It Wasn’t Just About Picking a POS System.
When Elli and Paige of Placed Interiors decided to open their shoppe and showroom, the to-do list was massive. Build out the physical space. Curate inventory. Plan the launch. Market the opening. And somewhere in the middle of all of that, figure out the technology that would actually run the retail side of the business.
Specifically, they needed a point-of-sale system. And if you’ve ever tried to select a POS for a business that doesn’t fit neatly into one category, you know how quickly that process turns into a rabbit hole.
Placed Interiors isn’t just a retail store. It’s an interior design firm with a shoppe and a showroom. Those are three connected but distinct revenue streams with different needs, different customer experiences, and different data requirements. A POS that works perfectly for a straightforward boutique doesn’t necessarily work for a business this layered.
That’s where DayMade came in.
Why This Wasn’t a Simple Software Decision
The obvious approach to POS selection is to Google "best POS for retail," read a few comparison articles, and pick the one with the most features for the best price. That’s the task-taker approach, and it would have gotten Elli and Paige a functional system.
But functional and right for your business are not the same thing.
Before we looked at a single platform, we started with the questions that actually matter: What are your business goals for the shop? How do you want customers to experience the checkout process? What reporting do you need to understand what’s working? How does the POS need to integrate with inventory across the showroom and the shop? What does growth look like, and will this system scale with you?
Those questions changed the entire selection process. We weren’t just comparing feature lists. We were evaluating systems against a clear picture of how the business actually operates and where it’s headed.
The Evaluation Process
We researched, demoed, and compared multiple POS platforms. For each one, we evaluated it against Placed Interiors’ specific criteria, not against a generic "best POS" checklist.
Can it handle the complexity of a business with design clients, retail customers, and showroom appointments? Does the inventory management work across multiple contexts? Is the reporting granular enough to give Elli and Paige visibility into each revenue stream separately? Will the customer experience at checkout feel aligned with the Placed Interiors brand? What’s the learning curve for team members who’ll be using it daily?
We presented our findings, walked through the trade-offs of each option, and made a recommendation. But here’s the important part: the recommendation wasn’t just "pick this one." It was "here’s why this one aligns with your business goals, here’s what you’ll gain, here’s what you’ll need to work around, and here’s how to set it up to get the most out of it."
Implementation With a Safety Net
Here's something I want to be transparent about, because it speaks to how we actually work: Elli and Paige handled the implementation themselves.
We did the research. We made the recommendation. We walked them through the setup strategy and what to prioritize during configuration. But they were the ones in the system, building it out, learning the platform, and making it theirs.
Our role during implementation was to be available. When they hit a wall or had a question about how to configure something for their specific needs, we were there to talk it through. That's a different kind of support than doing it for you, and honestly, for a tool your team will use every single day, it's often the better approach. Elli and Paige now know their POS inside and out because they built it themselves, with strategic guidance when they needed it.
Not every project works this way. Sometimes we handle implementation end to end. But in this case, the right move was empowering their team to own the system while making sure they never felt stuck or unsupported in the process. That's the difference between a partner who does the thinking with you and a vendor who just does the work for you.
Why This Project Matters Beyond the POS
I’m sharing this story because it illustrates something I think a lot of founders miss: the tech decisions you make early on become the infrastructure your business runs on for years. A POS isn’t just a cash register. It’s how you track revenue, understand your customers, manage inventory, and make data-driven decisions about what’s working and what isn’t.
When that foundation is solid, everything built on top of it works better. When it’s shaky, every decision downstream is harder than it needs to be.
Elli and Paige didn’t just get a POS system. They got a piece of foundational infrastructure that was selected and configured with their entire business model in mind. That’s the difference between picking a tool and building a system.
The Bigger Picture
Our work with Placed Interiors extends well beyond POS selection. We’ve partnered with Elli and Paige on internal operations, roles and responsibilities, and building the structure that allows their growing team to operate with clarity. The POS project is one piece of a larger effort to give Placed Interiors the infrastructure that matches the caliber of their design work.
That’s always the goal: a business that runs as beautifully behind the scenes as it looks from the outside.
If you’re a creative founder making tech decisions for your business and feeling overwhelmed by options, that’s exactly the kind of project DayMade handles. We don’t just recommend tools. We evaluate, select, and optimize them for your specific business so the technology actually serves how you work. Explore The Suites for project-based support, or book an Office Hours session to talk through what you’re facing.
