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The Point of Sale system, or POS, is like a virtual checkout stand for your physical store, complete with a register, a customer database with a rewards program, a product inventory system, a layaway system, and a work order service ticket system. Once it has been set up, you will be able to instantly access your database of customers, and your products will display in a very easily searchable manner as well. This system integrates flawlessly with your website, because they are truly one system; so when you ring up a sale in your POS, the inventory available on your website will be reduced in real-time.

To get you up and running, we follow a setup process outlined below.

 

POS Launch Process

1. Client Success Manager Collaboration - You have been assigned one of our Client Success Managers, and you can think of this person as your own personal concierge! Your Client Success Manager will be focused on making sure your system launch goes off without a hitch, and will be available to answer your questions, help you set up your hardware, and keep you informed every step of the way until you are up and running. You'll have an initial Consultation call to start all of this rolling, and prior to that call, you will need to fill out a questionnaire to give your Account Manager your preferences and information for startup. If you haven't received the questionnaire link already in your email, it will be arriving soon!

2. Data Migration - If you are moving over from an existing POS system, it is likely we will be able to migrate your data. Your Client Success Manager will Coordinate with the Migration team and get you on track for migration. Typically, we will do an initial migration that will bring over your product data so you can see how it is used by Rain POS. Any new inventory you get you will want to enter into Rain POS while you are in the onboarding process, and we will be teaching you how to do this (see below). Just before you go live and begin using Rain POS for your in-store transactions, your migration specialist will do a final migration that will update the quantities of your products.

3. System Training - One of our training specialists will guide you through how to use the parts of Rain POS that you will need. You will be able to share screens so you can see what is happening, you can try it yourself, and you can ask questions all along the way.

4. POS Setup - You can begin this setup process as soon as you have your login information, and we have guided WalkMe tutorials as well as extensive articles to help you get up and running quickly.

   • Users - You will need to set up an Administrative User account for each of your employees who will be working with the POS if you wish to track which employee is using the Register for each of your transactions. You can also set up Groups with different levels of permission in the system. (For more info, click here: Set Up User Logins and Groups.)

   • Store Locations - If you have multiple stores, we will work with you to set up each location in the system after your initial Consultation call with your Account Manager.

   • Tills - We can work with you to set up each of the tills in each of your locations during the initial Consultation call, if you like. Till is a synonym for 'cash register' and is basically any unique device (e.g. computer or tablet) or purchasing mode (e.g. tax exempt, trade show) you might need for the way you do business. Tills are something we will set up for you, and you are allowed up to 2 Tills in your setup, additional Tills are available for a fee, and you Client Success Manager has the details for you.

   • Equipment - We will discuss with you what equipment will be best for your needs, if you like. One thing that is unique about our system is that we do not require a certain type of scanner or printer to work with: we are much more flexible than other POS solution currently available. A good basic guideline to follow is that if you can set up and work with a scanner, printer, cash drawer, and card-processing terminal with your computer, the hardware will almost certainly work with our system because the POS runs in a browser. The only exception to this is credit-card processing terminals that some processors require, and your Client Success Manager will let you know what is needed in your case. The easiest hardware to set up utilizes the USB interface with its 'plug and play' ease of use.

   • System Settings - Your Client Success Manager will also work with you on setting up some miscellaneous settings for your POS. You can get to your POS settings by clicking on Settings (under the admin button with your username in the upper right). Click on the POS Settings tab. Click here for a more detailed look at your options for settings: Point of Sale Settings: General Tab.

5. Card Processing - Your POS will either use Rain POS Payments—an integrated processing solution with highly competitive rates—or a third-party merchant gateway that you already use or prefer, such as your bank. If you use Rain POS Payments, the processing will be integrated with our system, so voids and returns as well as the transaction processing will run right in the system on the screen. If you choose to use a third-party merchant, you can run your card transactions with hardware you already have for processing card payments, and then in the POS you will just enter the amounts and complete the transaction. In this solution, for things like returns and voids, you will also have to process those separately. Your Client Success Manager will have more information for you about your options.

6. Store Setup - There are several areas of the system that will need to be set up before you can begin using the POS. This is work that you can do on your own, or you can have us migrate the information (in some cases). Here is what is needed for your store setup, in the order it should be entered:

   • Vendors - You will want to have the vendors and distributors you order from in the system from the start so they can be associated with the products to make Purchase Orders and Receiving Orders. We can migrate this information for you if you have your Vendor information in spreadsheet form, or you can enter it yourself from Inventory > Vendors. Your Account Manager can also help you set up Integration with some of them (we're adding more all the time!) so you can integrate your vendor orders with Rain POS. Click here to learn more about setting up your Vendors: Vendor Setup and Integration.
   • Departments - If you have your Department information in spreadsheet form, we can migrate that data into our system and do all of that setup for you. If you don't have it in a spreadsheet, you will need to set it up before your product data can be added. In Rain POS, your Departments are the broadest possible groupings of your products, and are mainly used to view sales report information for the major sections of your store. You can go to Products > Departments and begin setting up the different Departments of your store. The system will track sales by department for products that have been added to a department. In many cases, one department might encompass several of your Categories in your Products module. For example, you might have categories for Fishing, Camping, and Hunting products, and a Department in your store for Outdoors that encompasses all three of those product areas. If you already use a POS system, it is probably best to keep your Departments set up the same way as you have them in that system. Departments are necessary if you want to get the best results from your financial reports from the system. Click here to learn more about how to set up your Departments: Product Departments - Create and Work With Your Departments.
   • Categories - If you have your Categories in spreadsheet form, we can migrate that data into the system for you. If you don't have them in a spreadsheet, you'll need to set them up before we can begin adding products to the system. In Rain POS, Categories are ways you can organize your products into small, logical groups that are useful for viewing on a website or seeing detailed information in your sales reports. You can go into your Products > Categories and begin setting up your Categories, if you have not already done so. If you haven't yet organized them, it is a good idea to write these out on paper, complete with your sub-categories, before you create them in the system, so that you will have a better idea of how they should be arranged. Categories are necessary if you will be selling your products on the web, and even if you won't be doing that, Categories are very useful for logically organizing your products into smaller, more specific groups for more focused reporting as well as managing sale prices and other bulk activities. Click here to learn more about setting up your Categories: Create and Organize Categories.
   • Products - Whether you have a current POS system or you are starting from scratch, your products can be loaded very quickly into the system with a spreadsheet upload. You will need to provide your product data spreadsheets to our Migration team so they can load the data for you, and your Account Manager will make sure you're in communication with your Migration expert for this process. For this to work, we either need to have already migrated your Vendors, Categories and Departments, or you need to have already set them up in the system. Many of our clients will do this themselves, setting up part of their inventory in the system and adding products as they go. Others do not have accurate information in their old POS and wish to start over from scratch. Still others have their old POS set up accurately and will just migrate the information over into our system. In any case, this is work that you can do yourself with some instruction from our support team, or you can have us do it for you with our Migration team. Click here for more information on how to add Products to your system: Product Page 3.0 Part 1 - Overview.
   • Classes - If you have your class data in spreadsheet form, our migration team can load them all into the system for you. If not, you will need to set them up. Your Classes can be set up by entering the information exactly as you have done for your website into the Classes module, and the classes will integrate seamlessly with our Calendar system. Your Account Manager can answer any of your how-to questions on setting up this part of the system. Click here for more information on how to set up your Classes: Classes.
   • Customers - If you currently have a database of customer information, we can migrate this for you. You can do this work yourself, or you can have us do it for you if you have a spreadsheet of your customers. This part of the system can track things like reward points and outstanding gift cards / certificates as well as full transaction history and customer information. Click here for more information on how to add your Customers to Rain POS: Adding and Editing Customers.

7. Launch Preparation - To prepare you for the launch of your POS, we will do the following:

   • Enter New Products - For inventory you receive during this startup phase (inventory you receive after you've sent our Migration team your product data spreadsheet), you need to enter those products into the system. This is a great chance to learn how to enter your products either in the Product module or by doing a Purchase Order / Receiving Order process. YOUR FINAL DATA SYNC WILL ONLY BE AN UPDATE OF YOUR INVENTORY QUANTITIES, so you need to begin entering new products right away.

   • Don't Change Product Titles or ID Codes - Later on in the process when we do your final data sync, we will refer to the titles and product ID codes (UPC, Manufacturer ID, SKU) in order to update your inventory quantities. If you change a product title or ID, that update won't happen for that product!

   • Training - As we mentioned before, you and your team have access to all of the resources of this support site, and in addition to your training calls from your Trainer, your Client Success Manager is available by email or phone and will answer any questions you may have. We will also be happy to show you how to use any part of the system you might want to explore.

   • Data Migration - If we are migrating your POS data, we will do an initial migration of the data it is possible to migrate (your Client Success Manager will have more information for you on what can and cannot be migrated) so you can review it and see how it displays and is used in our system. This will actually happen fairly early in this process so you have time to work with the data and make sure it came over correctly. You will need to keep to the following guidelines to make sure your total migration process works as well as possible:

     • Testing - We will work with you to do final testing on your setup of the system, making sure that each kind of transaction works with your hardware properly in each location and till. You will work with your Account Manager on setting a date for your launch.
     • Launch! - At this point we will plan with you your final Data Sync just prior to your launch day so we can have the latest possible product quantity data (no other data is updated!), after which you will be ready to begin using your new POS in your store(s).

8. Support - From this point forward, your Client Success Manager, Trainer, and Migration Specialist will focus on other clients and you will work with our outstanding Support team, a team that boasts a 24 hour turn-around time on ticket responses and an over 90% satisfaction rating! As you work with the system, you can always call our Support team at 385-404-6200 with any questions or suggestions you may have and we will be happy to assist you. You can also open a support ticket by clicking the question-mark button in the upper right and clicking Contact Support.