Installation Review: POS ISV Finds Lucrative Niche With Beauty Retailers

By Cindy Dubin, Business Solutions magazine.

According to TechNavio, the global POS (point of sale) software market is forecast to reach $3.2 billion by 2014. The retail industry is among the top sectors implementing these systems to enhance operational efficiency and improve customer service. Critical to POS systems is credit card processing.

DaySmart Software (formerly CMJ Designs Inc.) saw the earning potential for POS products and entered the market when a local salon owner made a request for POS software geared specifically to the salon industry. "We started by implementing our Salon Iris POS application at this salon, called Hairloft, and from there, we have grown to more than 18,000 businesses," says Christianna Jackson, VP of DaySmart.

Now, DaySmart, which changed its name in March 2011, generates 60% of its revenue from Salon Iris. And, the company has branched out to offer POS software to other verticals, such as medical spas, pet groomers, and tattoo parlors. DaySmart partnered with Accelerated Payment Technologies in 2002.

Hairloft owner Bill Schmittling was looking for affordable software that would run his business — including appointment scheduling, inventory management, payroll, and employee management, as well as the processing of customer cash, check, and credit card transactions. Hairloft invested $2,000 in Salon Iris and had been using the POS software for about one year before X-Charge became available to DaySmart clients.

Since installing Salon Iris and X-Charge, Schmittling has reported that Hairloft is five times faster at closing out payment transactions versus the old carbon copy receipts and just as fast at scheduling appointments compared to using a paper book. Checking out a customer used to take two or three minutes and now takes less than 30 seconds.