricing plan which is easy on your budget (think of it as another utility bill) and normally includes support and updates in the monthly fee.   Most companies that I spoke with prefer that these systems be sold online and direct to the end user.

Make sure that you watch out for hidden fees in the contracts and ensure that your EMV hardware needs will be taken care of since our EMV Liability shift date is coming up in October 2015.  Also make sure that you are working with something that does not lock you in to a long term merchant services contract as this will cost you dearly in the long run.

$300,000 to $800,000 in Gross Annual Sales:

• Tablet/Mobile Point of Sale System
• Bundled Computer Based Point of Sale System 

You folks are in a tough position. Your business may have feature/function needs that require more that what the tablet or mobile point of sale systems offer but you likely don't have $8,000 - $20,000 to spend on a full blown computer based point of sale system. You may also have noticed that your local point of sale dealer/partner is only interested in working with businesses with multiple locations and not single location businesses.  This is due to the simple reason that selling mobile point of sale solutions with monthly "pay as you use it" pricing plans or $8,000 computer based point of sale systems don't generate any profit while selling $20,000+ point of sale systems to large single location businesses or business with multiple locations does generate a profit.

You will likely be able to find online point of sale companies willing to sell you a 'bundled' system online and then you take care of setting up the system yourself or hire a local technician.

To be honest - many of the point of sale companies, partners, VAR's and dealerships that I spoke with are not planning on providing anything for this segment of the market. I understand the reasoning but it seems like this is leaving folks with these sizes of businesses and organizations with limited options - especially if any sort of onsite services are needed.

Hopefully someone will come up with the right type of solution that offers all the features/functions that businesses and organizations in this market segment need as well as any onsite support services. I was part of a company that launched $2995.00 bundled point of sale systems in the late 1990's so I'm sure that a $5995.00 bundled system would sell well today and you simply add on optional bundles for services like training, onsite setup, and ongoing support/

$800,000+ in Gross Annual Sales:

Basically - anyone and everyone with a point of sale system wants to work with you. Unless you have real basic technology needs, you will likely want to go through a local point of sale dealer/partner who can sit down with you to learn more about your business and what you need in a point of sale system.  Make sure that you take time to find a system that meets your present and future needs as well as a point of sale partner/dealer that can provide the support and service that you need.

Overall Summary:

So, obviously, there are some market segments that are likely going to be under-served for the time being while other segments will be receiving lots of cold calls from salespeople!

The good news is that I don't care what your volume is. I have worked with business and organizations with 1 location and annual gross sales as low as $18,000 to chains with several hundred locations and multi-million dollar per location annual gross sales.

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.

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!

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: