IT Support for Retail & Hospitality in Auckland
Twelve people in the queue. Eggs bene orders stacking up on the kitchen printer. Then the EFTPOS terminal flashes "Connecting…" and won't stop. Someone at the back says they'll just pop to the ATM. They don't come back.
For Auckland shops, cafés, restaurants and bars, Mint is the IT support and internet team that keeps your tills taking payments when the fibre drops. We also keep card data on a network of its own and look after the iPads, laptops and phones your staff use on shift.
When the tech fails, the till goes quiet
You focus on the floor. We'll keep the tech behind the counter working, watch it 24/7 and pick up the phone when you need a hand.
The card terminal dies at peak trade
Fibre faults don't wait for a slow Tuesday. They hit at 12:30 on a Saturday, with a full room and a queue out the door. Most terminals can't take payments for long without a connection. Cash-only signs go up, and customers walk.
We add a backup 4G/5G connection that takes over by itself the moment your fibre drops. Your terminals and POS keep talking to the bank. Staff keep ringing up sales, and customers tap and go like nothing happened.
Free WiFi on the same network as your tills
Plenty of shops and cafés run everything on one network. Customer phones, the POS iPad and the card terminal all sit side by side. One infected device at table six can go poking around your payment gear.
It also slows you down. When forty customers are streaming, your POS struggles to sync orders to the kitchen.
We split your network into separate lanes. Customers get one. Staff get another. Tills and card terminals get their own, with nothing else allowed in. We also cap how much bandwidth the guest WiFi can use, so service never slows down because it's soaking up the connection.
The POS iPad that does a bit of everything
It takes orders. It also plays Spotify, checks the Deputy roster and holds a few games the closing shift downloaded. Then it updates itself at 7pm on a Friday, and your POS app stops opening.
We manage every device on your floor, so each one does its job and nothing else. We run updates after close, not mid-service. If a tablet walks out the door, we can lock and wipe it from our office.
Opening a second site
Growth is great. But a new store or venue means internet, tills, WiFi, logins and phones, all ready before the doors open. Fibre installs can take weeks. Leave it too late and you'll open on a hotspot.
We plan the whole setup with you, from the network to the last tablet. If fibre isn't in yet, 4G/5G gets you trading on day one. Both sites run the same way, so staff can cover a shift at either one without retraining.
What we usually find in cafés and shops
When a new client calls us, the issues are often the same. Guest WiFi sitting on the same network as the tills. A POS iPad updating itself whenever it feels like it. No backup internet, so one fibre fault means a cash-only sign goes up. And in a lot of cases, nobody has checked the setup since the day the business opened.
The business has grown, with more staff, a second terminal, a new site, but the tech hasn't kept up. A 45-minute walk-through usually tells us everything we need to know.
A payment outage mid-service is the expensive one. Backup internet, a separate guest network and managed updates cover the usual causes.
Card payments and customer data, kept safe
Every tap, swipe and online order touches information worth stealing. Card numbers. Loyalty sign-ups. Email addresses. Delivery addresses. Staff bank details too.
PCI DSS (the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard) is the security rulebook set by the card companies. If you take card payments, it applies to you. Your bank or payment provider will ask you to show you're following it. The biggest single step is keeping your card terminals away from everything else on your network. That's exactly what our network setup does, and it makes the rest of the checklist far smaller.
The Privacy Act 2020 sets the rules for how New Zealand businesses collect, store and protect personal information. That covers your loyalty list, online orders and staff records. It also means you must report serious privacy breaches.
We handle the tech side. The legal side stays with you and your advisers.
Here's what that looks like day to day:
- A manager's email password gets phished. The scammer starts ordering stock on your account or redirecting supplier payments. We switch on multi-factor authentication (MFA), the second check your phone does when you sign in. A stolen password on its own won't get them in.
- A casual leaves on a sour note. They still know the back-office login. We give each person their own sign-in and switch it off on their last day.
- Ransomware locks the office PC on a Monday. Payroll, stocktakes and supplier files vanish behind a ransom demand. We back up your files and test the restores regularly, so we can bring them back.
NCSC research found 53% of New Zealand SMEs faced a cyber threat in the last six months. For businesses with 20 to 49 staff, it climbs to 76%. A few well-run basics stop most of it.
Support built for service hours
A broken till during service can't wait until tomorrow. Our average response on critical issues is around 15 minutes. We fix 98.2% of issues the first time you get in touch.
We watch your internet and devices around the clock. If your backup connection kicks in overnight, we'll often know before you've unlocked the doors.
Managed IT plans start from $79 + GST per user per month for licensing and security, $139 with remote support, and $189 for fully managed IT with onsite support included. Business fibre starts from $99 + GST per month. There's no lock-in contract, just one calendar month's notice if you ever want to leave.
The tills, rosters and tools we look after
We support the systems Auckland retailers and hospitality venues use every day, including:
- Lightspeed, including Lightspeed Retail (formerly Vend) and Lightspeed Restaurant
- Square for POS and card payments
- Shopify POS for shops that sell online and in store
- Windcave and other EFTPOS terminals
- Deputy for rosters, timesheets and staff clock-ins
- Xero for accounts, payroll and supplier payments
- Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace for email and files
We look after the network, devices and logins these tools depend on. When a fault sits inside the software, we'll chase the vendor's support team so you can stay on the floor. Running a POS we haven't named? Let us know and we'll learn how it ticks.
Where we fit behind the counter
What shop and café owners ask us
Will our EFTPOS terminals keep working if the internet goes down?
Yes, with our backup internet in place. Your connection flips to 4G/5G on its own, usually within seconds. When your fibre comes back, it switches back without anyone touching a thing.
Do we really need to worry about PCI DSS as a small café?
Yes. Any business that takes card payments falls under it, whatever its size. The good news is that keeping your terminals on their own network handles a big chunk of it, and we set that up for you.
Can customers use our free WiFi without getting near our tills?
Yes. We put customer WiFi on its own network, completely separate from your POS and card terminals. Customers get online. Your payment gear stays out of reach.
Do you support Lightspeed and Square?
Yes. We look after the iPads, network and internet these systems run on. If the problem sits with Lightspeed or Square themselves, we'll work it through with their support team for you.
Can you have a new store ready before opening day?
Yes. Tell us your opening date as early as you can, ideally six weeks out. If fibre isn't installed in time, we'll get you trading on 4G/5G until it is.
What happens if something breaks on a weekend?
We monitor your internet and devices 24/7, and backup internet covers most weekend outages without anyone lifting a finger. Our helpdesk runs 8am to 5pm, Monday to Friday, for everything else.
How long is the contract?
There isn't one. Every plan runs month-to-month, and you can leave with one calendar month's notice.
What do we get from the free IT health check?
A plain-English picture of your setup in 45 minutes. We check your internet, payment network, WiFi, devices and backups, then tell you what's solid and what needs work.
Sources and further reading
Keep the queue moving, whatever the fibre does
Your best day of trade shouldn't hinge on a single cable. Let's find the weak spots before your next rush does. Book a free 45-minute IT health check, or give us a call on 09 222 0220. We'd love to help.