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Fresh Takes & Insights

U.S. holiday retail sales topped $1 trillion for the first time in 2025, and November and December represent nearly 20% of annual retail revenue for most stores. The businesses that captured the most of that growth weren’t just busy. They were prepared. Here’s the checklist to make sure you are too.

Most retailers know dead stock is a problem—but few realize how much it actually costs them. Industry estimates suggest that 20–30% of inventory held by retailers qualifies as dead or slow-moving stock at any given time. Here’s what causes it, what it’s really costing you, and how a connected POS platform helps you stop it.

For restaurant owners, labor has become one of the most difficult expenses to control. Wages continue to rise. Finding and retaining qualified employees remains challenging. Overtime costs can quickly spiral during busy periods.

Most retailers don’t realize inventory shrinkage is becoming a serious problem until it starts eating into their profits. Here are five warning signs your losses may be above normal—and how a connected POS platform helps you identify and reduce them before they grow.

Your point-of-sale system should make running your business easier — not harder. But as restaurants and retailers grow, many find their old systems can’t keep up. From peak-hour crashes to disconnected tools and missing payment options, here are five clear signs your POS is holding you back, and what to do about it.

As global commerce expands, more businesses are accepting payments from customers around the world. Whether you run a restaurant, a boutique retail shop, or a multi-location operation, understanding cross-border payment processing isn’t just useful — it’s becoming essential.

For restaurant groups, retail chains, and franchise operators, the moment of growth often reveals the shortcomings of basic systems.

This guide explains everything: where your money is going, what’s pushing costs higher, and what steps you can take to lower fees—whether you run a restaurant, retail store, bar, convenience store, or pop-up shop.   

Most international businesses spend months planning their US entry — real estate, hiring, legal setup, branding. Then they choose a point of sale system in a weekend.
That mismatch is one of the most expensive mistakes in cross-border expansion.

You’re about to make a decision that will touch every sale, every shift, and every customer interaction your business has. Choosing a POS system in the U.S. market isn’t just a software decision — it’s an operational one.

At VELAONE, we believe the best technology doesn’t just solve problems – it creates opportunities. Our partner program is built on a simple premise: when our partners grow, we grow.

VelaPOS and Verona, both products of VELAONE, represent a new generation of intelligent, adaptable systems designed specifically for modern businesses that require more than basic transaction processing.

Merchants need visibility, control, and tools that scale with their business. That’s where VELAONE comes in—as a commerce ecosystem designed to unify point of sale, operations, payments, reporting, and support into a single connected platform.

What used to be a simple cash register system has evolved into a powerful digital ecosystem that unifies sales, inventory, analytics, payments, and customer engagement.

The holiday season is a golden time for retailers, restaurants, and service businesses alike to deepen customer relationships and differentiate themselves from their competitors.

The dining experience has gone digital. Gone are the days of clipboards, handwritten tickets, and stationary registers. In their place are sleek tablets that move as quickly as the servers do. The rise of mobile POS solutions has transformed restaurant operations.

The holiday season is upon us, and as shoppers flock to retail stores for Thanksgiving, Christmas gifts, and New Year’s celebrations, one thing has become abundantly clear: the way we pay has fundamentally changed.

The rising demand for omnichannel sales has made integrating e-commerce with retail POS systems one of the most crucial investments for modern businesses.

Businesses are no longer just asking what a Point-of-sale system is—they are looking for advanced custom POS software that not only processes sales but also strengthens customer relationships.

Modern cloud-based POS systems and mobile POS platforms are adept at capturing intricate patterns of customer behavior, purchase histories, and preferences with each interaction. Whether you’re running a retail store, restaurant, or convenience shop, your computerized POS system is constantly gathering valuable insights.

As businesses increasingly rely on advanced POS systems to manage their operations, the importance of protecting sensitive customer information has never been more crucial. Understanding compliance requirements and implementing solid security measures is essential.