Cloud-based POS system for small firms and retail stores
4/5 (67 avis)POS Nation is a cloud-based point-of-sale solution which helps small firms and retail stores manage pricing, inventory, payments and more. The platform allows users to generate, send and receive purchase orders as well as manage vendors. Plus, it enables businesses to track time and attendance of employees.
POS Nation offers a host of features such as booking management, email reminders, a client database, employee scheduling, customer history, sales and financial reporting, labeling, and custom barcode printing. The platform offers customer loyalty tracking which allows users to set up, track and redeem gift cards. POS Nation facilitates audits which help businesses check usage of voids, discounts, split checks and cash discrepancies.
POS Nation offers built-in templates which enable users to manage email marketing and send automated messages to customers. It allows store owners to manage reporting and inventory with sales/inventory reports, client metrics and detailed analytics. The platform connects with multiple devices such as touch PCs, receipt printers and cash drawers, in order to provide a seamless, end-to-end POS solution.
Avantages
CRE is a good program for the kind of business that I run. I recently purchased a grocery/liquor store which has a RV park and small hotel that I have been able to manage through the software. It was a lot of work setting up inventory, and incorporating the RV/Hotel to make it work with the system but with due diligence and with the great support POS provides has made managing my business far easier then it would be without it.
Inconvénients
I have had only minor issues with the hardware for example the key boards that are sent with the system are not worth the box that the were sent in had to replace them with in a month of receiving them. The keys stick and get stuck and not everything can be done efficiently through a touch screen. The back office program is a great program with good reportage, but working with purchase orders need some work. The creation of a PO doesn't work with real world situations. Once generated the can't be adjusted when faced with stock outs or quantity changes. So I don't us it to generate my orders with vendors, more so for receiving my orders.
Again these are just minor issues. Again the reportage you get form the system is very informative and allows you to efficiently manage your day to day, monthly and yearly reportage.
For the most part, the service has been good. I accidentally ended up talking to someone on the east coast when I first began investigating the possibility of making this POS purchase, which is a challenge when I am trying to talk to someone on the west coast where I'm located. Anything that I need must be shipped from across the country instead of up the coast.
But the people are friendly and helpful. Even if they insist I watch the videos in order to learn more about the operation of the system. That would be much easier if I actually had speakers on my machine or a place to hook them up, but I do not. Watching the videos on my home computer do not help, as I cannot practice what I just learned.
Would I buy this again, knowing what I know now? Probably, although I think I'd do a little more research and ask a lot more questions first.
Avantages
I purchased this POS machine and software in order to streamline our monthly sales and inventory. For the most part, it has met those needs satisfactorily. I like that I can look up sales info for specific days and track inventory during both the busy season and the shoulder season. Being able to spot trends is paramount to achieving success in any business, and that's one of the main reasons I wanted to use this software. Tracking expenses and profit/loss is also something I'm looking forward to doing with ease once I figure it out.
Also, having an machine that links up to our online store and keeps inventory current is a major plus.
Inconvénients
Oooh, this is gonna be a long list.
It is not exactly user friendly or intuitive. Entering inventory is a pain in the neck. You must go through two separate screens in order to complete all the information on each item! I would much rather have a long list of things to complete on one screen than have to close out Style Matrix, go into Inventory Maintenance, find the item, fill in the missing details (part number, description for the price tags, web description, etc.) then print out the price tags (which is on yet another screen!)
Also, there have been updates to the software that make some interesting changes, including having items go missing from the database and when I'm trying to ring up a customer and the machine insists that the item is NOT in inventory and would I like to add it now (even though I JUST scanned a barcode printed out by my machine) is super frustrating. Sometimes I just need to scan it for a third time before it recognizes the code and the purchase can continue.
Also, the TS lookup is a hassle, as there is no way to tell if you're choosing the correct color or size in a style matrix situation.
Also, when you get your online store together, the categories and departments are the opposite of what they are in the POS, which is horribly confusing, and you cannot easily change categories or departments. Don't even think about deleting one of them, because that is one button click from disaster. It gets ugly.
After conducting a lot of research, we decided to go with PC America Cash Register Express (CRE) when we opened our small grocery store in 2013. Set-up was easy the tech-support folks from POS Nation. We ran with a server, 2 touch screens, card swipe and pin pads, one scale, thermal printers, USB and Bluetooth scanners, and a customer display pole.
Everything was fine for the first 2 years until we started getting software upgrades. We were advised to upgrade our pin-pad to the new standards. Waited until the end of the tourist season to upgrade, and then things went to hell in a hand-basket.
Credit cards would not work... EBT cards failed... and our Loyalty Program has been dead for nearly 6 months with no fix in sight. I'm not sure what happened with PCA after they were acquired by Heartland, but it has been one disaster after another. Our Purchase Order screen was jacked-up for months on end. Eaches and Cases did not compute correctly. They supposedly fixed that with the last upgrade, but now our margins are screwed-up. I have no way of accurately knowing what our margin is now because our "cost averaging" is incorrect. Of course, this affects profit reports, tax reports, and the list goes on and on.
This is typical PC software. It functions with many bugs and is NOT very intuitive. There is no rhyme or reason to the menus, and burrowing down just leads to dead-ends.
Avantages
The software is stable in the sense that it has only crashed 2 - 3 times over the course of 4 years.
Inconvénients
See above...
Menus are NOT user-friendly.
Upgrades are obviously NOT tested.
Incompatible with many peripherals, and they try to force you into their hardware, which in turn forces you to their payment processor.
Tech support is lacking since I purchased from a hardware provider, and PCA forces me to go through the middle-man.
I did months & months of research on many (20+) different POS systems before deciding to finally make the switch to POS Nation (CRE). We have used 4 other systems in the past 37 years and I can already tell you POS Nation FAR exceeds any customer service and technical support we have ever received. It was a rocky transition (as expected) but support team and many others at POS Nation were extremely patient & supportive throughout the entire transition. If you are in need of a new POS system, I highly recommend considering POS Nation.
Avantages
Customer & technical support have been top notch. We are a business that has used about 8 different POS companies over the last 37 years & have worked with numerous "support" staff from each company. Although we anticipated a rough transition period (as it turned out to be), the staff at POS Nation was there every step of the way. Specifically, customer support were all extremely patient & supportive throughout the month+ long transition.
Inconvénients
A lot of the reports that are available are completely useless, whereas some reports that you would think are completely necessary for a POS system are not available... the most difficulty we have with the lack of reports involves Customer reports. One other CON to CRE is the Quickbooks Sales Pass. It is not as seamless as one would think when you are told it is "fully integrated with Quickbooks."
We are a Christmas Tree Farm with a fairly large gift shop. We are only open seasonally and POS Nation is willing to work with us during the time we are open. This system has allowed us to have total control of the trees in the field, the number of trees sold, and aided us in knowing when to close the harvest. Our entire gift shop is now in the data base which allows for quick and accurate checking-out of the customers. We have also integrated our CC processing in with the POS system and everything works great! I can't say enough good about our experience with POS Nation.
Avantages
How easy it was to enter the entire inventory into the system. The speed with which you can check out a customer! And the ability to run easy accurate reports at the end of the day, week or year!
Inconvénients
I can't think of anything I don't like about the software. Anytime I have had a problem, the system had what I needed, I just didn't know how to use it. Customer support has always solved my problems and taught me what we needed to know. Or better yet, how to use the system.
Pay Monthly Plan (pay monthly for both hardware and software): $119/month
Full Cloud POS (own the hardware and pay monthly for the software): $1,249 one off payment + $69/month
Voici quelques-unes des questions fréquentes sur POS Nation.
Types de licences disponibles pour POS Nation :
À partir de: 119,00 $US/mois
Type de licence: Abonnement
version d'essai gratuite: Non disponible
Pay Monthly Plan (pay monthly for both hardware and software): $119/month
Full Cloud POS (own the hardware and pay monthly for the software): $1,249 one off payment + $69/month
Fonctionnalités du logiciel POS Nation :
Utilisateurs habituels du logiciel POS Nation :
PME
Langues dans lesquelles POS Nation est disponible :
anglais
Types de licences disponibles pour POS Nation:
Abonnement
Nous n'avons pas d'informations sur les appareils pris en charge par POS Nation.
Nous n'avons pas d'informations sur les intégrations offertes par POS Nation.
Ressources d'aide disponibles pour POS Nation :
Base de connaissances, Support en ligne, Support téléphonique
I have spent the most part of a year researching most if not all the different POS systems out there. Though there are other systems that would fit my business model, the down fall is a lot of them are cloud base. With the lack of internet available in Alaska I need a system that I could use without total reliance on the internet. POS Nation was the best application for my needs. I was able to purchase everything I needed to operate my business, I 'm currently operating two stations with a third acting as my storage and back up system that was purchased locally for that purpose. Take the time needed to properly setup this system, the data you can get form this software will greatly assist you in making decisions in maintaining and growing your business.