2020 Review of Celerant Stratus Enterprise Point of Sale

From the 2020 reviews of point of sale systems.

Celerant Stratus Enterprise from Celerant Technology combines in-store point of sale capability, mobile sales processing, inventory management, and back office accounting into a single platform. Designed for enterprise level retailers, with both brick and mortar and online stores, Celerant Stratus can be used with a variety of operating system platforms such as Windows, Linux, UNIX, and Mac, and is cloud-based for easy system access. Celerant Stratus also works on both iOS and Android smart phones and tablets. 

Along with in-store point of sale capability, Celerant Stratus is packed with additional features including Custom E-Commerce, Email Marketing Services, Order Fulfillment, Vendor Management, Warehouse Management, Resource Management, Payment Processing, and Online Marketplace Integrations, with many others available. 

Celerant Stratus works well for a variety of industries including Hardware, Pharmacy, Apparel and Footwear, Sporting Goods, and Toy and Hobby. The application is completely customizable for each industry, and offers complete flexibility when processing a sale offering both register sales along with mobile sales from a tablet or smartphone. Optimally designed for high-volume transaction processing, users can easily customize the point of sale interface to suit their needs. In addition, the intuitive user interface allows users to easily perform multiple transactions including standard sales, online sales, and price lookup. Users can also access inventory levels and access or add customer or vendor information as needed.

Celerant Stratus includes a mobile inventory app that can be used to check inventory levels for any location, while the use of bar code scanners makes it easy to quickly process cash sales.  

Other related transactions that can be processed in Celerant Stratus include product returns, product holds, layaways, gift card sales, and the ability to accept loyalty cards. Users can also add customers, products, and vendors into Celerant Stratus on the fly when necessary.  

Celerant Stratus supports multiple store locations and multiple warehouses. Multiple tender types are also supported in the application, with users able to add up to 24 different tender types to the application. The application also accepts both Apple and Android Pay as well as OpenEdge and Worldpay.

Celerant Stratus includes an excellent CRM feature for tracking detailed information on customers. The application is able to track sales from multiple locations. Membership, buying club, and loyalty program capability is included, with the ability to create targeted coupons and promotions for customers based on prior sales. In addition, the application offers both in-store and online gift cards. 

Celerant Stratus offers excellent inventory and warehouse management including complete inventory fulfillment. In addition, the application offers mobile inventory management as well as the ability to manage both brick and mortar and online inventory. Users are able to utilize their smartphone as a portable bar code scanning device for easy inventory management. Minimum and maximum product levels can be set for any product for automatic reordering, and users can easily forecast inventory levels based on past performance such as trends, top-sellers, and promotions. 

The Business Intelligence feature in Celerant Stratus offers advanced reporting options including sales performance, inventory levels, and trends, while the dashboard provides current sales and inventory data from all retail locations. The application also includes both standard and custom reporting options with reports such as Average Sales, Inventory Movement, and Sales Levels by Employee available. All Celerant Stratus reports are customizable, and users are able to export reports to Microsoft Excel for additional customization if needed. 

Celerant Stratus is a powerful platform, with all modules working together seamlessly. In addition, the application includes excellent marketplace integration capability for online sellers, including integration with Walmart. Amazon, and eBay,  eliminating the need for duplicate data entry. Celerant Stratus also integrates with third party accounting applications including Sage 100, QuickBooks Desktop, QuickBooks Online, and Microsoft Dynamics GP. In addition, Celerant Stratus offers integration with standard point of sale hardware including both touchscreen and standard monitors, key pads, card swipes, barcode scanners, signature capture devices, and employee time clocks.

Celerant Stratus offers easy access to various help and support options from within the application. White papers and videos can be viewed online, and product users can access support via the password protected user portal. All Celerant Stratus users are assigned their own implementation manager to ensure proper product setup. A variety of product support options are available, with early/late and weekend support.

Celerant Stratus is best-suited for multi-channel retailers that operate both brick and mortar and online stores. Designed to provide complete front/back office management, Celerant Stratus will be a significant investment in both cost and implementation time. Parties interested in Celerant Stratus can request a demo or a quote directly from the vendor. Note that there is a Celerant Cumulus version available, not reviewed here, which is designed for startup and small business retailers.

2020 Rating – 4.75 Stars

Product Strengths:

• Offers both brick and mortar and online point of sale functionality
• Supports multiple locations and multiple warehouses
• Includes excellent CRM capability

Potential Limitations:

• Requires extensive setup
• Not suitable for smaller retailers