It's 2015! Is our Biz outdated? We need to keep up.

[ChesBayDiv]

The last Point of Sale System(POS) I purchased was in 2008. We are expanding and updating everything. I need a POS that keeps up with the sign of the times. Is there anything out there that is worth anything. EncomPOS is what I am looking into right now. All the other post I am seeing are from 2011 with that said XP is Dead, and I know people are having huge issues with this.
I KNOW software has changed since even in the last 2 years. I can't afford to make the wrong move. HELP.

My Thoughts..
Websites, need to be mobile friendly.
We need to use Social media to our advantage.
Wanting iPad newsletter sign up as you walk into to store or waiting at register.
friendly customers apps, like punch cards and Facebook check-in's.


Please, I NEED input from fellow Dive store owners/Managers.

Malena Sharkey
Chesapeake Bay Diving Center

---------- Post added April 14th, 2015 at 01:50 PM ----------

Anyone heard of Dive Centre HQ? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NNshSJfP0VQ

 

[scubasprout]

I am in the same boat! I have been looking at systems for months. The top of my list right now is Rainpos

 

[Octopusprime]

I am in IT have see this same question from non scuba businesses. I have looked at a couple of the many SCUBA systems and many of them are old clunky and do not have the features you are looking for today.

If I can suggest a different direction? There are some Really good ecommerce solutions out there and I know what your thinking... You do not want to get into ecommerce and compete with the LP of the world but simply it is a way to process a transaction, run a credit card and manage inventory. Even if you do not make it public it is a website you can access from anywhere with ANY computer with little to no hardware investment. You can use it to sell courses integrate email follow up reminders to courses before the course and follow ups to OW students after the course with promo to sign up for advanced course or specialty etc.

Once you have the ecommerce solution why not offer it to your customers? even if your not looking to promote it on the web why not give your students/customers a place to research gear from you then going to the big online resellers? These solutions have all of the advanced sorts and filters people are looking for. Just imagine your customers being able to find Open heal, split fins, with spring straps in RED? I tried to do this search on many of the major scuba ecommerce stores and was very disappointed not to mention how many times I have ordered online and then received an email that it was out of stock. If the Ecommerce solution IS your POS it can be the central place to receive items and keep inventory. You will then have the option to have an item disappear if it is out of stock or just show an estimated ship date further out. There are multiple options to integrate with accounting programs for financials.

How nice would it be to be able to run your entire business from anywhere from an ipad connected to a cash drawer, laptop at the beach with out having to buy expensive POS terminals, manage a server, backups, etc. What if you could have the website, inventory management, hosting, secure credit card processing, all of the security certificates and PCI compliance issues, server, Cloud storage, bandwidth with guaranteed uptime for $2.00 per transaction or less? There are solutions for every budget.

There are multiple solutions based on your needs and the number of transactions you process, how many variables you want to be able to filter by, etc. If you would like to see a couple solutions I would be happy to schedule demos for any of you.

---------- Post added April 22nd, 2015 at 11:35 AM ----------

There is a linked in group "the business of being a dive pro"https://www.linkedin.com/groups?home=&gid=6951909&trk=anet_ug_hm&goback=%2Egde_6951909_member_5984329335769673728 we would love to have you join that group too to share issues just like that to another community.