Talech POS Review 2019: Features, Pricing, Alternatives

If you’re a small business, your point of sale system is one of the most important components in your sale process. Talech POS is a cloud-based point of sale (POS) system geared specifically toward restaurants and retail businesses. With a wide range of top-rated POS products available, how do you know if Talech is best for your business?

This Talech POS review is here to help. We’ll break down Talech’s features, pricing, and compare their service to industry competitors so that you can make a knowledgeable choice about what’s right for you and your business.  

What Is Talech POS?

Talech provides point of sale solutions to small businesses, with features designed particularly for the restaurant and retail industries. Talech offers three different plans: Starter, Standard, and Premium—all available to business owners in monthly or annual payment options.

Talech Capabilities

On the whole, Talech POS software includes functions associated with most point of sale systems. These general capabilities can be broken down into the following categories:

Inventory Management

Talech allows restaurant or retail business owners to track their inventory in real time, set up alerts if a product is out of stock, and sync products, categories, and discounts across multiple locations.

Product and Order Services

With Talech, users can take and manage orders, process credit cards and cash, house and edit all products, create product bundles, sales and deals, as well as make returns and exchanges.

Employee Management

Talech gives users the ability to track employee hours, designate employee roles and permissions on the register, and, for restaurants, attribute tips and gratuity to servers.

Customer Management

With Talech, you can capture customer information, create house accounts, develop a loyalty program, integrate gift cards, and make marketing campaigns.

Reporting

Talech enables business owners to track sales data such as profit margin, markup, revenue and tax contribution, analyze product success and patterns, monitor staff metrics, and audit inventory.

Integrations

Through Talech POS software, users can integrate with labor management solutions, accounting software, and for restaurants, kitchen display software.

Talech Software Features

In order to access the capabilities listed above, as well as the specific features associated with each plan, Talech requires the use of an iPad for their software. Talech is not a credit card processor, and therefore, specific card acceptance (chip, contactless, swipe) ability depends on the terminal and credit card processor you choose.

In addition to their basic point of sale functionality, Talech has over 100 different features. The specific features they offer, however, varies based on your industry, retail or restaurant, as well as your plan level.

Starter Plan

The most basic plan Talech offers is the Starter plan. For both restaurants and retail businesses, this plan allows users to have one external Bluetooth device, five employees, and up to 100 products. It also includes the following features:

• Fixed and variable priced products
• Products with variations
• Inventory tracking
• Multi-level user access
• Basic order management
• Basic discounts
• Cash drawer management
• Customer history tracking
• Ability to add customers to orders
• Basic reporting
• 24/7 phone and email support

In addition to these features, the restaurant Starter plan also includes the functionality to modify and exclude items. The retail Starter plan, on the other hand, also has the “add customers to orders” ability.

Standard Plan

The next level Talech offers is the Standard plan, which allows users to have unlimited devices, unlimited employees, and unlimited products. For both restaurants and retail, this plan includes everything in the Starter plan, plus:

• Bundles
• Sell items by weight
• Supplier tracking
• Barcode label printing
• Clock-in and timesheets
• Multiple roles per employee
• Labor cost reporting
• Automatic discounts
• Exchanges
• Store credit
• House accounts
• Automated reports
• Reporting insights
• Reporting dashboard
• PMIX
• Timesheet and labor cost
• Multi store support
• Kiosk mode
• Customer facing display
• External integrations
• Menu upload assistance

The restaurant Standard plan also includes kitchen printing, the void function, and the possibility of setting up online ordering for an additional monthly fee.

Premium Plan

The last plan Talech offers is the Premium plan. Both the restaurant and retail Premium plans come with all of the features of the two lower-level plans as well as:

• Inventory alerts
• Purchase orders
• Inventory log
• Stock take
• BOGO discounts

The Premium restaurant plan also includes:

• Table management
• Pay by position
• Split and merge orders
• Coursing
• Automatic gratuity

Hardware Compatible With Talech POS

Regardless of which Talech POS software plan you use, Talech requires hardware that must be purchased separately. Again, an iPad is required to run Talech. In addition to the iPad, you will need a payment device to accept card payments. Talech is compatible with the Poynt Smart Terminal, Miura M10, Ingenico iPP 320, Ingenico iCMP, Magtek iDynamo and uDynamo, and SumUp Air.

You can purchase these payment devices from Talech or from a third-party seller, as long as the model is compatible with the Talech software. Talech is also compatible with a variety of iPad stands, receipt printers, kitchen printers, and additional hardware. Just like the payment device, these hardware items can be purchased directly from Talech or from another seller. Talech also offers hardware bundle suggestions based on your business type. If you already have hardware you would like to use with your POS, Talech can tell you definitively if it will be compatible with their software.

Talech Pricing

For both restaurant and retail businesses, Talech offers their three different plans at an annual or monthly rate.

The pricing for the three plans is as follows:

Plan	Annual Option	Monthly Option	Capabilities	Best For
Starter	$44/month (Billed upfront annually)	$49/month	Unlimited devices, unlimited employees, unlimited products	Cafes, basic retail
Standard	$89/month for the first device, $44/month for each additional device (Billed upfront annually)	$69/month for the first device, $39/month for each additional device	1 device, 5 employees, 100 products	Quick service restaurants, fast casual, medium size retail
Premium	$89/month for the first device, $44/month for each additional device (Billed upfront annually)	$99/month for the first device, $49/month for each additional device	Unlimited devices, unlimited employees, unlimited products	Full service restaurant, multi-location business

 

Additionally, Talech offers an “Enterprise” plan for large businesses. Specific information about these plans can be obtained by contacting Talech directly.

Remember, this pricing only accounts for the Talech POS software. Again, POS hardware has to be purchased separately.

Furthermore, since Talech is not a credit card payment processor, you will have to work with a processing company that is compatible with Talech. Talech is compatible with Elavon, Chase, First Data, Heartland, and TSYS. Additional costs for payment processing will depend on the provider you choose.

Add-Ons

Talech offers a few add-ons for the upper tier plans that can be useful for business owners.

With the Standard and Premium plans, for both restaurant and retail, you can add on gift card functionality for $49 per month. You can also add loyalty program functionality for the same monthly price.

With the Premium plan, you can opt in to Talech’s campaign service for an additional $29 per month. With either the Standard or Premium plans for restaurants, you can add on Talech’s online ordering service for $49 per month. Online ordering is not available for retail businesses.

Finally, for both the Standard and Premium plans for restaurants and retail businesses, Talech users are required to purchase the “getting started package” for an additional cost of $199. This package includes a two-hour training session with Talech’s training partner, Boomtown, which helps set up the system and explains all the features.

Pros of Talech POS

With all of the POS systems available in the marketplace, how does Talech measure up? Considering all of the pieces we’ve broken down above, here are our thoughts:

Industry-Specific Capabilities

Talech is targeted specifically for restaurant and retail owners, and the specific features offered for those users is impressive. For a restaurant, the ability to create a floor plan, see open and seated tables, and create orders for each individual table are all great features. For retail businesses, the inventory management capabilities—creating and initiating purchase orders, tracking inventory in real time, syncing through multiple locations, and taking stock— are also very useful. On the whole, Talech’s breadth of features, from accepting payments to customer reporting to employee management is a definite benefit.

Cons of Talech POS

Although there are merits to Talech POS, there are certainly some drawbacks to consider, as well. Here are a few:

Price

This provider has a variety of features that could benefit both restaurants and retail businesses; however, Talech’s pricing seems to be on the high end, especially when comparing them to alternative POS systems in the industry. Many other POS softwares, like Clover and Square, have a cheaper monthly rate, for essentially the same, if not more, capabilities.

iPad Only

Talech requires the use of an iPad to utilize their system, and it is not compatible with any other tablets. Since all hardware must be purchased separately, and is an additional cost to the Talech software, this certainly could be a negative for some businesses, especially if they already own another tablet.

Lack of Online Offerings

Talech does not have adequate offerings for businesses that have online orders in addition to their brick-and-mortar store. The only online capability Talech offers is online ordering for restaurants. To use this service, however, you must have, at minimum, the standard plan and pay an additional $49 per month.

Industry-Specificity

Although the features for restaurants and retail business are significant, this specificity also alienates potential customers that don’t fit in either of those categories. A service-based business, for example, might not find the same benefit in using Talech as a restaurant would.

Additionally, many of the features that are particularly beneficial for restaurants or retail businesses come at an added cost or require the higher level plans. Gift cards, BOGO discounts, purchase orders, and stock take, as examples, all come with the higher level plans.

Customer Support

The information available on Talech is limited, but there are a number of negative customer reviews out there that report subpar customer service despite all of Talech’s plans including 24/7 phone and email support. There are also reports of software glitches and issues, among other problems. Although most of these reviews are a few years old, this is still something to keep in mind.

Alternatives to Talech POS

If you’re considering Talech as your POS system, you should also take a look at the alternatives before making a final decision. Some of Talech’s competitors, like Clover and Square, are the biggest players in the industry, each with a variety of different plans and options:

Clover Register

Clover is a POS system that allows businesses to choose from hardware and software options depending on their needs. Unlike Talech, with both of their software options, Clover serves as a credit card payment processor. Like Talech, on the other hand, Clover users must purchase hardware at an additional cost.

Between their two software options, the Clover Register POS system is most equatable to Talech. This software costs $29 per month plus the credit card payment processing fees. Clover Register offers features like employee management, loyalty programs, inventory management, promotions, and more. For the restaurant and retail industries specifically, Clover Register allows you to manage tables, take payments without Wi-Fi, set up low stock alerts, schedule shifts for your team, among other operations.

Whereas the Talech POS system seems to only target restaurants and retail businesses, Clover Register has a wider range, with the ability to work with service-based businesses. All in all, Clover is known as one of the best comprehensive POS solutions for a variety of types of businesses, at a reasonable price.

Square

The Square POS system is perhaps one of the most well-known and most robust systems around. Square is a technology-based POS system that users can download as an app for either iOS or Android devices. Like Talech, hardware must be purchased separately to use with the Square software, with one exception. The magstripe reader for Square POS is free and integrates fully with the app. Although Square does have a free general software option, they also have two POS options specifically for restaurants and retail businesses.

Square for Retail

Square for Retail is a POS system designed specifically for retail businesses. The POS software starts at $60 per month for one register. Like Talech, Square for Retail has features like inventory management, customer insights, employee management, and reporting. Unlike Talech, when you use Square for Retail as your POS system, Square also serves as your credit card payment processor.

For even more capabilities, you can purchase add-ons for Square for Retail like marketing, loyalty, and payroll. Although Talech and Square for Retail have more or less the same functionality, Square for Retail comes at a significantly lower cost.

Square for Restaurants

As you might expect, Square for Restaurants is Square’s POS system for restaurants and food-service businesses. Like Square for Retail, Square for Restaurants also costs $60 per month per location. Square for Restaurants allows you to run front of house operations, including everything from menu setups to table maps to tabs and gratuity. This POS system also provides reporting, employee management, as well as customer insights.

Like Square for Retail, with Square for Restaurants, Square serves as your credit card payment processor. Also just like Square for Retail, Square for Restaurants offers marketing, loyalty, and payroll add-ons for an extra monthly cost. Parallelly, Square for Restaurants has essentially the same capabilities as Talech, but at a lower price point.

Is the Talech POS System Right for Your Business?

Now that we’ve outlined the different features and plan Talech offers, it seems like this POS system is the best fit for small-to-medium retail or restaurant businesses, especially if they already own compatible hardware (particularly an iPad) and work with a credit card payment processor.

Although Talech’s range of both general and industry specific features is impressive, it’s worth considering that competitors like Clover and Square have more affordable pricing for essentially the same capabilities. That being said, Talech might not be the best POS for all restaurants and retail businesses, so you should research and test all your point of sale system options to determine which one is right for you and your business needs.

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