Most owners shopping for a point of sale start with the screens. A better place to start is the moment a customer pays. Where are they standing? Who is holding the device? Does anyone need a paper ticket? Answer those and the Clover lineup sorts itself out.
Question one: where does the customer pay?
At one counter. Most single counters start on a Clover Mini: an 8-inch screen and a built-in printer in a small footprint. It runs the menu or inventory, takes chip, tap and swipe, and prints the receipt.
At a busy counter where the customer faces a screen. The Clover Station Duo has a 14-inch staff screen and an 8-inch customer screen, so customers see each item, enter a PIN and add a tip on their side. Convenience stores, liquor stores and quick-serve counters with a line usually land here.
At the table, the chair or the curb. The Clover Flex is a handheld with a 6-inch screen and a built-in printer. Servers take payment tableside, and shops take it in the bay or at the curb. Clover also makes the Flex Pocket, a lighter handheld with no printer that sends receipts by email or text.
Wherever you park or set up. The Clover Go is a card reader that pairs with your phone or tablet, for markets, pop-ups, food trucks and mobile services.
Question two: how busy does it get?
A full-service restaurant needs a big screen for orders and a way to pay at the table. That is why our usual starting point there is a Clover Station Solo, with its 14-inch tilting screen and printer, plus Flex handhelds on the floor.
Lines at a quick-serve counter are a different problem. A Clover Kiosk lets customers order and pay on a 23.8-inch screen while your staff make food, and its menu comes from your Clover POS. Kitchens that lose paper tickets add a Clover Kitchen Display.
If you only need to take cards at a small counter, with no menu or inventory, the Clover Compact is a payments-only terminal. Pick the Mini if you need a real POS.
Question three: what do you print, and who sees it?
Printers decide more setups than people expect. A bar that runs tabs wants paper at the table, so the Flex beats the Flex Pocket there. A salon that emails receipts can go lighter. A pizza shop that sends tickets to the line needs a kitchen printer or a Kitchen Display.
Put it together
Here is where most businesses start, from the fit chart our team uses:
- Convenience, liquor or grocery store: Station Duo, with a barcode scanner and cash drawer
- Quick-serve, pizza or coffee: Mini, moving up to a Station Duo when the line gets long
- Full-service restaurant or bar: Station Solo, with Flex handhelds and a Kitchen Display
- Salon, barber or spa: Mini at the front desk, with a Flex Pocket at the chair
- Boutique or retail store: Mini or Station Solo, with a barcode scanner and label printer
- Food truck, market or mobile service: Go or Flex, with cellular service
It is a starting point. Two registers, a patio or a drive-thru window change the count. Answer three questions in our Clover chooser to see the setup for your business, or read what Clover costs, in four parts.
What comes with the device
Every Clover runs on a merchant account. When you buy through Stratamize, we set up that account with your devices, quote the hardware, the monthly Clover plan and your processing together before you sign, and install and train your staff: on site in Coweta County and metro Atlanta, or by phone anywhere else in the U.S.