Small NYC Cheese Shop needs Emergency POS IT advice
December 19, 2023 9:57 AM Subscribe
I help out at a small cheese shop in NYC experiencing an IT Meltdown.
This is not exactly shocking, because we are running some ancient Microsoft POS software on a computer that is running windows 7 professional. Yikes!
We are waiting to hear back about emergency IT visits for the ancient windows 7, but we probably need to get up to speed on a new POS fast- we are looking at things like square, clover, and toast, wondering if anyone has advice.
It's the busiest time of the year and we had hoped to switch over in January, but I am not sure we will make it at this point.
but the writing is on the wall and we need to switch to something more modern
Does anyone here have small business retail POS wisdom or horror stories they would like to share? I'd be happy happy to get opinions on which POS sucks the least, and if anyone has good advice about transitioning from an ancient system to a new one, I am all ears.
We sell weighed items on a scale that prints barcodes and knows all our cheeses. (Pretty sure the inventory for that is managed in the microsoft store POS) We sell some stuff that comes with barcodes and stuff that we make bar codes for, but also we have a button for baguettes, and a button for miscellaneous unscannable cheese. Probably 400-500 skus.
Much appreciated as always
We are waiting to hear back about emergency IT visits for the ancient windows 7, but we probably need to get up to speed on a new POS fast- we are looking at things like square, clover, and toast, wondering if anyone has advice.
It's the busiest time of the year and we had hoped to switch over in January, but I am not sure we will make it at this point.
but the writing is on the wall and we need to switch to something more modern
Does anyone here have small business retail POS wisdom or horror stories they would like to share? I'd be happy happy to get opinions on which POS sucks the least, and if anyone has good advice about transitioning from an ancient system to a new one, I am all ears.
We sell weighed items on a scale that prints barcodes and knows all our cheeses. (Pretty sure the inventory for that is managed in the microsoft store POS) We sell some stuff that comes with barcodes and stuff that we make bar codes for, but also we have a button for baguettes, and a button for miscellaneous unscannable cheese. Probably 400-500 skus.
Much appreciated as always
Yes, get something like Square in the short term, then when it is not a crisis, find what works better.
posted by Windopaene at 11:01 AM on December 19, 2023 [3 favorites]
posted by Windopaene at 11:01 AM on December 19, 2023 [3 favorites]
My wife’s little brother works at a Brooklyn-based merchant services provider and has strong opinions about different POS terminals.
He says: “The super basic advice I would give any business in this position is that Square and Toast and the like are going to be at a higher rate with less flexibility than working with a merchant service provider, but may be quicker to setup and come out to a lower overall cost for some low volume businesses.
They can give us a ring at 718-633-6333 or shoot us an email to support@bevelpayment.com. Depending on how small is small they might be better served by Square, but it’s something that would need to be assessed with a little more business info.”
posted by elanid at 11:13 AM on December 19, 2023 [13 favorites]
He says: “The super basic advice I would give any business in this position is that Square and Toast and the like are going to be at a higher rate with less flexibility than working with a merchant service provider, but may be quicker to setup and come out to a lower overall cost for some low volume businesses.
They can give us a ring at 718-633-6333 or shoot us an email to support@bevelpayment.com. Depending on how small is small they might be better served by Square, but it’s something that would need to be assessed with a little more business info.”
posted by elanid at 11:13 AM on December 19, 2023 [13 favorites]
Good service providers will provide assistance in migrating to their system, maybe as a DIY guide to what reports or extracts to get from the old system to a full on managed migration. When checking around ask if they have experience moving people from your current system to whatever SaaS thing they are.
posted by fiercekitten at 11:22 AM on December 19, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by fiercekitten at 11:22 AM on December 19, 2023 [1 favorite]
FWIW, Win7 isn't so bad when it comes to installed systems like that — the biggest concern that comes to my mind would be lack of security updates and PCI compliance.
posted by snuffleupagus at 11:57 AM on December 19, 2023 [5 favorites]
posted by snuffleupagus at 11:57 AM on December 19, 2023 [5 favorites]
Some time ago I implemented Square at the company I was at with zero drama and very little friction. There’s a marginal cost to any card processor as a service, but the service is reliable. Toast owes me like $2 so not those clowns.
posted by zenon at 3:39 PM on December 19, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by zenon at 3:39 PM on December 19, 2023 [2 favorites]
You probably have done the below steps already, but just in case it helps:
- Find and delete temp files (Google for "Windows 7 temp file locations" and [your software] temp file locations - make sure [your software] isn't running at the time)
- Disable unneeded services in Windows 7 - you can Google for this too, including "How to disable unneeded services in Windows 7". Example; Example; I recommend finding a video if this is very new to you.
Here is an excellent resource who will help you for an hourly rate by phone: Computer Therapy. He will sometimes respond to emergencies too, but that might be expensive.
posted by amtho at 3:57 PM on December 19, 2023 [1 favorite]
- Find and delete temp files (Google for "Windows 7 temp file locations" and [your software] temp file locations - make sure [your software] isn't running at the time)
- Disable unneeded services in Windows 7 - you can Google for this too, including "How to disable unneeded services in Windows 7". Example; Example; I recommend finding a video if this is very new to you.
Here is an excellent resource who will help you for an hourly rate by phone: Computer Therapy. He will sometimes respond to emergencies too, but that might be expensive.
posted by amtho at 3:57 PM on December 19, 2023 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: We are so grateful for all of you and for Metafilter!!!
After a few hours of setting up accounts and figuring out logistics, We were able to get tapping from our phones on square (after typing in credit cards manually from our old payment provider the first part of the day), and lo and behold another vendor in the market had a spare square tapper laying around, and we scrounged up an old but still functional ipad to serve as an interim terminal so we don't have to use employee phones while we get a longer term solution sorted out. We will definitely be in touch with Bevel.
Square setup is a little obtuse, and It's not clear if we can get a square-compatible scale that prints out the little cheese name and price barcode stickers that we close up each piece of cheese with, but we are accepting money without having to apologize for technical difficulties. In the last two weeks of festive season, that is huge.
Thanks Again Everybody!
posted by wowenthusiast at 5:33 PM on December 19, 2023 [15 favorites]
After a few hours of setting up accounts and figuring out logistics, We were able to get tapping from our phones on square (after typing in credit cards manually from our old payment provider the first part of the day), and lo and behold another vendor in the market had a spare square tapper laying around, and we scrounged up an old but still functional ipad to serve as an interim terminal so we don't have to use employee phones while we get a longer term solution sorted out. We will definitely be in touch with Bevel.
Square setup is a little obtuse, and It's not clear if we can get a square-compatible scale that prints out the little cheese name and price barcode stickers that we close up each piece of cheese with, but we are accepting money without having to apologize for technical difficulties. In the last two weeks of festive season, that is huge.
Thanks Again Everybody!
posted by wowenthusiast at 5:33 PM on December 19, 2023 [15 favorites]
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posted by j810c at 10:55 AM on December 19, 2023 [5 favorites]