In July 2010, a mobile retail study conducted by Forbes and RIM found that 73 percent of retailers had a mobile initiative in place for their retail stores. As this data was conducted just after the announcement of the first iPad model, the number is undoubtedly higher today.
Now that retailers have a tablet that boasts a great user interface, reasonable price, and doubles as a consumer media device, small boutiques and chains alike have been putting a lot of time and money into researching point of sale solutions for the iPad.
Software Advice has recently compiled a guide to the iPad Point of Sale (POS) software market. The full guide covers native iOS applications, web-based software that can be accessed via iPad, and payment processing apps such as Square and Intuit GoPayment. You can check out the full guide here: iPad POS Software | A Guide to Mobile Point of Sale Applications.
For individuals who want an application that runs natively on the iOS operating system, here’s a list of ten solutions to start your search.
- Celerant. Pricing: Software license. iPod Touch, iPhone, and iPad compatible. Offers POS, warehouse management, CRM and inventory management features.
- Epicor. Pricing: Software license. iPod Touch, iPhone, iPad and Windows Mobile compatible. Recently announced, integrates seamlessly with Epicor Retail Store V6 and above.
- JDS Solutions.Pricing: Software license. iPod Touch, iPhone, and iPad compatible. Offers POS, back office integration and analytics.
- LightSpeed. Pricing: Software license. iPod Touch and iPhone compatible. iPod versions work on iPad but have a smaller resolution. POS and inventory management built on familiar iTunes backdrop.
- POSLavu. Pricing: Monthly subscription. iPod Touch, iPhone and iPad compatible. Great for restaurants. Offers POS and inventory management. Can integrate with cash drawers and ticket printers.
- Revel Systems. Pricing: Monthly subscription. iPad compatible. Great for restaurants as well as small retail operations. Offers POS, inventory management and reporting functionality.ж
- Radiant Systems CounterPoint. Pricing: Monthly subscription. iPod Touch and iPhone compatible. Great for line-busting when busy times of the day. Can integrate with third-party barcode scanner / card reader cases.
- SalesVu. Pricing: Free*. iPod Touch, iPhone and iPad compatible. Includes sales processing, reporting and can integrate directly with Facebook. Company offers a free card reader with deployment.
- SWIM. Pricing: Monthly subscription. iPad compatible. A jeweler-specific application. Offers POS, customer relationship management (CRM), order customization, and price quoting.
- ShopKeep. Pricing: Monthly subscription. iPod Touch, iPhone and iPad compatible. Great for specialty retailers, including food service and gift shops. Can also integrate with a vendor’s web-based application.
*Single-device license is free. Additional devices are $9.95 a month.
Beyond native applications, retailers also have two other options for successfully using iPads as checkout terminals in the store:
- Web-based POS software. Web-based solutions can be run on the iPad’s Safari web browser. Some of these applications are difficult to navigate however, as the iPad has a touchscreen interface and on-screen keyboard; many of these solutions were designed for a traditional mouse and keyboard setup.
- Credit card payment apps. For users that only need to process credit card transactions and do not require advanced inventory management features. Applications such as Square, GoPayment and Swipe are great and offer competitive credit card processing fees.
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.
