The latest advances in point-of-sale systems and much more were on display at the National Restaurant Association 2015 Show in Chicago. The following are some of the newest innovations applicable to the bakery business:

ShopKeep, the cloud-based technology provider with more than 16,000 registers in use by retail shops, restaurants and others, offers ShopKeep Payments, a fully customizable payment processing solution for businesses that prefer to have one centralized system for their merchant services with no annual contracts. Norm Merritt, president and CEO of ShopKeep, says, “Most merchants do not have the time to fully research the intricacies of payment processing, and because ShopKeep has such transparent pricing options, so many of them have requested a simpler payments solution from us.”

Newton, Mass.-based Paytronix exhibited a system that integrates with restaurant POS systems and allows restaurants to market to individual guests via e-mail, text or social media, based on what the guest prefers. “If you make your marketing more relevant, you’re going to have more significant returns,” said Jim Guest, a sales representative for Paytronix.

Square Register from Square offers a powerful point-of-sale app that turns your smartphone or tablet into a complete point-of-sale system. Customers sign in and tip right on the device. You send receipts via email or text message, or connect a receipt printer to an iPad. Retail merchants can easily handle payments, tipping, digital receipts, inventory, sales reports and more. According to Square, beyond Square Reader and Square Register, this technology affords you the ability to handle secure online invoicing, produce insightful sales reporting and analytics, and handle staff and locations.