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.

Businesses Leaving Shopkeep and Revel for Bindo

Interesting - I've had a few stores contact me to let me know that they recently stopped using ShopKeep. LightSpeed or Revel and have switched to Bindo point of sale.  I'm not sure on all the details but obviously something happened which was big enough to make these retail owners stop using their current point of sale systems.

I have had complaints in the past about Revel sometimes locking up when swiping a credit card as payment and past complaints about ShopKeeps tax setup - not sure if that applies in these cases or not. I'll be sure to pass along details if I get a chance to talk to any of these businesses.

I'd say things bode very well for Bindo! More reviews on Bindo POS can be found here: https://bindopos.com/reviews

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.

Negative Feedback on Lightspeed

While I have personally had positive experiences with Lightspeed point of sale, I have been made aware of some stores who have had negative experiences with Lightspeed.

The main issue appears to be related to the multi-location version of Lightspeed not correctly handling the inventory at all locations (ie: transferring the wrong item to the wrong store or the different store inventory databases not syncing correctly which causes on hand counts to be incorrect).

That is all that was communicated to me so I don't know if the problem lies with the user or with Lightspeed but the situation was bad enough that at least one store stopped using Lightspeed and switched to another point of sale system.

I'd advise anyone looking at Lightspeed to do a little research and be sure to talk to stores using Lightspeed to see if they have experienced any issues.

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.

Mac Based Point of Sale Systems for Retail Stores

From time to time, I am asked about retail point of sale solutions that run on Macintosh computers (not iPads or iPhones but actual Mac's). Over the last 14 years I have seen several Mac based point of sale solutions come and go.

Over the last few years, LightSpeed has developed a decent client base. Over the last few months I was able to visit some specialty retailers using LightSpeed (sporting goods store, candle store, and a boutique).

It was interesting that none of them actually bought LightSpeed specifically as they wanted something that ran on Mac computers. One bought LightSpeed since it had an open interface for add-ons related to automated purchasing. The other two owners bought LightSpeed as they felt both the software and the hardware had a cleaner and more updated look than the Windows-based point of sale systems that they looked at.

It appears that LightSpeed has mixed to mostly positive reviews (tough to tell which reviews are real and which are fake).  You can read more here: http://www.softwareadvice.com/retail/lightspeed-profile/#reviews

LightSpeed has also worked to grow a local dealer/reseller base which helps when it comes to local support. You can find more information about LightSpeed by visiting: http://www.lightspeedretail.com/

From what store owners have told me, LightSpeed is a viable option for smaller specialty retail stores - regardless of whether you prefer Mac's over PC's. Keep in mind that Mac's do operate somewhat differently from PC's so if your computer experience is all Microsoft Windows based, you may need to devote some time to learning the Macintosh Operating 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 (mountain time) or via email at kevinantosh@gmail.com.

MerchantOS Acquired by LightSpeed

I have multiple bike related retail stores as clients (they mainly use Microsoft RMS Store Operations and NCR CounterPoint but a few use cash registers), I thought that this announcement from LightSpeed and MerchantOS would be of interest to those of you with bike shops/retail stores or even sporting goods related retail stores:

MONTREAL, Quebec (BRAIN) — MerchantOS, a popular retail POS software brand among bike shops, has been acquired by LightSpeed, a Montreal-based software company.

MerchantOS said its product line and team will continue with a new name: LightSpeed Cloud.

"Your product and price will stay the same," MerchantOS said on its website. "If you decide to change your plan you’ll be switched to our new pricing. Over the next few months we’ll transition all customers to our new user interface. Not to worry — we’ll give you the opportunity to review the new interface before you switch over. We’re sure you’ll like what you’ll see."

LightSpeed said the acquisition of MerchantOS expands its customer base by over 2,400 locations and adds a new "platform-agnostic" HTML-5-based POS system to its product offerings. LightSpeed's previous POS systems run only on Apple's Mac OS platform.

I personally prefer Microsoft RMS Store Operations for bike shops since it has a work order function for repairs and service work.  For larger bike shop retail stores, NCR CounterPoint has an add-on called ServicePoint that allows NCR CounterPoint to track repairs and service work (and scheduling as well for services like annual tune-ups).

Both Microsoft RMS Store Operations and NCR CounterPoint have kiting (kitting?) functions so you can bundle products together as part of a promotion or even a normal sale (ie. a starter bundle that includes a mountain bike, pads, water bottle, and helmet).


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.