Best Point of Sale

Look for helpful features

Because its success is so easily measured, POS companies often spend thousands of dollars on eliminating ineffectual features and including more innovative services. When you find a good company to provide your point of sale needs, it will likely depend on things like customer support, security features, or business/sales analytics, and not necessarily on the reliability of product (because the majority of POS products will be reliable).

Basic point of sale services will include an option between cloud-based and on-premise software models. The decision between these is largely preferential, but smaller businesses usually find cloud-based software to be more easily maintained. The real secret to great POS service is the additional features that each company offers, such as inventory management, sales analytics, employee management, e-commerce services, barcode scanners, and receipt printers.

Search for shorter contract lengths

As with most industries, the minimum length of contract required usually is a good indication of how much trust the company places in its own product. Though it definitely isn’t a rule, if a company forces customers into lengthy contracts, it might be because it doesn't feel confident in the value it produces. On the other hand, a company that knows its services are impressive won’t feel the need to tie you into a longer contract.

Assess your company needs

For example, some point of sale companies are designed exclusively and specifically for certain industries. TouchBistro is a point of sale software solution operating on iOS which caters to restaurateurs. If your small business has a specialty and you are researching POS solutions, try aiming for one that caters directly to businesses in your industry — these companies are much more likely to provide features appropriate for your company.

Your first leap toward implementing point of sale technology into your sales process can be daunting; yet, if you know where to look, the process becomes much easier. Start by asking yourself what you need, then ask representatives of each company how they can fulfill those needs. The company that offers the most helpful features, has the most expertise in your industry, and has the shortest contract length will likely be the one that will save you the most money.