This year, savvy business owners and operators will make a serious investment in technology to streamline business operations and sales.
Today, modern small businesses run on a variety of digital tools. From communicating with prospects and customers, collaborating internally, or monitoring sales, business owners and operators should know that there’s a digital tool or service for almost every business type and/or business function.
Unfortunately, those that fail to embrace the latest business technology risk being outpaced by the competition. From contactless payments to online sales, a robust point of sale (POS) system can take your business from just getting by to thriving.
In this article, we provide a breakdown and comparison of the best POS systems for small businesses so you can decide which is best for your unique business.
Retail POS software has emerged as a new technology solution for growing small business retailers.
Most modern retail POS systems come equipped with next-generation retail POS features, including label and barcode printing, inventory management, customized hotkeys, employee management, and powerful customer loyalty programs.
If most POS systems offer similar features, how do you compare them? For the POS systems we evaluated, we looked at features, pricing, and, most importantly, what customers think about the solution they use.
Jump to a section if you want to know more!
A retail POS system enables businesses to accept sales transactions, manage employees, track inventory, and more. It is the central sales system needed to run and grow a business; it’s the hub where all sales-related activities occur.
A retail POS system includes various software and hardware components that make running business sales operations more efficient and effective.
At POS Nation, our technology makes it simple and easy to access the database and records from a desktop or mobile device.
Our system offers flexible local features, enabling a business to continue operations even during unforeseen outages. In this way, you’ll have everything you need to continue ringing in sales even if your internet connection goes down. Today, more than 10,000 customers are powered by POS Nation.
Of course, we might be a bit biased when we say that POS Nation offers the best retail POS features. However, should you choose to partner with POS Nation or any other retail POS vendor, here is a list of the most important retail POS features.
Today, customers deserve a smooth and seamless sales experience. When cashiers have to manually search for a product’s price, that smooth and seamless sales process is severely fragmented.
As such, business owners and managers need a retail POS system that offers label and barcode printing. POS Nation makes it simple and easy to create labels and tags with one click.
Additionally, our system automatically adds new items to the print queue. In this way, new items can be added to your inventory rapidly.
What about items that don’t have a barcode? Use hotkeys to look up produce or non-barcoded items.
Depending on the size of your inventory, hotkeys enable business owners and managers to quickly search for a product or item. In this way, sales clerks can reduce the checkout time by virtually eliminating manual search – it’s that easy!
How large is your inventory? Businesses with a large inventory of diverse products know how difficult it is to manage inventory effectively.
A great retail POS system should come equipped with powerful inventory management features designed to help businesses keep track of inventory, manage purchase orders, replenish low inventory, and monitor popular products or items.
POS Nation makes it easy to monitor employee productivity, manage schedules, set employee pay rates, and more. Additionally, through robust security protocols, business owners and managers can eliminate employee theft.
For example, the system will recognize if there are a large number of comped items and/or voided transactions and signal employee theft.
Today, customers are prioritizing small businesses that offer incentives for repeat purchases. Most retail POS systems allow sales clerks to monitor buying patterns and create powerful promotions that encourage additional sales.
From dollar discounts and BOGO offers, to seasonal offers and loyalty points, a great retail POS system should make it simple and easy to deploy powerful retail promotions.
Of course, we know we’re not the only POS provider on the market today. Here is a list of the most popular retail POS systems for small business owners and managers.
What started as the “little white reader,” has grown to become one of the largest and most successful POS vendors. Today, customers enjoy a variety of features, including powerful payment processing, advanced reporting, inventory management, and more.
Additionally, Square offers special add-ons for small businesses, including payroll management, business debit cards, marketing management, and customer loyalty promotions.
Because the platform is built around an easy-to-use mobile platform, Square can travel with you. Additionally, Square supports online sales processing.
Pricing:
What customers say:
Clover is another mobile-based platform currently supported by Android. Clover makes it easy to accept transactions, organize inventory, and manage employees.
The platform comes with all the features you would expect from a leading POS provider, including powerful hardware, integrated applications, virtual terminals, and more.
Clover is popular among small to medium-sized businesses.
Pricing (for hardware and software):
What customers say:
Lightspeed supports businesses of all shapes and sizes, including multi-site retail locations and restaurants. Its system is cloud and browser-based, and it has an iOS app.
They offer inventory management, reporting, payment processing, online sales, and powerful technical support. The system is easy to use and scalable.
It’s feature-rich, so it suits larger businesses yet each account gets an account manager and 24/7 support.
Pricing:
What customers say:
Markt POS is the first all-in-one, cloud-based POS software dedicated to the needs of small-to-medium-sized grocery and specialty markets.
Features include:
Pricing:
What customers say:
Shopify POS turns any mobile device into a point of sale terminal and integrates with Shopify’s other tools and services. Its capabilities make it a great choice for stores that sell in-store and online.
You can sync inventory between online and offline orders, and it has features for employee management, customer relationship building, and built-in payment processing.
Pricing (billed yearly):
What customers say:
Founded in 2001, POS Nation has partnered with more than 10,000 small businesses nationwide (and counting).
We understand the unique needs and challenges of small business owners and managers and have built a solution designed to support those needs and meet those challenges.
Our service-driven mentality means that you can lean on our powerful customer support to get all your questions answered.
Features:
Benefits: POS Nation offers system onboarding, setup, and training. In this way, you’ll be able to get started quickly. Paging through a multi-page onboarding document is a thing of the past! Moreover, our system is easy to use and manage.
Pricing:
What customers say:
To start, the cost of a retail POS system can be a barrier to entry for some new business owners and managers. To make matters worse, some POS vendors overcharge and underdeliver.
You see, most tools lack the features and support you need to maximize system effectiveness. Before long, you’ve invested in a thousand different system “upgrades,” and you’re spending double what you originally planned for.
Moreover, some retail POS systems are massively complex and difficult to manage. For some, system setup can be a bit overwhelming. The fact is, businesses spend thousands of dollars annually on overpriced and ineffective retail POS systems.
Fortunately, POS Nation offers one of the most affordable and effective retail POS systems for small businesses — containing all the great features you need in a retail POS system, and nothing you don’t.
Additionally, our onboarding and support specialists help to ensure that your onboarding process runs as smoothly as possible. Every POS system comes with complimentary access to our online video library. This will give you and your staff in-depth information and knowledge related to the POS system.
Once the POS system is up and running, the benefits of a retail POS system are boundless. Most retail small businesses enjoy the following retail system benefits, including a streamlined sales process, reporting, inventory tracking, security, and much more.
Are you ready to get started?
Whether you’re investing in a POS system for the first time or you’ve been managing a business for decades, your POS system should help you grow now and into the future.
Are you ready to get started with POS Nation? Our turnkey solutions offer all the great hardware, software, and payment processing you need to build and manage a successful retail business.
POS Nation streamlines sales processes, improves internal efficiencies, and creates happier customers – it’s that easy!
To get started, we recommend scheduling a software demo.
You may have one location or multiple locations, and you need a software solution to support your growing enterprise. By scheduling a demo, you’ll get an in-depth and guided tour of our demo environment.
An expert product specialist will be available to answer any questions you have related to our retail POS system.
Are you ready to get started? Schedule your software demo today!