A Look at the Clover Flex

The Flex is lightweight and portable because to its 5 inch screen and one pound body. It's designed for situations when you need to take your POS terminal with you, and it may be utilised in a wide variety of places. It's convenient since it can be used at any cash register or brought to a trade fair or booth. It may be used to cut front of other people in long lines.

The gadget is more than just a card reader thanks to its integrated printer, camera, and barcode scanner. Customers might be given the option to get their receipts by either paper copy or digital delivery (email or SMS).

Clover Flex 3G models are no longer being developed and will be "end-of-support" as of the year 2021, however we have tested them. While you may keep using your previous model of Clover Flex after support has ended, you will no longer get updates or assistance from Clover and will be on your own if you have any problems.

This review has been updated to reflect the fact that the new Clover Flex has many of the same features as the prior model. Advertising for the new Flex emphasises the fact that it is twice as quick as its predecessor. The newest Flex may hook up to a wireless network or a 4G mobile network.

The Clover Flex's greatest strength is its ease of use and speedy installation. Using some functions may need downloading specialised applications (which may come at an extra cost).

The built-in capabilities are helpful, and you'll be less likely to find yourself in need of additional applications or spending extra money after getting everything set up to your liking. Customization at a useful level for companies is made possible by the ability to install just the applications that users really wish to use.

This Clover Flex review will examine the device's features, characteristics, prices, and distinctions from similar Clover devices. Feature availability may vary per plan, so please keep that in mind.

Have you been researching other Clovers for what you need to know? See what we thought of the Clover Station 2018 (that's the entire name of the machine, not the year of the review!) alternatively, A Review of the Clover Mini.
What's Cool About Clover Flex

The Clover Flex may function as either a standalone credit card terminal or a point-of-sale terminal. The machine itself, together with a roll of receipt paper for use in the integrated printer, power cable, screwdriver, and charging base, are all included in the package.

Its primary feature is the ability to process payments such as credit cards, debit cards, and contactless payments. It has the same functionality as a standard countertop terminal, but it also has comprehensive reporting and inventory management features.

The terminal may be used in a permanent position, on the go to avoid lines, or even at the table to make a payment. Customers may use the touchscreen display to digitally sign for their purchases, but the Flex also provides the option to print out paper receipts with signatures if that is preferred. In the event of a chargeback, you will have digitally signed and stored receipts at your disposal.

The Flex may be used with a stationary system because to its compatibility with other Clover devices.

Inventory

One of the most useful aspects of the Flex is the stock catalog/management capability. Standard countertop terminals often only provide payment processing and some reporting, but not stock management. The Flex combines the convenience of a countertop machine with the power of a point-of-sale system by adding an inventory function.

The product catalogue may be filtered by category and subcategory, and it allows for the addition of modifiers for food items and product variations.

Substances and Types

With Clover, you can create categories and add specific goods to them. Use the "Items" section to include a single item, service, or dish. (A turkey sandwich, for instance.) In "Categories," you may define broad classifications and label pertinent things as belonging to them. Typical examples are "sandwiches" and "non-alcoholic drinks."

If you want to utilise categories, it's best to create them beforehand. The rationale for this is because it is more convenient to assign categories to individual objects at the time they are added to the inventory rather than modifying each item individually afterwards.

However, you can always create categories after the fact and manually edit goods to put them to the new category if you forget a category or need to add a category as your inventory grows.

Substitutes and Variants

Staff members may quickly and easily ring up the correct item by using the modifiers and variations features.

The term "modifier" is most often used in the context of cuisine and indicates some kind of change to the original meal. If you sell boneless wings, you may provide several dipping sauces to your customers. To have the system ask for a preferred sauce when a wing order is taken, you might programme a "wing sauces" modification that lists all of the available sauces.

The minimum number of modifications that must be chosen may also be specified if it is to be mandatory. 0 = optional. ((1 or higher) is necessary.) To ensure the kitchen serves the correct meal, it may be necessary to insist on the modifier when ordering wings with a certain sauce. The need of a modification like "adding cheese" would not be the best idea, as some diners might not wish to include it.

An upper limit on modifiers may also be specified. If you provide 12 different wing sauces but only want consumers to be able to choose three for their order, you may set the modifier's maximum number of selections to just three. It's probably best to stick to just one slice of cheese when topping a burger. The modifier drop-down menu will display when the server inputs that item.

However, variations are the same product but with a change, such a different colour or size, and are more common for non-consumable / retail products. Shirt sizes small, medium, and big are all examples of variations that may be established for a same product.

Payments and Registration Book

With the Flex, you may accept payments via many interfaces. There will be a payment option on the "Orders" section if you have any open orders. It will also appear on the register page if the order is being processed by picking products from stock. Finally, choose the "Sale" option if you need to manually ring in a sale by entering the sum to be charged.

After that, you may choose whether to take cash, card, or check payments via the system. If you choose card, the app will prompt you to swipe, dip, or press the card, but there will also be a link to input the card details manually. Keep in mind that the processing costs for manually inputting card information are often greater than those for swiping, dipping, or tapping. Instead of manually entering the card details, run the cards through the system as often as feasible.

The Flex's NFC/contactless reader is located on its top, while the chip card slot and magnetic strip reader are located on its bottom (as seen in the image).

If you choose to manually input your card data, a virtual keypad will appear on the screen where you may type in the necessary information. If you choose cash as the method of payment, you'll be given a range of predefined dollar amounts to pick from or the opportunity to manually input the amount the client actually hands over.

Without a secure, portable cash box, accepting cash payments on the go might be inconvenient. The Flex may also be used as a fixed gadget that sits on a countertop if you deal with a lot of cash.

Personal Identification Numbers and Signatures

Customers paying with debit cards may enter their PINs on the Flex. The consumer may avoid entering a PIN by clicking the "skip" option in the upper right corner and instead signing for the transaction.

If you'd rather have consumers sign a paper receipt instead of the screen, you may turn off the Clovers' signature capture feature. As an alternative, you may choose to not have your signature captured electronically for a certain transaction.

The register will inquire whether a signature is required on the receipt.

Refunds

Looking for the Clover Flex return procedure? The return process is simple. All open, paid, and refunded orders will be shown on the "orders" tab. In order to get your money back, just choose the order you want and hit the "refund" option. When you request a refund, you may choose whether to get a partial or full return from the system. The transaction status will change to "refunded."

It's important to keep in mind that you may restrict the "roles" who can issue refunds. You may limit access to refund features for the "employee" role if you only want supervisors to process them. Permissions and assigned responsibilities are discussed in further detail in the review's section on managing employees.

If I issue a refund, will I also be reimbursed for the processing fee?

Maybe. It's possible that your refund processing costs won't be returned by your service provider. But some competitors do.

Make sure your processor offers a reimbursement for interchange costs on returns if you handle a lot of refunds (typical at locations like clothes retailers). In the alternative, you risk losing out on potential earnings.

Tips

The Flex's settings allow you to activate the tip functionality if you haven't already. It's up to you whether you want to recommend tip amounts, and what to "label" the various tip ranges if you want. Good (15%), Great (18%), Wow! (20%), and Best Service Ever (30%) are some of the recommended tip amounts that may be seen in Clover.

The recommended tips option has no "downside," per per, other than that it doesn't do the arithmetic for the customer until the amount is reached. For clarification, the percentage is merely shown on the screen that suggests recommendations. After they input the desired percentage, the screen reverts to the grand total with the tip already included. Before displaying the grand total, the screen might show the tips either as a separate line item or as a percentage of the total.

Receipts

The Flex includes a receipt printer at no extra cost, however its usage is not mandated. Receipts may either be printed automatically or manually. Customers have the option of forgoing paper receipts in favour of digital versions sent through email or text message. Customers who elect to get receipts through email or text message will also be presented with an opt-in marketing option. Customers will be asked whether they would want to opt in to your discount or deal mailing list if you activate this feature. The displayed message may be altered to suit your needs.

Take into account that, as will be shown below, the hyperlinks included in both the email and text message receipts lead the consumer directly to an electronic receipt.

Paper receipts may also include a link to an internet receipt. This feature is turned on by default but may be disabled if desired. In fact, Clover allows users a wide variety of receipt customization possibilities. You have the option of adding a logo, writing a custom message, and even having the cashier's or server's name appear on the receipt in addition to the online receipt link.

Command and Control

Staff management is another useful function that is often missing from countertop terminals. Users of the Flex might be given distinct "roles" within the business. Owner, supervisor, and worker are all included by default. This will allow you to restrict or allow access to certain features depending on the assigned role.

The illustration up above shows that you have complete freedom to be as particular or as broad as you desire. Do you want to make it such that only managers have access to refund functions? Certainly, you are capable of doing it out. Rather restrict the refund category to just specific features? That's an other option you can take.

Reporting

The Flex allows you to generate reports that include purchases, discounts, taxes, and more.

Not only do the gross amounts, tips, number of transactions, refunds, and net totals all appear in the payments report, but so do the individual components. Choose a predetermined time range to examine, or create your own. You may see sales data broken down by employee, as well as data broken down by card type and any cash adjustments that may have been done.

Sales data from all of your Clover devices may be seen in one place, or you can filter the data to show just the sales from the device you're now looking at using the dropdown menu. That's helpful for stores with several cash registers, and it also makes it easy to examine sales at a specific register.

Products sold within the specified time frame will be shown on the Items Reporting page. The amounts of any discounts applied and any taxes collected are reported here.

Accessories

The Clover Flex comes with the essentials for getting started, but additional attachments are available for addressing other use cases. Clover provides:

The Clover Flex compared. the Clover Mini

Once equipped with three compact credit card terminals, two of which were portable, Clover is now down to only two, one of which is portable (the Flex) and the other of which is not (the Mini.) The Clover Mobile, Clover's alternative portable terminal, no longer seems to exist.

With the smartphone/tablet reader, the entire Clover Station POS system, and two distinct tiny credit card terminals to pick from, it might be difficult to make a decision. While the other tiny systems are designed to be portable, the Clover Mini is bulkier and heavier. The Mini is a compact POS terminal that may be installed on the wall. In conjunction with a Clover Station, it becomes a customer-facing screen.

Many of the same functions are also available on the Clover Flex, which is a portable version of the original Clover. The Flex can support a wide variety of Clover-enabled applications, but not all of them. Unfortunately, the Mini or Clover Station is required for use with a select number of applications.

Both variants support the use of both magnetic-stripe cards and EMV chip cards, in addition to contactless (NFC) technologies like Apple Pay. The Flex, however, can't link up with a home kitchen printer. If this is a priority for you, look into a different make and model. If you enable offline transactions, the Mini and Flex can process payments even when you're not connected to the internet.

To sum up, go for the Flex if you care more about mobility than you do about printing from your kitchen. If you need a countertop POS systemthat can also be connected to a kitchen printer, your best bet is either a Mini or a Clover Station.

Compare and contrast: Clover Flex with Clover Station

There is no attempt or expectation that the Clover Flex will perform similarly to the Clover Station. The Flex may be used on a counter top or as a portable unit, and it accepts payments and keeps stock but isn't designed to replace a traditional point of sale system. The Clover Station 2018 is a full-featured point-of-sale system with all the trimmings (accounting, kitchen printing, integrated cash drawer, etc.).

The Flex is an excellent choice if you need a simple payment terminal that nevertheless has some high-end capabilities (such an inventory management system).

Because of its reduced size and number of features, the Flex is much more affordable. In contrast to the low-end models, which can be had for as little as $400, Clover Stations are usually priced at approximately $1,000. Prices may increase from there, depending on the options you choose.

Value of Clover Flex

Prices for the Clover Flex may range from around $400 to over $600 depending on where you get it. (The retail price of $449 may be seen on the official Clover website.) In addition to the initial cost of the terminal, you'll have to fork out money to process each transaction. The processing costs are established by the credit card processor you use.

First Data's TransArmor security suite, commonly known as Clover Security, must be used with all Clover devices, which often results in an additional $19.95 per month in costs.

An additional software subscription may be required. There was a time when Clover demanded this payment, and the cheapest monthly package cost $9. Since this revision, several plans provide no-monthly-fee options in return for increased credit card processing fees.

Payments, Essentials, and Register are the names of the three Clover Flex software options described on the Clover website.