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Compare: iVendNext and Retail Pro
Retail Pro alternative for specialty retailers
If Retail Pro Prism is on your list, compare iVendNext, the open retail platform: loyalty inside the same cloud platform as your stock and reporting, one iVendNext POS on a till, a tablet and a phone, and the ERP you already run, connected.
This page sets out what each does, so you can judge them on your own stores.
Who this page is for
When Retail Pro fits, and when iVendNext does
Retail Pro has served specialty retail for more than 35 years. Retail Pro Prism and the older Retail Pro 9 are sold and supported by certified Business Partners, and run on the retailer's own servers, in the store or in a cloud. Its record in apparel, footwear and gifts is long and respected.
This page is for specialty chains that want loyalty in the same platform as their stock and reporting, running as a cloud service, connected to the ERP that keeps their books.
What the retailer needs
What specialty retailers look for when they compare
Stock visible across stores
A clear view of stock across stores, warehouses and fulfilment points, by size, colour, pack or serial.
Reports teams can use
Store, stock, customer, supplier and finance data together, without depending on manual exports.
Customer engagement that travels
Loyalty, gift cards, store credit and purchase history that work at every till, not tied to one store.
Fewer systems around the till
Less depending on separate vendors for loyalty and finance, each with its own contract and sync.
How iVendNext answers
Run every store. Connect anything. Build what you need.
Loyalty that lives with your sales
Loyalty levels with their own thresholds, earn and burn rules, gift cards and store credit, inside the same platform as your till and your stock. Promotions run on one engine: tiered discounts, buy one get one, bundles and time-bound offers.
One POS on the till, the tablet and the phone
Staff learn one screen. Prices, promotions, returns and approvals follow head-office rules at every till, and a request beyond a cashier's limit reaches the manager's own phone.
Stock work where the stock sits
iVendNext Handheld receives deliveries against the purchase order, moves stock between stores, counts shelves, and picks, packs and delivers, on a phone or a rugged scanner. Every movement lands on the stock the stores sell from.
Product detail, kept clean
Items, variants, barcodes, sizes, colours, packs, batches and serials managed the same way across stores, for fashion, footwear, electronics and other detail-heavy ranges.
A till that keeps selling when the network drops
iVendNext POS keeps selling when the connection drops and catches up when it returns, so a Saturday outage does not close the store.
Your ERP keeps the books
iVendNext runs the stores and connects to the ERP you already run: SAP Business One, SAP S/4HANA, Acumatica, NetSuite, Sage X3 and many others. The Integrations Hub shows what synced, what is waiting and what needs a decision, and every mismatch is closed with a reason, by whom and when. A retailer who wants one system runs iVendNext's complete back office instead.
AI inside the work
- Foresight forecasts stock, sales and cash flow from your own data and drafts purchase orders for your team to review.
- CoPilot answers questions, drafts documents and runs reports in plain words, on every back-office page.
- AI Gateway connects the AI assistant you already use to your iVendNext data, inside each person's own permissions.
Build what you need, and keep it through upgrades
Your partner or your own team builds on documented extension points, in any language and with their own AI if they like. Apps add to iVendNext without changing its code, so what they build keeps working through every upgrade.
At a glance
iVendNext and Retail Pro, side by side
| What to compare | iVendNext | Retail Pro |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | The open retail platform: the stores, the stock and the web store, connected to the ERP you run. | A specialty-retail POS and store management system: POS, inventory, replenishment, promotions, customers, back office and reporting. |
| Where it runs | As our cloud service, kept current by us. | On the retailer's own servers: at head office, in the store, or in a cloud. |
| Selling on a tablet | The same iVendNext POS on a till, a tablet and a phone; it keeps selling when the network drops. | The Prism app on an iPad, working with a Prism server, with offline selling. |
| Loyalty and gift cards | Inside the platform: levels, thresholds, earn and burn rules, gift cards and store credit. | Gift cards and store credit in the product; loyalty through partner products such as AppCard and OptCulture. |
| Selling from another store | Cashiers reserve stock and fulfil from another store or the warehouse. | Endless aisle is part of the product. |
| Finance and the ERP | Keep SAP Business One, SAP S/4HANA, Acumatica, NetSuite, Sage X3 and many others, or run iVendNext's complete back office. | A separate ERP: a ready link to SAP Business One, other ERPs integrated per project. |
| Who delivers | A Solution Partner in your country, or CitiXsys where no partner covers it. | Certified resellers implement and support. |
Retail Pro details come from Retail Pro International's own website, documentation and App Store listing as read on 26 October 2026. Products change: check any detail with Retail Pro before you decide.
What moving looks like
Move store by store, on your own timetable
Use all of iVendNext, or connect the parts you already have. Most retailers start where the pain is and add the rest when it suits them.
See your own stores on it
A demo on your own items, prices and store layout, so you judge it on your trading day, not ours.
Keep the ERP, connect it
Your ERP keeps the books. The Integrations Hub connects it (SAP Business One, SAP S/4HANA, Acumatica, NetSuite, Sage X3 and many others) and shows every sync on one screen.
One store first, then by group
Start with one store, then move by store group or region. A phased move is safer than switching every store at once.
Your partner sets it up
A Solution Partner in your country sets up iVendNext and builds what your business needs. Where no partner covers your country, CitiXsys delivers.
Questions worth asking any vendor
Questions to ask every vendor on your list
- How many systems does one sale touch: the till, loyalty, reporting and the ERP?
- When the team needs a new report, who builds it, and how long does it take?
- What does the next version move cost, including re-testing your integrations?
- Is a customer's loyalty balance the same at the till, online and in the books?
- Which system keeps your general ledger, and how does the store's day reach it?
- How do you forecast what to buy next season today?
Fiscal rules by market
Tax and e-invoicing for the countries you trade in
Tax, e-invoicing, payments and receipts change by country, and they belong in the plan before the first store moves. iVendNext has country modules for these markets, and partners build for others on the same platform.
Saudi Arabia: ZATCA
E-invoicing to the ZATCA rules, through iVendNext's country module for Saudi Arabia.
Kenya: eTIMS and M-Pesa
eTIMS invoice submission and M-Pesa payments for retailers in Kenya.
Mexico: CFDI
CFDI digital invoices for retailers trading in Mexico.
Every other market
iVendNext is set up for your tax structure and companies during the project, and a partner builds a country module where one is needed.
Questions
iVendNext and Retail Pro: common questions
What is a good Retail Pro alternative for specialty retailers?
iVendNext is one, for specialty chains that want loyalty in the same cloud platform as their stock and reporting, connected to the ERP they keep. The right choice depends on your store count, product complexity, markets and current systems.
Does iVendNext handle sizes, colours and other variants?
Yes. Variants, barcodes, sizes, colours, packs, batches and serials are managed across stores, for fashion, footwear, electronics, optical and other specialty formats.
Does iVendNext replace my existing systems?
Use all of it, or connect what you already have. iVendNext runs the stores, the stock and the web store, and connects to the ERP and systems you already run, so you choose what moves and when.
Does iVendNext POS work offline?
Yes. iVendNext POS keeps selling when the network drops and posts the sales when the connection returns.
Who sets it up, and how does support work?
A Solution Partner in your country sets up iVendNext, or CitiXsys where no partner covers it. Support runs 24 x 7 x 365, with a first response within one hour for critical issues.
What does it cost to start?
Talk to us. We size iVendNext to your stores, devices and markets in a short first conversation and a demo on your own items.
See iVendNext beside Retail Pro, on your own stores
Bring your items, prices and store layout. We show the same sale on a till, a tablet and a phone, a delivery received on a scanner, and a sale arriving in your ERP.
Building retail solutions? Talk to our partner team.
