The Ultimate Guide to Picking an iPad Point of Sale App
Traditional point of sale (POS) systems used to be complex, difficult to use, and incredibly expensive. But not anymore.
The iPad and Apple App Store have transformed the way mobile sales people and location based businesses can accept payments and satisfy customers on-the-go. Whether we’re talking about the local cafe accepting credit cards, pop-up food trucks that serve different city locations, or corporate sales people in the field taking new orders, iPad point of sale apps have enabled these businesses to quickly and easily overcome one of the biggest pain points in almost every single business.
Here is a handy guide so you can find the best iPad point of sale app.
1. Intuit GoPayment
Intuit GoPayment is a quick and easy method of accepting credit cards on the go by simply plugging in a free credit card reader device to your iPhone or iPad. Made by the creators of Quicken, TurboTax, and QuickBooks, Intuit GoPayment Credit Card Terminal is a reliable and efficient large-scale solution to accepting credit cards on the go. Intuit GoPayment charges 2.75% on card swipes and 3.75% on keyed in transactions with special discounts available to those who process large amounts of transactions.
2. Square – Accept Credit Card Payments with Square’s Mobile Point of Sale
With a free credit card reader, free app download and low-cost service plan, Square is a cost-friendly Point of Sale app. In addition to being affordable, Square is also extremely user-friendly, allowing users to easily create their own inventory. Square charges a flat rate of 2.75% for swiped transactions and bigger businesses can opt for a $275 flat monthly rate with no charges per swipe.
3. PayPal Here™ – Get Paid Anywhere
PayPal Here is similar to Square in many ways (available for both iPhone and iPad, free credit card reader, etc.), but also allows users to accept checks as payments and accept payments directly from PayPal (if the customer has an account). PayPal Here takes 2.7% from all card swipes and PayPal transactions. Reports of connection issues are the only downside to this otherwise seamlessly easy and reliable Point of Sale app.
4. Vend POS | Point of Sale
Vend is a feature-rich Point of Sale app and inventory management software. This app requires no extra gear, simplifying the inventory and point of sale process. Vend is compatible with a wide range of receipt/label printers, cash drawers and barcode scanners. Monthly plans range in cost from completely free to $199/month.
5. Credit Card Terminal
In addition to accepting payments on the go, this Point of Sale app allows users to accept tips, capture signatures, and print receipts. Credit Card Terminal is well designed, easy to use, and provides users with a free Credit Card Reader upon opening an account. Rates are a bit more expensive than the competition, with swipe transactions costing 1.74% to 3.79% (depending on the card) plus $0.24 and manual transactions costing 2.09% to 3.79% plus $0.24 in addition to the $25 monthly service fee.
6. Phone Swipe – Credit Card Reader
Phone Swipe is a reliable and polished Point of Sale app offering a wide variety of services such as the ability to print customized receipts, live customer support, the ability to add discounts to transactions, and more. The app offers users a free card reader but does not advertise its rates.
7. PayAnywhere – Accept Credit Cards
Made by the creators of Phone Swipe, Pay Anywhere is a more user-friendly and accessible version of its partner. Pay Anywhere requires no monthly fees, provides a free card reader, and takes 2.69% of swiped transactions, making this Point of Sale app extremely competitive pricewise.
8. Cashier | Point of Sale (POS) Register
Simplicity and functionality set Cashier apart from its competitors. Cashier’s sign up process is easy and the inventory building process can be done by simply scanning in the barcodes of items. This POS app allows users to accept payments in the form of cash, check, and credit cards. Three monthly pricing options are available with Cashier.
9. Ambur – Point of Sale (POS)
Created by a team of former restaurant owners and employees, Ambur offers a complete list of easy to use features that allow very little room for errors. Ambur allows users to run payroll, generate customized reports, export totals to spreadsheets, view order history for customers, and much more. Servers can take orders and process credit cards through iPads with Ambur, allowing employees to access one POS system at any place within the restaurant.
9. iPay Mobile Point of Sale
Offering more card reader options than any mobile app on the market, iPay Mobile Point of Sale is a multi-gateway, multi-card reader and printer payment processing application for the iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch. Oh, and it’s FREE. This POS app offers quick and basic services such as single screen entry and a simple number pad with auto format of total amount, credit card, and exp. Date.
10. My cashier
My cashier is an easy to manage POS app that allows users to bill customers and easily manage store inventory. On the iPad, My Cashier has billing software functionality that enables users to track sales and create and print reports. The app also features a free calculator, the option to create and print detailed invoices, import/export options for csv files, and more.
11. Cashy-POS
Cashy-POS is a multi-lingual cash register for small retail business and owner managed shops on the iPad. Extremely easy to use, Cashy-POS covers all day to day cash register needs including easy inventory creation, extensive reporting, and the ability to print receipts. Cashy-POS can be bought with a one-time fee and does not require any monthly payments.
12. Swipe Credit Card Terminal
Completely safe and secure, Swipe Credit Card Terminal offers a quick-pick inventory list, the ability to accept international currencies, the option to customize email receipts, and more. With excellent support and easy set-up, this POS app is extremely user friendly. Free credit card swipers are given with new merchant accounts.
13. iConnect POS
iConnect POS is fully customizable to be as simple or sophisticated as the user needs it to be. The app’s ability to create relationships with customers, manage employees, keep track of inventory, book appointments, generate reports, and more set it apart from other POS apps. iConnect POS requires a monthly fee after the initial 15-day free trial.
14. NCR Silver POS
This easy to use POS app can be run on the iPad, iPhone, or iPod. With capabilities to fit the needs of any small business (accepts all forms of payments, provides detailed reports, features a cloud-based back office, and more), NCR Silver POS does it all. NCR Silver POS also offers an array of business-boosting features including the ability to capture customer information with every transaction.
15. Ring It Up Universal: Invoicing Point of Sale
Described as the “portable point-of-sale app for the Merchant on the go,” Ring it Up Universal allows users to ring up sales, track expenses, and accept payments using the iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad. Ring it Up Universal accepts payments through cash or checks and integrates with supported processing apps to accept credit cards.
16. Point Of Sale
Aimed at making POS mobile and fun, Point of Sale is a basic iPad app that allows small and medium-sized businesses to utilize a user-friendly mobile cashier system. Backed by pointofsale.net’s web-based back end store operations manager interface, this app is also able to service multi-store operations, inventory management, customer database, and detailed reporting.
17. Salient Kiosk
Salient Kiosk is a virtual till and inventory management system that allows users to process and track cash transactions, generate daily sales reports, email receipts, and set up “Kiosks” for multiple business. While Salient Kiosk is in the process of rolling out new software (credit card processing, syncing across multiple iPad/iPhones, and data export to multiple formats), they are selling the app in its current state for a reduced price.
18. MeS Mobile
MeS Mobile is a user-friendly POS app that allows users to accept credit card payments from all major credit cards wherever a WiFi connection is available. The app pairs with either the secure IDTech Shuttle audio jack card reader or with the secure MagTek iDynamo card reader to process payments and offers a full range of transaction services.
19. AcclaimPOS
Geared towards the food industry, AcclaimPOS is a simple to learn and easy to use Point of Sale app that users can run on multiple iPads at a time with no additional cost. Developed by restaurateurs, AcclaimPOS enables owners to easily enter and adjust menu offerings and pricing. With a host of features aimed at bettering performance and increasing productivity and profitability, Acclaim POS is the go-to app for restaurants.
20. ShopKeep POS | Point of Sale
ShopKeep POS (designed by a small business owner) turns the iPad into a robust point of sale system for small businesses. ShopKeep POS allows users to try the app before buying through a free 30-day trial where users can populate their product inventory and work with a POS Specialist to start selling.
Conclusion
Accepting and managing customer payments used to be one of the most difficult logistical problems for more businesses. But with the widespread adoption of the post PC era, anyone, anywhere can quickly and easily accept payments — at anytime.
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