Koupah Does Tablet-Based Point-Of-Sale, But Also Zaps Credit Card Transaction Fees
TechCrunch Disrupt NY 2013 Startup Alley company Koupah is a fresh take on the tablet-based point-of-sale space, which is growing in popularity among SMBs that want a solution that’s flexible, extensible and less expensive than legacy POS-specific hardware systems. Koupah takes the model a step further by offsetting some or all credit card transaction fees with advertising.
The system works by tracking customers and keeping a record of them across Koupah systems, complete with purchase history and shopping preferences, to help create profiles that can be used to create personalized ads and offers for repeat shoppers. Those promotions will be printed directly on a customer’s bill, and each is designed to target that customer specifically, making for a greater chance it’ll become an actual conversion. The commission that Koupah takes in for displaying those ads is then used to offset the 2.69 percent fee that credit card processors put on credit payments.
Merel said in an interview that the system also supports purchases from mobile devices, delivery orders, take-out and dine-in, so it’s intended as a complete replacement for existing POS and retail/restaurant backends, complete with an analytics platform. The New York-based startup is accepting reservations now for merchants interested in trying it in-store.