POS Terminal

Choosing the right POS terminal is crucial to the smooth running of your business, though the vast range of specifications on offer can make it difficult to know exactly what your company needs. Whether you are installing a brand new POS system or are on the lookout to upgrade your existing one, our First Data Merchant Solutions experts can guide you through the selection process to ensure your terminals are working at optimal productivity from your specific payment processing requirements.

TYPICAL POS TERMINAL FUNCTIONALITY

Seamlessly deliver more convenience to your customers by offering options to pay at the physical point of sale or away from the cash register. With constantly evolving technologies, we strive to bring you the latest in-store and mobile terminals at an affordable rate and at suitable capabilities, including (but not limited to):

• Credit & debit acceptance
• Contactless payment processing
• Wireless connectivity for personnel on the road

MOBILE PAYMENT TERMINALS

GSM and CDMA technology makes it possible for you to accept mobile payments virtually anywhere and still benefit from the security of chip and PIN authentication. Mobile POS terminals are most suitable for trade vendors at exhibitions, outdoor events or delivery services

Best All-in-One POS Terminal System for Small Business: Vend

POS Terminal Vend has everything you need to run and grow a brick-and-mortar store. Beyond processing transactions, Vend also comes with features to help you run your business, save time and boost sales. This vendor also has dedicated solutions for different types of stores in a wide range of industries. Whether you run a clothing store, a sports store or a specialty business such as a carwash or computer shop, there’s a tailor-made Vend solution for you

FEATURES OF VEND

POINT OF SALE

Vend makes it easy to sell to your customers, whether you use the responsive web-based POS on MAC or PC, or our Vend register iPad app

VEND ECOMMERCE

Create a beautiful online store in minutes and manage everything centrally. Quickly add products, fulfil orders and track sales from a single account

SALES OPERATIONS

Make it easy for the customers to shop the way they want with features like layaways, easy returns and refunds, split payments and email receipts

PAYMENTS AND GIFT CARDS

Choose the best way to accept payments, including credit, debit and gift cards. Vend works with lending merchant providers from around the world

HARDWARE

Vend works with a wide range of hardware providers. Choose a bundle that works out of the box or select the parts you need from your recommended list

WORKS OFFLINE

Never miss a sale and continue selling even if your internet is down. Vend will automatically resync your sales when your back online.

Best Mobile POS Terminal System for iPad: Bindo

Bindo is a cloud-based POS Terminal system that’s built especially for the iPad. It offers an intuitive user interface, is packed with business management tools and comes with advanced capabilities like mobile payments, e-commerce integration and customization options. Best of all, it comes with 24/7 customer support and has the best pricing for the features offered compared with its competitors

 FEATURES OF BINDO

Register & Card Terminal

Easy to use, highly customizable register with integrated payment support for cash and credit cards

Inventory Management

Automatic, accurate, painless and portable inventory management at
your fingertips

CRM & Customer Loyalty

Gather details about your customers in one place and customize loyalty programs around them.

Analytics & Reports

Comprehensive data & insights about your business summarized for your
easy understanding.

Bindo Storefront

Embed an online store in your existing website with just one line of code. Customize it to match your style.

Bindo Market

 Open your online store with one-click setup. Inventory is unified with your POS so it is always up-to-date.

Invoices

Offer more payment methods,including partial payments, advance orders to suit any sale scenario.

Purchase Orders

Seamlessly manage suppliers and submit purchase orders with a tap of the finger.

Gift Cards

Increase sales and brand awareness by creating your own customized gift cards, featuring your logo

Online Dashboard

Manage your store(s) across any device. Get things done faster with a keyboard and mouse.

 Mobile POS

Accept credit card payments and sell anywhere. View real-time reports wherever you go

Time Clock

Track and manage your associates’ time on the job with a PIN-based staff management system.

Discounts

Apply discounts at any point of the sale to accommodate for every scenario.

Multi-Store Management

Keep tabs on all your stores with the added ability to switch between
stores with speed.

Enterprise

Highly customizable enterprise solutions from laundry chains to electronics retailers.

EMV Card Support

Prepare your business for the nationwide switch to chip and PIN credit cards and reduce your liability.

Credit Card Processing

Credit Card Processing that offers the most payment options with the highest level of security.

Apple Pay Support

Enable faster, more secure transactions, and a better customer shopping experience.

QuickBooks Integration

Import revenue as well as costs into QuickBooks. We make your margins calculations 3 times as fast.

API Integration

Bindo’s API lets you access our data so you can build your apps better and faster.

EPOS NOW POS TERMINAL

Epos Now is a good POS system that your business can use with the payment processing company of your choice and third-party hardware. Epos Now is a stand-alone POS system, which means that you can use it alongside the payment processing service of your choice. The types of payment cards you can accept depend on your processor, though most allow you to accept all major cards and offer card readers that accept EMV chip cards and mobile wallets in addition to magstripe cards.

Epos Now has all the feature sets we looked for, either built into the system or available as integrations. You can customize the dashboard to give you a real-time overview of the sales data that’s most important to you. The inventory management tools allow you to track products across both your brick-and-mortar and online stores. The system can support up to 60,000 items. You can set alerts for when your stock is low and use the system to generate purchase orders.

You can use the built-in customer management system to collect contact information from your customers and run reports that help you analyze customer behavior. A loyalty module is available, though pricing for it isn’t listed on the company’s website. Marketing integrations such as MailChimp, which lets you run email campaigns, are also available through the app store.

This POS system includes role-based user management that allows you to set permissions for your employees and assign PIN codes or swipe cards to sign in. The software logs employee activity on the till and has a built-in time clock and staff scheduling tools.

It has every feature set we looked for in a POS system, with several tools that aren’t commonly included, such as those for creating purchase orders and tracking employee time. It also has an app store that gives you the option of adding or connecting to additional features and services. However, if you need 24/7 customer support, which may be important

Best POS Terminal System for Retail: ShopKeep

ShopKeep is a budget-friendly, cloud-based iPad POS Terminal system that’s packed with all the time-saving features retailers need to run and grow their business. It comes with a wide range of advanced, yet easy-to-use tools to help you save time and boost sales, without any long-term contracts or expensive fees. We were also impressed with the company’s wide range of free customer support, which includes 24/7 phone and email support, live chat, social media support, community forums, small business resources and much more

SHOPKEEP FEATURES

• Transactions
• Payment processing
• Inventory Management
• Staff Management
• Customer Marketing
• Reporting & Analytics
• Integrations
• POS Hardware

BENEFITS OF SHOPKEEP

Stress-free inventory

Managing all those SKU’s is much easier than you may think. ShopKeep iPad POS for Retail keeps you on top of your stock.

All your retail store’s data

Know your top-selling items, and which departments to expand, with detailed reporting from ShopKeep’s Retail POS.

Hardware just for retail

Keeps things moving! POS hardware for retail, like portable barcode scanners and barcode printers, give you back hours.

Import your inventory in minutes

Whether in bulk, or individually, keeping your inventory up-to-date is a breeze.

Create the most profitable lineup

ShopKeep tells you which are making you money, and which items to replace.

Get alerts when you’re running low

Never miss a sale due to running out. ShopKeep will keep you 2 steps ahead.

All your data, all the time

From the office to wherever you need to be, see detailed reports on desktop or phone.

Manage your team easily

ShopKeep breaks down your staff’s sales and hours into easy-to-read reports.

Know where to expand

By dividing your business into categories, you see the direction in which to grow.

POS TERMINAL SYSTEM – SHOPIFY

This strong POS system is an especially good choice for retailers with both physical and online stores. Shopify is a commerce platform that you can use for both brick-and-mortar and online stores. It’s designed for small and midsize businesses, but it can also support enterprise-level companies. Shopify’s clients include GE, Nestle, Red Bull and Tesla. It’s a Canadian company that provides service to businesses in the United States and approximately 175 countries worldwide.

This is the only company in our review built exclusively for retail businesses. Its cloud-based POS software is accessible from any browser, and it has POS apps for both Android and Apple phones and tablets, though the Retail Package doesn’t support Android devices. Shopify is the best POS system for retailers that split their business between physical and online stores, earning it the Top Ten Reviews Gold Award.

Terms

This POS system’s terms of service are posted online, and the company does a good job of summarizing and explaining what each section says in plain English (though, as with any contract, you should read the terms of service in their entirety before signing up). Its terms are favorable; it provides service on a month-to-month basis and allows you to cancel your account at any time without incurring cancellation fees. Shopify allows you to purchase your equipment outright, which is a better option than accepting free equipment in exchange for signing a lengthy contract with expensive early cancellation penalties.

Management Features

Shopify offers all the feature sets we looked for in POS solutions. Its inventory management tools allow you to organize your products in a variety of ways, including by category, season or sale. It tracks inventory levels, supports product variations such as size and color, and allows you to assign or create barcodes. It supports an unlimited number of products, though if you use the system with a tablet, there is a limit – between 2,000 and 7,000 products – if you wish to avoid performance issues.

You can create customer profiles using this POS solution that include contact information and order history. If you want to use the email addresses you collect for marketing or to offer loyalty perks, you can do so using one of the many apps that integrate with Shopify.

Shopify includes between two and 15 staff accounts for its top three plans, while the Retail Package lets you add an unlimited number of employees to the system. You can assign each user a staff PIN, and if you opt for the Retail Package, you can use these numbers to track your employees’ sales and register history. You can see an overview of your sales analytics on your dashboard, and generate multiple inventory and sales reports.

Payment Processing

Using the Shopify POS, you can accept all major credit cards: Visa, MasterCard, American Express and Discover. You can also accept gift cards if you’re on the Shopify or Advanced Shopify plan. You can choose between two card readers: a magstripe card reader that plugs into the headphone jack on your tablet or phone, or a Tap, Chip, and Swipe card reader that allows you to accept EMV chip cards and mobile wallets such as Android Pay, Apple Pay and Samsung Pay.

If you want your customers to be able to place orders online, or if you want to open an online store in addition to your brick-and-mortar shop, Shopify is a great option. With the Basic Shopify plan and above, your account includes a website and blog. If you already have a website or only want to sell your products on Facebook, you can accept online orders using Shopify Lite.

 Customer Care

You can reach customer support 24/7 by phone, email and live chat. On the support page of the company’s website, you can see the current wait time for chat and the current response time for email, which can be useful if you have a time-sensitive issue and want to choose the fastest contact option. Overnight shipping for replacement equipment is available. If you need to migrate data from another system, you can do it yourself using a CSV file or hire a Shopify expert to do it for you.

Shopify’s website is packed with resources for small businesses. It has guides, videos and podcasts for retailers, with topics including analytics, marketing and eCommerce. It also has active community forums where you can discuss the system with other Shopify users. One unique offering Shopify provides its merchants is a set of free business tools, including a logo maker, a terms and conditions generator, various templates, and calculators.

 Summary

Shopify is a terrific option for retailers, particularly brick-and-mortar merchants who want to expand online, as the top three of its four plans include a website and blog in the subscription price. It provides POS software on a month-to-month basis and doesn’t charge any early termination fees. The Retail Package costs extra, but is a necessity for businesses that need to add more employees to the system or want to add common retail hardware such as a cash drawer, receipt printer and barcode scanners to their systems.

EVALUATION OF POS SYSTEM

• Cost, such as monthly fees and swipe rates.
• Ease of setup and use.
• Hardware, such as touch screen, desktop, iPad/tablet and smartphone.
• Backend features, such as inventory management.
• Built-in solutions, such as customer relationship management (CRM) software.
• Industry specific tools, such as online ordering for restaurants.
• E-commerce integration.
• Contracts and service terms.
• Merchant services.
• Customization options.
• Third-party integrations.
• Reporting and analytics.
• Service limitations.
• Customer service