ZP Suite vs Arcavis: which Swiss till should you choose?

Who each one is for

Arcavis AG presents itself as a Swiss provider ("Swiss Made Software" on its contact page), aimed at SMEs across many sectors (retail, florists, home decor, fashion, opticians, hairdressers, food, hospitality, social institutions, tourism and leisure) as well as multi-site chains, up to 5,000 tills according to the provider.

ZP Suite is aimed at Swiss shops and restaurants that want a lifetime licence rather than a subscription, installed and set up by an authorised reseller in their region.

Comparison table

What Arcavis does well

Arcavis highlights centralised integration between sales, stock and reporting, with no double data entry, as well as a self-service till feature built into its offering. The provider claims large-scale multi-site management, no hidden costs, included customer support and updates, and quick set-up with the customer's existing hardware.

Pricing: a sliding subscription per till

On the Swiss page reviewed, Arcavis charges CHF 59 to CHF 199 per month for the first till depending on the plan, then each additional till at 50% of the first till's price, with a discount beyond ten tills. According to the provider, this offer runs from 1 to 5,000 tills on the Professional plan. ZP Suite charges every till the same price, CHF 590 excl. VAT as a lifetime licence, regardless of how many tills a business has: the lifetime licence guide sets out a full calculation.

Payment: proprietary or third-party terminals

Arcavis's Light plan works with Arcavis Pay, its own payment solution, charged at 0.79% for Visa and Mastercard Debit cards, and 1.09% for credit cards and TWINT, plus CHF 0.05 per transaction, according to the pricing page reviewed. The Professional and Ultimate plans also accept any third-party terminal. ZP POS, for its part, directly controls Swiss third-party terminals (Worldline, Nexi, Paytec, Wallee / PostFinance), whose payment terms are set by each provider, independent of the till licence price.

A sector catalogue close to your own

Arcavis cites sectors close to those of ZP Suite: retail, fashion, food and hospitality, as well as more specific trades such as florists, home decor, opticians or hairdressing salons. ZP Suite, for its part, covers retail, with grocery, fashion and home shops, and hospitality, with restaurants, fast food and events, each with its own page.

What to check with your reseller

The price Arcavis shows for the first till says nothing about the final cost for a business with several tills: each additional till is charged separately, under the 50%-of-the-first-till rule. For ZP Suite, every ZP POS till costs the same fixed amount, lifetime licence included. In both cases, ask for a complete costing for the number of tills at your business, hardware and installation included.

When to choose ZP Suite

ZP Suite suits a shop or restaurant that would rather pay for its till once than every month, and that wants to control the common Swiss payment terminals directly (Worldline, Nexi, Paytec, Wallee / PostFinance). The suite also covers stock on a handheld terminal with ZP Stock, and small baskets with a ZP selfCheckout kiosk.

Two Swiss providers, two pricing models

Arcavis, like ZP Suite, claims full offline operation. The main difference lies in the pricing model, a monthly subscription at Arcavis, a lifetime licence at ZP Suite. On payment, Arcavis Pay is included in Arcavis's Light plan, while the Professional and Ultimate plans accept Arcavis Pay or a third-party terminal; ZP Suite directly controls Swiss third-party terminals. Your reseller can help you compare these two approaches for your business.