Talech POS Review: Features, Pricing and Alternatives

Talech POS is a cloud-based point-of-sale system for restaurants, retail and professional services businesses. Its impressive collection of industry-specific features and hardware options make it a good choice for many businesses. But Clover and Square have similar monthly costs with proprietary hardware options that could be more appealing for businesses looking for all-in-one solutions.

Talech POS software is ideal for businesses looking for a wide variety of industry-specific features and customizations. The software includes functions associated with most POS systems, with the following general capabilities:

• Payment processing: Accept chip, contactless and swipe payments from your choice of payment terminals, while protecting customer data with built-in authentication and end-to-end encryption.

• Inventory management: Track inventory in real time, set up alerts if a product is out of stock, create and print product barcodes and sync across multiple locations.

• Product and order services: Take and manage orders; process credit cards, cash, store credit and more; create product bundles, sales and discounts; as well as make returns and exchanges.

• Employee management: Track employee hours and designate employee roles and permissions on the register. For restaurants, attribute gratuity to individual servers.

• Customer management: Capture customer information, create house accounts, develop a loyalty program, integrate gift cards and make marketing campaigns.

• Reporting: Track sales data such as profit margin, markup and revenue; analyze product success and patterns; monitor staff metrics; and audit inventory.

• Integrations: Integrate with labor management solutions, accounting software and kitchen display software for restaurants.

Talech requires the use of an iPad or smart terminal to access almost all of its capabilities, as well as the specific features associated with each plan. Specific card acceptance (chip, contactless, swipe) ability depends on the terminal you choose.

Talech is compatible with the Poynt Smart Terminal, Ingenico iPP 320, Magtek iDynamo and uDynamo. You can purchase these payment devices from Talech or a third-party seller.

Talech is also compatible with a variety of iPad stands, receipt printers, kitchen printers and additional hardware, which can also be purchased directly from talech.com. It also offers all-inclusive hardware bundle suggestions with options based on your business type.

This pricing accounts for only the Talech POS software; again, POS hardware has to be purchased separately. Additional costs for credit card fees may also apply.

Add-ons

With the Starter and Standard plans, for both restaurant and retail, you can add on gift card functionality for $19 per month. The Standard plan also gives both restaurant and retail owners the option to use Talech's online ordering service for $49 per month. Both of these extra features come with the Premium plan.

For both the Standard and Premium plans for restaurants and retail businesses, Talech users are required to purchase the “getting started package” for an additional cost of $199. This package includes a two-hour training session with Talech’s training partner, Boomtown, which helps set up the system and explains all the features. This package is optional with the Starter plan, and not available for mobile-only users.

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Industry-specific capabilities

Talech is targeted specifically to restaurant and retail owners, and the features offered for those users are impressive. For example, a restaurant can create a floor plan, see open and seated tables and create orders for each individual table. Retail businesses come with inventory management capabilities, such as creating and initiating purchase orders, tracking inventory in real time, syncing through multiple locations and taking stock. Optional add-ons, like gift card functionality and online ordering service, can make it more customized.

Clear, affordable pricing

Talech offers four scalable plans with a significant upgrade in features between levels, including a free mobile plan. With built-in payment processing and no long-term contracts, businesses can reasonably expect their monthly costs to be consistent. It also offers the option of custom pricing for large businesses with specific requirements.

Not an all-in-one solution

Talech requires the use of an iPad, Ingenico or Poynt device to run its software, and all hardware must be purchased separately. For businesses looking for more specialized hardware or all-in-one solutions with pre-installed software, this could be a downside.

Customer support

While Talech customer reviews are generally positive, a significant portion report subpar customer service, despite the company’s advertised 24/7 phone and email support. There are also reports of software glitches and payment processing issues, among other problems.

Clover

Clover is a POS system that allows businesses to choose from hardware and software options depending on their needs. Unlike Talech, however, Clover offers its own hardware, ranging from mobile to full-service stations. Though monthly software costs still apply, the software comes pre-installed and is made specifically for its hardware.

Square

The Square POS system is perhaps one of the most well-known and most robust systems around. It’s also NerdWallet's current choice for best overall POS system. The magstripe reader for Square POS is free with sign-up and integrates fully with the app. There are also two options specifically for restaurants and retail businesses.