Switched to Rain from Lightspeed

Overall pleased with RAIN and glad we made the switch. A bit more thought into easier workflow within the Register, Special Order and LayAway screens and it will be a force to reckon with. I was hoping for an easier eCom experience, but that is not what I received. Much like other POS Systems that offer an integrated eCom Site...building out the site and making it look the way we want doesn't follow the basic HTML buildout process. As a web developer for over 20 years...I find the eCom platform to be VERY challenging to use and often times VERY discouraging. I can see they worked hard to have the functionality be similar to other CMS Website Platforms (Wix, WordPress, etc), but it's too confusing to navigate effectively taking up valuable time.

Pros

Integrated Marketing Automatic "pushing" of items to our Reverb.com Account Lightweight on system resources on our iMac's

Cons

Special Order Workflow is clunky and needs to be simplified. We've resorted to using the "Quote" option to better manage Special Orders and ring in total sales under a "Gift Card" first. That way when working with multiple vendors on a special order, we have easier use of customer funds when "finalizing" the deal. Register is Average and would prefer ability to see cost of products on screen. In Register - when scanning duplicate items they get entered as "new" line item versus adding to the SKU already input. Can't us an IR Gun on an iPad when scanning incoming inventory or during inventory counts. Layaway Screen has some great features, but workflow is a bit convoluted. Website build out is horribly confusing and NOTHING follows traditional HTML processes. This was the same problem with Lightspeed's eCom platform - hard to work with and no sense of workflow.

Excellent for Music Stores!

Overall we have been extremely pleased with our choice to switch to Rain in 2018 for our point of sale and website. The product is incredibly user friendly, can be used on any device (not tied to a license on one desktop machine like other systems) and support is great. One area other shops have asked us about is QuickBooks exports. We don't use that much, but other stores seem to be very reliant on those exports, which they say are lacking in Rain. Again, not a direct complaint from me, but one that I hear about on industry forums & from direct messages. We were a somewhat early adapter of Rain in our industry and are relatively connected in our industry & repair organization, so we seem to field a lot of inquiries about the program. We have recommended the product to quite a few other shops and want to make sure that it fits their accounting needs as well.

Pros

We've had a great experience thus far using the Rain point of sale program. The initial training was extremely in depth and helped us grasp all of the features before implementation. We love the product integration with Reverb.com and the fact that our inventory remains cohesive across online and in-store platforms. Online & phone support is quick & helpful. Rain has also been very helpful designing and updating our website, which is tied into the point of sale. They are constantly improving, updating and listening to customer suggestions to make their product even better.

Cons

One feature that is extremely helpful in our industry (music store) but missing from Rain, is a Maintenance Agreement/Service Contract module. We were disappointed it was not available when we switched to Rain, since we used that feature daily with AIMsi. We have found some halfway workarounds in Rain, but would like a more robust integrated module. Ideal features would be: MA identifier on serialized instruments in Work Orders module, ability to auto-send renewal emails to customers when their annual MA is expiring, MA batch operations for large inventories of instruments (many of the schools we service have 200-400 instruments that we maintain on MA's annually).

Disappointed

It was a rough year and a half trying to operate a business with that many mistakes from their side.

Pros

I liked that the website and the inventory were combined. That people could see in real time what we had in stock and purchase online. That was nice and was one of the main features of why we went with Rain originally.

Cons

We spent a lot of time and money on Rain POS. It was the first online computer software company we ever used for point of sale. I spent an entire year in 2017 logging our entire inventory, coming up with pricing and pictures and history on every item. We went live in 2018 and by April 2019 we were done with the contract side and we closed out the point of sale side by the end of that year. Their inconsistences within the contract module were too high. And every time we called in to tech support, all they could tell us what that there was a "glitch" in the system and they couldn't fix it within a timely manner. I really felt like I was losing the trust of my customers because of Rain's mistakes.

Like Sew POS Review

Overall we are happy with Rain/Like Sew. It gives us an easy to manage Web front end for our store that behind the scenes in completely integrated with our Brick & Mortar operation. Improvements are still needed in many areas - the system is a work in progress regularly rolling our new and improved functionality.

Pros

We bought it for the seamless integration of Web and Brick & Mortar inventory management, sales and ease of use. It works very well for this purpose.

Cons

It is ultimately POS and Inventory Management software with little Accounting functionality. Daily exports to QuickBooks or other software are required, with additional entries in the accounting s/w to accommodate accounting best practices, Taxes on Receiving orders, billing and other financial tasks not accommodated in Like Sew. There are still some issues with Sales, Shipping and Taxes in Canada, and there is no ability to set up multiple price levels internally

Love this system!

I can get the reports I need and want. Tech support is wonderful. They are constantly updating and improving the software.

Pros

Product is very easy to use. It's nice that I can put items on my website right from the product page. Web page is easy to edit.

Cons

I wish there were more yarn and knitting notions vendors integrated into the system.

Make the switch to Rain!

I also love being able to track repairs, replacing our previous hand written system. Priceless.

Pros

Having out POS integrated with our website and Reverb is key for us, especially during recent times of shut down.

Cons

At times the system has quirks that are an annoyance to the user and is a low priority fix for developers.

Noel Saucedo Co-owner

I have been a believer ever since i saw them at the Namm show.

Pros

The ease of this software is very important. Being a small business i really don't have an I.T department so you guessed it we all become the I.T department in our office. The templates are easy to fill out and get your online presence ready for your clients.

Cons

The con is not a Rain problem it's not having the time on our side to complete at this moment.

Rain POS for Yarn Stores

No point of sale system is perfect. But we are happy with the functionality and effectiveness of Rain. The fact that Rain is continually improving and updating their system has only increased our satisfaction over the years.

Pros

We have used Rain POS (Like Sew) for over five years and are very satisfied with it. We love that our website (recently upgraded by Rain) integrates with our POS, keeping our inventory numbers accurate. The Point of Sale is very user friendly. Reporting is decent. The website is simple to update.

Cons

While there are sometimes reporting issues or technical issues, Rain has an easy process in place to report problems online or by phone, and they are generally responsive in a timely manner. Rain also has a method to make suggestions on how to change or update the POS/website. I appreciate that they are willing to take our suggestions! I do wish there was a report for Items Received; it would be nice to be able to create custom reports. The only major issue we have with Rain is when the system crashes - either because our internet goes out (in which case we are able to use our iPads on cellular to ring up customers) or because Rain goes down. Luckily, this is very rare! And when it's Rain's issue, it is usually remedied quickly. Finally, it would be great if Rain integrated with Sage Accounting software. We have to manually transfer data from Rain's reports into Sage Accounting. This is time consuming.

Great for a music shop like us. Room for improvement but they're working on it

Anyone who has migrated from one system to another knows how time-intensive and frustrating the whole process can be. RAIN's support team made the onboarding experience as painless as possible. Their support has continued long after the initial onboarding and I feel very confident in their ability to help us whenever we hit a roadblock and need help. It's also encouraging to see their development team constantly fixing bugs and rolling out new features. They are not the kind of company to rest on their laurels.

Pros

RAIN lives in the cloud and being able to access our POS from any device is a huge advantage over the POSs we were using before. The Rent-To-Own module helped simplify a very important part of our business. Integrating with REVERB has helped extend our e-commerce reach across the country. The user interface is clean and user-friendly; just what you'd expect from a modern cloud-based platform.

Cons

The marketing platform did not meet our expectations. The email marketing in particular is not up to what I would consider industry standard in terms of the template builder, contact management, scheduled emails, segmented lists, and analytics. We have since dropped that add-on and went with ActiveCampaign which is light years ahead.

LikeSew works for my retail quilt shop

The main reason I implemented the POS option was to help me with inventory control. Prior to using POS I didn't know how much inventory was in stock and therefore I was receiving orders for inventory that I didn't have.

Pros

I think the customer service is very good. Recently I wanted my homepage to be updated and revamped. They worked very quickly and efficiently with me to get give it a new look and within a few days I had a website looks very modern and professional. Also, I really like the marketing package. I used the POS for several years before adding the marketing feature. I like the automatic emails that it sends to my customers every week. Also, My website is easier to use from a cell phone now. It's worth paying the extra money for each month.

Cons

I do not like the way the inventory receiving works. It is supposed to be integrated with some of my vendors but doesn't seem to be complete or accurate. Also, I really wish that the email marketing was easier to use and more robust.

Rain Point if Sale has taken our small business to the next level!

Rain Point of Sale has allowed us to expand our online sales exponentially, and allowed our inventory to be accurate and dependable. It is a huge reason why our business has flourished in the last two years!

Pros

I am super happy with how my point of sale is integrated with my online sales and inventory. The product is easy for staff to understand and navigate, and errors can be corrected when necessary. The ability to access the software remotely is a huge plus, I can keep track from anywhere, or assist staff with sales or inventory when I am not in the building. The reports are easy to access, and accurate for accounting purposes, and provide us with the tools we need for planning for the future. The customer service is amazing, and I have always been able to solve any problems I’ve had with one phone call!

Cons

We are Canadian site, and the cashing in procedure does not allow us to use our coins, and therefore we don’t use the cash in/cash out component. That is my only complaint!

Like-Sew websites have helped me build my online presence and streamline my business.

It was easy to use

Pros

It is easy to use and update, so I can create and modify my own products, and add products from the integrated industry catalogs. It provides me with useful information about my customers and sales transactions, data which really helps me keep and attract new customers. I especially like the batch product update feature so I can change a group of products at a time without having to individually update each product record. I have had good customer service, especially when there was a problem with the software. I have seen my sales grow and my professional online image enhanced. The cost is reasonable for my business so far. The video training is great and absolutely necessary to understand how to use the software efficiently. I also attended training at Fall Quilt Market which was excellent and highly informative.

Cons

I am disappointed that I am unable to integrate my email marketing with the website. In my opinion, The Marketing package is not as useful to online-only stores as it is to POS customers. The newsletter module is clunky and hard to work with. The email feature is useful, but since my email list is on a different service and not integrated, it is not as useful as it could be. It took awhile for my site to get up and running well, and to work out all the bugs. I had to be persistent in following up to get problems fixed and clear in my communication to be sure they understood what I was asking for.

Really awesome features with some minor bugs

Tech support has helped us so many times. First, they helped us figure out some of the features that we were not completely certain how to use. Then, when we encountered bugs, another quick call to Support and they had us back up and running within no time. I just wish that the program was not dependent on the internet. We’ve had a few times where the internet went out and we were not able to conduct business. This is not good, but it hasn’t happened too often, just enough to be mildly irritating.

Pros

This program is so easy to use, even for those who are not technologically literate. While we do not use all of the features, such as the rental option, we are really happy with the program. The fact that everything is stored in the cloud helps us when we are not in the store, such as with trunk shows. The tech support has been so helpful when we experienced bugs in the software, and they were very knowledgeable of the product. I have also found the SEO option of Rain, and we intend to utilize it to its fullest extent to promote our business and get our name out there.

Cons

There have been a few bugs in the software, but nothing that a quick call to support couldn’t fix. One thing that I did not like was when the internet went out. The fact that everything was based on the internet meant that we couldn’t use the cash register. This led to a loss of sales. Nothing too major, but it’s still significant. There should be a backup or a way to use the register when there is no internet connection. More traditional POS systems allow for use without internet, but for inventory reasons, something like Rain is required. Hopefully, they’ll release a version that stores a temporary backup on your system that updates the inventory once the internet is back up and running.

The POS system that I was looking for.

I'm the owner of the NAMM 2015 & 2016 Top 100 Dealer, The Acoustic Shoppe in Springfield, MO. We tried the "big guy" of our industry, and found it to be outdated and not user friendly. After a year of attempting to get it up and running, we started looking for an alternative when we ran across RAIN POS. It feels like navigating a website through your browser so it was easy to learn. Within a little over one month we had our website built, products in our system, and were live with running transactions. I love that everything in in the cloud, so I can run sales in my parking lot, at festivals, trade shows, etc., or just access reports anywhere from my phone. Putting items on our website is just a button clicked, and inventory is shared online and locally so if I sell online, it's taken out of stock in my local system, and vise versa. So far customer support has been great to work with. We have run across a few minor bugs in the day to day use, but they are pretty quick at getting it straightened out. I'm sure it doesn't have all the depth of that other system, but I'm able to use it and they are adding features very quickly. We don't do rentals right now, so I can't say how well that part works. We do a lot of repairs, some sent off site, and the work order module works great for keeping up to date with the repair status. We're waiting on the Lessons module that we here is in the works, and a better way to handle consignments and trades. So far we are very happy with RAIN POS and our interactions with customer support. I highly recommend.

Pros

Ease of use, and integration with our e-commerce site.

Cons

There are a few features that I'm waiting on that will tailor the system more for the music industry.

Our thoughts

All sales were handwritten, on invoices and then transcribed to a database/ excel sheet for closing out a month; this has made this so streamlined.

Pros

The program is quite intuitive thus making it relatively easy to use. I like the fact that it is cloud based so we can add another register as needed during very busy times. Also the integration between the website and the POS is great for product inventory. General ease of taking physical inventory.

Cons

There are a number of small glitches - ways to accomplish tasks that are not thought all the way through. I get a listing of UPCs from a vendor with my new order of earrings, many are duplicates that we have had. We upload the entire list, the system is not able to recognize duplicates and combine them just keeps adding the new number making physical inventory a nightmare. Customer name search is an "includes" function instead of a "starts with" so an Andy pulls up Sandy, Candy & every Anderson, i no particular order.

Tons of features packed into one POS system, great customer support.

Pros

Rain has tons of features, and for a music store that sells, rents, and repairs instruments, and also does lessons, there are a lot of things we need software for. With Rain, we can do most of it in one place, whereas in the past, we've had to have a system for this, something different for this, and something different for that also. It's a huge time saver and much less confusing to be able to do everything we need to do in one place. And the website is clean and easy to customize. Customer service is super easy to get in touch with and great to work with.

Cons

There are still a few bugs in this software. While the customer support guys are good about listening and working on fixes, there are still some small annoying things. For instance, when you delete a product from the Categories page, it does not direct you back to the Categories page, but rather the Products page. There's also not an easy way to move products into different categories in bulk. You either have to open each product manually, or you have to export the info to a spreadsheet.

The future of how small businesses survive

Using this system allows you to provide a customer experience on par with, or even better than, what is expected from a successful business in the 21st.

Pros

Feature laden! and they are still developing more music store specific features! One customer data base, one inventory database. Integrated POS system, integrated Wed Store, integrated repairs system. Then add on: integrated short term rentals, rent to own with auto pay, layaway, email marketing abilities, gift card ability, coupon ability, push products to Reverb ability, create and save quotes under a customer name, track store account balances and apply to transactions, purchasing lists by vendor populated with qty triggered items and with and easy receiving and item costs updating. Outstandingly responsive customer service!

Cons

Still waiting on the private lesson feature =( But it is in development and it sounds like it will be finished Spring of 2018. Would be great to see invoicing against a quote so I could do school business with schools requiring a PO number on an invoice for payment.

very good company to work with

I love this company. I've been with them from their initial start in our field of music schools, and they have developed very quickly. They still have a feel of a small company, and I feel like if I need an aspect or tool developed, I have a pretty good chance of being heard and considered.

Pros

The comprehensive nature of having a website, an online store, a point of sale terminal, rental/rent to own terminal makes this a great foundational tool to work with.

Cons

I love the software, but calling customer support, I often get people who don't seem to enjoy helping me. I've had at least 2-3 calls to different technicians ag in a row where I just felt bad for even calling.

User friendly POS/Website for a small business.

Rain POS has allowed me to present the entire inventory of my retail shop available online. When photos for my items are not available from vendors, I snap a few with my iphone and they are uploaded in seconds. I am not a computer tech by any means, but have found making changes to my site an easy task. When in doubt I find one of the helpful webinars and by he end of the viewing I am comfortable tackling the next task. Customer service has been prompt and thorough. I have not had to call often, but when I do the matter is resolved within minutes. This is a plus as I typically operate my shop alone. Recently I realized that I was not utilizing the SEO portion of Rain to it's fullest potential. My google placement was lagging back on pages 4 to 7. I spent 3 hours watching a webinar provided by Rain and spent a few weeks plucking away at my site. I am happy to say that 60 days later I am appearing on the first page of searches I deem important. One again I was able to accomplish this utilizing tools provided by Rain, not by paying an outside SEO company for this service. Overall I am extremely happy with Rain and have recommended it to several other business in my area.

Pros

Ease of use even for a person not formally trained in computer technology.

Cons

Just a few small glitches here and there, but they continue to make improvements and they are quickly resolved.

Rain POS

Pros

This is a great program that integrates a point of sale program with a website store that keep inventory stock levels on the website. The basics functions are easy to use and learn.

Cons

Rain POS needs to make some of the reporting more functional so that you can see product sales easier and for a monthly and yearly sense.

Does what I need and more.

Our experience has been excellent. We were up and running the day we opened the doors. This is our first and only experience with POS but I cannot imagine needing anything more. The cloud based system lets me access information from anywhere I have WiFi access. No fear of losing our system due to damage or theft of equipment. Overall I find it very affordable and could not imagine being without Rain POS now.

Pros

The support we received from the rain team in getting started with a POS system. None of my team had any experience with POS and they made the transition easy. We still don’t use all the features available but are adding them to our system gradually. The customer support system is fantastic. The reports available on the system save hundreds of man hours and help us see how our business is doing. The inventory system is a huge help.

Cons

Integration with some Consumer Finance companies would be valuable to retail users. A “Dummy” website that could be used for training new employees would be a big help.

I love Rain

Pros

Rain POS has helped me run my business in many ways. Reports are very easy to understand and useful for book keeping and planning. Most of all I love the help Rain offers. They have always been there for me and are so nice, especially when trying to set up my website. I am not a computer genius and don't have to be because I use Rain. In recent events we had to start selling products through our web site. Rain was able to teach me over the phone how to set all of it up, I couldn't be more grateful.

Cons

Most of the time the things that I felt could be improved have been through updates like phone numbers showing on receipts. It shows that they do listen when we ask for improvements.

A small business solution that is a head of the curve

We searched for over 3 years for an new point of sale that would fit our needs and allow us to expand in the future. It was important to have a seamless integration of our brick and mortar location and our online store. Rain really shines above all the other options with more functionality at an affordable price. This has allowed us to grow our online presence tremendously to help keep up with the ever growing online sales market. The continued software updates and helpful customer support makes for a personal and dedicated feel to helping our business thrive. We have recommend it to several other businesses and they have been thrilled as well. Thanks Rain!

Pros

Online and Brick and Mortar integration, extensive customer tracking, easy to customize website, efficient product ordering/receiving system

Cons

Updates can be slow to release, lacks a little in the reporting functionality

Easy to set up with no computer experience

Anytime I have any questions, I can call and get it taken care of immediately. I sell stuff all over the country since I have an online store now.

Pros

I have managed and now own a vacuum, sewing, and air purification retail store in Terre Haute Indiana. We did not have an online store prior to us setting up with Rain. I had looked at other companies but this one has a marketing tool that is phenomenal. After all our service and sales, I send my customers an opportunity to review me. I started with a handful of reviews on Google now we have over 60 and over 80 reviews on facebook.

Cons

The program can freeze sometimes and you have to reboot the entire program and when that happens I can't override it to use my credit card terminal since everything is integrated.

An Outstanding POS System

I am able to work proficiently with everything except learning how to take my inventory and have it imported to QuickBooks.

Pros

I am able to input inventory into the system in a timely manner.

Cons

I wish Rain Retail system would import my inventory over to QuickBooks. I have to input inventories in the system twice.

We love RAIN POS

RAIN was super helpful in transferring our data from our old POS system (TRS) to their system. It has been easy to train staff to use the system. And, RAIN is constantly improving the system by adding new features.

Pros

I love that RAIN POS is not only a point-of-sale system but also integrates with our website. It has been so beneficial to have our products listed and available or sale on our website. During the current pandemic, the website has helped customers discover our product offerings and made it easy for both shipping products and curbside pick-up.

Cons

I can't think of anything I like least!

Powerful, complete lifestyle upgrade for our business

Going from shopkeep (easy to use, not sophisticated enough for us as a music store) to RAIN was a challenge at first (uploading photos and product data, designing new site content, more product data entry, training staff in new roles) but, now that we are a few months in, we are seeing customers benefit from our work and we know we are going in the right direction. RAIN is on the way to becoming the One Ring That Rules Them All of software that helps small retailers play on the same field as national chains. Actual seamless pulling in of repair data to the transaction screen, one product data base for your stores and your website store, actual seamless pulling in of layaway payments and special orders to the transaction screen, easily see who is selling what and where. Actual real effective help with re-order purchasing has helped us control spending in a very noticeable way. Time is saved because we only have to go through product order line items one time , then when it arrives, ONE click updates the cost for that instance and the count received. Transfer tracking that takes almost no time to use.

Pros

integration

Cons

still developing some features

Great user friendly POS

We had a nightmare with our old POS system and had to pretty much start all over with Rain. We are a local business but with tons of inventory. Over 5000 different piece of merchandise. So we were not looking forward to adding all those items again. But Rains interface makes it very easy, anyone can do it. The interface is laid out very simply and everything is right there without having to scroll through pages and pages to find an option you want. Features like repairs and rentals are also a big plus. Really the only negative thing I can say is the since it's cloud based you better have good internet or you will lose your register if you lose internet. But that's not Rains fault. Just make sure you have a reliable internet connection or a backup 4G method since you can run the POS from any phone or tablet. We have had the software for a little less than a year and although we are still adding products from our previous software crash with another company, we are enjoying the new fresh look and feature packed software provided by Rain.

Pros

Tons of features and easy to use.

Cons

To print a receipt there are too many steps. Wish it was easier or less time consuming.

Calico Cupboard

Pros

I was using another online web service when I heard about Rain (Like Sew). I like what they were offering and the price was great compared to what I was paying. We signed up in 2013/14 and have not regretted it for a minute. I love being able to see what inventory we have, what our customers are buying, being to look back and tell a customer what a fabric was that they purchased.

Cons

There are always features and issues that could be improved upon but right now I'm happy with what we have.

Pinewski's Ski & Board Shop

We have been with rain for several years now and have been very happy with the ease of use of our POS system. The professional handling of all our questions and needs, and their customer service, has been second to none. We are continually learning as Rain continues to improve the functionality of their program. We would rate Rain as a top notch program.

Pros

simple to use, but yet has the ability to fulfill all our POS needs.

Cons

the inability to make corrections to mistakes without contacting Rain i.e. reversing voids, having voided sales show up on my daily sales reports, and the customer history shot;ld show open sales and or on account sales as a different color or as an open sale rather than completed sale.

Top notch POS

Great experience... still fixing a few glitches and learning is on going. We are not big IT people, but the ease of this software and the team behind us works great!

Pros

Alot. The automated email blasts, the conference on hand, one on one meeting. I like the ease of running this software and the service and people behind the scenes. I like the look and help we receive on our website. When we have a glitch or problem, customer support is inside our website making the corrections. Great team to work with! Especially, Ty... stays on top of any ossues that come up.

Cons

Our training was not easy and our contact person was not really knowledgeable on many facets of the software or how it would work. Big learning curve for us.

Great POS platform - even for beginners! Not intimidating.

Inventory reporting, mainly. I just began using the Marketing module and so far, it seems like it will be a real winner and time saver for me!

Pros

I like the data capture feature and the real time aspect of the online merging with the B&M shop. Knowing that what my customer is seeing online is what is actually available is fabulous.

Cons

The sad lack of report query options, particularly in regards to my inventory. I can put notes in if I make an adjustment but can't ever see those notes again. That's a feature I've been asking for for years.

Good

For the most part, it's pretty good. Hope they continue to develop better reporting capabilities. Some quirks along the way - some get fixed, some they can't explain.

Pros

I like that it integrates inventory between our point of sale and our website. We also like being able to access customers' purchase history.

Cons

Bare bones reporting, i.e. for sales data. Many reports offer zero or very few "drill down" options for specifics.

Seamless Migration from Older POS System

Pros

We went with RAIN for a number of reasons. Integration with our website, and in turn, Reverb.com was very important to us. We also liked RAIN's ability to migrate from our antiquated POS so that we had a relatively easy transition. Lastly, being a cloud based system allows our entire staff to work on the system from anywhere.

Cons

At first (about 12 months ago) RAIN was a bit clunky. Navigating was slow, they didn't allow enough pictures for our website, and the search function was not always effective. Also the Reverb integration had growing pains. The thing about RAIN is that they are constantly improving and correcting issues based on their customer's (ours) feedback. At this point the Reverb integration and search functions work perfectly and they now allow unlimited pics on each listing.

Rain software

Now I don't have to physically go and check on inventory, the report tells me what needs to be ordered.

Pros

I love the ease of using it, the reports help out so much. Looking up customers history is a breeze.

Cons

I had trouble with my labels in the printing mode. I use a different size of label than they have on file. Not able to pick my own expatriation date on coupons or add new coupons.

review

I no longer complete paper tickets for customer purchases and then need to summarize for taxes. At the end of a vending sale day, I know how we did with the push of a button.

Pros

end of day Reports and access to information about my inventory

Cons

lack of reports that can help with inventory report submissions to the state

Rain POS / Like Sew Website Review

I really benefit from the synced inventory. Overall, my experience with the POS and customer service has been positive.

Pros

It manages the inventory in real time between store and online purchases. Now that I have learned how to manage the website, it is easy to frequently change the home page, add new inventory and create promotions. The inventory catalog is a major time saver.

Cons

There are some surprising disconnects: although a customer is set up with 10% discount, the discount will only apply automatically when purchasing in the store. Somehow the store customer and the (same) web customer are not connected. Lack of integration with shipping companies. Cumbersome uploads to QuickBooks.

Great POS

We have been with Rain POS from the beginning and the improvements have been great. Customer service is very good. Very pleased overall.

Pros

Very easy to use and get employees up to speed quickly. Lots of features to improve sales and inventory control.

Cons

All the features can be a bit overwhelming at first but if you start with the basics, its easy to add additional features as you go along.

Disappointing compared to the hype of what you are getting.

We have a hard time getting on the same page. The communication is mostly by email and the timing is hard because we are so far apart. The support people are very kind and try to get things done but the day to day trying to muddle through this change was not worth it, if I could get my money back I would. I am currently paying Lightspeed just not to loose my past sales and lay-a-ways until someone can merge them, this is costly for a small business. I also wish they would talk to whoever answers the phone as I can't just sit on top of the phone all day waiting for a call, this could have been fixed if they would have just talked to the person answering the phone. There are only three people who work here and all three of us are capable of following direction.

Pros

So far the only Pro is that you can pull a some information from Vendors. Being able to have inventory taken out with sales from Reverb is really nice, it was the catch hook that brought me to RAIN.

Cons

The merge is really rough, I did not get all of my customers merged from my previous POS system, my lay-a-ways were lost or messed up, past sales are lost, pictures had to be taken again. All the upc numbers were mismatched with other products. When you try to put pictures of your product for the website, you never know what picture it may choose no matter how many times you choose the correct one. I have had a bass I have tried many times to add a picture and it refused to add it and puts up a picture of a gig bag. I was told if I used Chrome many of the issues would subside, sadly this is not true. If you are starting out fresh, this may be an okay system to use, if you are migrating from another system, I would NOT recommend using RAIN. I really had high hopes but this has been a disaster. Even the work orders, which I thought would be easier, are a huge pain.

Very functional adaptive website at a competitive price

Pros

Easy plug and play design allows for unlimited updates and edits. Add the file and picture storage for customer access and this all in one service is a great solution for small businesses.

Cons

Limited blog post functionality with subscription options, some bugs in the system that have yet to be resolved.

Rain Software

I have had a very good experience with Rain Point of Sale.

Pros

This product is very user friendly and makes it possible to change or add things with ease. Customer service is always friendly and helpful.

Cons

The word processor can be a problem when trying to change font sizes.

expanding, they listen to ideas and constantly make improvements

Pros

its comprehensive. online inventory and instore inventory combined...awesome. very intuitive, very good tutorials and help functions.

Cons

none, I like the constant improvements. the only issue is the system randomly converts the default printer between the receipt printer and the label printer.

Brought new life to my store!

Since we opened, we have hand written all our checks and inventory, which has sometimes lead to discrepancies in what we have in stock and prices on items. It also takes longer to cash people out at the register, which has left some customers at an inconvenience when running late to a gig. Since moving to Rain, we are now able to easily see what is in stock and let customers know if we have extra in the back all from our phones. Recently we had a customer whos speaker blew while at a gig and he was able to order a new one online for us to have ready for him when he walked in the door! We love using Rain!

Pros

Rain POS was surprisingly easy to set up and integrate into my exsiting website, it really opened up a lot of doors to help sell things in my store that have been sitting a while. We do a lot of lawaway orders, so it was nice to be able to set up a lawaway option on our online store.

Cons

The only thing I wish I was able to do is have the option to add multiple products at a time to help streamline the inventory process. Other than that, I have had zero issues!

Great!

Pros

Everyone is always very helpful with questions I have on the software. A great Company to be doing business with!

Cons

It is hard to get pictures the right sizes for site. I make them the size that I have been told and when putting them on the website they are huge.

RAIN Review

Generally Positive. Going into a year of use, we are running up against some feature and programming weaknesses, particularly on the accounting side.

Pros

Interface, ease of use

Cons

It is not as strong on accounting as I would like. There are errors propagated through voided transactions which inaccurately influence the reports and sometimes even customer balances.

Great Point of Sale Software

Rain POS is a great company to work with. Great tech support.

Pros

The Point of Sale software is easy to use and you get alot of support if needed.

Cons

Adjusting pictures sometimes is challenging to do to fit into areas.

Great at some things, not great at other things

Generally okay. first line support staff is very helpful and relatively easy to reach. Sales staff makes lots of lofty promises that are slow to be fulfilled. Developers are jerks.

Pros

integrated POS and e-commerce website. web based makes it functional on any computer type. RTO module is nice.

Cons

Special Orders/Purchase Orders/Receiving Orders is grossly deficient. Reporting is not great. Prominent bugs in website text in regard to special characters. Lacks flexibility in some of the website design options. No rotation option for product photos. Label printing is terrible. No dimension option for shipping calculations.

Software with lots of dreams but lots of issues

Rental, class, and automatically populating the website is a big help for us saving time. It hasn't really made us more money as advertised.

Pros

Overall, this product has helped us get our products on the web and other selling sites quicker than in the past. The rental and class features have saved us a bunch of time

Cons

Too many bugs in almost every feature. In addition, bugs are fixed and changes are made without communication to the user base. Rain keeps adding features but the basic features still are buggy especially in accounting for costs and inventory valuation. In addition, once a bug is submitted and sent to development, we are not sure of the timing of the fix or the actual fix.

Great seamless system with Web and POS

Pros

Customer Tracking Inventory Tracking Website Managment Integration with inventory for POS and Web

Cons

Hard to discuss timelines with customers Not a lot of development time to accommodate every enhancement request

Would recommend to other retailers

They've been great partners with us.

Pros

I love that they're always improving it and take our input.

Cons

I can't think of anything. I really like what I've used.