3 Types of Point-of-Sale Systems

The Legacy Systems do come with the downsides as well. First and foremost they are expensive, very often they saddle customers with very large upfront costs. Since it's your hardware you also have to maintain it. That means a few things: backups, updates, and hardware troubleshooting and maintenance. Listen stuff breaks, it's not a if but when; having an automated backup system is a necessity. You will also want to confirm that those are in fact working. I have seen a backup actually run but not save any data. Also the hardware and software will need updates and patches from time to time that will need to be installed. If backups are not run or security patches/updates are not installed you could find yourself in a very precarious position. Better safe than sorry! Another downside is these systems either can’t or have trouble working with new integrations. Integrations are 3rd party features that add extra functionality to your system. You are also heavily dependent on your server. If that server goes down the whole system is down. There is not much in the way of redundancy.

Probably the most popular POS systems right now are the cloud based ones. What is a cloud based system? It means the server and data are both stored in a data center somewhere else not in your site. That means if you are not connected to the internet you will not be able to use your POS system. Although most cloud POS systems have an offline mode they often are not feature rich and still would not have internet for the credit card transactions. Another downside is that you no longer own your data. If you switch POS’s systems you could lose your historical data. Although you don`t have have the high upfront cost these systems usually come with monthly subscription fee. One other thing to consider is when the server and data are up there in the cloud is how quickly you get your reports. Some cloud systems experience a slight delay. For example if you close out your last ticket of the day and run your draw report right after if there is a delay there is a chance of the last ticket not getting back to the report.

Probably the most popular POS systems right now are the cloud based ones. What is a cloud based system? It means the server and data are both stored in a data center somewhere else not in your site. That means if you are not connected to the internet you will not be able to use your POS system. Although most cloud POS systems have an offline mode they often are not feature rich and still would not have internet for the credit card transactions. Another downside is that you no longer own your data. If you switch POS’s systems you could lose your historical data. Although you don`t have have the high upfront cost these systems usually come with monthly subscription fee. One other thing to consider is when the server and data are up there in the cloud is how quickly you get your reports. Some cloud systems experience a slight delay. For example if you close out your last ticket of the day and run your draw report right after if there is a delay there is a chance of the last ticket not getting back to the report.

On the positive side, you gain remote access. You could be on a cruise in the middle of the ocean and if your phone has internet access you can check in with your business. Cloud based systems usually have the ability to see all reporting in a realtime dashboard. Since the server is in the cloud you don't have to worry about it breaking down, backing up the data or electrical cost to run it. That will be taken care of by the POS system. Also the work stations usually come in tablet form, they are faster, easier to set up and take up less room. Most integrations work well and integrate easily with cloud based systems. Often a start up does not have a tremendous amount of capital to invest in a legacy system and the small monthly payments will be attractive to them. You also gain redundancy, since there is no onsite server if a workstation goes down no worries you`re just down a workstation.

Now to the hybrid model. The idea here is to combine the best of both worlds. This hybrid setup had a server onsite. Which lets you keep your data on site in your possession. However, that does introduce the higher upfront cost seen with the legacy systems. Thankfully with advancements and cost declines the hardware server can be smaller and more affordable. Also with this model the workstations are usually tablets which further mitigate the high upfront cost. Hybrid systems allow a cloud-like feel where you can see reports, create items, etc from anywhere with an internet connection. With a smart setup you will have the ability to back up locally on the server and in the cloud. There is another drawback to having a server on site, if that server goes down so does your whole system. Since the server is physically onsite running reports either on site or from home will have no delay.

As you can see there is no perfect setup. You have to settle for the system that checks off the most boxes for you. You will have to consider your business needs, budget and technical know-how to decide the best way to go.