Rain POS

Brought new life to my store!

Kommentare: 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!

Vorteile:

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.

Nachteile:

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!

Excellent for Music Stores!

Kommentare: 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.

Vorteile:

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.

Nachteile:

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).

Neat system horrible customer service

Kommentare: As a product it’s great but as a company it’s horrible. Terrible customer service and support.

Vorteile:

It was all in one with a nice platform. Handled customer accounts and payment links built into the invoices.

Nachteile:

They promised the world and delivered nothing. The on boarding took months and I had to pay for service during the $2,000 cost of onboarding. Then when we went to cancel they said you have to give us a notice. Why you said zero length contract.

Switched to Rain from Lightspeed

Kommentare: 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.

Vorteile:

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

Nachteile:

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.

Great POS, Horrible customer service support.

Vorteile:

Easy to use and has great functionality. Could have a little bit more functionality than it has to make it great. However they need more people to fix bugs and enact on others suggestions to develop the product further. Customer Support is a joke!

Nachteile:

Customer Support is a joke! I contacted support about a glitch. I told them to call me because I broke my wrist and easier to explain than typing it out. They refused to call me as if their time was more valuable in R&D than fixing bugs. I cant type with a broken wrist. All this is one fingered.

Disappointed

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

Vorteile:

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.

Nachteile:

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

Kommentare: 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.

Vorteile:

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.

Nachteile:

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

Best software for quilting shops.

Kommentare: Positive all the way. Solutions are always there when we come up with something new or unique to sell. It really helps guide the way I do business.

Vorteile:

Rain Pos is dependable, well priced with instantaneous software help. The company LISTENS to their clients, I can't emphasize this enough. My POS is with me everywhere, at the doctor, on vacation, in bed at night.

Nachteile:

I would like an end of day report on products loaded into the system.

Love Rain POS

Kommentare: They have been fantastic. From set up until current use, they have always been available to help, and have great resources built into their software to help out with simpler things.

Vorteile:

Rain POS has allowed us to integrate our eCommerce and in store retail in a way that no other company has been able to do. It has been so easy to learn how to use it, and it is very in depth. It is easy for me to change things on the website, and if there is something I can't do, their customer service team is always quick to help.

Nachteile:

Some features need to be changed buy the software team, I can't change them myself.

Love this system!

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

Vorteile:

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.

Nachteile:

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

Terrible Customer Service

Kommentare: It was great when we first switched. However it has just gone down hill.

Vorteile:

It was sold that it would be a great fit. It is very inexpensive.

Nachteile:

They do not know what they are doing. They can only help you for 30 mins and then say that they do not know how to fix the issue so they have to get off the phone. Their labels do not work properly and they ast like it is not a big deal.

Software solution that understands our business

Kommentare: We were a new business and needed to find companies to design a website, provide eCommerce and POS solutions, and a platform for customer communications. We were pleased to find them all within one company.

Vorteile:

The website design process took our branding into mind. It is easy for both us and our customers to use. Inventory management is intuitive. Point of sale function is also quite user-friendly.

Nachteile:

Occasionally there are glitches in the system when it interacts with outside programs, such as shipping or payment companies. That being said, there is ample opportunity to suggest new features, report bugs, or communicate directly with customer service to help fix issues.

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

Kommentare: 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.

Vorteile:

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.

Nachteile:

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

Kommentare: 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.

Vorteile:

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.

Nachteile:

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.

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

Kommentare: It was easy to use

Vorteile:

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.

Nachteile:

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.

Easy to use

Vorteile:

putting products on the website was easy but switching where they go throughout the website is not

Nachteile:

changing it sometimes it can be difficult to change the website.

Rain POS for Retail Quilt Store

Kommentare: Overall, the experience has been very good. Implementation was easy and the support was excellent.

Vorteile:

Most features in this software are easy to use. I liked how easy the system was to set-up.

Nachteile:

There do seem to be some 'bugs' with inventory levels as from time to time there are errors.

Our thoughts

Kommentare: 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.

Vorteile:

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.

Nachteile:

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.

Rain's Products and Customer Service

Kommentare: I had a website in the past that the point of sale disconnected two maybe 3 times each week. It was a nigtmare.

Vorteile:

What I like best about Rain's website software is how easy it was/is for me to learn.

Nachteile:

I like the extra things I get for my website with the marketing package, but most of what the package does for me has not worked and they keep trying to make it work and it does not.

Great Software and Support

Kommentare: Ecommerce is great! Great Support!

Vorteile:

The Software is so easy to use and if you need help the support team is always willing to help.

Nachteile:

I would like the software to integrate with Facebook and Instagram.

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

Vorteile:

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.

Nachteile:

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

Kommentare: 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.

Vorteile:

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!

Nachteile:

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.

We love RAIN POS

Kommentare: I highly recommend RAIN. Having our inventory on our website has been so helpful and using RAIN has been very easy for my team to learn.

Vorteile:

I love that Rain POS integrates with a website! I also love that RAIN continues to listen to suggestions and strives to add new features.

Nachteile:

There are some reports that would be helpful.

User friendly POS/Website for a small business.

Kommentare: 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.

Vorteile:

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

Nachteile:

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

Calico Cupboard

Vorteile:

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.

Nachteile:

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