* Upgrading from a cash register to a computer
Millions of small businesses still use a cash register. Since you can buy a small cash register from some company like Casio. Its PCR-262 sells for $119 including cash drawer, printer, and two tax table programs, so many business owners start there. But when you need to quickly handle credit cards, scan bar codes, and track more sales, you need to upgrade.
Do you move up to more sophisticated cash registers like the Casio QT-6000, or to a PC-based solution? When I visited HP in October, they let me test their rp5000 Point of Sale Solution built around a hardened PC optimized to handle extra devices and run a cash drawer (mine was unfortunately filled with Monopoly money). For my store, I’d get a PC-based solution, because you have a choice of software vendors.
The market leader in small business accounting applications is QuickBooks, and they just announced QuickBooks Pro 2007. QuickBooks also released the latest version (6.0) of their Point of Sale Retail Management Software. Not surprisingly, the leading small business accounting software vendor is also the leading POS software vendor.
Joanne Jacobs, General Manager of the Retail Solutions Group for QuickBooks, says, “Half of our POS customers are QuickBooks customers before getting our POS software. If they aren’t, 80% of new POS customers also purchase QuickBooks for their back-end accounting.” That makes sense, because one expects two software packages from the same company to integrate smoothly. If they don’t, at least one support contract should cover both applications. Or you can get support from one reseller, since many ProAdvisor’s authorized by QuickBooks have a POS emphasis.
The name brand POS PC hardware teams stack up this way: HP will preload Microsoft’s Retail Point of Sale software, while Dell preloads QuickBooks. Both vendors sell the various add-ons, such as handheld barcode scanners, touchscreen LCD monitors, magnetic card readers, and thermal receipt printers. Both vendors sell the hardware without the POS software, and both vendors have teams of resellers.
HP’s rp5000 specialized retail computer isn’t as small as I expected, probably because it must support a wider variety of peripherals than most PCs, including the need to provide power through special USB ports. The case is all metal, and includes extra fans to keep it cool when covered with the flotsam and jetsam that collects at checkout stations. It looks more rugged than any PC I’ve seen outside the military, meaning after you kick it (it does run Windows, after all) it will keep running. You may break a toe on the heavy case, but I bet the PC will continue.
But if a PC just tracks your sales, why not keep your cash register? That’s why I like the approach explained by Jacobs, as she detailed the three areas that the newest version of QuickBooks POS addresses.
“Our focus is helping small businesses get new customers, track their inventory, and encourage customer loyalty through a positive experience when ringing up sales,” says Jacobs. Tracking inventory is a no-brainer, and tracking customer names and preferences certainly makes sense by making the customers feel welcome, but getting new customers? Since when can your cash register help you acquire new customers?
Since QuickBooks teamed with Google, that’s when. QuickBooks Google features include listing your business on Google Maps for free, Web page uploads from the POS software, a Web presence if you don’t have one, and a $50 Google AdWords credit to get started with online advertising. Jacobs says that her research shows that “47% of consumers who searched for products online last Christmas actually drove to a store to buy.” Local retailers get the short end of the Web, because they don’t generate enough traffic to float to the top of search engine rankings, but QuickBooks and Google are trying to help. Good for them, especially since half of small businesses aren’t even in books with yellow pages.
QuickBooks POS doesn’t get into restaurant systems, because that field is a tar pit of enormous proportions. The best customer demographic for them is a retailer with one to four locations and ambitions to grow bigger, work smarter, or both. QuickBooks offers multistore software options, reducing the accounting reporting burden on owners who open a second store. Their system tops out at 10 stores with 10 checkout lanes. If you reach that point and are still growing, you have good problems.
Small retailers face serious struggles (80% fail within five years), and the more help they can get the better their chances. One important choice is their POS system. Until a $119 cash register can leverage Google or something else to find new customers, I think a PC-based POS system with QuickBooks software pays for itself.
