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Mac POS App Checkout releases 1.1 Update
checkoutapp.com — Checkout today received an update which adds support for receipt printers and cash drawers. More flexibility with templates, available in four more languages, new "tax" and "sold products" reports and improved payment system makes this app the must have when opening a new storefront.
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- Glenn, on 10/12/2007, -3/+10This application is seriously cool, and very well polished. It makes me with I had something to use it with, as it's UI is so beautiful to work with. Oh well..thats what the Demo store is for ;-)
- Berkana, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5I still find Xsilva's Lightspeed to be more beautiful and better polished. (IMHO, it's the best POS on any platform out there, baring Apple's own, which is proprietary to the Apple store.)
I never thought there'd be a day where there would be a whole mess of MacOS POS systems on the market. Competition is good for everyone. ^_^ - podgey22, on 10/12/2007, -11/+24Why would somebody use a Mac for EPOS?
Assuming this software is the dogs bollocks compared to other packages, how are people going to justify the comparative hardware costs? I've seen lots and lots of dumb client systems that can be rolleded out on a large scale for pennies. Putting a full computer at each station seems like overkill. Putting a full Mac there seems ludicrously expensive. - opensourcemaven, on 10/12/2007, -27/+11yeah just dl'd this and i agree, it is a POS
digg me up - KrocCamen, on 10/12/2007, -10/+25You'd be supprised. Macs look nice. Using a Mac as an EPOS machine improves the overal impressiveness of your store.
- naio21, on 10/12/2007, -33/+22POS == piece of sh!t?
- magicmarc, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5Actually, I've been looking for something like this so me and my dad can do our invoices without using Sage in Parallels. This looks like a nice replacement.
- mindsnare, on 10/12/2007, -8/+17Point of Sale you dopey twit
- jarinudom, on 03/31/2008, -0/+9Checkout seems much more suited to a mail-order company than to an actual cashwrap point-of-sale system.
- Hollywood, on 10/12/2007, -1/+13I write POS software and this is an extremely basic POS system. If you have a small and simple business this may work for you, but once you start growing (which you want to do as a business), then you will suddenly realize this won't provide you with what you want.
- netdroid9, on 10/12/2007, -8/+3@kroccamen: I hate to say this, but people aren't really all that concerned by what computer you're using to sell them your crap. I could definitely see some use for this when combined with an xserve and a bunch of Linux thin-clients, though.
- jrbrewin, on 10/12/2007, -12/+6"You'd be supprised. Macs look nice. Using a Mac as an EPOS machine improves the overal impressiveness of your store."
despite what you may think, people tend to go to a store to buy products / services. not to marvel at how 'lovely' the point of sale system is. Thinking to the contrary is further demonstration of the fanboyism that is running through your veins. - DOGPARTY, on 10/12/2007, -6/+18"despite what you may think, people tend to go to a store to buy products / services. not to marvel at how 'lovely' the point of sale system is. Thinking to the contrary is further demonstration of the fanboyism that is running through your veins."
Despite what you may think every single element of your shops interior reflects on the atmosphere and therefore has a massive effect on your customers.
Your not going to have a boutique store with a yellowing grey box sat on the counter with a wheezing fan running are you - Berkana, on 10/12/2007, -5/+13@podgey22:
Here's why one would want a computer as a POS as opposed to a fixed-function machine such as a cash register:
1) Flexibility. With the richness and flexibility afforded by a computer interface, and the ability to upgrade and update software and hardware POS peripherals as needed, computers + POS hardware are more competitive than fixed function cash registers for all but the simplest retail operations. All the high end POS systems out there right now are effectively computers; they even have large LCD displays. The only difference is that they are built into one unit and crippled for uses other than POS.
2) Modularity. I guess this is a subset of the above, but the same points can be made that a modular system is preferable to a unitary cash register.
Here's why one would want to use a Mac:
1) If you've read Donald A. Norman's "Emotional Design", you'll be familiar with this principle: people are happier and more productive when the tools they work with are beautiful and pleasant to use (even if they are not exactly the best designed tools, but if they are, the benefits of design are even further magnified). I don't know about other POS systems, but at least Xsilva's Lightspeed (which is Mac only, last I checked) is gorgeous, and very well designed. For the simple benefits of having happy, productive POS workers, it is worth getting a well designed and beautiful POS system that is a pleasure to use.
2) Security, and ease of administration. If your computers are networked, and multi-purpose, the Mac simply has better security. If this kind of security is important to you at your POS stations, the Mac is a great choice. Now, it is true that it is not too difficult to 0wn a mac if you have physical access and bootable media with malicious software, but there are countermeasures that can be taken against that. Compared to having a networked Windows box as your POS, the Mac is better on this front. - TheMacThinker, on 10/12/2007, -5/+4This is a really great product. One good feature that they could add and that would make it even more superior would be the ability to have the application create on online webstore for you based on the info that it has in the database... How cool would that it?!
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http://www.mostofmymac.com - martalli, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3This software may have the songs of angels for its background music, but POS hardware should be cheap and reliable hardware. Mac hardware is fairly reliable, and recently has even had a good cost/benefit ratio. But POS does not need core 2 duo. It ony needs an old P3/P4 or g4 (g3?) grinding away on the sale. I have wondered at times why one couldn't just wrap a smallish computer into the cash register and run a linux-based software for the ultimate cheap rush. In this case, I would be posing that the hardware manufacturer themselves sell their hardware with the linux POS bundled in - so they could develop their own drivers and ensure stability.
OTOH, all the extras of the register, printer, etc may add up, so maybe the cost of a newer mac or windows machine is reliatively minor, especially for less tech-savvy small businesses. - roomforpanic, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2"This software may have the songs of angels for its background music, but POS hardware should be cheap and reliable hardware. "
I think it depends on what type of POS we're talking about. The sub-$1000 point of sale applications may work for some environments, but you'll never see a large retail store running on anything that costs less than 20-30 thousand or more. Retail Pro is an industry leader in front of house and back of house management and it requires top of the line hardware with touchscreens, optical card readers, cash drawer connections, etc...
Restaurant POS is a completely different game. For a large restaurant to order a high-end Micros system (world's largest POS market share), we're talking 50-100 thousand dollars. - BobMysterioso, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I go to a bar in Cincinnati (Northside Yo) and they use an olde-timey cash register from the days of yore. (extra E's make it older)
They run thousands of my hard earned, but pissed away, dollars through it, works every time. AND! It works during a power outage, as once displayed to me. Beat that computers!
Abacus FTW!! - superkendall, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4You may want a Mac for a POS sale system if it's the only computer. Imagine a really small business, like a used bookstore - a computer is handy for keping records and so forth. If it can double as the register, even better.
- Berkana, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5I still find Xsilva's Lightspeed to be more beautiful and better polished. (IMHO, it's the best POS on any platform out there, baring Apple's own, which is proprietary to the Apple store.)
- hbweb500, on 10/12/2007, -10/+7I thought POS meant something other than point-of-sale.
- Yggdrasil42, on 10/12/2007, -3/+3What? Player Operated Starbase?
Hmmz, been playing too much EVE lately... - bobothn, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2[troll]it doesn't mean piece of *****. damn and here i was happy that some one was finally admitting that mac's were a pos [/troll]
All that being said i really doubt most stores would be willing to drop down the $1000 or more dollars just for 1 pos terminal not counting the back end server that every store would want to have
- Yggdrasil42, on 10/12/2007, -3/+3What? Player Operated Starbase?
- kielzog, on 10/12/2007, -3/+3Great app. Looks very cool. Would almost open a store just to use it :-D
- Rodie, on 10/12/2007, -3/+0Finally. There’s money to be made by digital morons like me. Great stuff to work with.
- third_eye, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5That's one amazing looking site, app, and UI - Well freaking done.
- Stonekeeper, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4Is there really a viable market for this? I'm not dissing it, just wondering. I would have thought there would be far cheaper options. I know apple is about eye-candy, but seriously, is that important for a POS?
- brstilson, on 10/12/2007, -8/+2The point-of-sale terminal is a mission-critical part of any store's computer system. You would be hard-pressed to find any such terminal running something like windows. I think if a store used the Apple POS system it would be for the stability of Unix and ease-of-use. If I were running a store, I would find a POS terminal that had an intuitive interface that required minimal training appealing. The easier it is to use, the less mistakes people make, and that saves me money.
I agree though that they eye candy would be kind of a turn off to me since it wouldn't give the impression of a "professional" application. - Boondoggle, on 10/12/2007, -1/+10'The point-of-sale terminal is a mission-critical part of any store's computer system. You would be hard-pressed to find any such terminal running something like windows. I think if a store used the Apple POS system it would be for the stability of Unix and ease-of-use. If I were running a store, I would find a POS terminal that had an intuitive interface that required minimal training appealing. The easier it is to use, the less mistakes people make, and that saves me money."
Sorry dude but many shops have dells as POS systems. You need to get out more. - fr34k5h0w, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Walk over to a newer Arby's and you're bound to find a POS terminal running XP with xpient's IRIS pos system. That system is a real POS because it has quirks that don't always work the same on every register, even in the same store.
- brstilson, on 10/12/2007, -8/+2The point-of-sale terminal is a mission-critical part of any store's computer system. You would be hard-pressed to find any such terminal running something like windows. I think if a store used the Apple POS system it would be for the stability of Unix and ease-of-use. If I were running a store, I would find a POS terminal that had an intuitive interface that required minimal training appealing. The easier it is to use, the less mistakes people make, and that saves me money.
- neuonyx, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4I don't see any indication anywhere of being able to use this application in a retail environment, i.e. multiple 'cash registers' with a server in back. If it works only as a stand alone application then it's totally useless and certainly not worth the price tag. Even the smallest stores have at least 2 machines -- (1 cash register, and 1 managemnt computer in the back) -- I know i certainly wouldnt want all my data on 1 machine up front, with no raid / redundancy, where it could be stolen........
- jtrost, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2I'm sure you can save the database files to a networked drive.
- guytoronto, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Just taking a look at the quick tour videos, this is definitely not for a retail environment.
Too many steps to cash out a quick sale.
Not enough payment options (multiple credit card?)
Taking payment AFTER invoice is processed (what happens when the card is declined?) - commandar!, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3@guytoronto
Personally, the fact that they're touting cash drawer support as a big new feature is indicative to me that it's not ready for retail front usage.
- tommyhanks, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2@neuonyx-
I second your thoughts. Something like this really should have some kind of back-end database. - neuonyx, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Actually -- Sorry I did not include before -- I just found this guy which looks really awesome to me ( no i'm not affiliated with them -- i just found the link )
http://www.xsilva.com/features.php
Apparantly it's a client / server setup -- and the interface looks much nicer to me...- commandar!, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1I've actually been running the LightSpeed demo the past few days evaluating it for use in a small computer sales/service center. Feature for feature, it's the closest match I've been able to find for our needs (service tracking is a big thing missing from most of the other POS systems out there). We're currently on a 15 year old DOS based POS system (Made by POSitive, who is actually still out there) that works for the most part, but is definitely beginning showing its limitations.
After working with LightSpeed for a few days, I'll just say there's a very good chance we're going to move over to it. In fact, calling them to get more info on the 2.0 version that's supposed to be released this month is on my list of things to do today.
- commandar!, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1I've actually been running the LightSpeed demo the past few days evaluating it for use in a small computer sales/service center. Feature for feature, it's the closest match I've been able to find for our needs (service tracking is a big thing missing from most of the other POS systems out there). We're currently on a 15 year old DOS based POS system (Made by POSitive, who is actually still out there) that works for the most part, but is definitely beginning showing its limitations.
- mindsnare, on 10/12/2007, -3/+2The last retail store I worked at used a web based POS system, yeah that's right, web based.
It was horrible, and their solution for when out internet went down? I free dial-up alternative! WOW
"Ok sir let's ring this up"
brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrkishhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhbuzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
could you imagine it?- martalli, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1A web-based POS sounds like it would be full of security flaws.
- joebloom, on 10/12/2007, -3/+1This seems like a really neat software, I've never noticed anything like this. It gives me more of a reason to get a mac..
- toughice, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Is there a point of sale program that has a web based counterpart? We need an online order entry system for the majority clients, and a version like Checkout for our physical location - and the two versions should shake hands.
- commandar!, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Check out Xsilva Lightspeed. The whole POS is very polished and there's a new release coming some time this month that is going to add a web store module to the system.
- zodieman, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2All this new fancy AJAX stuff would be a perfect match in my mind for a point of sale system. Some clever programmer could do wonders in this department. Deploy cheap PCs as terminals and have a gorgeous webapp for the sales system that uses AJAX.
- superpixel, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2true there are lower-cost alternatives. however, I can see a use for this, especially with the address book feature and backups... no doubt you could tie this into some FileMaker action (or a dozen other things) and have some killer CRM. one of the biggest reasons you see Macs in business now is that you can pretty much eliminate any full-time IT staff. you think the average retailer knows enough about Linux to massage the power out of it? so larger up-front cost, but over time you would likely save $$$
- martalli, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1"you think the average retailer knows enough about Linux to massage the power out of it? "
As a long-time linux supporter, I agree completely. If you believe in libre software, mac may not be for you. However, if you want your friends and family to esperience the security of a modern OS, without all the calls to helpp them through a "dpkg-reconfigure ..." or your distro's equivalent, then MacOS is the way to go. It may not be openbsd, but the security is there mainly by the design.
Is Linux ready for the desktop? I *think* so, but I know BSD is ready for the desktop - look at MacOS.
- martalli, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1"you think the average retailer knows enough about Linux to massage the power out of it? "
- orlyfactor, on 10/12/2007, -6/+3Every Mac app is a POS. HAHAHA.
- raccettura, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1I've seen this used in small businesses before. Perfect for situations with limited # of sales, and you want a PC in the store. Rather than 2 pieces of hardware have 1.
- thesah, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0This app looks intriguing, I will check it out. I am still looking for an intuitive app (Mac or PC) for running a design/printshop business...where its all about billable hours, keeping records of past customer orders, updating stock prices, etc. Anyone have any suggestions?
- B1663r, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1QuickBooks
- EbenieRosa, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Anything Similiar for PC? I've been looking for a simple POS to run on my PC.
Windows XP not Vista. - Arkitan, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1Really the only reason that someone would want this is if they just happen to have a Mac near the checkout. For small businesses like the local comic book store, I can see this working, as the comic book guy is sitting behind the counter reading the Internet anyway. If you need more than one, however it would be a lot cheaper to put out a bunch of dumb clients.
This is cool, but from a strictly business perspective, not financially scalable.- martalli, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1While others have commented on POS systems costing tens of thousands of $$, surely they did not mean per terminal. Even a character based system is not unreasonable for simple point of sale - many systems still rely on that interface. The extra money comes from a server to control them and all of doodads to track inventory. Each individul register shoudl be as inexpensive as possible.
- dragazis, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Other than a cool UI and a lot of functionality from what I understand the app was also written in python which if this is true is really cool and interesting.
- zmigliozzi, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1its all social status.
- 500freestyle, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Oh. Point of Sale. I was thinking the other POS.
- garoda, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0Does anyone know about a business solution to run a restaurant on macs? I searched around the web and the restaurant solutions look pretty outdated.
- B1663r, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0I didn't realize that iMacs were touch screen now. Wow, I could save a buch of money on my POS system. The ELO monitors cost almost as much as an iMac.
- davedekker, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1as much as I agree that a mac for a POS system seems like a bad idea due to lack of IT support in the industry, along with pricey hardware.... and you will see windows used in many POS systems, along with many Unix systems running thin clients, I find it funny that its being bragged up that they added cash drawer support and receipt printer support, I worked retail in the early 90s and had a DOS 6.2 system that did all that, POS is about taking the customers money; not looking like a "cool" interface to the employee... Now, on the other hand my dry cleaner switched to mac for their POS system (not sure what software) but they are a decent chain (not sure of size but I know there is more than 20 stores)
DD
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