Tablet-Based Cash Registers And Pre-Ordering

IPO of Shopify, value of OpenTable, new releases from Groupon and LevelUp, best results of Starbucks, 5 startups from Indonesia

TECHCRUNCH: The Canadian Shopify went public today and popped a massive 51 percent! Shopify, which provides tablet-based cash-registers and e-commerce solutions to small and medium-sized businesses, initially priced between $12 and $14 per share, a gap that is boosted to $14 to $16 per share, before actually selling its equity for $17 apiece. Its shares spiked as high as $28.74 per share, before retreating to a more stable range later in its first day of regular trading. The shares ended their first day worth $25.68. Read more

WIRED: Leveraging its vast network of eateries, OpenTable made a foray into the mobile payments business last year. The company billed the new feature as a way to streamline the dining experience by alleviating the hassle of paying the check at the end of the meal. With the new system, users can add a credit card to their accounts. When a customer sits down at a participating restaurant, the reservation is automatically linked to the corresponding table and tab. He or she can view the itemized order through OpenTable’s mobile app, specify a tip and pay via iPhone without waiting for a bill. For restaurants, the value is clear. Mobile payments mean that wait staff won’t have to run back and forth to process credit cards and collect customer signatures. Patrons who pay via touchscreen are likely to spend more freely than those paying by cash or credit card. For users, the primary draw is convenience. Read more

TECHCRUNCH: Groupon has been expanding its footprint beyond daily deals for some time, and today the company is doubling down on its investment in its restaurant point-of-sale system Breadcrumb with a new app designed to bring live sales data to the iPhone. With Breadcrumb Live, the company is offering restaurant owners the ability to pull up sales information, check counts, performance trends and other analytics, even when they’re away from their business. Read more

Mobile Payments Today: Olo and LevelUp have launched the restaurant industry’s first turnkey mobile commerce solution with built-in ordering, loyalty and payment in one user experience, according to a company press release. The new fully branded app experience removes the complexity of integrating solutions and brings together fast, fluid mobile ordering with customer offers and rewards, said Michael J. Hagan, chief strategy officer of LevelUp. Consumers now have the opportunity to order and pay ahead, earn rewards, or pay in-store all within the same application, available for both Apple iOS or Google Android devices. Read more

Slate:  The latest quarter was a “stunning” one for Starbucks, CEO Howard Schultz said on Thursday. The company grew revenue by 18 percent to $4.6 billion to beat expectations while profit jumped 16 percent. But perhaps more important were the numbers Starbucks gave on its signature My Starbucks Rewards program. Last quarter, a record 1.3 million new members enrolled in the loyalty program to bring total active sign-ups to 10.3 million. Starbucks is now processing more than 8 million mobile payments per week. Its mobile order-and-pay program, which lets customers place orders ahead of time and then pick them up in-store, has been added to more than 600 stores in the Pacific Northwest and is exceeding all internal goals. Read more

TechInAsia:  5 point-of-sale startups that want a piece of Indonesia’s consumption boom. It’s no secret that Indonesia’s growing economy is largely fuelled by brick-and-mortar consumption. While not immediately obvious, this presents great opportunities for techstartups, namely those offering creative solutions for point-of-sale (POS) systems at the checkout counter. Read more