POS Solutions
Article | February 15, 2024
Discover the pinnacle of efficiency in point-of-sale operations. The meticulously curated list of the top 10 Cloud POS tools empowers businesses to streamline transactions and gain powerful insights.
The need to elevate point-of-sale (POS) systems has become paramount for businesses seeking to stay ahead of the competition in the rapidly evolving landscape of modern commerce. With the advent of cloud-based technology, a new era of possibilities has emerged, offering businesses an opportunity to revolutionize their sales processes. Cloud POS tools assist companies in unlocking a myriad of benefits, including enhanced flexibility, real-time data accessibility, streamlined operations, and improved customer experiences.
Cloud point of sale tools offers numerous advantages over traditional on-premises solutions, providing businesses with increased flexibility, scalability, and efficiency. As a result, organizations are increasingly prioritizing the adoption of these innovative solutions. The article presents the ultimate list of the top 10 cloud POS tools for businesses to equip with the knowledge necessary to make informed decisions and harness the power of cloud technology in optimizing their point-of-sale operations. The following are the best POS software tools for elevating point of sale:
Cegid Retail
Cegid Retail is a cloud-native point of sale and unified commerce platform designed to cater to the specific needs of specialty retailers worldwide. The POS tool allows businesses to effectively manage their operations and deliver exceptional shopping experiences across different locations. It also enables retailers to provide a seamless brand experience both locally and globally by unifying customer data, inventory, and store operations. The platform's centralized stock management feature optimizes inventory by offering a real-time view, ensuring product availability and maximizing sales opportunities. With its retail operations and task management platform, Cegid Retail can facilitate businesses to streamline operations and ensure attention to detail in every store, all through a user-friendly and comprehensive application.
ReadyCLOUD
ReadyCLOUD, offered by UTC RETAIL, is a cloud-based hosting service that leverages cloud computing and infrastructure to provide a fully managed and off-premise solution for the ReadySTORE POS system. With UTC RETAIL handling all hosting configuration, installation, and management, retailers can focus on their core business operations without the burden of managing technology infrastructure. The real-time connectivity to a dedicated server in the cloud ensures access to a single version of the truth, while customer-specific instances cater to individual configurations and requirements. ReadyCLOUD offers the highest level of flexibility, free from being tied to a specific server technology stack, and provides a financially beneficial model with predictable cost structures and lower total cost of ownership compared to purchasing and managing dedicated on-premise servers.
Brink POS
A robust and reliable POS system, Brink POS is designed to meet the needs of both enterprise-level deployments and independent operators focused on growth. With Brink POS, businesses receive a comprehensive front-office software solution that streamlines POS management, freeing up time and allowing them to concentrate on cultivating relationships and enhancing the customer experience. The software's SaaS design ensures ultimate flexibility, while its seamless consolidation capability will enable businesses to integrate multiple systems effortlessly. With a flourishing integration ecosystem boasting over 200 PARtners, Brink POS provides a powerful and efficient tool for consolidating POS systems across one or multiple locations.
Erply Cloud Retail Software
Erply Cloud Retail Software is a comprehensive tool that empowers businesses to digitize their physical stocktaking processes, providing efficiency, accuracy, and real-time visibility into inventory management. With the ability to scan product barcodes or search from an existing product database, the software seamlessly integrates new items into stocktakes. Furthermore, Erply Cloud Retail Software facilitates streamlined warehouse and stocktaking processes by enabling offline product counting and data synchronization across different shop locations. Key features, such as retail chain process management, stocktaking automation, overstocking prevention, and a user-friendly stocktake app, assist businesses in expediting their stocktaking and replenishment procedures, enhancing operational efficiency and accuracy. Erply Cloud Retail Software offers businesses the speed and convenience they need to revolutionize their stocktaking activities with just a few clicks.
Indirect Retail Suite
Utilizing advanced point of sale (POS) and inventory modules, Indirect Retail Suite is designed to enhance the operations of dealers in the indirect channel. It assists dealers in delivering a consistent customer experience while streamlining store operations. The POS tool provides valuable insights into business processes through operational and analytical reporting, empowering dealers to make informed decisions. Standardization of front and back-office operations improves card compliance, inventory handling, KPI achievement, and operational reporting, ultimately leading to a more satisfying customer experience and enhanced dealer efficiency. Indirect Retail Suite empowers dealers and carriers alike, enabling them to optimize their operations, improve financial performance, and drive growth within the indirect channel.
Vend Cloud POS Software
One of the best POS software tools that caters to businesses of all sizes, Vend cloud POS Software, allows them seamlessly manage their operations and make data-driven decisions. With real-time sales updates and comprehensive reporting, it empowers business owners to gain valuable insights and have complete control over their operations. Its 24/7 customer support and a global network of Vend Expert partners assist businesses to rely on excellent customer care and assistance. In addition to this, the point of sale tool offers complete inventory management, with real-time stock level updates to prevent over-selling and optimize inventory control across multiple channels. Vend cloud POS empowers businesses to streamline their operations, improve decision-making, and enhance the customer experience, making it an essential tool for modern retailers.
Toast Mobile Order & Pay
Toast Mobile Order & Pay is an innovative software solution that revolutionizes the way guests order and pay in restaurants. The easy-to-use nature of the software ensures scalability to accommodate the growth of businesses. It features hardwired terminals and offline mode to ensure uninterrupted service. Real-time access to cloud-based reports provides valuable insights into business performance. The POS tool also offers tableside ordering and payments, along with digital receipts, facilitating the expansion of customer databases. Additionally, it enables businesses to collect valuable data and can be used to drive customer loyalty and repeat visits. Toast Mobile Order & Pay combines cutting-edge technology and user-friendly features to elevate the restaurant experience for both businesses and customers alike.
Bindo Retail POS
Bindo Retail POS is a versatile and powerful software tool designed to optimize operations and boost sales for businesses operating in various industries. It caters to a wide range of establishments, from clothing stores to pet shops, pop-up stores to education centers, offering enhanced online and offline business capabilities. Businesses can leverage the Smart Register feature to display related products, enabling upselling while benefiting from automatic promotion recommendations during checkout. The point of sale tool seamlessly integrates with major offline and online payment methods through its Payment Integration feature. By encompassing these functionalities, Bindo Retail POS empowers businesses to optimize operations, increase sales, and deliver exceptional customer service.
Lightspeed Payments
An all-in-one convenient platform, Lightspeed Payments is an efficient software solution that provides businesses with seamless payment processing capabilities. It enables companies to easily accept online and in-store payments, ensuring a smooth and hassle-free transaction experience for customers, regardless of their preferred shopping channels. This fully-integrated payment solution supports a wide range of payment methods, allowing businesses to accept any mobile payment with ease and flexibility. Furthermore, Lightspeed Payments prioritizes security, providing built-in premium security features to safeguard sensitive payment information and instill peace of mind from the outset. With Lightspeed Payments, businesses can streamline their payment processes, enhance customer satisfaction, and confidently manage their financial transactions.
Infrasys Cloud POS
A powerful software tool that revolutionizes the way businesses manage their point-of-sale operations, Infrasys Cloud POS offers robust employee management features, allowing centralized control of user access rights, performance tracking, and efficient access control for enhanced security. With its remote access capabilities, the software enables users to conveniently access their data, menus, and ordering systems from anywhere using a tablet or mobile device with an internet connection. Key features such as system-wide updating, customizable reporting, and centralized management make Infrasys Cloud POS a comprehensive and reliable solution for businesses seeking to elevate their point-of-sale operations. With centralized security management and protection, companies can rest assured that their data and customer information are safeguarded against threats.
Cloud POS: The Future
As the emphasis shifts towards customer experience and customer satisfaction, it is imperative for businesses to carefully assess their specific needs and select a cloud POS solution that aligns with their goals, ensuring seamless integration and optimal performance. Businesses can revolutionize their sales operations and embark on a path of sustainable success by leveraging innovative POS features such as system-wide updating, inventory management, remote access, centralized security management, and more.
With the power of advanced point of sales tools, businesses can elevate their overall customer experiences, unlock new avenues for growth, and gain a competitive edge in the dynamic business landscape.
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POS Solutions, POS Retail, Ecommerce Merchandising
Article | June 10, 2024
In 2004, Tobias Lutke, Daniel Weinand, and Scott Luke established an online website to sell snowboards. They tried a bunch of online store builders but were not satisfied with the status quo. So, they decided to build a tool that could operate their website. Soon, they realized that the tool was more powerful than the website's business. And hence, Shopify was born.
Eventually, Shopify became one of the largest eCommerce store builders in the world. By 2009, the company had $100 million in sales and decided to launch its own API as well as an app store. More than a decade later, Shopify is now supporting over 800,000 stores globally and is a $125 billion company.
While the company has shown remarkable growth in its business, it would be ignorant to say the market's needs have been fulfilled by the Shopify platform. Shopify's eCommerce platform works for a lot of businesses, but that does not mean it will work for every business.
Here is why Shopify is Not the Right Fit for Every Business:
Shopify's growth over the years shows that the company has taken several steps to address the market's inherent needs. However, the presence of several other companies and the issues still faced by merchants show some significant gaps in Shopify's offerings:
1. Cost of Setting Up: Each price-point offers a fixed set of features and functionalities. If you want anything over and above that, you will have to buy the subsequent package. For instance – something as conventional as a Gift Card is not available in the $29 per month package; to get it activated, pay as much as $299 per month.
2. Cost of Operations: The additional functionalities and features cost extra in your package. Even basic features like transaction or credit card processing attract an additional fee. To add to that, you have to purchase the app to activate the feature from the Shopify app store. Even though some apps are free, the apps that offer maximum value tend to cost north of $39.99 per month.
3. Limited and Expensive Themes: The entire Shopify store has a total of 73 themes, with the prices going as high as $180 a theme. This means that as a merchant, even after paying the high price, you may end up with an eCommerce platform that hardly stands out from the crowd.
In short, while Shopify was started with great intentions, the cost of using it has started outweighing the probable value it has to offer. This issue gets further highlighted when one starts looking at the Shopify alternatives.
Best Alternatives of Shopify
While Shopify suits the needs of a certain set of merchants, here are the alternatives that can suit the merchants looking for more tailored, affordable, or customizable solutions:
1. Quick eSelling
Quick eSelling is one of the most affordable and easy to deploy ecommerce store builder among the Shopify alternatives. It can be deployed in under 10 minutes for the basic variant. Its free variant has some prolific features like a native Android app, responsive website, and a catalog that can support up to 1000 products.
The free package requires a 5% transaction fee, which gets eliminated the moment you upgrade to a paid plan. All the paid plans have a fixed monthly fee and no setup costs. The list of standard features includes a wide set of functionalities like customizable web-store themes, SMS & Email marketing, comprehensive payment gateway integrations, detailed analytics reports, inventory management systems, social media plugins, discount coupon codes, and even live chat.
The premium package which costs around 50% the price of the $299 Shopify package, comes with a dedicated account manager and enterprise-level integrations.
Ideal for: Merchants who are seeking an affordable, easily usable, and quickly deployable solution.
2. WooCommerce
WooCommerce is popularly considered one of the most preferred alternatives for Shopify. It is quite convenient for website owners as it is a plugin for WordPress.
Unlike other tools in the list, WooCommerce is designed to make WordPress sites work as functional eCommerce platforms. And in that particular aspect, it does a great job.
However, if you are not already using an established WordPress site with high traffic, running WooCommerce can become quite expensive. On average, a website owner has to spend as much as $1000 in setting up a WooCommerce store with a moderate degree of customization.
Even if you are not customizing a lot, running a WooCommerce store can cost you as much as $150 in a month. This would cover your hosting, themes, shipping plugins, security, and SEO. You will pay additional 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction.
Ideal for: Someone who has a successful WordPress website and now wants to convert it into an eCommerce store.
3. Yo!Kart:
Yo!Kart is a popular self-hosted multi-vendor platform for building online marketplaces. Unlike Shopify, it is a standalone platform that comes with a lifetime license and rich ecommerce features. The platform is fully customizable and scalable.
Yo!Kart packages start from $999 and every package comes with a 1-year free technical support, free installation, and full source code. There are no monthly or yearly recurring fees.
Considering it is a comprehensive platform, you may need some technical training to understand the system.
Ideal for: Business owners who want to start ecommerce websites like Amazon or ebay where multiple sellers are selling under the same roof.
4. PrestaShop
PrestaShop runs on the basic premise that creating an online eCommerce store should be an affordable exercise for any merchant. That is the reason why it is available for free and comes without any additional monthly fees.
Its features include eCommerce functionalities like CRM & Email Marketing, Inventory Management, Multi-Store Management, and SEO Management. You can get a basic eCommerce store running by paying the registration fee for the domain and the hosting fee dues.
While this may seem like a great alternative, given the fact that it is practically free, there is one major caveat – you cannot deploy or personalize your PrestaShop eCommerce store unless you know how to code. The entire platform has been designed, keeping in mind people who can code at professional levels of proficiency. The cost of hiring a developer who can add features to your store or modify the theme can be very costly.
In addition to this, some basic features like promotions & reviews management, data security, and mobile access are not available on the platform.
Ideal for: The merchants who have access to programming talent and don't mind a basic eCommerce store.
5. Wix
Wix became popular as an online website builder. It also offers interesting eCommerce functionalities. For as low as $35 a year, you can have the Business Basic package that comes with a free year of using the domain, analytics reports, and 20 GB of storage.
If you want greater control of your eCommerce platform but are not a professional programmer and are not interested in hiring one, Wix can be a great alternative. Its most expensive package costs about $80 a year. It comes with features like email marketing, SEO management, inventory management, data security, and promotions management.
The challenge is – most of the charges marketed by Wix are very affordable for the first year in operations. After a year, many of these features, like the domain, will become payable elements. This way as soon as the first year of your operations is over, your cost of running the eCommerce platform will dramatically go up.
Ideal for: Merchants who want to have greater control of their website's design without the need for coding skills and those who want the first year of operations to be largely affordable.
Conclusion:
Shopify can work for you if you are seeking a limited set of features. However, for lesser price-points, the alternatives for Shopify offer great functionalities. Quick eSelling is good for cost-effective and rapidly deployable eCommerce websites that come loaded with native features. WooCommerce is a viable option if you have a WordPress site and want to convert it into an eCommerce store. Yo!Kart specializes in building multi-vendor marketplaces.
PrestaShop can be handy and very budget-friendly if you have access to coding talent. And Wix is good if you want greater control over what your store looks like, without getting into the programming aspects.
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Ecommerce Merchandising
Article | March 18, 2024
Point of sale (POS) software is a critical corporate tool that has been well-known as an upgraded alternative to the traditional cash register. This system provides your business with management capabilities like loyalty programs and an improved shopping experience. According to a report carried out by Grand View Research, the worldwide POS terminals market is projected to attain nearly $126 billion by 2027. Here is a point of sale trend list that you will benefit from.
You should adopt this point of sale trend. More and more firms are using POS software that allows for quicker checkout time. People tend to have more than a location they wish to drop by. When they visit your store and buy something, they desire to spend as little time as they can, particularly when doing a checkout.
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POS Solutions
Article | June 14, 2022
Alice POS offers a multitude of advantageous features for retail merchants. These can lead to concrete improvements in store, which can be felt in time gained or even in increased revenue. In this article, we will explore the ways Alice POS can help you do that.
We will section off this article into 4 roles to give you a clear overview of the features:
Sales: Optimize Your In-Store Sales
Control: Completely Track your Store
Growth: Expand your Business
Multi-Store: Manage your Franchise Efficiently
Alice POS is a cloud-based point of sale system designed for store networks such as franchises, purchasing groups, and corporate networks. Alice is also an excellent starting point for individual stores looking to gradually scale their operations for future expansion. Alice POS was developed to help increase business revenue while also diminishing the workload of operations.
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