Have you ever considered going to a Cloud-based Point-Of-Sale system but haven’t really had the time to consider the advantages and disadvantages of finally joining the cloud?

If you’re still using clunky little handsets sold to you by your present supplier and you feel that you and your staff are ready to move to say iPad or smart phones, perhaps joining the cloud is for you.

Worried about the cost? Don’t be – you can join for about $50 a month and that’s it?! However as usual, before rushing into such a major change perhaps you ought to think about whether the cloud-based POS system is in fact the right one for you.

Let’s compare a normal POS system which has been ‘plumbed’ into your business. What else do you pay for? It is of course the licence, an annual maintenance fee which will take care of upgrades etc and maybe there are other charges…. things such as training and ongoing support.

However, if you bite the bullet and join the Cloud you will have no upfront fees, and depending on the size of your business, quite low monthly fees, starting at about $50. On top of that, the only additional things you need to think about are perhaps additional costs based on say the amount of credit or debit cards that you process.

One of the great advantages is that you do not have to worry about upgrades because as your entire system is based on either a remote server or a series of remote servers. Upgrades are done remotely which means that you have absolutely no worries about keeping up-to-date – it all happens automatically. Plus you never have to worry about running out of storage or even having to upgrade hardware because you are most likely to be using an iPad or android which are generally available and no longer specialist items

By now you already know what your in-house POS system can do for you, so let’s have a look at the functionality differences between that and a Cloud-based system.

Nowadays Cloud-based systems have the advantage of dedicated apps which means you can enable yourself to call down your data at any time. That means that you can manage your shop’s POS from anywhere you like, and at any time.

We’ve already mentioned system upgrades and the occasional pain and downtime which they can cause your business. With a Cloud-based system, they are history!

Plus you can add (and discard) any sort of functionality whenever you want. If you suddenly decide that you need things like reward schemes for your clients or some sort of loyalty program etc you can easily integrate them into your system via a dedicated app, without calling in a technician.

If you’ve ever had the rather unfortunate experience of a virus in your current Windows-based POS, you know all about having to reinstall not only Windows but also all or some of your point-of-sale system with its drivers and data. So if somebody can provide you with a solution where you no longer need to worry about the physical aspects of your system surely it is worth considering?.

The other question you need to ask yourself is the magnitude and ease of any changeover from your traditional system which is probably Windows-based to a Cloud-based system.

Many good suppliers of Cloud-based POS systems will simply ask you to export everything to a spreadsheet or series of spreadsheets and let them have it.

Unbelievably, they can integrate all your data into your new Cloud-system with minimal or even zero additional charges.

Your system going down at exactly the wrong time will no longer be a problem and although it is possible for remote servers to go down, normally they allow you enough internal memory to keep you going even if their own system is not functioning properly. Down-time can be a thing of the past!

So there you have it – a Cloud-based system is far cheaper than a traditional POS setup. Plus you have very little worry about upgrades and you can add functionality at your own speed by exploring all the apps that are currently coming onto the market.

Yes, the future was POS. Now the future is cloud-based POS.