Small business owners are the backbone of local economies, sustaining communities one transaction at a time. They are often small teams, sometimes just a few people wearing many hats, balancing customer service, operations and accounting.
In today’s economy, many of them are turning to technology to make it all work. Point-of-sale (POS) systems have evolved beyond simple cash registers into the core infrastructure that helps run every aspect of a small business, from payments to payroll and inventory to marketing.
Community-Driven Businesses, Data-Driven Operations
At Hen & Chicks Studio in Iowa, owner Heidi Kaisand has built a hybrid business that’s part quilt shop and part creative retreat. For her, the POS system from Like Sew has become essential for tying together all the moving parts.
“Our POS is critical for keeping our inventory accurate, both in-store and online,” she told PYMNTS.
Kaisand uses the system continually throughout the day, to track sales, plan for future kit builds, and monitor customer behavior that informs marketing campaigns sent through Constant Contact.
Her reliance on POS data is constant.
The insights also guide purchasing decisions and help generate bulk customer reports used for marketing outreach.
The payments mix at Hen & Chicks Studio reflects how far consumer behavior has shifted: 80% of transactions are by credit or debit card, with only small portions handled in cash or checks. That digital dominance underscores how crucial integrated payment systems have become for even the most traditional Main Street shops.
A Legacy Business Modernized by POS
In Texas, First People’s Jewelers stands as a family-run, 51-year-old jewelry business now managed by Brooke Zangerl, who took over day-to-day management from her father five years ago.
“There was no tech,” she said, adding that transitioning to Jewel360 and adding tools like Podium through the past five years has, as she put it, “dramatically changed my small business.”
For Zangerl, the POS system has become “[her] hub for so many aspects” of operations. Beyond processing payments, it now tracks everything from repairs and custom jobs to commissions and staff timecards.
“It’s the clock-in and clock-out for my employees,” she explained. “It has all my daily sales, my work orders, and divides those up between employees so I can do commissions when I do payroll.”
The integration has reduced manual steps and improved visibility. Jewel360’s web-based platform means Zangerl can access the system “anywhere in the world.”
“When I’m on vacation, I can look at my phone and see what customers are coming in the store, what they purchased, what they picked up,” she said.
Even invoices can be generated remotely in minutes, enabling truly mobile operations.
POS Systems Built for Specialization
For both businesses, the POS serves as more than a checkout counter — it’s an operating system fine-tuned to their niches.
In jewelry, Zangerl said, “This is not a restaurant POS, this is not Target. This is specifically for the jewelry industry.”
Jewel360’s functionality goes deep into inventory detail, from tracking GIA-certified stones and serial numbers to managing memos, gold buying, and customized commission structures.
That specialization allows her to manage repairs, custom design orders, and high-ticket sales seamlessly, while the analytics dashboards track progress on jobs and monitor revenue by employee.
Adapting to Digital Payments and New Customers
Zangerl has seen her clientele shift toward a younger demographic — and with them, a new set of payment habits. Tap-to-pay and mobile wallets are increasingly common.
For both entrepreneurs, their POS systems have become indispensable. Kaisand relies on hers to keep product flows steady and her customer data organized; Zangerl depends on hers to manage every operational detail in real time. Both have come to see that the POS is no longer a peripheral tool — it’s the infrastructure that keeps their businesses running.
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