Why your Small Business Needs a Portable POS System
The world is constantly moving. That’s why having a mobile POS system can be incredibly beneficial to your small business. Being tied down to one spot can squander opportunities, and make you miss out on potential sales. By having a portable POS system you are ensuring that you’re taking advantage of every sales opportunity no matter where you’re at.
In the past, merchants had limited options when it came to accepting payments. Either stay put at one location where their POS system was located to accept card payments, or only accept cash if they were away from their business.
Now a days, not as many people carry around cash. Without a POS system, in a situation like an event, where you’re only accepting cash. You are missing out on sales from people who would have bought something if only you were accepting card payments.
Best Mobile POS Systems for your Specific Needs
There are a few different options when it comes to mobile POS systems. Figuring out which machine best fits your business is key. Whether you’re an artist, restaurant, contractor or anything else in between. You need to think about what you really want to get out of your POS system.
The Clover Flex and the Dejavoo QD2 are great options when looking for a portable POS system. Both of these devices allow merchants to accept payments outside of their business with either Wi-Fi or 4G connectivity. This means that even businesses that go somewhere that Wi-Fi isn’t available, card payments can still be accepted. Another great option is the Clover Go, this is a good option for small businesses that maybe don’t have a high volume of transactions on a daily basis.
Maximize Efficiency with the Clover Flex Portable POS System
The Clover Flex is a lightweight, hand held device with a wide range of capabilities.
- Accepts chip, swipe and contactless payments like Apple Pay and Google Pay
- 6″ LCD color touch screen
- Built-in thermal dot printer and can email or text digital receipts
- Barcode scanner and built-in camera
- At least 8 hours of battery life
You can also download a variety of apps to your Clover Flex, like you can with other Clover products. This feature makes your mobile POS system ultra customized to fit all of your businesses needs. The Clover Flex also has inventory tracking and business reporting capabilities. This means in theory, you don’t even need another POS system at your business. You can run everything solely with the Flex.
Restaurants
Another great feature is the ability to connect the Clover Flex to all your other Clover devices. For example in a restaurant setting, you can streamline the ordering process with the addition of the Flex. Your restaurant can use something like the Clover Duo for counter orders and your servers can go table to table using the Clover Flex. All your orders can be instantly sent to the kitchen without having your servers write down orders, and then having to go input them into your main POS system.
If your servers are using the Flex it also speeds up the payment process. Instead of customers waiting to get the bill, then waiting for the server to come back and get their card, then waiting for the server to come back with it. Now, when the customer is ready to pay, the server just needs to pull out the Flex, which already has their order on it, and let the customer pay without all the running around.
Small Shops
Another situation where using a Clover Flex in conjunction with another Clover device can increase efficiency, is in a busy shop or boutiques. If your store is small or you don’t have many employees, long lines can be stressful and drive away customers. By using the Flex, you can have one employee walking around checking customers out, while another checks out the customers waiting in line. This minimizes wait time and increases customer satisfaction.
The Clover Flex can also be great if your shop is going to an event like a festival or flea market to be a vendor. Music festival season is right around the corner. Niche boutiques and shops can make a lot of money by selling their products at events like that. It is essential that your business accepts card payments if you want to maximize your success while vending. Many people won’t be walking around with wads of cash. With the Clover Flex you can continue to monitor sales and inventory while on the go.
Get the Basics Covered with Dejavoo QD2
The QD2 is another good option for a mobile POS system, it includes:
- Accepts chip, swipe and contactless payment
- 5.5″ LCD color touch screen
- Built in thermal printer
- Barcode scanner
Some businesses don’t need apps or in-depth business reporting capabilities. It can still track specific items and calculate taxes but it won’t be as customized as the Flex. If you’re a mom and pop shop or your inventory is small you won’t use a lot of the features that the Flex offers. This is why the QD2 is good options for businesses that just want the basics.
Locksmiths and Tow-truck Companies
These companies are inherently on the go, the whole point of them is going out to people and preforming services. Most of the time these businesses only accept cash, or they need to send an invoice. This is not only inconvenient but also means that most of the time the employees are holding a lot of cash which can be unsafe.
With the QD2 these workers have the ability to accept card payments on-site. These kinds of businesses usually offer one or two different services so having a simple portable POS system would make the most sense for them.
Beauticians
Private beauticians or people who offer house calls for services, and travel for things like weddings can benefit from the QD2 as well. Like tow truck companies and locksmiths, these businesses typically only offer a small amount of services. With the QD2 they can accept payments other than cash while still preforming on-site services. If a beautician is part of a larger salon, they might be using one of the many salon apps Clover offers, in that case the Flex would be a better choice. If its just a one person team, the QD2 will work perfectly as a mobile POS system.
Take Payments at any Moment with the Clover Go
Clover Go is a small mobile POS system that transforms any mobile device into a point-of sale system, it offers:
- Chip, swipe and contactless payment capabilities
- Stores digital receipts and can email or text the receipt to the customer
- Micro USB charging
- Estimated 160 tap or swipe transactions and 130 contactless transactions per charge
- Compatible with iOS 10 and Android 4.4
The Clover Go is a great option for business that don’t process a large amount of transactions. It does not track inventory or do business reporting but it does have the ability to utilize apps offered by Clover. All you need to do to is choose a plan and sign up for a Clover Go account then download the app. The Clover Go is a small card reader that easily connects to a smart phone or tablet. After that, you can start processing transactions from anywhere.
Contractors
The Clover Go is a great option for contractors. Contractors typically process one payment per service and depending on what kind of work they are doing, the time between payment and completion of the job can be large. Businesses like these don’t necessarily need a device that will do anything other than accept payments. Since the Clover Go is small and compact, there’s no issue with carrying around another piece of equipment. The contractor just needs to pull out their phone, connect the card reader and they’re ready to accept payments.
Artists
Artists can benefit from the Clover Go the same way contractors can. Whether they are selling their art at a fair or doing commission pieces, they are only offering one thing. They don’t need a heavy duty POS system. Some artists only sell their work at events, so investing in a Clover Flex or a QD2 wouldn’t be practical. For someone who only processes payments once in a while, the Clover Go is a great option.
Farmers Markets
With warm weather approaching, farmers markets will soon be back in season. Farmers and other business that only sell their products during these times can use the Clover Go for quick and easy payments. Since they only ever need a mobile POS systems for events like these, similar to artists, investing in a POS system that has other capabilities doesn’t really make sense. The Clover Go makes sure they are taking advantage of every customer that is potentially interested in their goods whether they have cash or not.
Maximize your Businesses Capabilities with a Mobile POS System
No matter what mobile POS system you choose for your business, the addition of a portable device will open many doors for your business. Being able to accept payments anywhere, anytime will increase revenue and help you network. Figuring out what needs your business has and what POS system will meet them is essential. VMS offers all of the devices mentioned as well as many other POS systems. To see all of our mobile POS systems, click here. If you’re interested in adding a mobile POS system to your business, click here or call us at 888-902-6227.