How to choose software for a pool and spa dealership

1. Can I choose my card processor?

Some dealer systems tie card payments to the processor they sell, or charge a monthly fee to use another one. Then a better rate means new software.

• Retavon works with Stripe out of the box, with card readers at the counter and on delivery day
• It adapts to Heartland, Clover (Fiserv), Worldpay or your bank's merchant services
• Keep the processor you have, or move to the best rates and terms for your business

2. Does it run in a browser?

Software installed on one back-office computer keeps the business in that room. A dealer works at the counter, in the yard and in the customer's backyard.

• Retavon runs in the browser on a counter computer, a tablet or a phone
• Shared counter computers switch between staff by PIN
• Field screens keep what a technician entered when the signal drops

3. Does it follow each spa by serial number?

A spa is a single expensive unit with a serial number, a factory order, a floor-plan loan and a warranty. Counting it like a bottle of chlorine loses all of that.

• Each spa tracked from the purchase order to the backyard, then kept as the customer's equipment
• Special orders tied to the customer, and landed cost for freight, crane and prep
• Floor-plan loans tracked unit by unit, ready for the lender's audit

4. Does it sell a spa the way you sell it?

Spas are sold as packages, negotiated over several visits, often financed, and paid with a deposit long before delivery.

• A spa with its cover, steps and delivery at one price, plus shell, cabinet and jet options
• Deposits held until delivery day, when the sale is booked
• Trade-ins, financing promotions and commission split between salespeople

5. Does delivery know about the crane?

A hot tub delivery depends on the pad, the electrical service, access to the yard and often a crane. Each one missed is a wasted trip.

• Site checks recorded before the truck leaves
• The crane or the electrician booked as part of the delivery
• Routes in order, proof of delivery with signature and photos, and redelivery fees

6. Does water testing ring up the sale?

Water testing is why a spa or pool owner comes back to the store. The test should end with the right products in their hands.

• Test a hot tub, swim spa or pool at the counter, or import your lab's export
• Doses from your own rules, scaled to the volume of the water
• The smallest pack that covers each dose, ready to ring up

7. Do the books keep up with the store?

When sales, stock and service live apart from the accounting, someone reconciles them every month.

• Every sale, payment and stock move reaches the books as it happens
• Cash drawers, house accounts, statements and consumer financing in the same system
• Journal entries export to QuickBooks, your book of record

8. Can AI agents do the work?

An AI agent can follow up quotes, book visits and chase what customers owe, if the software gives it a safe way in.

• Every operation the web app uses is in Retavon's API, described in one OpenAPI document
• Agent keys hold only the permissions you give them, and can be read-only
• Everything an agent does is in the audit trail beside your staff's work

9. How do my records get there?

Moving your records is the hardest part of switching. Ask who does it, and whether you can do it yourself.

• Send Retavon your export, or let your AI agent run the migration through Retavon's API
• It works with the SKUs, customer numbers and store codes in your export
• House accounts, gift cards, store credit and deposits on open orders come with you
• An import can be run again after a stop without counting anything twice

How switching works