Cloud vs Desktop Jewelry POS: Which Is Right for Your Store?

3 minutes · WJewel jewelry software

The video version of our cloud vs desktop jewelry POS comparison: what each model actually means, where cloud wins and where desktop still does, the jewelry-specific lens, an honest five-year cost of ownership, and a quick decision guide. The last part shows WJewel running on PCs, tablets and phones.

What the video covers

Desktop vs cloud: where the data lives, and who handles updates and backups
Multi-store data, remote visibility, website sync and disaster recovery
Where desktop still wins: speed under load, poor internet, data on site
Serialized items, repairs, memo, metal pricing and store transfers
Five-year total cost of ownership, and a decision shortcut

Chapters

0:00 The question has shifted
0:12 What each actually means
0:30 Where cloud wins
0:59 Where desktop still wins
1:16 The jewelry-specific lens
1:34 Total cost of ownership over five years
2:04 A decision shortcut
2:21 WJewel in the cloud
2:44 Contact us

Transcript

Read the full transcript

The question has shifted

Cloud or desktop? The honest answer has shifted, and for jewelry, with serialized stock, repairs and store transfers, the tradeoffs are different.

What each actually means

A desktop POS is installed on a PC, with the database on a server in the back room. Updates and backups are up to you. A cloud POS runs from the vendor's data center, usually in a browser, with the data replicated off-site and updated centrally.

Where cloud wins

Cloud wins on most fronts: one dataset across all your stores, and live sales and stock you can see from anywhere, website sync without a middleware server, and updates and backups that happen without anyone remembering to, disaster recovery, so after a fire you're open the next morning on a laptop, a lower upfront cost, and iPads on the floor or at a show.

Where desktop still wins

Desktop still wins in a few places: raw speed under heavy load, and selling through an outage in a store with poor internet, keeping the data on your own server, and no subscription, until the forced upgrade comes due.

The jewelry-specific lens

Look at it through a jeweler's lens: one-of-a-kind serialized items, and repair tickets that move between stores, appraisals, memo and consignment, daily metal spot prices, and store transfers that carry a piece's full history.

Total cost of ownership over five years

And compare the total cost over five years, not the sticker price: the license or subscription, server hardware, Windows and SQL Server licenses, and backups, IT support, downtime, an upgrade project every five to seven years, and the cost of integrations. Run the math honestly, including the weekend the server died, and cloud usually wins, even for a single store.

A decision shortcut

A quick decision guide: one store with solid internet, two or more stores, or a website to keep in sync: cloud. A rural store with unreliable internet: desktop, or a cloud system with a proven offline mode.

WJewel in the cloud

WJewel is fully web-based. It runs on your counter PCs and Macs, on iPads and other tablets, and on phones, with one login and one set of data. Pieces transfer between stores with their full history, and your website stays connected to the same inventory.

Contact us

You'll find the full comparison on the WJewel blog. WJewel is fully web-based, and runs on PCs, Macs, tablets and phones. To learn more, visit www.wjewel.com, or call us at (646) 578-8300.