Published on July 23rd, 2019
If you’ve been using the original Clover point of sale system, you’re probably going to be excited about the new, upgraded model that hit the market last year.
After a decade of dominating the point of sale hardware and software market with a uniquely adaptable and feature-rich design, the manufacturer has presented a second-generation machine that takes customer feedback and industry reviews over the past decade into account, providing updates that many entrepreneurs said were vital out of the box features as consumer payment patterns have shifted.
1. What’s New? What’s Gone?
Let’s start with what isn’t there anymore in the Clover 2 because the list of subtractions is pretty short. Mostly, what’s been removed is the cumbersome app store with the sometimes-expensive tree of additional apps and features. It’s been replaced with a software redesign that features many of the most popular Clover apps as core features of the new system.
- Upgraded, intuitive time management tools for your staff
- Integrated apps for full-service restaurants, including table placement visualization
- Apps for easier management of tables and orders so you can process tickets more efficiently
- Inventory management tools that adjust estimates as you make sales
The upgrade also keeps a lot of features that owners of the previous system loved, like support for the sale and redemption of gift cards. It also made some bold changes to the hardware that are all designed to make your experience better as you work with the system.
- Integrated EMV chip support
- Larger screen
- Faster payment processing
- Fingerprint scanning
With the new system, you can keep offering Clover gift cards while getting marketing insights, and you can even use the interface to manage a customer loyalty points system of your own. These extras help give any business a competitive edge, and they are flexible enough to adapt to your niche.
2. OK, But Is It Worth The Upgrade?
It’s easy to see the cost of a new, upgraded Clover 2.0 as an obstacle, but there are ways to get it priced efficiently or to even enjoy it at a significant discount. If you’re working with a merchant account administrator who offers equipment for sale, loan, or lease, you might even be able to negotiate the cost of the system into your account service fees over time. You’ll never know what options you have if you don’t ask your account provider.
Even if you’re going out of pocket on the system, this point of sale setup is priced to work for businesses from small operations to large boutique chains, and an investment in an upgraded version could mean having a stable, fast point of sale system with all the extras and options you need for a decade. After all, the early adopters of the first Clover system enjoyed the build right up until the upgrade was available.
While there’s no guarantee anyone unit will last that long on its own, there’s a good track record in the performance of the previous model, and Clover has shown that it is very serious about customer feedback when it comes to updating their designs.
