Vend
Vend is a complete retail Point Of Sale system for business of all sizes. It includes software, inventory management, eCommerce & customer loyalty for iPad, Mac and PC. With Vend you can easily manage & grow your business on the ground and in the cloud. Vend has been designed to be used by retailers from all avenues, whether that be computer repair shops or coffee shops, Vend has you covered.
Vend is fast, intuitive and is able to work on any device, so you can focus on your customers, not on your technology. It doesn’t matter whether you use a Mac, a PC or an iPad, Vend’s responsive sell screen works beautifully and looks stunning. Vend is able to operate offline, so you can continue selling even when the your Internet connection is interrupted; Vend automatically re-syncs your sales data once you’re back online again.
Vend also operates with a wide range of hardware. Simply plug in a network receipt printer, connect a barcode scanner, and you’re set. It could even work with printers, cash drawers & barcode scanners that you already own.
eCommerce
A really great feature of Vend is the eCommerce functionality. eCommerce is only available in the Advanced and the Multi-Outlet plans, but it is included at no additional charge. Vend provides hosting, an integrated website builder, some design help via a selection of Responsive Themes, live sync with your in-store inventory, and you can add your own domain name.
Vend’s responsive design means that it has the ability to automatically display correctly on any sized screen. Whether that be a phone, tablet, or desktop computer. Vend eCommerce has a smooth content management system that allows you to add products and pages, rearrange some design elements, and add functionality without having to know code. However, if you are code savvy, then it is HTML and CSS friendly. Any purchases that are made via your online store are automatically emailed to your administrator. This means that order fulfilment happens in real time, providing you with accurate inventory data.
Customer Management
Vend’s customer management tools are first rate, with the ability to maintain a contact list of all your customers by mass importing data from a CSV file, or adding each name individually via the web console (or even in the POS interface at the time of the sale). Customizable fields enable you to truly personalise your customers list fields with data such as email address, address, phone number, website, customer group, Facebook account, and Twitter ID.
Vend also uses a Loyalty program that can entice your customers into providing more information. When enabled, the Loyalty program has an option to create and send an automatic emails to new customers using the program. This contains a personalized link to the Customer Portal, where they can provide you with their full contact information in exchange for bonus loyalty dollars. The link the customer receives is tied directly to the account you have created, and can only be used to redeem for rewards once.
Integrations
Vend supports integrations with a number of different apps and services, including Deputy, Xero, QuickBooks Online, and Timely. Vend also has an API available for use
Pricing
Vend uses a subscription pricing model with prices starting from $0.00 per month. There is a free 30-day trial available with no credit card required and also a free plan available. For the Free plan you receive 1 store, 1 register, 10 products, 1,000 customers, 1 user account and community support. Next up is the Starter plan. For $39 you receive 1 store, 1 register, unlimited products, 3 users, unlimited customers and 24/7 email support. The next plan is Advanced. For $79 you receive unlimited stores, 1 register (additional registers priced at $39/mo/each), unlimited products, unlimited customers, unlimited user accounts, eCommerce, and 24/7 email support. There is also a Multi-Outlet plan that is priced $199. For this you receive unlimited stores, 2 registers (additional registers priced at $39/mo/each), unlimited products, unlimited customers, unlimited user accounts, eCommerce, and 24/7 email and priority support.
Bottom Line
Overall, Vend is a groundbreaking web based POS system, that was the first of its kind to use HTML5. Because of this, you can still complete sales if your Internet connection is down, as a copy of the POS app, and the sales data, is saved in the browser’s cache. Vend is clearly based in retail and, because of this service and support teams may not find all the features they need. That having been said, Vend is easy to learn, and has a low cost of entry as opposed to other POS services on the market and can be set up in no-time.