Tyler,
My guess is that you will be doing 5-10 in-store transactions per hour.
Does that sound about right?
And you want something secure and reliable but affordable?
The trend these days is to sign up with cloud-based SAAS (software as a service) systems for appointments, purchases, staff scheduling/notes, gift cards, online purchases and in-store purchases. There are pro's and con's to this, the most obvious pro being it's easy and it works, the most obvious con being the stuff can be expensive (monthly subscription, contracts, charges for add-ons, etc.) and you the owner have less control.
An excellent alternative is to have a web developer build this functionality into to your website. Countless numbers of small businesses bypass SAAS by simply hiring a good web developer who uses popular open source frameworks with premium apps available in developer marketplaces. Nowadays, you can easily integrate the e-commerce platform with an in-store POS iPad cash register card reader system. More costs upfront, but if you're hiring a web developer, it can be bundled into your overall website package. The support for it can be included in a monthly site support fee or on a need basis. I use WordPress for the sites I develop and there are some excellent commerce systems for WordPress. As well, it's easy for a store owner and staff to be trained on the back end of WordPress. I think the increase in power, control and customization is hard to put a price on, and it can even be the case that it is cheaper upfront. Certainly in the mid to long term it is cheaper if you avoid all the monthly SAAS charges.
If your interested in this, PM me or send an email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.Mark
