CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Leaf, creators of the world’s first tablet specifically designed for commerce, today announced the Leaf Appstore™, the first app store dedicated to serving the needs of brick and mortar businesses. Building on the foundation of its built-for-business point of sale (POS) tablet, the LeafPresenter™, and its online analytics and management portal, LeafBusiness™, the Leaf Appstore completes the company’s vision by enabling third parties to supplement and extend the core features in its technology platform for small business.
“The Leaf Appstore fulfills our vision and our promise to small business owners that making the switch to Leaf is the last technology upgrade they’ll ever need,” said Leaf CEO Aron Schwarzkopf. “Small business owners don’t have time to piece together solutions from multiple vendors, let alone the time it takes to search for all the latest technology. Once they pick up the LeafPresenter, they get it – they instantly understand how their individual needs can be met with one simple device. As we’ve seen in other mobile app marketplaces, there are talented and creative developers out there, and we’re excited to see the innovations they can bring to the small business community on top of the Leaf platform.”
The key feature of the Leaf platform and Leaf Appstore is the ability to capture common functionality between different industry verticals such as retail, quick serve and restaurants, while ensuring the specific needs of each business type is accounted for. Far from a one-size-fits-all approach, Leaf quickly realized that the complex needs of small merchants could not be adequately addressed with repurposed consumer hardware or off-the-shelf parts and plug-ins.
“Success in an extremely high volume restaurant in the heart of Kendall Square means doing everything we can to ensure our business operates smoothly,” remarks Samer Malak, owner of Aceituna Cafe in Cambridge, Mass., one of the earliest and busiest Leaf merchants. “The faster we can move our customers through the line, the happier they are, and the more revenue we generate. Leaf removes the potential distractions that come with an iPad, keeping my employees focused on exactly what they need to do.”
Leaf Issues Call for Developers
Development of the LeafPresenter laid the groundwork for the first small business app store by providing a rugged, business-focused tablet platform with secure PCI-compliant credit card processing built in. The Leaf Appstore provides a foundation for the future needs of small businesses, with a set of APIs delivering common functions on top of which developers can build their own apps. By dramatically reducing the friction inherent in providing new apps and services to small business owners, such as online ordering, restaurant reservation systems or salon appointment apps, Leaf promises to usher in a new era in productivity for merchants while relieving them of the threat of technology obsolescence.
Several high-profile companies are already on board with the Leaf Appstore. Both PayPal and LevelUp will be among the earliest to join the platform.
Additional information on the program can be found at www.leaf.me/developers, where developers interested in participating in the Leaf Appstore closed beta can submit their business app ideas for consideration.
About Leaf
Leaf empowers local merchants to run and grow their businesses by providing a mobile payment platform built for local commerce. Leaf’s cost-effective platform helps retail stores, restaurants, and other local merchants improve the speed and ease of checkout and offers easy-to-use business management, analytics, and customer engagement. By making the complex tasks of running a business easy, Leaf allows merchants to spend more time focusing on what’s important – the needs of their customers. For more information on how Leaf is transforming Point of Sale into Point of Smart, visit http://www.leaf.me.