Integration of technology in business processes helps business owners and managers run businesses more efficiently. One of the major and latest technology inventions for business is the POS, short for point of sale system. A point of sale system is a simple, minimalistic and fast system that runs in the point of sale of a business. Customers enjoy fast responses, accurate calculations, as well as printing of tangible records proving the trade’s completion.
If you are interested in a cost-effective method that you can use as a point of sale solution, you should consider incorporating an iPad POS system into your business. These systems can now be implemented almost anywhere and offer a very attractive low equipment cost benefit, and offer the ability to do simple processing of payments and active inventory tracking quickly and easily. An iPad POS system represents one of the easiest methods to perform these tasks and a lot more through a sleek and very responsive interface.
This article highlights all the important information related to point of sale systems including the advantages, disadvantages, cost, as well as all comments and reviews from all current users of the system.
iPad POS System Cost
An iPad POS system can actually be one of the lowest cost solutions for processing transactions at your business. In general, you only need to consider the cost of an iPad and a few other pieces of equipment like a cash drawer and a barcode scanner. After you purchase all these hardware parts of the POS system, you can acquire a capable app that runs on an iPad like Square or ShopKeep POS. This is all you need to purchase and you can be up and running with your iPad POS system. This means that you can operate everything in your business for a small cost. Compared to the service offered and the amount of work reduction due to this system, it is worth every penny.
All you should worry about is the iPad POS system cost and the maintenance of credit card processing. Apart from all the machines you purchase, you only need to worry about the monthly or yearly payments to the system’s provider, depending on your agreement with the company. So if you break it down further, you’re looking at as little as a few to several hundred dollars for the cost of Internet, the cost of cash drawers, receipts printers, barcode scanners and one or more iPads depending on how many point of sale devices your business needs.
Comparatively speaking, this is a considerable amount cheaper than what other retail systems would cost. That is why an iPad POS system for small business can be an attractive starting point.
iPad POS System Reviews
Before you jump into purchasing and installing your new iPad POS system, you should check some of the reviews provided by clients in order to determine which app has the features that are more suited for your business. Square POS and ShopKeep POS are a few of the more popular apps that come with a ton of good features for product or service-based operations. When combined with an iPad, these features provide the most desirable features and service as a point of sale system.
Other apps might have more of a focus on restaurants and hospitality businesses making them more suited for coffee shops, quick service or even table service operations. An iPad restaurant POS system will vary from an iPad POS system for retail to that with wholesale features and abilities. The iPad restaurant POS system will have functionality like handheld order taking, table seating or reservation check-ins, while the iPad POS for retail system might be more of a content delivery device for engaging customers while on the floor.
There are many different types of apps out there that when combined with an iPad can turn into a great iPad POS system for small business as well as larger business in almost any industry that are just as stable and capable as anything else. When you find the right application to run your business, you will run the business for a long time and you will not have to make additional changes to make improvements.
The good news is there are a lot of iPad POS system reviews out there that can help you make an educated decision.
Accessing these comments and reviews is easy. A company will allow customers and clients to comment on how the software serves their businesses including the response, any problems that might arise, as well as some of the malfunctions that happen during operation.
iPad POS System from Square
The iPad POS system from square is perfect for small businesses. A number of other companies have reliable iPad POS systems that make use of the original design by square as their starting template during development. These competitor companies adjust certain features of the system in order to ensure that they are perfect for different types of businesses.
The system can be extremely simple to implement and they run on proven software that can link with accounting and other useful features. By having the inventory-tracking software built directly into the product and the option to track accounting through the iPad and synced with the cloud, your small business can be prepared with tools many large-scale operations have, that will help you add additional locations and grow.
The iPad POS system square provides has several unique features and advantages that seclude it from all other systems with the same function. The square system has a different method of payment. You do not have to worry about making monthly or yearly payments when using this system. Instead, you give to the company 2.75% of each amount you feed to the system received from customers. For instance, when you receive payment of $100, the company takes 2.75% of that.
The system is one of the easiest to install, taking up less than five minutes to install and start running. Once you have your hardware part of the system ready, you can easily download the software free and start doing business immediately. When using this system, you can enjoy a range of services. These include a variety of payment methods that include using phones to make payments. This system also provides, for a certain amount, special hardware with special features for easy operation. For instance, you can enjoy a stand that is easy to move. This makes it easy to allow customers to sing for each transaction and in the end provides tips easily using the system.
It is possible to purchase these individual components of the square POS system regardless of the business you run. This is because there is a unique design and functionality for small businesses, large businesses, restaurants, name it. As long as you know what you need from the point of sale systems, you can select from a range of special and unique systems from square with different features.
ShopKeep POS
As you make considerations when choosing the best system for your business depending on the type and size of your business, you should consider the unique ShopKeep POS system. This is a small, fast and unique point of sale system with several features and attributes. For instance, it is easy to understand the normal functionality of the system. In addition to the unique and beautiful design, the system has lightening quick checkouts with some additional features for quick item substitutions to avoid confusion, good management tools using cloud data for easy access anywhere, including accounting data and other useful information.
When you choose ShopKeep, you only need a few minutes to install the entire system or replace with the current old one. Rather than having to shell out thousands to get the cumbersome PC based POS system that just seems a little outdated for today’s working environment, you could be up and running with a pop-up shop or small business in just a matter of a few minutes using an iPad and a few extra pieces of equipment recommended by ShopKeep.
After a detailed analysis on the general functionality of this system, a few details came up that make the company one of the best in the business. An iPad POS system for retail store should be affordable. The customer needs a system that they can afford to purchase and maintain without draining too much of their profits to this single system. Unlike the square point of sale system, you do not have to worry about making too many payments to the company behind the point of sale system. Instead of per-transaction charges, ShopKeep allows you to make a one-time monthly payment regardless of the amount of times you use the system and the amount of money that goes through it. Once you make a payment of $59, you can enjoy accurate calculations for your business.
The company, however, allows you to make a choice. You can choose to have a single yearly payment for the services provided by the system. In addition, you do not have to choose between different levels and types of payment plan. When you make the monthly payment, you can enjoy all the features without limitation, unlike most competitors. You can also enjoy customer service 24/7 in case you have to deal with certain malfunctions or you have inquiries about the system.
Purchased to work together with this software, are several components that include the iPad holder, a simple card reader with Bluetooth capabilities, a drawer for the cash, as well as a receipt printer all at a low price.
The Various Functions of a Point of Sale System
Different businesses, depending on their sizes, products, services and processes, have several requirements from this magnificent business system. The different companies that develop point of sale systems integrate several features and functions that make them unique and specifically efficient to different types and sizes of businesses. The list that follows does not include services offered by all the systems. In areas that some POS systems thrive, others ‘fail’. However, this difference in features means that you should choose from the list of available systems to find one tailored for your specific needs without extra unnecessary features.
Management of Employees
A perfect point of sales system should do more than help you calculate change and record the goods and services sold. Some of the options available include systems that allow you to manage information about your employees. You can record and save the information of each employee including his or her names, photo and schedules. This means that you can delegate individual tasks to individual employees.
You can also manage payments of your employees using this system. This is one of the most common way of assuring you complete control over your business processes. After making and modifying all the available records of your employees, you can easily save all the information to a cloud platform availed by the company behind the system. In regards to the employee payments, you can export all information to your accounting systems.
Sales Records and Analysis
IPad POS system for small business owners and those for large businesses have a common main function. An iPad POS system will easily record the products or services sold by your business. This will also make calculations on the amount of money that you receive from the customer and the amount of change you need to give back.
However, this primary function is not the only sales features. Using a POS system, you can enjoy quick analysis of sale changes. For instance, an increase in the number of customers in a single day is easy to recognize when the system provides a detailed description. This means that you can therefore learn the pattern of the business growth. In addition, some systems are capable of recording and displaying the specific product or service that gets most purchases.
Using this system, you can take great precaution and enjoy making decisions easier. You can choose the item you need to avail more for customers and those you need to reduce depending on the response noted and reported by the system.
Since all the records on inventory are available in the system, it can easily record and display all profits made by the daily sales and the specific items behind the profit or loss.
Customer Reports
As an owner or manager of a business, regardless of the size, you would like to identify the specific customers that contribute most to the growth of your business. By using the point of sale system, you can easily note and identify these loyal and profitable customers.
Each time a customer makes a payment using a card or other digital type of payment, the system notes the identity and makes a record of this. When using the system, you can analyze the customers that make most purchases over a specific period of time as well as the amount of money they spend each time.
When you have this information, you can identify these customers and put in place practices that ensure they do not leave. This is one of the major advantages of a POS system.
Inventory Management
With an efficient point of sale system, you can make records of all available inventory. An additional feature is available for companies that have several branches under one management. If each single branch has a POS system, it is easier to collect all information and calculate it to figure out the items you need to increase in the inventory, the rate at which the customers purchase them, as well as those items that do not provide the desired level of profits.
With inventory management, you can identify the location of each packaged item. This system eradicates most of the initial manual processes of making records as well as making calculations. This system also has an additional advantage of reporting the products and services that have most demand.
E-commerce Capabilities
When you start a business, you have to keep up with the competition, striving the best you can to ensure that you retain and increase the customers that visit your store. Having an online store is one of the most important ways to improve your business. When you have an iPad restaurant POS system, customers expect that some of the services, for instance booking of a table, are available online. Due to the level of competition available in the current business world, companies have to ensure that they avail their businesses online for remote access by customers.
When customers need to make purchases without visiting the physical stores, they make online orders, after which you make deliveries to their preferred locations. They also need to ensure that your business provides this information, which means that they need information about your business.
In case you need a customer to make a full or partial payment before deliver, you should have the right means of payment that does not involve physical meeting. Your system should allow customers to purchase products and services and make payments online.
You should ensure that you make these options available for your customers and that you can access this information through the same POS system.
Considerations to Make Before Purchasing a Point of Sales System
Before you purchase your preferred system, you should realize a number of facts. For a first, you are responsible for your business as a manager or owner. You should therefore strive to get the best quality for your money and for your business’ sake. The point of sale system you purchase for your system will have a huge effect on your business, either positively or negatively. You therefore need to do some detailed research on the system and ensure that you have everything right before choosing a company.
Pricing
The iPad POS system cost should be the first consideration you make when deciding whether the system works best for your business. A point of sale system should have reasonable costs. Some of the systems avail monthly fees or yearly fees depending on your preference, with some providing some of the best deals. Although the total cost of a full system is not high, it should be reasonable.
Some of the business owners and managers face fake companies that do not have transparent prices and costs for their systems. A company should have several options for your payment depending on what you prefer. As a business owner, you should be careful to ensure that you understand and ask all the important questions behind a company’s costs and prices. You should ensure that the system of your choice is able to provide you with an affordable and manageable payment system.
Information Processing Features
An iPad POS system should do more than the primary function. Although it should be able to provide more services than the record and storage of sales, you should know how the sales are doing. Most systems have different functions that include simple analysis of the daily sales made, profits or losses made, as well as the simple comparison of different items.
However, considering the abilities noted above, you should get more than this for your money. Depending on your business’ type and size, you should have a list of features you require from the company. For instance, you would require a company that is able to provide you detailed information of the inventory available in the business, the rate at which it is sold, as well as the comparison different items. With a simple click, you should have access to information regarding the items with most orders, and those that take longer in the store due to less demand.
With a functional point of sale system, the owner or manager should easily decide the changes to make when ordering or purchasing inventory for sales.
Apart from this, the system should provide additional features such as the management of your employees as well as reports regarding the frequency of specific customers.
In simple terms, the point of sales system should help you make faster and easier decisions regarding your business, the progress, as well as the necessary changes to make in order to improve your business regardless of the size.
Integration with Other Tools
When running a business, you need several tools that provide more satisfaction to your customers. Your point of sales system should allow easy integration with other tools. For instance, it is a common practice to include online orders to your business processes. You should receive orders from clients easily with simple information including the quantity and the location for the delivery. In simple terms, it is important for your customers to receive quality, fast, and easy communication with you as you run your business.
Considering the features of an iPad in terms of integration with other tools, it would be easy to integrate multiple tools. The system, however, should have the adequate capabilities and features to make this possible and easy.
Availability of the Company’s Customer Care
Although no one expects or anticipates a malfunction in the business, they happen all the time. It is impossible to identify a system that does not have occasional malfunctions. However, the important consideration at this point is the availability of help when a system fails.
The perfect system should have a fast and responsive customer care. Imagine this, you run a huge business with a great customer turnout. However, as you make your payments, your system reports an unexpected malfunction or error that makes it impossible to continue work. When this happens, you should call the customer care and report the nature of the error in hopes for a guide to the solution.
When you contact the customer care, are they available? This is the main reason why you require a company that avails 24-hour customer service.
When you call the customer care, how quick does a representative pick the call for assistance? If it takes long, it would appear longer when dealing with an actual crisis. You therefore need a company that makes a representative within the least time possible.
Another important fact is that some customer care services might be available for 24 hours a day with quick responses but fail in providing relevant solutions to your problems. A company should be ready to send a technician over to your company immediately they face a challenge that is not easy to solve without the physical help of a technician.
Installation and Usage
When you purchase a POS system, you do not require any help of a professional. You only need a simple manual with simple instructions on a quick setup. When you analyze the company’s system, it should be easy to use and easy to train employees.
Most system developers recognize that it is important for a company to avail different features. However, they fail to make the systems easy to use. This is due to complicated and compressed UI designs that complicate everything making them hard to use, sometimes making it easier to make mistakes.
The best system should have an interactive design that has precautions to ensure the least amount of unintentional mistakes.
Security
A business’ prime component is security. Being a company that deals with the exchange of goods or services with money, you should have security. When running a point of sales system, you require internet connection. An internet connection is one easy way to get unauthorized access to information.
When serving your customers, you would be sure that some would make use of credit cards, master cards, or even online payments for online orders. Being a business owner or manager, you need to be sure that the information that goes through your system remains anonymous and that the information does not fall in unauthorized hands, which puts your customers at risk of attacks.
Communicate with the company about your need for sure security. Make sure that the company assures tight security for your online business processes as well as information of your customers.
Reviews
These are comments and reviews availed by other users of a system. You should take great interest in what others have to say about the business, the functionality, the speed, as well as the possibility of failures. Negative iPad POS system reviews should discourage you from making a purchase and encourage you to find a better and more responsive system.
To find these reviews and comments, you can check several platforms, which are mostly online. A company should provide a section that allows clients to explain their problems with the system or praise the functionality. Ensure to go through these.
Type and Size of Business
Different businesses have different qualities, some of which depend on the nature of the business. iPad POS system retail capabilities should extend to the most common practices and processes of the business.
Conclusion
With the right requirements in mind and important considerations, you can choose from a range of systems to pin point the best of all. Ensure that you find the best of all for the best effects.