Point of Sale

Starbucks has launched in a new app called "Starbucks Now" for Starbucks Rewards members in Beijing and Shanghai. Pending its success, the app will roll out across the rest of China before the end of the year. The app features GPS functionality so that customers can select their nearest store. Users can then choose and customize a beverage, select food, view order time, and...

Today’s decisions drive tomorrow’s results.  Your POS system will be your revenue gateway and your POS partner will be your gatekeeper. So, your POS decision is very sensitive. It is as crucial as the location you select and the people you hire.  Changing your POS system if you make the wrong decision is a costly endeavourer. If you have never...

Tuesday, trade associations for both franchises and franchisees came to an agreement on a franchising reform bill making its way through Californian legislation. Resistance from the IRA would cease if the proposed amendment was included. An amendment to Assembly-Bill 525, proposed by the International Franchise Association (IRA) and Coalition of Franchisee Association, focused on protecting franchisees from predatory practices. Last...

Taco Bell announced Wednesday it will be partnering with a delivery-service start up to bring their burritos and Crunchwraps right to your front steps. DoorDash, which started in Palo Alto in 2012, will deliver daytime orders to 90 cities in California and Texas. Customers in 200 cities, including Los Angeles, San Francisco, Orange County, and Dallas, can create custom orders...

A Point of Sale (POS) systems is a key component for many industries, including frozen yogurt, grocery markets and bakeries. POS systems are needed to operate and sell items efficiently, which is an important aspect of service industries. It is more evident how necessary POS systems are in operations where delivery and weight integration is needed to perform transactions Generally...

Sintel Systems Back Office Software grants you total control of your business from the back end while employees are processing transactions. Without interrupting the front end of your business accessing operation management is simple. Compatible will all Sintel System Point of sale software, Back office features Application Service Provider(ASP). ASP allows business owners to view sales reports, employee time sheets,and...

After months of discussion, a measure to gradually increase minimum wage in  Los Angeles to fifteen by 2020 passed. Previous measures increased wage to nine dollars as of July, 2014 and ten by January, 2016. In October, Vice President Joe Biden met with Mayor Eric Garcetti concerning minimum wage. Biden suggested a raise to $13.75 would help spur economic growth...

Starbucks has always been entwined in the music industry. Providing a platform for many new artist, the coffee shop chain has worked closely with the music industry. Attempting to revitalize the way consumers discover music Starbucks is partnering with Spotify to create a "music ecosystem" and of course reward loyal customers. The multi year partnership will bring together an exclusive...

Early 2013 Canadian Finance minister withdrew circulation of the Canadian penny, which had been facing impending doom for a very long time. Canadians, as well as Americans, have put countless pennies in piggy banks or in the nooks and crannies of their homes. In effect, governments need to replenish idle coins. Canada's government enacted the discontinuance of the penny as...

On April 27, Chipotle Mexican Grill (Quick Service Restaurant, formerly owned by McDonalds) announced it was going to begin offering consumers "real food," sending the internet into a frenzy. Twitter fans took to trending #antiscience, in reference to the chains declaration. Founded on the idea of serving "food with integrity," Chipotle is removing all Genetically Modified Organisms from its menu...

The famous New York food cart is coming to the west coast. Started as a single cart in 1990, Halal Guys has begun building a franchise. Serving the tastiest middle eastern cuisine, many of their iconic carts are still functioning on the streets of New York. Patrons cannot seems to get enough of their delicious meats served over rice with...

When opening a merchant account, due to its complexity, a social security number is required. A great deal of money is in the process of being moved through various financial institutions; subsequently many risks for both the bank and the individual may arise. Set forth in the Patriot Act of 2001 it is required of business owners to provide identification...

Sintel Systems restaurant point of sale software caters to all types of restaurants ranging from QSRs (quick service restaurants) to full service eateries and catering operations. Our professional restaurant POS software is designed to help you efficiently run your store and provide great customer service at the same time. Equipped with the ability to easily implement your menu and an...

Returning for the seventh annual year, LA's Beer week commences June 20th until the 28th. Previously held in September,  coordinators of the festival choose to move it up a couple months to try escaping the blistering summer heat. Let's hope June provides us with some gloom but if not you are at a beer festival so freshen up with a...

Striving to maintain a successful bakery can be exhausting. Sintel System's Bakery Point of Sale Software is the perfect organizational tool to execute your business. In recent years trends like ornate cake designs and cupcake bakeries have been on the rise; consequently bake shops are expanding to meet higher demands by consumers. Our Bakery POS software has adapted to meet...

The Salon and Spa Point of Sale system by Sintel Systems is a great solution for organizing and maintaining your salon. The problem faced by salons is managing employees efficiently. Many salons have outdated systems to administer their business resourcefully. Sintel Systems understands the regimen in which salons and spas operate, and with doing so, we have created a Point...

Franchising is booming, both here and across the pond. FRANdata says demand for franchise units in the U.S. is expected to increase more than 12 percent in 2014, the highest rate of increase in five years. The UK has over 900 franchise operations. "The diversity on offer is substantial," writes Paul Stafford, public relations manager at the British Franchise Association...

Randy Vlasic and Alex Veinot have known each other since high school. After graduating from college, the two best friends ended up working together as sales executives for the same company. However, the two longed to open their own business. In a recent Franchise Players Q&A interview, Vlasic and Veinot talk with Entrepreneur.com's Kate Taylor about how they decided that...

The boom in franchising continues through 2014, but the past year also saw private equity play an important role. In a recent post in the Legal News section on JDsupra.com, Thomas Pitegoff says that private equity offers a franchisor with a growing franchise system a promising pathway to rapid growth. "An investment group can assist a franchise company strategically, tactically...

In a series of posts on his website, KrebsOnSecurity.com, famed cyber security professional Brian Krebs, has written about Bebe, the latest retailer to suffer from stolen credit and debit card data at the point of sale (POS). "The most common way that thieves steal this type of card data is by hacking into cash registers at retail locations and planting...

Franchising's boom includes Australia, according to a report from down under. Franchising Australia 2014, collated by Griffith University and sponsored by the Franchise Council of Australia, found there were 1160 business format franchisors operating in Australia, with the sector employing 460,000 people and having an estimated total sales turnover of $144 billion. Impressively, between 2012, while the overall number of...

  It has been nearly one year since the infamous Target breach that took place at the height of the 2013 holiday shopping season, resulting in the digital theft of 70 million consumer credit cards. And what a year it has been for consumers. In 2014 the disturbing trend of point of sale (POS) breaches in major retailers, and smaller...

A strategy to expand without significant capital expenditures has Steak 'n Shake franchising more aggressively. A recent Nation's Restaurant News (NRN) report on Steak 'n Shake's financial results notes that according to a 2014 annual report released by parent Biglari Holdings total earnings before income taxes fell nearly $2 million, to $26.5 million in 2014, from $28.4 million a year...

News about point of sale data breaches continues unabated but we also see convictions of those who would conspire to hack into point of sale (POS) systems. One such example is found in a post by Grant Gross on PCWorld.com's LEGAL business, security blog, "U.S. man sentenced for hacking POS systems at Subway." As the only full-service point of sale...

Success in franchising spreads to many others when one considers the key roles played by suppliers, and professional advisors. In a recent CPAPracticeAdvisor.com post, Hugh Duffy, Chief Marketing Officer for Build Your Firm, a marketing firm dedicated to the accounting industry, writes about Navjeet Chahal who started Chahal & Associates in 2003. Chahal has managed to share in the success...

For 34 years, Bryan Rhodes worked his way up the ladder in the fast-food franchise industry, from beginning behind the counter to ultimately become the vice president of operations at a Burger King franchise. Only then did Rhodes conclude that, well, the restaurant industry wasn't for him — but franchising was. In a recent Franchise Players Q&A interview, Rhodes talks...

Retail breaches at the point of sale have security vendors scrambling to better understand the situation ahead of the holiday shopping season. A recent post on eWeek.com looks at one report, issued by Cyphort, which analyzes some of the main culprits of point of sale malware. As the only full-service point of sale provider — from software development to franchise...

It is encouraging to see a strengthening of the bonds between franchising and our military veterans. Since its launch last year, home services company Home Franchise Concepts (HFC) has signed twenty veterans to become franchisees through the Million Dollar Franchise Event (MDFE) initiative. We found news of the program in a recent post on the Daily Herald website HeraldExtra.com, "Local...

We love reading about how franchising can power growth for privately held companies. Any way you slice it, it's hard to imagine how the Achatz Handmade Pie Co. could establish 150 locations across the United States in the next five years without turning to franchising. Indeed, after 21 years the much-loved brand based in Michigan's Chesterfield Township has sold its...

A number of once-thriving franchises are facing disgruntled franchisees, store closures, bankruptcies and never-imagined marketing scenarios. In their recent Better Your Business special report, "How To Steer Clear Of Franchise Financial Disasters," CNBC.com's Zac Bissonnette speaks with an unnamed Quiznos franchisee who summed up his experience: "There has been a decline in support. The corporate and field office support staff...

We enjoy reading Jason Daley's Franchisors posts on the website Entrepreneur.com, and wish to share, in particular, "How I Grew My Wheelchair Ramp Company Into a Franchise," about the experience of franchisor Julian Gordon. In his Q&A with Entrepreneur.com, Gordon shares how after twenty years running a metal fabrication shop, he became disheartened with the boom-or-bust cycle of the construction...

As consumers are poised at the advent of the holiday season, the recent security lapses at the retail point of sale continue to reverberate, and according to Wayne Rash writing for tech observer eWeek.com, it isn't looking great for brick-and-mortar retailers. Buyers continued to be worried about credit card security breaches to the point that Target revenue dropped dramatically after...

Retailers share the view that retail point of sale is under siege from online criminals. And now, ahead of the holiday shopping season, they're being asked to deploy a variety of new solutions designed to improve the retail experience for their customers. "And that puts an undue burden on retailers of all size," says Merchant Warehouse Chief Revenue Officer, Ken...

Changing budgets and tastes, the growth of online shopping and security at the point of sale all represent challenges, and opportunities, for retailers. In the last year, mobile point of sale (mPOS) has also continued to grow and evolve. Industry researchers point to the advent of tablets and powerful apps as driving the revolution in how organizations serve their customers...

Security lapses at the retail point of sale continue to make news. The latest involves CurrentC, one of Apple's competitors in the hotly contested mobile payment space. In a business news website CNBC.com post on the recent breach, technology reporter Cadie Thompson writes that CurrentC, a mobile payment system backed by the Merchant Customer Exchange (MCX), "sent out an email...

More people are dreaming of franchising, ready for a life change as the market is once again heating up. But before you take the plunge, make sure your due diligence includes working with a franchise attorney, someone who knows franchising inside and out. We strongly agree with a SmallBizTrends.com post we spied, "The Importance of Hiring A Franchise Attorney," by...

The world's largest convenience store franchiser, 7-Eleven, is nearing completion of prepping stores from its 2011 Wilson Farms store chain at a store franchising sale in Western New York. Part of the company's national strategy, 7-Eleven purchased the 188-store Wilson Farms chain and shed some 30 stores through auction, closed others and prepared the 90 area stores for franchising. Given...

As news about retail point of sale (POS) breaches continues unabated, information about how to better protect customers, and reputations, becomes paramount. The information technology channel observer Business Solutions Magazine (BSMinfo.com) ran a recent guest column by Andrew Bagrin, Founder and CEO, My Digital Shield is on topic in this regard, but his focus is more on the users than...

We enjoy reading the Q&A posts in the Franchise Players section on the website Entrepreneur.com, and wish to share, in particular, the one recently with seasoned franchisee Binoy Kothari. In his Q&A with Entrepreneur.com, Kothari shares how he sought opportunities in the restaurant industry and became a franchisee, beginning with Subway in 2002. In 2010, he purchased three struggling Baskin-Robbins...

Particularly for the retail industry, the staggering amount of payment card theft at the point of sale is a hallmark of 2014. As such, in terms of consumer confidence and loyalty, validated cybersecurity is becoming a market differentiator. In a post by Tara McGraw Swaminatha and Aravind Swaminathan, both with the DLA Piper law firm, found on the business advisor...

As news about point of sale data breaches continues unabated, it is perhaps worthwhile to consider the issue from the criminal's point of view. One such example is a slideshow prepared by Russ Spitler, vice president of product management at the security management firm AlienVault, and part of a post on the website ITBusinessEdge.com, "From a Hacker's Perspective: How to Breach...

Texas Roadhouse, the steakhouse franchise, has been rounding up sales as it grows out its footprint, according to the Motley Fool in a recent Top Franchises post on Nasdaq.com. Given the strong presence Sintel Systems has in the retail, restaurant and service industries' point of sale marketplace, we share these service sector growth trends with our customers and franchise hopefuls...

The payment card giant MasterCard is throwing its full weight behind near-field communications (NFC) payment systems, also known as contactless payment technology. NFC technology allows for contactless payments to be made using radio waves to transmit data between devices that support the technology, provided they are in close proximity at the point of sale. A recent post on Out-Law.com is...

For the restaurant industry, August 2014 was the best sales month in more than two-and-a-half years — more evidence that the economic sector is recovering. In a recent online post, "Restaurant sales rose, traffic slid in August," Nation's Restaurant News (NRN) writes, "August was the best month for the restaurant industry in terms of sales growth since February 2012, and...

The latest news suggests that Home Depot has been hacked in the same manner as Target, Neiman Marcus, Michaels, UPS Store and others. In a recent post on ComputerWorld.com, Jeremy Kirk of IDG News Service says that hackers may have the upper hand for years as the retail industry slowly upgrades its systems. As the only full-service point of sale...

Putting eateries such as Subway or Tacobell with gas stations has been a successful combo for years, but combining a self-serve frozen yogurt shop with gas stations is fast becoming a profitable proposition for gas station owners across the country.  Commuters traveling on Interstate 5, 60 miles east of Fresno, are greeted by Yogurt Swirl at a Shell gas station...

Nanci’s Frozen Yogurt is a global supplier of premium soft-serve mixes including frozen yogurt, fruit freezer sorbet, no-sugar added mix, smoothie mix, and non-dairy soft serve. John and Nanci originally began Wudel Inc. in 1979 in their then home-state of Utah. John received a dairy patent for his fructose-sweetened ice cream, the first ever in the United States. However, as...

The nation's pivot toward better-burger restaurants continues to gain momentum as rumors surface that Danny Meyer's Shake Shack is considering an IPO this year. In her online post, "Shake Shack Considering An IPO," Nation's Restaurant News editor and restaurant finance expert Lisa Jennings says, "The news follows an earlier rumor that the parent to the West Coast’s Habit Burger Grill chain...

The volatile issues of payments and payment security have consumers, financial institutions, retailers and security professionals all wondering how to make shopping more secure. Security professionals are admitting that today, when you make a purchase, the way you make that purchase — in person, over the phone, online — can determine just how secure your transaction will be. "One in...

In one of our recent posts, "NYC To Host International Franchise Expo (IFC)," we recommended the June, 2014 event as an excellent way forward into the world of franchising.  Recently we noticed a short video, made at the IFC, in a post on Entrepreneur.com, "Would You Make A Good Franchisee?" Because franchisees are a unique breed of entrepreneur, the three-minute...

In this episode of Restaurant Startup, Joe and Tim were looking into two startups with a different take in the dessert industry. First, Kones by K introduced their business as America’s favorite ice cream cone, not only sweet, but savory as well. Some savory options included bacon and eggs, salmon, and chicken. The cones themselves were also infused with herbs...

Week two of Restaurant Startup finds two burger food trucks, each with their own distinct style and flavors. Bacon Bacon is just as the name says: bacon with everything! Not just limited to beef burgers, they also sell grilled cheese, fried chicken sandwiches, and even bacon dipped in chocolate. Baby’s Badass Burgers says their selling point is selling not only...

This past week, Frost Bites premiered their frozen yogurt with a grand opening in Fluvanna County. Owned by The Williams Family, locals in the area, this new self-serve frozen yogurt and ice cream shop hopes to enhance their customers’ experiences each and every time they visit. Sintel Systems was once again happy to see a business come to life as imagined...

Feeling comfortable?! Good! Because this week’s Restaurant Startup focused on comfort foods. Mac-o-licious uses the finest cheese and some “down home Southern roots” to make great mac’n’cheese. Bespoke Doughnuts makes hot, made-to-order donuts, and they describe their product as a “work of art." Despite their hesitance with the inexperienced business owners, Joe and Tim give the opportunity to Bespoke Doughnuts. Owners...

The franchise formula has a proven track record, but many potential entrepreneurs may be wondering if they have exactly what it takes to become a successful franchisee. To find answers, consider Joel Libava's "10 Habits of Highly Successful Future Franchisees" post at Entrepreneur.com. "In order to be a successful franchise owner, you have to do a lot of things right...

What lessons may be learned from the problems plaguing Sbarro, RadioShack and Quiznos? In their recent post, " Why These Once Thriving Franchises Have Fallen on Hard Times," Entrepreneur.com looks at how the once-thriving franchises are facing bankruptcies, store closures, disgruntled franchisees and nightmarish marketing scenarios. "There are many aspects of franchising that have nothing to do with chance, such...