Pay Stripe rates. Not 3.5% to merchant services.

What "marine POS" actually means at the parts counter

The marine parts counter is its own creature. The customer is impatient. The part has three vendor SKUs at three different prices. The customer is also a previous boat-buying customer who has $80 of store credit. The parts counter person is also covering the phone. And the credit card terminal is across the room.

Generic retail POS doesn't fit. Auto-industry POS doesn't either. You need a marine POS that knows boats are connected to customers, parts have multiple vendors, and the goal at the counter is one thing: get the customer paid and out the door fast.

What the HelmDMS marine POS does

• Barcode scan, then add to cart. Bluetooth scanner or phone camera. Works with the bluetooth scanners you probably already have, plus any iPhone or iPad.
• Customer pull-up by phone, name, or last 4. Type three digits, see matches, click. Smart duplicate detection so you don't create "Bob Smith" for the fourth time.
• Stripe Terminal integration. POS sends the total to the card reader automatically. Staff never types a number into the terminal again. Signature on the pad, no paper.
• Card-on-file with one click. Regulars get charged without re-swiping. Approve once, charge forever (with consent).
• Hold and recall carts. Customer walks away to grab one more thing? Hold the cart, ring up the next person, recall it later.
• Digital receipts by default. Email or SMS the receipt — paper as fallback. Customer database grows on every transaction.
• Quick-add customer. Walk-in with no record? Type name and phone, save and ring up in one step.
• Sell parts, merch, and service tickets in one transaction. Mixed cart support — no second checkout step.
• Surcharge / cash discount support. Configurable per state. Compliant out of the box.

Why "type the total into the credit card machine" has to die

It's the most common workflow in boat shops we've talked to. The DMS rings up $387.42. The cashier types $387.42 into the credit card terminal. They miss the decimal. Now it's $38,742, declined, refunded, retry. The customer is impatient. Mistakes happen. Cards get charged twice. Customers get billed wrong amounts. Reconciling at end of day is hours of work.

Native Stripe Terminal integration means the POS pushes the total to the card reader. Staff never types. The amount is right by definition.

Stripe rates, no markup

HelmDMS uses Stripe as the default processor. You'll pay 2.7% + 5¢ for card-present transactions and 2.9% + 30¢ for online — Stripe's published rates, no markup from us. That's typically better than what marine dealers are getting on Ecrypt/Fiserv (often 3.0–3.5% plus monthly fees), and it eliminates the surcharging-customers-3.5% workaround.

The full HelmDMS platform

The marine POS is one piece. The full platform includes service work order management, parts and inventory with multi-vendor sourcing, scheduling with SMS reminders, live supplier search, caller ID, QuickBooks Online sync, and more. See every feature →

$499/mo flat for founding dealers — first 25 sign-ups lock in for life.