You know you work in a rough industry when your systems are becoming obsolete due to the online industry working backwards. This is the Point of Sales industry. When I worked in retail technology a few years back, the POS companies were pretty much thugs. We wanted to work with them and integrate with them, but they saw us as a threat and blocked us out. Most of it was probably because their technology was terrible. They were still working in 199x User Interfaces, had massive security issues, and their business was pretty much just selling desktop computers with touch screens for three times more than they were worth.
I was excited to see this development on Engadget, Shopify's integrated retail platform merges online and in-store sales.
Shopify POS is an iPad application that lets you sell your Shopify store's products in a physical, retail setting. The POS makes all the integration and synchronization between online and offline irrelevant because all the products, customers and orders are all in one place – online.
Retailers no longer have to track multiple inventories, product catalogs, and payment systems. Shopify integrates all aspects of your retail business in one easy-to-use platform that comes with a card swiper for accepting VISA, MasterCard and American Express credit cards. With their card reader, you also get great payment rates – 2.1% + 30¢ on all credit cards. There are no hidden fees or complicated costs.
You can upgrade your point of sale system with hardware designed for Shopify POS, including a credit card reader, cash drawer, iPad stand and receipt printer. Order online and shipping is free.
Personally, I love seeing this. I can't wait until some of those POS companies are out of business for treating their customers and partners so terribly.
