Vend (software)

History

Vend was launched in August 2010 by software developer Vaughan Rowsell.

In the two years following its launch, Vend secured funding from various investors and announced a partnership with Paypal.

In 2013, Vend raised NZ$8 million of funding from investors in Australia (i.e. Craig Winkler, MYOB founder and a cornerstone investor in Xero, and Paul Bassett and Matt Rockman, co-founders of Seek.com.au) and New Zealand (i.e The Milford Active Growth Fund, managed by Brian Gaynor). Further capital has also been raised from existing investors including Point Nine Capital in Berlin.

The following year, Vend closed US$20 million (NZ$25 million) in Series B funding. The funding round was co-lead by PayPal co-founder and the first outside investor in Facebook, Peter Thiel of Valar Ventures and Square Peg Capital in Australia. Later in 2014, the company also opened offices in Toronto and London.

In 2015, Vend announced that it was working with Apple as one of a select group of business app developers to bring innovative mobile solutions for business to iPad users. Vend is now officially endorsed by Apple and is one of about 20 apps that Apple is curating for SMBs that are billed as both working well, and working well in concert with each other.

In the same year, Vend launched Vend Ecommerce to help brick-and-mortar retailers set up shop online. It also announced a partnership with UK payments provider iZettle, and North American payments provider Mercury (now Vantiv).

In 2016, the company joined forces with Square to enable US-based advanced retailers who use Vend’s sophisticated POS software and retail management system to process payments with Square. It also revamped its integration with long-standing partner Xero and announced a formal partnership, uniting the two companies under joint business goals in key international markets for the first time.

In 2016 Vend also launched an app separate to its own platform for inventory management named Counter. Available through Apple’s App Store, Counter allows retailers to perform full and partial inventory counts, as well as process product deliveries and transfers using their iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch. The app is aimed at retail store owners, warehouse managers, and stock room supervisors, and seeks to streamline counting inventory by reducing manual work for retailers.

At the end of 2016, Vend raised a further US$9 million ($NZ13 million) led by existing investors, and with significant new investment from fund manager Movac. With the additional funding, Vend aims to continue its expansion and product development in its established markets including Australia, the US and the UK. In 2016 Vend grew its UK staff to 20 and opened a new office in East London.

Technology

Vend uses HTML5 features in Google Chrome and Safari to implement offline processing capabilities.

Aside from being compatible with Mobile Safari & Chrome, Vend also has a native iOS app called Vend Register.

The architecture of this ground-breaking point of sale system allows it to be truly hardware independent, and despite being 100% cloud-based, Vend can continue to ring up sales during an Internet outage. In 2016, Vend’s Solutions team gained world-wide notoriety in technology and security circles after detecting and disclosing a major security Internet vulnerability, unrelated to the Vend platform.

Product overview

Vend’s core feature is its web-based POS system, which runs on any device that has a web browser as well as its iPad app Vend Register.

Vend also has robust inventory management capabilities designed to help retailers stay on top of stock orders, transfers, and inventory counts. It also provides features including loyalty, customer management, gift cards, and employee tracking.

Reporting is a big component of Vend’s software. Vend allows merchants to generate reports on several aspects of their business, including sales, inventory, and customer behavior. Users are able to build their own reports, and use a wide range of variables and filters to get the data they need.

Vend also helps retailers sell across multiple channels. In addition to its cloud-based POS system that works on multiple devices, the company also has Vend Ecommerce (complete with click-and-collect capabilities), as well other integrations, to enable retailers to sell online.

Vend has been able to secure key partnerships with companies such as Paypal, Xero, iZettle and Apple, to accelerate its growth and increase its global profile. It is one of only a handful of app developers bringing business applications to iPad users.

Customers

Vend is made for SMB retailers, through to larger multi-outlet businesses with more complex retail operations. Its focus on sophisticated inventory allows it to take a unique position in the market for advanced and multi-outlet retailers. Vend provides powerful multi-outlet features, which enable retailers to stay on top of multiple stores and hundreds (or even thousands) of products. This is combined with  “omnichannel” capabilities such as ecommerce and click-and-collect, allowing merchants to sell and serve customers across physical and digital channels.

Notable and successful Vend customers include:

Awards and recognition

Blog

Along with its software, Vend provides quality and reputable content, inspiration and advice for retailers of all sizes, to help them better run their business via the Vend Blog. Its blog site has been recognised by other industry experts and independent small business sites, as a leading resource for retailers and SMBs. This includes Capterra’s ‘9 Retail Blogs You Need to be Following’; FitSmallBusiness’ ‘Best Retail Blogs of 2016’; and Star Cloud Services’ ‘Top 20 Blogs for SMB Independent Retailers’.