Oftentimes, you’ve got a great idea for a product or business. We’re talking the next Snuggie, Slap Chop, or iPad. You’ve got everything lined up, and you want to sell the product the old-fashioned way – brick and mortar-style, in a traditional retail store. But you want something more than QuickBooks to manage your accounting and inventory. Something cooler than a cash register to ring up customers. Something that has more features than Microsoft Office to manage the business side of retail.
The solution: point of sale (POS) software. But, there’s a problem – many systems are expensive, difficult to implement and deploy for first-time and small business users, and offer more functionality than many consumers will ever need – or use. To make the search easier, Software Advice has put together a guide for small business retailers looking for retail software. You can check out the guide here: Point of Sale (POS) Systems for Small Business | 5 Affordable Solutions. All of the systems are easily deployable and cost less than $2000 for software.
If you’re a specialty retailer, here’s a chart that displays which specialties are best served by the five systems reviewed:
Here’s a quick rundown of the 5 POS systems that are reviewed in the guide:
- Retail STAR: Windows-based POS system that offers retail accounting and merchandising, CRM, eCommerce, and inventory management features. Integrates with both touchscreen and single key terminals. Can be paid for in installments, up-front, or with an annual subscription plan.
- POS Prophet Systems: Windows-based POS that offers separate systems for general and food-service retailers. Integrates with Peachtree and QuickBooks accounting systems to help retailers easily transition from their traditional booking practices. Includes inventory management, CRM, retail accounting, and eCommerce functionality.
- Microsoft Dynamics RMS: Microsoft’s retail software offering is good for both small and medium-sized retailers. This system offers inventory management, CRM, merchandising, and eCommerce modules. Dynamics RMS also includes advanced management feature such as employee-level restrictions and integrated time clocks.
- GoldTech Retail Manager: This system offers inventory management, CRM , merchandise planning, and warehouse inventory management applications. While a good system for most general and specialty retailers, the integrated SKU-matrix make it a good choice for apparel retailers. Also includes functionality to process repairs. Offered as an on-premise or cloud-based solution.
- Comcash POS: Another Windows-based POS, Comcash can be deployed on-premise or hosed by the provider. Includes inventory management, CRM, and eCommerce modules. Touchscreen hardware can be integrated within the software, making it a good choice for grocery, convenience store, and other speciality retailers. Integrates with QuickBooks to make for a simple transition to POS software.
This is a guest post by Michael Koploy. Michael writes on various ERP topics, with particular interests in supply chain management and retail industries. In his free time, he enjoys the food and lives music scenes in Austin, Texas. Michael is a recent graduate of the University of Texas with a BS in Psychology.
