Vend is a cloud-based POS and e-commerce solution developed in 2010 by Vaughan Rowsell. It is suitable for businesses of all types and sizes and supported almost anywhere in the world: US, UK, Europe, Australia, Canada.
Vend can easily be used on a Mac, iPad, Android device or a Windows PC. The system helps you with your inventory and product management, it has useful marketing tools, real-time reporting and a lot of third-party integrations.
The Bindo POS system is a cloud-based POS solution designed for iPads and iPhones. It is best tailored for small businesses, it has some great, innovative features to offer, a very large inventory database and a useful mobile POS (mPOS). It works with third party hardware and payment processors. It is not too transparent about its pricing and you have to contact them in order to get a custom quote. They have a C rating with the Better Business Bureau (BBB).
Flagship Merchant Services is an American company founded in 2001, in Massachusetts. It offers a wide range of payment processing products and services. In 2012, Flagship was acquired by iPayment. Today, Flagship is basically a reseller for iPayment (which provides most of the products/services) and First Data Corporation (a similar company from Atlanta, Georgia).
Flagship has an extensive client base, from small and medium businesses to brands such as Subway, Avon or Verizon.
ShopKeep iPad POS is a very good, cloud-based POS solution for people who run small businesses, especially in retail, restaurants, quick-food/mobile services, small pubs or bars, ice cream shops, bakeries and the like. While the fact that it is only compatible with iPads might be a frustrating limitation, the software does compensate with lots of useful features that organize and administrate all the aspects of your business, from inventory to payment, staff, marketing and so on.
Square is a financial services company based in San Francisco. The company has an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau (BBB).
Square Register is a free POS app that is compatible with both iOS and Android devices, being one of the most advanced mobile processing solutions on the market. The app is best tailored for small businesses and businesses that are just getting started.
Leaders Merchant Services is a credit card processing company based in California. It was founded in 2000 and it is currently an ISO (Independent Sales Organization) of First Data and iPayment, meaning a lot of their products and services are provided by these two companies.
Leaders addresses all types of businesses, from banks, hotels and restaurants to B2B companies, healthcare providers, gas stations or rental companies. It has over 100,000 customers.
Shopify is one of the giants when it comes to commerce platforms, for online and brick-to-mortar businesses alike. The interface is very clean and user-friendly, they offer a lot of plan options and their mobile app is compatible with both iOS and Android devices. What we didn’t like about this company was the fact that some key features are only available with their most expensive packages and that there are transaction fees for using external payment gateways.
Epos Now is a very user-friendly, cloud based POS system, compatible with Mac/iOS, Windows and Android devices. The interface is very intuitive and easy to grasp, you can use the software with third-party hardware and payment processors and the company offers an impressive customer support, even though their phone support is not 24/7 available with the cheapest plan. Epos Now is suitable for various types of businesses, from retail and full-service restaurants, to hospitality service providers.
North American Bancard (NAB) is one of the largest merchant account providers in the market today. It has over 250,000 customers, it processes more than $34 billion/year and it has over 900 employees. The company is involved in four main types of segments: ecommerce, credit card processing, mobile payments and cash advances.
They provide credit/debit card transaction services for brands like KFC, 7 Eleven, Burger King, Dunkin’ Donuts and others.
Talech is a cloud-based POS system designed specifically for iPads. Although that might be seen as an annoying limitation and a deal breaker for some users, this software deserves to be taken into consideration due to a number of reasons: it is very easy to use, it comes with a lot of useful features (some of them are really unique) and it works with 3rd party hardware.
Last updated September 26, 2024
Any type of industry you can think of today uses POS systems. POS stands for Point of Sale and consists of the software and hardware used to pay for a good or service we purchase. They are used at hotels, restaurants, supermarkets, casinos, beauty salons, stadiums, etc. If something has to be paid for, a POS terminal will most likely be used for processing the purchase.
POS systems are all the more necessary nowadays when credit, debit or gift cards are universally used in any form of commerce.
POS terminals have to be able to help in miscellaneous tasks, from staff or inventory management to task automation, payment processing, customer relation management (CRM), rental services and so on. They are a huge help to the customers but especially the staff. Employees and managers can spend more time focusing on their customers' needs, since they don't have to waste any more time counting receipts, making inventory, remembering so much information, etc.
POS systems exist on the market since the '70s. The first one to be mentioned was the IBM 3650, an early electronic cash register which was released in 1973 by IBM.
Regarding the hadware part of the POS systems, the basic elements of a POS system are the display (the screen/touchscreen) and the keyboard used by the salesperson or the client at the checkout. The POS systems can be PC computers, iPads or tablets. The hardware includes everything from the traditional or touchscreen cash registers to the hand scanners that read barecodes, scales for weighing items, cad readers or receipt printers. Tablets become increasingly popular in taking clients' orders in restaurants, answering customers' questions or taking the payments.
When it comes to the software part, it refers to the software used on the hardware (computer, tablet, servers, etc) in order to collect and process the necessary information: about sales, inventory, credit card transactions and so on.
The software can either be installed on your device and constantly maintained and updated, or it can be cloud-based (secured remote servers that are accessed through the Internet). The cloud-based POS solutions are also called SaaS (Software-as-a-Service). Most of them track your sales, so in case your Internet connection is lost, they sync them once you are online again. In the latter case, you have to pay a periodical fee (usually a monthly one) and you can access and use the software regardless of where you are.
Cloud POS systems are better for several reasons. They offer an easier integration, they don't require an in-house dedicated server and they are more efficient in terms of security, as well. They carry the data directly to their servers, using a secure HTTPS channel. That is very important, because when you are dealing with confidential customer data such as credit card details, security is a top priority.
Cloud based POS systems offer a wide range of advantages such as social media and account software integration, mobile payment support, auto sync, automatic backup, secure remote server support, employee and account tracking and much more.
The highest rated and most popular POS vendors on the market today are Shopify, Square, Clover, TouchSuite and others.
No matter what kind of business you're running, a POS system is going to be indispensable to you. Not only for processing payments but for employee management, inventory management and so on.
There are some important factors you should take into consideration when searching for the right POS system.
