“I was looking for something that was more elegant, less clunky than a cash register,” said Brian Smith, 41, the owner of the ice cream shop. We have limited counter space here so I wanted something that just had a cool factor, a wow factor.”
Like dozens of newly opened businesses in the city, Smith opted for the iPad cash register, rather than the traditional Point of Sale (POS) system. Though the POS uses digital technology, it also requires purchasing a bulky terminal, servers and costly monthly subscription fees.
Making the switch
When Smith prepared to open his shop, he found POS terminals would cost as much as $3,000, as opposed to about $500 to $600 for an iPad. And once he tested the app ShopKeep, a program designed to replace traditional cash registers, he was hooked.
“And there’s the elegance of how it works," Smith said. "My 19 and 20-year old employees could train me on it after 15 minutes. They intuitively understand how it functions."
The cash register has seen remarkably few changes since it’s creation in the late 1800s. It wasn’t until the 1970s that cash registers made any evolution from the old model, the mechanical register, according to Joe Finizio, president and CEO of Retailers Solutions Providers Association.
Finizio estimates POS systems, which first came on the market in the 1980s, are about a $60 billion industry, but none of the traditional players have developed one “killer app” that can run on tablet computers or smart phones.
“In essence what you’re carrying in your hand today, whether it’s a tablet or a smart phone, probably has more processing power than the Apollo capsule that went to the moon,” he said.
There's an app for that
Jason Richelson, 37, is the founder of ShopKeep, the app used at Ample Hills and dozens of other city shops.
The app officially launched at the beginning of August, and Richelson said they have about 50-100 downloads a day of the trial version. And it’s far cheaper than a POS system. For $1,000, retailers can get a cash drawer, credit card reader and wireless printer. The ShopKeep subscription is about $49 a month.
But there are limitations. Right now, ShopKeep can keep track of 270 items on the iPad and an unlimited number on a Mac and PC version, but a small inventory is where it works best. It can show 30 items on one page.
At Ample Hills Creamery, Eric Wu, a former employee of Yahoo, loves the fact that ShopKeep makes it easy to analyze their data. He can do things like figure out how many scoops they’ve sold since the store opened and whether a promotion is successful.
“We’ve also been able to change up our scheduling of employees,” Wu said, “because we know it’s slow from 12-3 and picks up around 3 when school gets out. It slows down 4-6 and picks up again after 8. That thing we’ve been able to graph, since there’s a time stamp on every transaction.”
“Super simple, really, a cave man could do it sort of thing,” Wu said of the ease of use.
(Photo left: Jason Richelson, founder of ShopKeep and co-owner of The Greene Grape, The Annex and Provisions.)
The hold outs
But not everyone is ready to make the leap. Many retailers are comfortable with familiar technology and still might not trust cloud computing to keep track of their data.
At Penny House Café, a small coffee shop and deli in Prospect Heights, manager Jackson Franklin, 29, stands by his sturdy Samsung cash register.
“The screen doesn’t freeze, I don’t need to call a tech to fix it,” he said. The most maintenance he has to do is change the paper once a month. “Old fashioned is better.”
Glenn Hudson, 34, is planning to open a pizza shop in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, that relies on locally sourced ingredients, and is just beginning the arduous task of choosing a POS system.
He’s had demos of various products that would start at $1,500- $2,500, not including a monthly bill, and he’s still not confident about any of them.
“You’re stuck in a situation where you don’t know what happens if it goes down,” he said, “or how to get a new one and usually on the cheaper system the rates are much higher on the expense over time.”
That’s why the iPad appeals to him, but he has yet to see anything that would work well in a restaurant. His partner Peter Enter, 25, likes the idea of having an iPad in their shop though. “We want the new and hip, and everyone is using it now. And plus they’re small and tiny; they're chic right now, they look good,” he said.
This story has been updated from its original version.
(An Android Tablet running ShopKeep at The Annex, in Fort Greene, Brooklyn.)
By Kim Brooks, Express Editor
There was no shortage of people in the small town of Scotch Grove, Iowa, on Sept. 14. That was the preview day for the much-anticipated Balster’s Implement and Parts auction on Sept. 15-17.
The auctioneer, Judd Grafe, of Grafe Auction, anticipated a swarm of people coming to the sale. In an interview for a previous story on Balster’s, Grafe said they’ve had e-mails and phone calls from interested parties all over the country and world including Canada, England, Greece and Australia.
Just walking down County Road E-17 towards the sale grounds, one saw vehicles from all over Iowa and the Midwest. License plates read Floyd, Benton, Story, Fayette, Buchanan, Linn and Polk, as well as Illinois and Minnesota.
One of the auction crewmembers said seven different counties were represented online for the bidding of the first ring. This was the only auction ring to appear online. Another crewmember said Grafe Auction heard from people from Pennsylvania, Oklahoma, Texas and California who were interested in coming to Scotch Grove for the sale.
The crewmembers agreed that the items on the auction were well preserved. They anticipated a lot of collectors and antique dealers at the sale, all wanting pieces of history.
Ring one, featured the seven parcels of real estate, DeLaval Cream separator signs, advertising displays, signs and farm implements. People were not only bidding in person, but also online. During the rest of the sale days, this ring also had Petroliana collectibles, advertising papers, a soda fountain, toys and games in their original boxes, crocks, brass cash registers, pottery, Balster’s advertising and farm collectibles.
Throughout the sale, ring two featured antiques and collectibles, implement parts, fencing wire, bolts and nails and wheels and rims. Ring three included more antiques from the blacksmith shop, step ladders, pitchforks, brass fittings, silo parts, hydraulic parts and bushel baskets. Ring four had even more antiques from the lumberyard building, tools and hardware, plow shears, engine parts, household appliances and small engine parts.
There was something for everyone at the Balster’s sale!
One couple from Ely, Iowa, heard about the sale through the Cedar Rapids Gazette.
We just came to look around, they said.
One of Leslie Balster’s daughters, Susan Zazas, worked hard all week on a history tent. This tent on the auction site featured old photos of the family, old price sheets from the general store and historical information about the family and the business. John Null, a local artist who painted a rendition of Balster’s Implements and Parts, was also on hand inside the tent, along with Bob Nance, who did Tomorrow’s Ag for WMT Radio. Balster’s was a sponsor of the radio program.
In order to help with the traffic control, Camp Courageous bused people to and from Monticello for the sale. This alleviated some of traffic in and around Highway 38 in Scotch Grove.
With all of the buildings open to the public on Sept. 14, each one was full of people as they were curious just to get a sneak peak inside the history of Scotch Grove. Outside the main office building, Dave Balk from Lawler, Iowa, was looking around the first ring.
My brother and I stopped here years ago for wagon parts, said Balk. I didn’t realize how much property Balster’s owned.
Walking around, Balk said it was unreal how many things were for sale and what was on the auction block. Balk is interested in antiques and said he heard about the sale from an auction he attended in Minnesota.
The seller (from the Minnesota sale) told me there was a neat sale between Cedar Rapids and Dubuque, said Balk. I also heard about it on WMT radio.
Balk said it’s sad to think the buildings might go.
It’d make a great museum if someone had the resources, he said.
A younger couple, the McKenzies, from St. Cloud, Minn., are both antique collectors. They said they collect for themselves. They heard about the sale from another auctioneer.
We’re looking for things that catch our eye, they said. If we find anything, we’ll be back tomorrow (Sept. 15).
PHOTOS: Top: Ring four, which was located near the lumber yard, featured antiques and collectibles, tools and hardware, implement parts and small engine parts during the first day of the sale, Sept. 15. Second: TV screens displayed the live online auction in ring one during the first day of the sale. Advertising antiques and the real estate were being sold all over the country and world. Bottom: Jones County’s Joe Cruise demonstrated his auctioneering at the Balster’s sale in ring three on Sept. 15. This ring was located behind the blacksmith shop. (Photos by Kim Brooks)
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