National Retail Solutions (NRS) provides affordable point-of-sale (POS) solutions to 20,000+independent brick-and-mortar retailers across the United States. The company was founded in 2015 and is headquartered in Newark, New Jersey. NRS offers a range of POS hardware and software solutions, including an all-in-one POS system that includes a dual-screen register, barcode scanner, locked cash drawer, thermal receipt printer, with payment acceptance capabilities. The company also offers a suite of software applications, including NRS Pay credit card processing integration, sales, inventory and users’ management, ecommerce, loyalty, and more. Overall, National Retail Solutions aims to provide small and medium-sized retailers with powerful technology tools and resources they need to compete with larger retailers and succeed in an increasingly competitive market.

NRS Founder and CEO Elie Y. Katz spoke exclusively to

CIO Bulletin. Below is an excerpt:

You mentioned complementary services. Tell us more about those and why they’re beneficial.

Although we’re known as aprovider of POS solutions, we go beyond this, offering services like:

• A built-in Coupon Rewards Program to offer monthly discounts on popular items. Customers sign up at their local store and receive a key fob to scan each visit at checkout to receive the deals – at no cost to the merchant.
• An integrated one-touch Boss Revolution^® portal on the merchant touchscreen, for pinless recharge and money transfer services.
• Financial services that can help manage cash flow. Retailers have priority access to business cash advances.
• Retailers can upload artwork in the merchant web portal, to run promotional ads on the customer-facing screen.
• Remote store management via app and web portal means a merchant can check on their store from anywhere, 24/7.
• Quickbooks! Intuit recently announced that as of October 2023, it will no longer support its Quickbook for POS service. However, the NRS POS works with standard Quickbooks. We try to always stay one step ahead with technology.

Q. What features does your POS system typically include?

Our all-in-one POS system utilizes cutting-edge technology that comprises a range of hardware and software features aimed at boosting efficiency for small business owners. This is particularly beneficial for independent retailers, convenience stores, bodegas, etc., helping businesses streamline operations and improve their bottom line. Some of the features include:

• The In-Store Items section, which gives complete control over available items.
• A UPC catalog including thousands of UPCs from popular brands and items to help save time.
• The One-Click Items section, which easily assigns popular items to custom buttons
• A barcode scanner to improve checkout times and for quick and easy adding to price book. The scanner can also scan IDs for age-verification compliance (with ID scanning add-on subscription.)
• A touch screen interface that’s easy for users of all skill levels to use.
• Capability to build and easily set up and manage your own promotions.

“At National Retail Solutions (NRS), we understand the unique needs and challenges facing small and mid-sized Mom ‘n’ Pop businesses, particularly convenience, grocery, tobacco, liquor, hardware, and gas station c-stores. We believe that these businesses are the lifeblood of local communities, and we’re committed to helping themsucceed by providing them with innovative,affordable, and scalable POS solutions.”

Q. How do you keep your employees motivated to enable them to deliver the best work?

We are a fast-growing company. Each day yields something new and exciting. Most of our employees are self-motivated, proactive, and enthusiastic team players. So our business is not just about helping our customers, nor is it about fast-tracked development of new products and services. It is about camaraderie with shared values within a highly supportive environment.

Q. For what reasons would a small business owner want to use your all-in-one POS system?

Ensuring a positive checkout experience is essential for leaving a good impression on customers as they exit your business. An all-in-one POS system can facilitate the checkout process effectively and efficiently, leading to happy customers and employees. Because it’s so intuitive, the NRS point of sale system utility is easy for employees and speeds up lines at checkout. Plus, it provides various data and reporting benefits that save the store owner time and money, and can contribute to the long-term success of the business.

Specifically, our all-in-one system has a few main benefits. For one, when integrated with NRS Pay credit card processing, it stays on top of current technology, such as adapting to the rise in Apple and Google Pay. The merchant mobile app allows for long-distance store management. The system is designed to be user-friendly, not just for customers to see their transaction and benefit from discounts at checkout, but for the employees and managers as well. Our system is also scalable, so growing businesses can rest assured that it will grow with them and not become outdated. Various software plans and time saving, cost-cutting add-on subscriptions can support the store’s operations and grow its revenue.

But maybe most attractive, especially to a small business owner, is that it can help save money and effort by keeping all your systems in one place. A state-of-the-art register plus integrated credit card processing eliminate the need for manually transferring data and make maintenance simple.

Q. What does the future hold for NRS?

At NRS, we recognize that the world is constantly evolving and so are we. Our objective is not only to keep up with the latest trends, but to be at the forefront of innovation, enabling our retail partners to achieve the greatest possible success. To achieve this goal, we strive to anticipate the technological and business needs of our store operators, empowering small and medium-sized businesses to gain a competitive edge and thrive in their respective markets. We are constantly enhancing and improving our products and services to help make our retailers’ business lives easier – and more lucrative.

About Elie Y. Katz

Elie Y. Katz is Founder & CEO of National Retail Solutions (NRS). Seven years ago, he founded National Retail Solutions (NRS) with the mission of helping independent businesses compete and thrive. Katz is additionally currently Deputy Mayor of Teaneck, NJ, having served previously as Mayor. He also manages real estate properties (commercial, mixed use and land) and food establishments (owned thirteen food businesses, including bakeries, restaurants, and take-out). Katz possesses a keen business savvy, with an understanding of the value of investment, generation of revenue and business growth leadership from creation and acquisition, through exit.

National Retail Solutions (NRS), a subsidiary of IDT (NYSE: IDT), is a provider of the NRS point of sale network (nrsplus.com) and NRS Pay credit card processing (nrspay.com), which service many thousands of independent retailers across the US. Additional offerings include NRS Petro (nrspetro.com), NRS Funding business cash advance, EBT Unlimited!, eCommerce, payroll and more.

“We are an audience-measured POS ad network in Independent C-store, Grocery, &Specialty Retail with SKU-level data measurement.”