How An iPad Can Become a Stationary Point of Sale For Your Business

Contributed by Charles Edge for Retail Minded. 

There are many different retail functions that an iPad, iPhone, or iPod Touch can fill in retail environments. In this article, we’ll look at using an iPad as a stationary point-of-sale (POS) register or kiosk.

Whether using an iPad as a kiosk or for point-of-sale, you’ll likely want to pick up a stand of some sort. There are a lot to choose from, but here we’ll look at the Griffin Kiosk Desktop Mount for iPad 2/3.

The reason we chose this particular device is that it comes with an option to cover the home button. You can disable the home button when placing a device into ‘Guided Access’ mode; Apple Configurator can manage this feature to some degree if you plug a device in, and some MDMs can not only manage this feature, but also automate the configuration of applications. There is definitely excellent software for this out there; however, if we’re looking at how you might go about setting up a few devices in a retail environment on a shoestring, physically covering up that home button is the easy way to disable it.

If you’re using an iPad as a kiosk, this could be as simple as running a Keynote presentation on the device, loading up a video, or even using a custom app. If you’re going to be using the devices for point-of-sale, then you’ll need a more elaborate app…maybe a few of them. This is one of the most important aspects of using these devices and is where Bushel comes in. Bushel uses the Volume Purchase Program (VPP) to give businesses complete control over the app licenses they buy. Once the app licenses are purchased, you can use Bushel to download the app(s) on whichever devices you want. If you change your mind and you want to delete that app from a device, Bushel has the ability to reclaim that license so you can use it on a different device.

Here are ten relatively simple, point-of-sale apps to consider (many of which are free):

1. Xero: Download the App
2. Paypal Here: Download the App
3. Vend Register: Download the App
4. Square Register: Download the App
5. Amazon Local Register: Download the App
6. QuickBooks GoPayment: Download the App
7. ShopKeep: Download the App
8. Shopify POS: Download the App
9. Touch POS: Download the App
10. Ambur: Download the App

Once you have your iOS device, something to put the device in, and an app, you’ve got that part of your business ready to go, all more quickly than previous options. Now you have time to finish stocking merchandise, stir up some more friendly conversation with customers, and get back to your real work!

Contributed by Charles Edge, Product Manager of Bushel. Bushel is a cloud-based device management solution for the Mac, iPhone, iPad and iPod devices in your workplace, that you can use for less than your daily cup of coffee. It’s designed to make the complex tasks, like tracking inventory and distributing apps, simple so anyone can utilize. Three devices are free forever, and each additional device is just $2 per device per month, with no contracts or commitments.

Photo Credit: ShopKeep. 

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