A retail tipping point is emerging on the horizon. Research shows that small businesses’ use of credit cards – versus cash or checks – is growing. Meanwhile, point-of-sale terminals tend to be costly and cumbersome technology to buy and deploy in the small retail space. This is especially true for tight-budgeted retailers, like salons, pet grooming businesses, cafes and other one- or few-outlet mom-and-pop businesses.

What if they had a small, easy-to-use POS terminal that was cheap to buy or lease? It could transform their businesses, says Terry Glatt, president and co-founder of Invenstar, which manufactures a simple, effective POS solution. “They’re usually running on paper tickets and a cash register. They might have a shoebox and a calculator,” he says. “It’s time to modernize”.

Founded in 2007, Invenstar’s TouchSuite family of products today runs about $5,500 or can be leased for $159 a month – including free upgrades an support, he says. Processing is through partner American Bancard. “That’s about the cost of a shampoo and cut at a salon,” he says “It’s far less than a color.”

It seems the research was right – and the market has caught on. In 2010, the company had 500 installations; they’re now approaching 1,000. Last year, it logged $1.78 million in sales, up from $400,000 in 2009, says Glatt, 51, a distinguished alumnus of Broward College and a graduate of Florida Atlantic University. He’s projecting 100 new installations a moth. He attributes the growth to market opportunity, fragmented competition, and the marketplace’s realization that it needs technology to thrive.

The system even includes a marketing module. Business owners can create an email campaign to send automated reminders, thank-you messages and birthday greetings. A similar Web-based solution could be $200. “It’s very valuable and very sticky,” Glatt says.

The financial technology market is blossoming, he says. Electronic payments and mobile applications, like Google Wallet, are looming. Meanwhile, small business is emerging from long being known as a “highly underserved” category. It helps that consumer technology has found its ways into people’s homes – helping lower the bar for awareness and adoption of simple solutions.
“Your house is far more technically served than your salon, your boutique or your bagel place,” he says. “Take into combination how highly underserved it is and all the highly emergent technologies, and the opportunity in the market is huge. The sky’s the limit. We just nailed it.”

Terry Glatt, president of Invenstar, shows how to use the company's Touchsuite solution.