Anthology POS Review - why 4 stars?

Shlomi Lavi / updated: Mar 12, 2022

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What is Anthology POS?

Visual Anthology is retail and POS software designed for booksellers. The software comes with features such as:

• Sales: Visual Anthology comes with a cash register to aid sales management. Booksellers can also sell books and non-book items, gift cards, and gift certificates on a single sale.
• Inventory Control: This feature comes with purchase orders. Booksellers can create, print, and electronically send POs. They can also track draft, open, and complete POs, Create POs manually or auto-generate using this feature.
• Reporting: Anthology offers dozens of built-in reports, many highly customizable, for sales history, inventory status, purchasing and receiving history, etc. This feature also provides a powerful query and reporting functionality, allowing users to create, name, and save ad hoc reports on Inventory, Customers, and Vendors.
• Customer Relationship Marketing: Booksellers, if they wish to, can track detailed or summary sales history for customers through cash Register, customer orders, and other sales modules.
• Optional Multi-store module: Visual Anthology enables booksellers to manage their whole organization from a central location. This feature also provides full reporting in near-real-time on sales, receiving, transfers, and every other aspect of a business.

Visual Anthology is a bookstore retail and POS software that started in 1989. The company is headquartered in the scenic resort town of Traverse City, Michigan, United States.

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Who is it best for?

The software is a viable product for small and medium retail businesses as well as large multi- location ventures. It can be used booksellers, antique stores, stationary and gift stores, toy stores, and other similar retail outlets. Some notable clients of the software include Book on the Common, Community Bookstore, Eagle Harbor Books, and others.

Main features and functionalities

The software comes with a variety of useful POS services such as credit card processing, discounts and gift cards, customer history, barcode scanning, multi-system integration, mobile POS, layaways and quotes, receipt printing, returns and refunds, and special orders. Its retail accounting features include accounts payable and receivable management, bank transactions, purchase orders, and sales audit.

Visual Anthology offers inventory management capabilities of automated ordering, barcode generation, inventory transfers, importing of vendor catalogs, price tag customization, serial number assignment, and supplier database. Other important capabilities include email marketing, loyalty rewards program, targeted mailing lists, online shipping, customizable reporting, and others.

What is the actual cost?

The cost of license starts at $260 per user/month. ITQlick pricing score is 4.6 out of 10 (10 is most expensive). Access ITQlick pricing guide for Anthology POS.

Pros

• Visual Anthology is a low-cost software
• The software is easy to use
• The software comes with optimal bookselling features

Cons

• The software has limited support channels

How it stacks up?

Access a head to head analysis of Anthology POS vs alternative software solutions.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Is Anthology POS right for you or your business?

Visual Anthology is the best fit for independent booksellers, museum stores, gift shops, toy stores, and new age stores. Anyone who carries books can benefit from the Visual Anthology solution. Visual Anthology is a growing team of bookselling and computer professionals with a vision to empower booksellers by creating powerful, easy-to-use, and affordable inventory control solutions.