Our Product Pick

POSBANK USA (Plainview, NY) has unveiled its APEXA-GT POS Terminal. With "GT" signifying high-performance, as in "Gran Turismo," the fanless APEXA-GT features Intel Celeron J3455 Quad-Core CPU at 2.3 GHz. It has 4 GB RAM, 64 GB SSD, and Windows 10 IoT Enterprise. As display, it features 15" TFT LCD LED Backlight at 1024x768 resolution and 300 cd/m2 brightness. As touch, there's projected-capacitive technology. A full suite of ports includes USB, Serial, Ethernet, Cash Drawer, and Audio. In dimensions of 14.3" (W) x 13.1" (H) x 8.2" (D), weighing 11.6 lbs./5.3 kg, APEXA-GT comes in grey or white casing. (In larger screen sizes, POSBANK USA offers its BIGPOS-GT Kiosk.)

APEXA-GT by POSBANK

COMPANY BUSINESS

Fortifying FortisPay

A familiar figure has taken the helm of FortisPay (Novi, MI), with Greg Cohen named as CEO. Previously, for the past 18 months, he has served as Executive Chairman of FortisPay. A long resume in payments includes President of Paya, President of iPayment, Chief Strategy and Revenue Officer of Cayan, GM and SVP of Verifone, and President of Moneris. Also, he's an Operating Partner at private equity firm--and not coincidentally, investor in FortisPay--Lovell Minnick Partners LLC.

"Greg has extensive knowledge of the commerce ecosystem and an unique ability to scale platform businesses and solutions both directly and indirectly in complex environments," commented Jimmy Nafso, Co-Founder and Executive Officer of FortisPay. "His support at the board level has been tremendous and we're thrilled to have him onboard full-time as he contributes to the firm's strategic growth. His leadership will be invaluable as we continue on our rapid growth track."

Also, FortisPay has enlisted Dennis McLaughlin as CFO and Ashley Usher as CIO. Previously, McLaughlin served in chief finance roles at Berkeley Research Group, Paya, JPMorgan Chase & Co., and Capital One. For her part, Usher has served in chief operational roles at Paya and Global Payments. In May, FortisPay strengthened its portfolio by buying EpicPay International (Frisco, TX) and Change Merchant Solutions (Westlake Village, CA). It has announced focus on ISVs and the SMB.

Greg Cohen, CEO, FortisPay

Heartland Hugs MarketMan

A new partnership for foodservice brings inventory management by MarketMan (New York, NY) to the POS of Heartland Payment Systems (Oklahoma City, OK). With approximately 8,000 current customers, internationally, MarketMan's cloud-based platform will help reduce food costs while simultaneously automating related back-office functions, including invoicing, according to the two parties. It's available to all users of MarketMan and Heartland Restaurant POS.

When deployed, MarketMan syncs menu items and sales data from the Heartland Restaurant POS in real-time via application programming interface (API). Each menu item in the POS is mapped to MarketMan, so ingredient-by-ingredient recipes get calculated for food costing. With each sale, MarketMan automatically depletes inventory levels to trigger low stock alerts and reorder reminders, if found necessary.

"A strategic partner like MarketMan helps us better serve our customers by continuing our tradition of providing the best tools to help restaurant owners run all aspects of their businesses," indicated Jerry Wittenauer, Sales Director at Allen Business Machines (Clinton, MD), one of Heartland's POS Dealers. "Integrating with MarketMan will be a huge boost to our customers, especially at a time when technology plays a crucial role for a restaurant's success--more than ever before." An early deployment of MarketMan by Allen Business Machines has taken place at Pure Raw Juice, with five locations in Baltimore, MD.

Inventory Management for Foodservice by MarketMan Added to Heartland Restaurant POS

Worth Your While

The NGA Show
National Grocers Association
September 19-21
Las Vegas, NV

VARTECH
BlueStar
October 3-5
Orlando, FL

NACS Show
Association for Convenience and Fuel Retailing
October 5-8
Chicago, IL

WSAA Conference
Western States Acquirers Association
October 13-14
Fort Worth, TX

Money 20/20
Ascential
October 24-27
Las Vegas, NV

2022

NRF Big Show
National Retail Federation
January 16-18
New York City

NRA Show
National Restaurant Association
May 21-24
Chicago, IL

ALL IN THE FAMILY

EPI Expands Exatouch

Electronic Payments (Calverton, NY) has enhanced its proprietary point-of-sale system, Exatouch. As hardware, the payment processor has added stands for its full-color, touchscreen-based, customer-facing display (CFD). A custom designed stand provides merchants flexibility in positioning the CFD. Added earlier, in March, the Exatouch CFD enables customers to review their purchases, see any applied discounts, pay via electronic signature capture, and choose their receipt preference--and also displays marketing messages. In addition, Exatouch now supports the Datalogic Magellan 9400i In-Counter Scale.

In software, reporting capabilities have been bolstered in Exatouch. A new functionality in sales reports makes it easier to see promotions and discounts by category. A new payroll report in the Staff Module shows Hours Worked, Total Sales, Non-Declared Tips, and Declared Tips. Also, capability for "Force Clock-Out" has been added. A new date range for reports includes options for last seven days and the last 14 days.

"Electronic Payments is committed to continuously developing our technological solutions to give merchants the tools they need to expand and grow," reflected Michael Nardy, Founder and CEO of Electronic Payments. "We provide advanced, cutting-edge solutions that evolve with the speed of business. In fact, the new CFD stand and in-counter scale were added to our Exatouch offering in response to our partners' feedback, as they were looking for ways to better serve their customers."

Enhancements in Areas of Software and Hardware for Exatouch POS by Electronic Payments

A Walkway to EMV

ID TECH (Cypress, CA) has joined forces with Innovantage Payment Solutions (Huntington Beach, CA) to address the field for integrated payments via, in this case, its mobile, compact reader, the VP3300. In dimensions of only 2.5" (L) x 1.9" (W) x 0.75" (D), when carrying Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), the VP3300 accepts MagStripe, EMV Contact, and EMV Contactless (each without PIN). An end-to-end turn-key solution for customers is provided by the two partners.

As suitable applications for the VP3300, ID TECH cites kiosks, parking, ATMs, and POS. It supports Audio Jack, USB-HID, and USB-KB. A software development kit (SDK) accommodates iOS and Android. As encryption, there's AES/TDES; as key management, there's TDES DUKPT. As expected, an OEM version is offered by ID TECH.

"The VP3300 is an ideal product for mobile payment transactions using a phone or tablet, but the flexible form factor makes it a natural fit for kiosk and vending applications, too," elaborated Bill Rorick, VP of Innovantage. "The contactless capability of this device is a huge additional advantage, since contactless transaction usage is growing at an increasingly rapid rate. The biggest benefit of combining the ID TECH hardware with IPS payments processing is the streamlined onboarding process we can offer our joint customers through this bundled solution." (FYI: Earlier, Rorick served as VP at ID TECH.)

ID TECH's VP3300 Payment Reader

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ALLIANCES

Are You Experienced (in Xstore)?

Oracle has drawn upon payment processor Citcon to enable acceptance of mobile wallets with Oracle Retail Xstore. A member of the Oracle Partner Network, now holding "Oracle Validated Integration with Xstore Expertise," Citcon enables use of major mobile wallets such as PayPal, Venmo, WeChat Pay, UnionPay, and AliPay with existing POS. Founded in 2015, Citcon now supports tens of thousands of merchants via its payment gateway and application programming interface (API).

"We're delighted to be able to enhance Oracle's POS offering by providing a plug-and-play way for their customers to accept QR-based payments in stores," enthused Wei Jiang, COO of Citcon (San Jose, CA). "This new agreement will enable safe, contactless transactions in stores and open up new worlds of payments to customers of Oracle." Earlier this year, in March, Citcon announced similar partnerships with three other prominent providers of POS: Agilysys (Alpharetta, GA), IT Retail (Riverside, CA), and Retail Realm (Napa, CA).

"Achieving 'Oracle Validated Integration with Xstore Expertise' gives our customers the confidence that the integration of Citcon's mobile payment solution is functionally sound and performs as tested," remarked David Hicks, VP, Worldwide ISV Cloud Business Development, at Oracle (Austin, TX). "For solutions deployed on premise, in the cloud, or both, Oracle Validated Integration applies a rigorous technical review process that helps to reduce deployment risk and improves the user experience of the partner's integrated offering." (At the origin of Xstore, readers will recall, would be the Micros Retail Xstore Java POS.)

Citcon Achieves Oracle Validated Integration with Xstore Expertise

It's Crypto for Micro

A further example of payment evolution, with the embrace of crypto-currency by VAR Quid POS (Aspen, CO). An integration with one of the emerging crypto-currency payment processors, CoinPayments (Vancouver, BC, Canada), targets opportunities in the SMB. Established in 2014, Quid POS also supports gateways of PayPal, Square, and Stripe.

"CoinPayments' POS interface is the easiest way for merchants to accept crypto as a form of payment, and aligns perfectly with Quid POS's mission to streamline in-store payments for small businesses often underserved by fintech solutions," expressed Jason Butcher, CEO of CoinPayments. "Through our integration, more micro-businesses can join our merchant community to benefit from accepting crypto payments and tap into a new, tech-savvy customer base." In April, CoinPayments certified Ovvi, the former Possible POS (Stafford, TX).

After noting that small businesses have historically relied heavily on cash, Sheryl Carr, Co-Founder and CEO for Quid POS, stated, "We aim to empower merchants and customers to have the freedom of choice to pay any way, without risk. And the timing couldn't be more important, as those hardest hit by the pandemic are seeking new ways to secure sales." As its primary hardware partner, Quid POS has Star Micronics (Somerset, NJ). A lot more to come in crypto-currency.

Quid POS Partners With CoinPayments

Code Corner

GK Software (Raleigh, NC) has debuted its OmniPOS 5.19, part of its CLOUD4RETAIL Platform. It supports multiple retail formats, including grocery, convenience, fuel, specialty goods, and table-service and quick-service restaurants. It carries enhanced application programming interfaces (APIs) for third-party integrations, such as touchless mobile payments, and for the restaurant sector, it supports kitchen display systems (KDS). "Many retailers struggle with managing different solutions for POS," noted Michael Jaszczyk, CEO of GK Software USA, "for example, grocers and convenience stores may operate separate systems for in-store restaurants, fuel, and their core business. That's why OmniPOS 5.19 is so ground-breaking. In providing this unified platform for all retail formats, GK Software simplifies integrations, reduces the cost and time required for maintenance, and gives retailers the agility they need for continual innovation." (FYI: In its company literature, GK Software claims to be "the fastest-growing global POS provider in new installations.")

Unified POS by GK Software

ENVIRONMENTS/PLATFORMS

Ivanti: Here's Your IIoT

Applications in IIoT, or Industrial Internet of Things, continue to command attention from traditional vendors of barcoding, RFID, and Auto ID. A recent case in point, Ivanti Wavelink (Salt Lake City, UT), which has purchased the IRIIS Software Suite from one of its partners, the WIIO Group (Paris, France). A combination of IRIIS and Ivanti's Neurons Platform, debuted in July 2020 for "self-healing, self-securing autonomous edge," will provide 360-degree IIoT, according to Ivanti. (A world of smart conveyors, sensors, cameras, robots, and "cobots.")

"There is growing demand by enterprises across all verticals to ensure that their supply chain operations are at peak efficiency," related Brandon Black, VP and GM of Ivanti Wavelink. "We look forward to integrating our technologies and helping our customers further automate and secure their supply chain operations, while improving end-user experiences and enhancing productivity. It's an exciting time to be entering the market for IIoT." (Ivanti Wavelink, of course, has long been one of the leaders in remote device management, MDM).

"The powerful IIoT framework combined with Ivanti Neurons will enable organizations to quickly and seamlessly modernize their operations, while reducing the risk of breaches," declared Fabien Dupuis, Founder and CEO of WIIO. "With real-time actionable intelligence into their supply chain operations and predictive analysis, customers will be able to drive performance improvements by integrating IIoT sensors and automation technologies in astonishing ways." (And, notably, low-code, no-code applications.)

Ivanti Wavelink Moves Ahead in Industrial Internet of Things With Purchase of IRIIS Software Suite From WIIO Group

DTG Rolls Out Channel

A new Channel Partner Program has been launched by power systems and mobile workstation supplier, Definitive Technology Group (Wilmington, MA). It will be led by William Michalek, VP of Channel Development. An industry veteran, he has held positions as Senior Sales Director at Alien Technology, Channel Sales Manager at Omni-ID, Director of Business Development at Printronix/IBM, Sales Director at Datamax, and Regional Sales Manager at Zebra Technologies.

As elements, DTG's Channel Partner Program will include education, sales support, and marketing resources. A partner portal will be offered to register and view opportunities, find key documents, and help stay current on news and product updates. At present, DTG has 19 VARs, including players such as Barcoding, Inc. (Baltimore, MD), DecisionPoint (Irvine, CA), TRG (Westlake, OH), and SLS RFID (Howell, MI).

"A need to bring power-based mobile workstations to the 'point-of-task' is growing in markets such as warehouse and logistics, dining services, healthcare, retail, and others," projected Steve Shaheen, Co-Founder and Managing Partner at DTG. "We welcome Bill to the team and look forward to his insights and leadership in bringing the benefits of DTG's solutions to a growing base of end-users." As products, there's battery systems, carts, mobile workstations, and custom solutions at DTG.

A New Channel Partner Program Has "Wheels"

Key Advertiser Links

Be sure to visit these vendors for the latest in channel products and offers for resellers.

POS & Peripherals
Electronic Payments
Elo
Epson America
Harbortouch
HP
Ingenico
Pioneer Solution
POSBANK USA
Posiflex
POS Nation
Revel Systems
Star Micronics

Barcode Printers
Bixolon America
Brother Mobile
Godex Americas
Sewoo

Cash Drawers
APG Cash Drawer
Star Micronics

Cash Handling Systems
APG Cash Drawer
CIMA America

Customer Journey and Engagement Management System
FastSensor

Data Collection
CipherLab
Code Corporation
Janam Technologies
Unitech America

Integrated Payment Solutions
Datacap Systems
Electronic Payments
Ingenico
International Bancard
North American Bancard
PAX Technology
Payment Logistics

Receipt Printers
Bixolon America
Brother Mobile
Epson America
Sewoo
Star Micronics
Woosim Systems

Stands, Mounts, Cradles
Gamber-Johnson

Touchscreens & Monitors
Elo

INSTALLATIONS

Revel's Hot Chicken

Revel Systems (Atlanta, GA) has deployed its Revel Enterprise Platform for fast-growing restaurant chain, Dave's Hot Chicken. A parking lot pop-up in Los Angeles, CA, when established by chef Dave Kopushyan of Thomas Keller's famed French Laundry in 2017, Dave's Hot Chicken now has 400 stores committed through franchise. It will add 75 stores in the next 12 months. It evaluated competitive bids for its POS.

"We had an acute need for a technology partner that could quickly deploy an easy-to-use and efficient platform for POS," disclosed James McGehee, CFO of Dave's Hot Chicken. "Revel Enterprise has already shown its value in several of our new locations by driving revenue and improving overall productivity, as evidenced by Las Vegas' opening numbers, while operating three distinct production lines: drive-thru, online and delivery, and walk-in." It includes mobile order taking for line busting, kitchen display system (KDS), and application programming interface (API) to third parties such as RAD (analytics), Restaurant365 (store management), and Harri (labor management). Online via Olo.

"Dave's Hot Chicken is a rising star in the fast casual franchise restaurant sector, and we're thrilled to be chosen as its technology partner to innovate and grow alongside the brand," relayed Greg Dukat, CEO of Revel Systems. "The business is doing incredible things through its careful selection of vetted franchise owners and fast, but strategic, growth." In addition to its Revel Enterprise, Revel Systems offers its Revel Essentials for smaller chains and the SMB.

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Dave's Hot Chicken Adopts Revel Enterprise

Taking Catering by "Storm"

A new brace of grocery customers for the catering software by ISV/VAR FoodStorm (New York, NY). It includes DeCicco & Sons, Cardiff Seaside Market, Village Market, Fruit Center Marketplace, and Caraluzzi's Markets, which now join customers such as Roche Bros., Albertson's, and Mollie Stones. All of these grocers will use this software to automate the entire catering/prepared foods ordering, production, payment, and fulfillment process from one centralized dashboard.

At the front-end, FoodStorm covers multi-channel ordering of e-commerce, phone, or in-store kiosk. It can accommodate multiple store locations and include items from multiple departments (e.g., deli, bakery, produce, grocery). As partners in POS, FoodStorm lists Dumac Business Systems (East Syracuse, NY), ECR Software (Boone, NC), NCR (Atlanta, GA), and Toshiba Global Commerce Solutions (Durham, NC).

"COVID-19 and the continued threat from Amazon and Walmart has really forced independent grocers to differentiate and provide better options in catering and fresh prepared foods," reported Rob Hill, CEO of FoodStorm. "Our software makes it simple for these grocers to execute on this important piece of their business very efficiently and track everything from one central location. As FoodStorm rapidly expands our footprint, we're overjoyed to work with grocers all across the U.S."

More Grocers Deploy FoodStorm for Catering

Channel Factoid

A Matter of Choice

A Survey of Decision-Makers for IT in Retail & Hospitality

-Almost two-thirds of respondents (63%) are dealing with issues around the direction of their technology investment and where best to allocate resources among e-commerce, mobile apps, data analysis, and POS.

-One in four respondents (25%) also face major issues such as data lags in legacy platforms and disparate systems with patchwork processes and silos that are holding them back from investing and from training staff on new technology.

-More than three-quarters of respondents (78%) say the "Black Swan" moment--the pandemic of COVID-19--has reshaped their future and emphasized the urgent need to focus on integration of touchless commerce and digital platforms during and after the lockdown.

-Going forward, more than two-thirds of respondents (69%) have placed digitization, mobilization, and data integration at the heart of their business processes.

-And more than two-thirds of respondents (69%) seek to integrate digital channels and data in order to create new operational models and customer touchpoints. Almost half of respondents (44%) also perceive that the value of data has become more important.

Source: "Preparing for the Return of Demand: How America's Retail & Hospitality Tech Elite Tackle Disruption With New Commerce Investment," by JPMorgan and FreedomPay (Philadelphia, PA).

New Technologies Propelled by COVID-19

HELLO GOODBYE

Da Man at Dumac

A new hire at Dumac Business Systems (East Syracuse, NY) as Steve Methvin becomes VP of Product Development. He brings three decades of experience in grocery/supermarket technology, most recently as VP of E-Commerce for StockUpExpress. A career progression includes Director of Store Systems at Ahold, Director of Store Systems at BI-LO, and VP of Retail Technology and E-Commerce for Buzzuto's Inc.

"We are pleased to welcome Steve to Dumac and in the product development leadership role," contributed Howard McCarthy, President and CEO at Dumac. "We have had the opportunity to work closely with Steve over the past 14 years while he was with Bozzuto's, one of our premier warehouse partners. With his vast experience and his integrity, we are delighted to have such a strong product leader join us who is also focused on innovative technology and understands the importance of delivering the best quality support for customers."

"With many years of mutual respect garnered from working together, I am excited to be joining Dumac in this position," shared Methvin. "Dumac's commitment to both their team members and customers was one of the driving forces in my decision." Among his qualifications, Methvin holds the designation of Payment Card Industry Professional and QIR Reseller from the PCI Security Standards Council (PCI-SSC).

Steve Methvin, VP of Product Development, Dumac Business Systems

A Time to Crunch

A pair of new executives for foodservice back-office software supplier, CrunchTime! (Boston, MA): Jonathan Quint as VP of Infrastructure and Pamela Robertson as VP of Marketing. Previously, Quint served as CTO at Data Axle and SVP of Information Services at Grand Circle Travel. Earlier in her career, Robertson served as SVP of Global B2B Marketing at TransUnion, Senior Director of Marketing at Experion, and VP of Marketing at Inforte Corp. As elements in its platform, CrunchTime! includes inventory, labor management, and analytics/reporting.

"We've realized record growth during an incredibly challenging period," observed Bill Bellissimo, Founder and President of CrunchTime!. "Adding Jonathan and Pamela to our leadership team reinforces our commitment to delivering industry leading solutions and service to both our established customer base and the promising new partners we are onboarding." Established in 1995, CrunchTime! serves major brands in fast-casual, quick-service, convenience store, and theater/cruise ship. Also, Ron Mueller, VP of Finance, has been promoted to CFO.

At CrunchTime!: Jonathan Quint, VP of Infrastructure, and Pamela Robertson, VP of Marketing