We find the 10 best options, so you can make informed decisions on tons of products and services.
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A Point of Sale (POS) system is an integrated software and hardware solution for both big and small businesses to manage sales. POS systems take the place of conventional cash registers by handling transactions, plus POS systems can:
A POS system is made up of 2 main parts—first, there's the hardware, including a printer, cash drawer, and a POS terminal. Then there's the software, which is the computer program that operates the whole system. A POS system works by connecting your credit card processing apps, accounting apps, inventory apps, and other point of sale-related business apps into a single unit.
There are 4 main types of POS software:
This software is cloud-based and comes as an app on your smartphone or tablet. It’s usually compatible with a receipt printer and a credit card swiper, but not as powerful as a full terminal POS system. It’s ideal for sole traders such as plumbers or mobile food cart owners.
The tablet version is similar to mobile POS software, but offers more features and capabilities. You could use tablet POS software to manage a large and complex retail organization, including inventory tracking, employee time tracking, payroll, and accounting. They are compatible with many POS hardware solutions to form a complete POS system for any situation.
This is a fixed POS software with full back-office capabilities. It can be cloud-based or on-premise. Terminal POS software is best suited to large retail stores, spas, malls, and other brick and mortar big or small businesses.
This is designed to be used in kiosks and outdoor units where it's not practical to post an employee. It is often integrated with another POS system nearby, like to provide an extra sales point in a busy grocery store. It can be cloud-based or on-premise since it's not used with a mobile system.
You’ll also find POS software designed for the unique needs of specific industries, such as restaurant and hospitality businesses, apparel retail, financial services, academia and education, and pharmaceuticals POS software.
The costs of your POS software will vary depending on the type of software you choose. Mobile POS software such as a smartphone app can begin as cheap as $50 per month, while more complex software can reach several hundred dollars monthly. When you buy POS software, you’ll usually need to pay an upfront purchase price, plus an ongoing monthly or yearly payment processing fee.
Other factors that may affect the cost of your POS software include:
POS hardware is the indispensable other half of your POS system. You’ll need to get the right hardware to match the actions and transactions you want to carry out using your POS system. A basic set of POS hardware consists of:
Depending on your business, you might also need:
With a POS system, your business can retain more customers through a better, targeted loyalty program and you can also track inventory so that you never run out of stock unexpectedly. A POS system can help you run complex discount offers when appropriate.
With the right POS system, you can also analyze sales history to discover seasonal buying trends and correlations, which can come in useful when you want to increase sales. You can also remove manual error by using barcode scanners and automatic synchronization, as well as combat absenteeism with a more reliable employee tracking system.
Other major benefits include improving payment security as well as the ability to make more sales thanks to your ability to accept more types of payment.
A cloud-based POS system stores data on remote servers and can be accessed online, whereas a traditional or on-premise POS system stores data on a local server and can be accessed through an internal network. Here’s a breakdown of the main differences between a cloud-based POS and an on-premise POS:
If you have long-term business plans and if your requirements are likely to continue to evolve as your business grows, then a cloud-based POS system is probably the best choice for you. On the other hand, if you have fixed needs or a small budget, you might be best served by choosing a traditional POS system.
Asking yourself these questions will help you choose the right POS system provider:
Shopify is one of the leading online retail platforms. They’ve taken that expertise and created an easy-to-use retail POS system. If you’re already using Shopify for your online store, then their POS system is a great choice for providing a smooth shopping experience for your customers, in-person and online. With an established e-commerce platform, Shopify’s dashboard allows you to manage all the products you sell across all locations, linking in-store and online sales.
The Shopify POS app works on both iPad and Android. You’ll have to purchase the card reader plus any barcode scanners, printers, and cash drawers you might need, but this does help keep the monthly costs down as leased hardware costs are not incorporated into your monthly bill. If you’re not looking to sell online, the Lite package presents a cost-effective way of accepting card payments. If you want to unlock all the features on offer, the monthly subscriptions can get expensive, but for larger businesses, smart inventory management and omnichannel tools are worth the investment.
Installation fee: $49
Contract length: Month-to-month or yearly, two-year, or three-year plans
Lightspeed takes all the frills of TouchBistro and upgrades them for both retail and restaurant usage. So, you get neat features like food management systems and interactive menus for the food industry. Lightspeed's menu functionality is particularly sleek, providing HD photos, descriptions, and pricing for every menu item. You can also create loyalty programs to reward frequent customers and a full-fledged CRM, so you can really keep track of who's coming and going.
Meanwhile, for retailers, Lightspeed offers plenty of hardware options to improve your efficiency and sales, like scanners, printers, and electronic cash drawers. The POS system also comes with sales reporting, merchant services, and an Ecommerce platform. What's more, Lightspeed's inventory management is in real-time, so you can tell customers on the spot whether or not you have a particular item left in stock.
Installation fee: N/A
Contract length: 14 months
If you've had any experience with POS systems in the past, then Clover will be a familiar name. That's because this hardware is even used by other POS software providers, and that should tell you something about the system. Clover POS has all of the features you'd expect from a POS system, including built-in payment processing, order management, and customer management system. There are even marketing campaigns, loyalty programs, and birthday promotions to help grow your customer base. Clover offers other tools like shift management, scheduling, and register activity logs, as well.
Clover provides both stationary and portable hardware devices, so you can select the type of hardware that works best for your business needs and layout. Clover POS is also totally customizable with scalable plans, add-ons, and accessories that help you expand your reach as your business grows. Of course, if you want to go all out, Clover has some interesting features like customer feedback, guest management, and gift card generator.
Installation fee: Between $0 to $1,349
Contract length: No contract required
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