How we can help?

There are three main components of cost for Seamless POS, we always aim to be simple and transparent with our pricing:

• Software subscription costs

• Hardware costs

• Card Payment standing charges and terminal rental

Software costs

As discussed in another article, there is no contract and the cost for the different price plans ranges from £19/m+vat which includes, hosting, updates, support & software license.

Hardware costs

A typical setup consists of iPad, mount, receipt printer and cash drawer. Additionally you may wish to have prep station printers.

iPads: can be the most basic model (circa £300+vat or from £180+vat refurbished)

iPad mount: typically £99+vat for a secure mount

Receipt / prep Printer: Circa £229+vat

Cash drawer: £49+vat

This would bring a bundle (without iPad) to a ballpark figure of £377+vat, a fraction of what legacy solutions cost.

Card payment costs

We signpost our customers to compatible, integrated card payment solutions that we have selected as being a great deal for our customers. To see the latest options visit our payments page or reach out to our team.

• Standing charges - e.g PCI compliance, can often be £5-10 per month. Several of our preferred providers don't charge for this service.

• Terminal rental - the card machine is a complex device, typical rental starts at £19.99/m

• Payment fees - auth fees £0.01-0.05, acquiring fees from 0.5% dependent on card type and business turnover.

Finance

Although the hardware cost is significantly lower than traditional solutions we understand that businesses, especially when just starting up may wish to spread out all available costs. We've enabled a number of finance solutions such Klarna at our checkout to provide options for financing the cost of the hardware.

Seamless is built by an experienced team who have previously operated and exited a very similar business. We take the security and integrity of your businesses data seriously. Read on to find out a little more about how we do this:

One of the benefits of utilising Apple iPads is that they are inherently secure environment using a closed ecosystem of vetted apps. Apple actually checks each release that seamless issues before it is uploaded to the app store.

We use trusted industry cloud hosting which is mirrored across data centres and highly rated for security, resilience and uptime. Once your data is synced up (which happens in realtime) it doesn't matter if the iPad is damaged or lost. The data persists on the cloud.

In the Seamless app, pin code access prevents public access and user access levels prevent staff members from accessing sensitive financial data or making price edits.

We always recommend iPads are installed and used in supervised environments where staff are frequently passing, as some types of mounts can be opened with tools rather than keys.

If you have specific questions about security feel free to reach out to our team.

Whilst Seamless has no contracts, we understand the hardware has an upfront cost and commitment.

• Pre-recorded demos are available to watch covering all major features at seamlesspos.co.uk/demo

• You can also start a 14 day unrestricted free trial (no card details required) at seamlesshq.co.uk. You'll need an iPad to test the app, but the back office can be accessed from any device with a web browser.

If you have any questions feel free to reach out to the team using live chat here, hello@seamlesspos.co.uk or on whatsapp +44 7782 338 750

At Seamless we pride ourselves on the quality of our customer support. Our team is multi-skilled and we are committed to the highest standards of training.

Proactive support is a key theme that we develop continuously, monitoring sites who might be experiencing a volume of errors and in certain cases, reaching out before an issue is raised. We also pride ourselves in developing plain english error messages, self recovery flows and use AI in our help desk to attempt to give instant guidance.

We typically aim to respond to your queries on email and whatsapp within 1-2 hours with a guarantee of 24 hours for low priority queries.

To get in touch contact hello@seamlesspos.co.uk or whatsapp us on +44 7782 338 750 you can also use the live chat widget on the website.

We do not currently support telephone queries as we believe email / whataspp is most efficient, allowing us to triage and investigate issues while you to carry on with your day without any queues.

We currently support card payment integrations with a number of providers, visit the payments page to find out more about the available options.

Seamless is also exploring integrations with Xero, Deliverect and Tablesense to provide a best in class hospitality focussed ecosystem of solutions.

At the moment you can still use these providers independently of Seamless POS. Reports can be exported from the back-office area in CSV format for upload to Xero.

The following hardware is typically required to use Seamless:

• iPad 8th generation or newer

• Receipt Printer

• Cash drawer

• Secure iPad stand

• Kitchen or prep station printer (5 maximum)

• Wifi adaptor packs for the prep printers (optional)

Not supplied by seamless

• Internet router with available network ports

• Computer / laptop to access back office reporting

We sell all of the compatible hardware on our webshop, if you have old hardware you'd like to re-use or you wish to source used hardware please contact us for an up to date list of compatible devices.

If you'd like to arrange installation instead of setting things up yourself, please contact our team on hello@seamlespos.co.uk, installation packages start at £750+vat.

Connectivity can often be a concern especially for mobile operators like food trucks. In this article we'll cover the basics of what Seamless can and can't do.

The basics of connectivity:

• Seamless' iPad app connects via wifi to your router and onwards to the internet and also to any local network printers.

• Receipt printers are connected by USBC cable or lightning cable to the iPad

• Cash drawers are plugged into the receipt printer

• Local network printers are plugged into your router by network/ethernet cable

• The server that hosts the cloud back office is connected to the main internet

• Card machines talk to the iPad via the internet or bluetooth, some cabled options are also available that connect via the printer. Card machines talk to the payment service provider for authorisation via the internet.

What happens when the internet goes offline?

Provided that your router does not enter into a state where it blocks local traffic if offline, your system will operate as follows. (To test this, just unplug the phone or fibre cable from your router and try some kitchen print operations on the POS).

Normal Operation:

• POS app

• Printing to kitchen or bar prep via local network or cable

• Cash drawers

Altered Operation:

• Tables - The iPad (terminal) the table was first opened on will become the system of record. e.g. if you opened table 2 on the iPad situated on the restaurant floor, you will need to use this iPad to make any changes or pay it off.

No Operation:

• Card payments - only very large businesses typically take the risk of processing transactions offline, without an internet connection the card machine cannot contact your customers bank to check if there are sufficient funds in the account.

• This could be overcome by temporarily tethering / hotspotting a mobile phone to the iPad or card machine. We would suggest for businesses that have a history of connectivity issues reaching out to our team for advice on backup options, external 4G/5G antennas etc.

EPOS or POS is an acronym describing Electronic Point of Sale. It is a term used to describe the software and hardware that forms an electronic cash register. Often touchscreen and with easy to use colour coded buttons.

It used to be the case that EPOS systems were essentially a computer and touchscreen monitor running a software package and supplier for a large £0,000 upfront cost, sometimes with a back-office server on the premises. This still happens today, although the computers have become sleeker and some legacy providers have moved to the cloud.

Seamless is the evolution of POS for the 2020s, enabled by iPad, the most sleek and high quality computer / touchscreen, available at low cost and with inbuilt battery, reporting to a cloud based back office that can be accessed from anywhere in the world. Furthermore the software element of the solution is available with no contract for a low monthly cost.

EPOS is advantageous vs a cash tin or traditional basic keyed cash register for the following reasons:

• Trading insights: access reports in real time on top sellers, top staff members, peak trading times and much more. This data can enable you to make better business decisions about range and staffing.

• Speed up transactions: With colour coded product and category buttons not only will training staff be easier and faster, your team will develop muscle memory.

• Integrated card payments: no miskeying amounts, the amount is automatically transferred to the card reader with a success or fail returned to the POS operator.

• Less mistakes: No manual addition, total and change due is calculated for you.

• VAT calculations: With sit-in and take-out pricing/ tax rates we calculate and store your VAT due, meaning on those take-out items which do not attract VAT you wont be overpaying.

• Modifiers: Upsell and prompt your staff with our modifier and instruction flows.

• Kitchen printing: Print to remote printers in the kitchen or at the bar/coffee machine. Or just print prep tickets at the receipt printer and hand them back. This means no time spent on pen and paper.

• Table management: create your table layout on the iPad with drag and drop. Hold live bills on each table until ready for payment.

• Integrations with other systems: export to accounting software, connect to table booking systems and delivery platforms. Seamless is building integrations with best in class adjacent software businesses relevant to you.

• Security: User levels with access permissions mean that you have more control over your cash. Back office reporting also provides a detailed audit trail.

Ultimately EPOS is the beating heart of any hospitality business, an essential tool to maximise efficiency and profitability - enabling a seamless guest experience, leaving you to do what you do best.

Subscriptions, love them or hate them provide a low upfront-cost way to access high quality software. Gone are the days of buying a CD with Windows XP for £000s, instead now we are able to sign up for a low monthy cost with no contract and reap the benefits of higher quality customer care and regular security and feature updates.

So what does the seamless subscription include?

• Use of the software collection: iPad app, iPhone app & back office

• Storage: of your trading data on our cloud servers, backed up across two mirrored instances with unparalleled uptime.

• Regular updates: Security and usability improvements and incremental feature upgrades. We're always happy to hear your suggestions.

• Customer support: Our team are on hand to give you fast responses, whether it's a question on how to get the best out of the software, a hardware problem or some guidance on the best payment solution to fit your business' needs.

Seamless Hospitality Technology Solutions LTD is primarily a software company headquartered in Edinburgh, Scotland. We also sell EPOS hardware, signpost to compatible card payment solutions and provide customer support for our users.

Our mission is to empower owners of small hospitality businesses with the tools they need to enable a seamless guest experience.

Our product, Seamless POS is a continuously evolving collection of software products that work together to provide a EPOS solution tailored for UK Hospitality businesses, specifically focussing on Food trucks, Cafes, Bars and Restaurants with less than 5 sites.

What makes up a Seamless POS solution?

Hardware

• We support iPad 8th generation onwards (we do not support Android at this time)

• Cash drawers

• Thermal receipt printers for kitchen, bar, receipt

• iPad mounts

• Card machines (provided by partners)

• Your wifi network

Software

• iPad app (POS)

• iPhone reports app

• Cloud based back office

Service

• Customer support team

• Software engineering team

To get started it's simply a case of choosing a hardware bundle to suit your business, downloading the iPad app and signing up for an account at seamlesshq.co.uk. The hardware is easy to self install but if you are unsure, then ask our team about installation options (starting at £750+vat)

To reach us please email hello@seamlesspos.co.uk or whatsapp us on +44 7782 338 750 you can also reach us via instagram and facebook.