Many stores’ best point-of-sale (POS) systems integrate software and technology to help consolidate sales, speed transactions, process payments, and manage customer relationships. For example, a cash register includes a barcode scanner, card reader, customer interface, cash drawer, and receipt printer. The best multiple shop POS systems include a credit card scanner coupled to a tablet and the best POS systems for retail, making it easy to use; it also generates reports to provide insight into the profitability of your business and has good inventory management tools. Multiple shop POS, on the other hand, are available and provide several advantageous features. You may also manage staff, items, tax rates, pricing, reporting, and even consumers who use it. However, with so many POS systems on the market, choosing the best and most trustworthy one for a small or large-scale business might be difficult. Here are the top five POS systems to consider:
Best Five Multiple POS System
- Lightspeed – Best Inventory Management
- Square – Best Overall Small Business POS System
- Revel – Best for Multi-location Businesses
- Vend – Best for Retailers
- Shopify – Best for Online selling Features
- Clover – Best Out-Of-The-Box Features
1. Lightspeed – Best Inventory Management
Pricing: Free to download; cost $69/month for basic
Lightspeed is well-known for its superior inventory management and high-definition selling features, making it excellent for fast-growing shops that need to handle huge inventories and coordinate online and in-person sales. However, lightspeed provides POS system solutions and a 14-day free trial, allowing you to try them before you purchase, making it appropriate for retailers, hotels, restaurants, and others for easy learning and use by employees. So, if you require a fantastic and fast-growing POS system, lightspeed will help work out a specific plan; rather than attempting to compress your business, lightspeed will help set up your hardware, and reporting is simple and quick to access.
Key Features:
- Easy returns and exchange
- Purchasing inventory
- Customizable inventory tagging
- Reporting and analytics
- Mobility and cloud
Reasons to Buy:
- Attractively priced
- Growing addressable market
- Advanced retailed feature
Reasons to Avoid:
- Lightspeed faces stiff competition
- Short-seller report is an overhang
2. Square – Best Overall Small Business POS System
Pricing: Free to download; costs $60/month/location.
Square is the best overall business POS system because of its low-cost, simple-to-use software. Square is the best POS system, especially if the flexibility of selling online or in-person is required. It is recommended for most entrepreneurs, small company owners, and medium to big enterprises. Maintaining, managing, tracking, and updating an inventory is also simple. This software system has POS preferences explicitly designed for general purposes, retailers, restaurants, and appointment-based enterprises. On the other hand, Square offers real-time data or logic and reports and the ability to design one’s profiles to manage clients better. As a result, our overall and best POS system is square.
Key Features:
- Linking vendors to products in your item catalog
- Purchase order management and low stock alerts
- Customizable invoices
- Online appointment bookings
- In-store and curbside pickup
Reasons to Buy:
- Built-in text message marketing
- Free online selling options
- Baseline POS is free; no monthly subscription fees
- No long-term contracts; cancel anytime
Reasons to Avoid:
- Locked into Square for payment processing
- Limited phone support
- Vendor management requires third-party integrations
3. Revel – Best for Multi-location Businesses
Pricing: Free to download; cost $99/month.
Revel is the best for multi-location businesses, despite its unjustified and exorbitant price tag and long-term commitment. Revel is likely the most advanced POS system, particularly for fast service, and with this specially designed system, it’s one of the finest solutions for some specific locations. However, whether a digital menu board is required, revel has you covered because it provides some analytic data on sales. Hence, employees, customers, and inventory are all at your fingertips, allowing revel to develop the client base quickly.
Key Features:
- Customer profile building
- Employee time tracking
- Employee performance reports
- Real-time inventory tracking
- Multi-location management
Reasons to Buy:
- Advanced iPad POS
- Adaptable to any industry
- Strong offline mode
- Powerful enough for multi-location retailers
- Custom-built packages tailored to your business
Reasons to Avoid:
- Long-term subscription requirements
- Pricey for small businesses
- Must use a minimum of two registers
4. Vend – Best for Retailers
Pricing: cost $69/month to $199/month.
Vend is the best and most dependable source for an essential POS system that is simple to use and compatible with a wide range of retailer equipment types. Vend offers three plans that cover one’s register and locations, as well as features that are simple to use and support the retailer’s operations, such as real-time inventory management, unlimited products and employees, customizable receipts for email or print, a mobile dashboard, easy-to-personalize reports, and more. Vend has been named the best POS system for retailers.
Key Features:
- Cash management
- Returns and store credit
- Item transfers across locations
- Custom product variants and bulk uploads
- Product bundling and breakdowns
Reasons to Buy:
- Does not have integrated email marketing
- Strong inventory management
- Easy to use
- Features designed specifically for retailers
Reasons to Avoid:
- No built-in eCommerce
- Gets expensive fast
5. Shopify – Best for Online selling Features
Pricing: free to download; cost $9/month to $299/month.
Shopify is well-known for its top online selling features and multi-channel selling expertise, which provides entrepreneurs with capable online purchasing services and a pleasant digital customer experience. Shopify is an excellent multi-channel solution for retailers that wish to sell in one or more physical places, either through a website, an individual seller platform, or social media. To utilize the Shopify POS system, a plan must be chosen, and it provides easily customized and set-up retail devices such as tap and chip card readers and iPad stands. On the other hand, Shopify is well renowned for its best online selling capabilities and a 24/7 support center.
Key Features:
- Email and text marketing
- Order and product management
- Custom discounts and discount codes
- Refunds and store credit on gift cards
- Social media selling
Reasons to Buy:
- Strong retail-centric features
- Huge app store for add-ons
- Huge app store for add-ons
Reasons to Avoid:
- No offline payment processing
- Some features cost extra
- Potential for transaction fees
6. Clover – Best Out-Of-The-Box Features
Pricing: free to download; $29 up to $299 and more per month.
Clover is an integrated POS software system designed to handle small and medium-sized restaurants and is recognized as one of the most significant and readily accessible stand-alone systems. Clover is meant to assist control inventories, alter menus, and keep a watch on all employees, as well as give excellent POS payment facilities like credit and debit card payments and Apple pay. On the other hand, this tool includes unique hardware and is available in server and web-based deployment choices, making it accessible from smartphones and highly respected for how it helps retailers run their businesses in real-time.
Key Features:
- Accept credit and debit card payments
- Automatic software update
- Staff managements
- Real-time add and delete the product
- Identify top customers
Reasons to Buy:
- Accepts payments offline and processes them when you can reconnect.
- Includes customer engagement tools like discounts and perks.
- 24/7 phone support
Reasons to Avoid:
- $25 chargeback fee per occurrence.
- No free hardware options
References:
- https://www.businessnewsdaily.com/2955-best-pos-systems.html
- https://www.merchantmaverick.com/best-retail-pos-systems/
- https://www.softwareadvice.com/retail/
- https://www.quicksprout.com/best-point-of-sales-systems-pos/