Debbie Bertsch's cash registers are only a few years old, but she describes them as archaic.
"Because technology has changed so much, we are behind the times," said the executive director of the Humane Society Thrift Store of Forsyth County.
The store, which funds a no-kill animal shelter, doesn't have the money to invest in new cash registers. But by participating in the pilot program for a new small-business checkout technology created by a Duluth company, Bertsch has replaced her cash registers with iPads. And the move has worked so well, Bertsch said, that she would be willing to pay.
NCR is rolling out such technology to businesses in June. For $79 a month, companies with five or fewer locations will have access to a software system called NCR Silver that allows them to track merchandise, run reports and check out customers using an app on an iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch.
The technology can alert owners to a cashier who has too many voids or allow businesses to send thank-you emails and coupons to new customers. It's similar to systems used by larger chains, but geared toward smaller mom-and-pops. And Christian Nahas, NCR's vice president of small and medium business, said the company hopes it will be a fruitful way to expand into an untapped market for NCR.
There are other mobile payment systems that compete with NCR Silver -- the free credit card reader Square is one of them -- but NCR is banking on the expanded services and its relationships with card processors and other businesses that interact with smaller companies to help sell its version.
"It adds a whole new market for them," said Gil Luria, an analyst with Wedbush Securities. "It could be a very meaningful product for them."
Nahas, who came to NCR in its July acquisition of Alpharetta's Radiant Systems, where the technology originated, said businesses that have piloted the program have become more aware of what they sell and when. NCR is able to sell peripheries -- an iPad stand, card reader, cash drawer and wireless receipt printer cost $649 -- but the biggest benefit to the company is the possibility of recurring business. The ATM manufacturer is transitioning to selling more software as a service.
Todd Howard, a former Radiant Systems employee who is piloting the system at his Johns Creek meeting space rental business fuseBOX, said he appreciates that he does not need to have a register to conduct business, which he said can get in the way of building relationships with customers. Bertsch said the system has saved her time running reports. She's now considering using NCR Silver to create a loyalty program for thrift store customers.
"It's something I could have done before, but it wouldn't have been easy," she said. "I probably wouldn't have done it."
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