About Insight Retail Software

Built by operators.
Since 1992.

Tim Rischbieter has been building retail POS software since the first sale to a liquor store in Scotia, NY in 1992. Insight Retail Software — founded in 2000, run by Tim and Tina — is the fourth generation of that work. No investors. No exit plan. Just software built the right way for operators who deserve better.

1992
First sale — Scotia Wine and Liquor, Scotia NY
2000
Insight Retail Software founded — Tim and Tina
V4
First time both sides are ours — POS App and cloud
500+
Active sites — liquor, tobacco, c-store, specialty, petro
The origin

The software didn't get adapted for liquor retail.
It started there.

In 1992 Tim Rischbieter walked into Scotia Wine and Liquor in Scotia, NY with a Sharp ECR 4230, a Datasym scan board, Comm2000 communications software, and Great Plains accounting. He saw the shortcomings immediately. The accounting software was generic. It had no retail depth. No item-level inventory. No purchase advice. No scan data.

So he built the replacement. One of the first Windows-based retail back offices in existence — written in Borland Paradox on Windows 3.1, called Profits. Not because there was a market opportunity. Because a liquor store operator had a problem and Tim built the solution.

That decision — to build rather than adapt — is in the DNA of every line of code InsightRS has shipped since.

NCC Partner Excellence Award — Tim and Tina
  • 1992
    First sale — Scotia Wine and LiquorInventory Control Center. Sharp ECR 4230 + Datasym D2000 scan board + Comm2000 + Channel Link + Great Plains. Tim sees what Great Plains can't do for a retail operator and starts building the replacement.
  • 1993
    "Profits" — one of the first Windows retail back officesBuilt in Borland Paradox on Windows 3.1. Replaced Great Plains for independent retail operators. At a time when most retail software was still DOS-based, InsightRS was already on Windows. Customers have been on the platform ever since — some for 30+ years.
  • Late 90s
    Delphi + SQL Server — the platform maturesV1 through V3.5. Tim's own database design — 100%. Back office only, interfacing with other POS terminals: Sharp ECR, Datasym, NCC (~200 sites), and eventually Verifone and Gilbarco for petro back office. Hard integrations, done correctly.
  • 2000
    Insight Retail Software — a fresh startTim founds Insight Retail Software with Tina. A new company, the same mission. The software that started in a liquor store in 1992 finds its permanent home. Tim and Tina have been running it together ever since.
  • 2025
    V4 — the complete stack. Finally.For nearly 30 years the back office was Tim's. Other people's POS terminals sat in front of it. V4 changed that — the first time both sides of the system are ours. Cloud back office on AWS. Our own POS App on Raspberry Pi 5. Built on the full NRF ARTS Data Model. The Modern Cash Register.
  • 2026
    Porfido's — 30 years, converting todayPorfido's has been an InsightRS customer for 30 years — still running Datasym ECR hardware and Comm2000, supported by Norm Rischbieter. Converting to V4 Insight POS now. The same trust. The same operator relationship. The complete platform — finally.
  • 2026
    We've been hard at workAmazing progress — we're hitting our stride. Christie's Toy Box went live across all 17 locations on a central warehouse on January 1 — an exceptional accomplishment for everyone involved. And Derek Medved, a young serial entrepreneur, came back to us from PDI with his 16 Korner Store locations. Derek calls Tina "Aunt Tina" — the two go back a long way.
The team

12 people. 500+ sites.
Humans answer the phone.

We are a small team that punches well above our weight. Cristal answers the phone. Tony, Drew, and Dustin handle field installs and support. The people who built the software support the software.

CEO & Founder
Tim Rischbieter
Building retail POS software since 1992. First customer was a liquor store. Designed the RPi POS PC hardware, wrote the POS App, runs the company. The software is personal — every feature exists because an operator needed it.
CFO & Co-Founder
Tina Rischbieter
Running InsightRS alongside Tim since 2000. The financial and operational backbone of the company. The reason InsightRS has been profitable and independent for 26 years without outside capital.
Head of Support & Development
Tony Tambe
Tony ran stores on InsightRS software for 12 years at Martin's News — 24+ locations including Rockefeller Center, Grand Central Station, and the Amex Building. He joined InsightRS three years ago. Manages developers, tests software, writes specs, works with customers one on one. He knows what breaks because he lived it.
Field Installation & Support
Drew Rischbieter and Dustin Newport
The field team that migrated 60+ sites to Raspberry Pi hardware between July and October 2025 — a site every two to three days for four months straight. When something needs installing or fixing in the field, these are the people who go.
Phones & Support Dispatch
Cristal Crosby
Cristal answers the phone. Not a chatbot, not a ticket queue, not a callback system. A person who knows the product and the customers. The first point of contact for every operator who calls.
Developers
Akra, Barno, Sam, Subho
A dedicated team of skilled developers, living in the trenches, producing amazing software.
Legacy Systems & Inventory
Norm Rischbieter
Tim's brother. Part-time, supporting legacy POS, inventory, and label design. Currently supporting Porfido's Datasym ECR and Comm2000 — a 30-year customer converting to V4 today.
What we believe

Retail software built for
operators, not investors.

  • Radical transparency
    Every competitor asks you to book a demo before showing a price. A slick salesperson can make anything look good for 30 minutes. We show everything — features, pricing, technical detail — publicly. If our software is right for you, you'll know before you call us.
  • No investors. No exit.
    They're optimizing for an exit. We're optimizing for operators. Tim and Tina own this company and intend to keep it that way. That changes every decision we make.
  • Operator-driven depth
    Every feature in V4 exists because a real operator asked for it over 34 years of installs. Repackaging with exact shrinkage. Sales-based purchase advice. EDI invoice importing. This isn't a roadmap — it's already built, because the operators who needed it told us what to build.
  • Open payments
    InsightRS is a POS with open Fiserv payment integration. Your ISO keeps their full residuals. We don't make money on your payments — we make money on software that earns its keep every day.
"
When I designed the POS App, I knew exactly what I was doing. 34 years of watching cash registers — what worked, what slowed cashiers down, what a real modern cash register should feel like. The ECR was the right idea. We just built the modern version of it.
Tim Rischbieter, Founder, Insight Retail Software
Where the POS Workstation comes from

The right computer for the counter.

The workstation was purpose-built from scratch — a simple computer, a beautiful monitor, and an effective customer display. Fast, durable, awesome.

RPi POS Workstation — the Modern Cash Register
  • A revolutionary design
    One day Tim found the Raspberry Pi 5 and decided it would make an amazing POS PC. It has four parts — really nothing to fail — and it's amazingly inexpensive. InsightRS built a custom version of the factory Linux OS and loads the POS App on it. Tim designed and directly imports a wonderful 15.5" monitor and customer display. It's an awesome result — fast, reliable, inexpensive.

See everything.
No demo required.

Pricing, features, hardware — all on the website. Just like it should be.

Buy See the system

Or call us — (518) 633-4111. Cristal answers.