5 Best Convenience Store POS Systems

POS Nation has a “build and price” page that you can use to get an idea of how much you may pay per month for POS hardware and software.

There are several pre-built packages available that start at $39/month for smaller retailers.

POS Nation is heavily focused on allowing store owners to sell and manage all types of convenience items, including:

• Sell alcohol, tobacco, vapes, and other regulated items with an integrated ID scanner and cashier prompt for customer ID.
• Perform case breaks, vape kitting, and collect inventory data for tobacco rebate programs.
• Automatically flag EBT items at checkout and allow customers to pay for EBT-eligible and non-eligible items in one transaction.
• Create special tax settings for EBT sales.
• Sell and redeem lottery tickets at your POS register.
• Monitor perishable and nonperishable inventory to reduce food wastage.
• Strong loss prevention features, including blind and forced till counts, damage and loss reports, and integrations with security cameras.
• Advanced inventory features
• Offline mode

If you’re paying monthly, the cost of the hardware is included in the monthly fee. If you pay a one-time fee, you own the hardware forever.

Upon signup, you will receive a convenience store POS bundle, which includes a touch PC, receipt printer, scanner, cash drawer, and chip card reader. You can also purchase other hardware, such as scanners, separately.

You will need to purchase a fuel site controller from another hardware vendor if you intend to sell fuel at your convenience store.

POS Nation offers its own in-house payment processing system via its merchant services program. The company has partnered with payment processors such as Mercury Payment Systems, Worldpay, and Sterling Payment Technologies to meet your payment processing needs.

POS Nation advertises a payment processing fee between 2% and 2.5%, depending on transaction volumes. You have to contact a representative to get a quote.

There are no returns or refunds on one-time POS hardware/software purchases. Payment in full is due at the time of purchase.

There are no early termination fees and no refunds on monthly subscriptions. You may cancel your monthly plan at any time with a 30-day notice.

On all Square plans, you can have an unlimited number of POS devices per location. If you do open more than one location, you’ll have to upgrade to a paid plan.

To accept EBT payment types (SNAP and WIC), you’ll have to integrate Square with Totilpay.

Square offers the following best features:

• Online store builder
• Delivery services
• EBT sales capabilities via third-party app
• CBD program with reasonable payment processing fees
• ID verification (but no automated sale denial for under-21s)
• Weighted item sales with an integrated scale
• Time-sensitive discounts and coupons
• Inventory management features
• Customer loyalty programs
• Coupons and discounts
• Gift cards

To take payments, you’ll need at least the Square Contactless + Chip Reader. However, most convenience stores will want to use the more robust Square Register (interest-free payment plans are available.)

You should also purchase a Square-compatible barcode scanner.

Before you buy equipment from Square or a third-party seller, read our guide to Square POS hardware.

Card-present fees are 2.4% – 2.6% + $0.15. Paid plans get the lowest pricing.

If you accept online payments, you’ll be charged a per-transaction fee of 2.9% – 3.3% + $0.30.

Square charges merchants on paid plans monthly. It’s free and easy to cancel if you decide to switch from Square to another POS provider.

Square also has a limited-time hardware warranty, during which Square will send you new equipment in exchange for damaged hardware, even if you didn’t purchase directly from Square.

Clover’s retail offering is pretty straightforward, including:

• In-store discounts and promotions
• Physical and digital gift cards
• Offline payments mode
• Built-in loyalty program

Whatever advanced or specialized features you want will come in the form of a Clover app. There are 450+ apps available in Clover’s app store that give your convenience store POS these best features:

• EBT transaction functionality
• Age verification, including automated sale denial with invalid ID/date of birth
• Lottery sales reporting app (paid add-on)
• Tobacco discount program (paid add-on)
• Self-service kiosks
• Kitchen menu/order management
• Schedule and shift management

You can buy POS hardware from Clover or several Clover resellers. Devices sold through Clover range from the Clover Go card reader to the Clover Station Duo.

If you purchase a device directly from Clover, you can only use Clover’s merchant services, which include payment processing by Fiserv. You can expect to pay a processing fee of 2.3% – 2.6% + $0.10 per transaction per transaction, depending on your Clover software plan.

When you purchase Clover hardware from a reseller, you are subject to that reseller’s payment processing fees. For high-volume sellers, an alternative Clover hardware provider could offer better rates.

Clover offers 36-month and 48-month contracts with early termination fees should you cancel your contract early. There’s also nothing you can do with your Clover hardware if you stop using Clover POS software since Clover hardware is proprietary. The company won’t fix hardware that you obtain from any source other than Clover.com.

If you work with a Clover reseller, you are subject to that reseller’s terms, so do your research before committing. Read your contract and other customer reviews of your potential merchant service provider to avoid Clover scams.

Verifone POS software pricing is quote-based. You will need to contact a Verifone representative, tell them about your business size, and they will give you an estimate.

Verifone is a highly popular retail business hardware provider, offering a variety of card readers, POS registers, self-serve kiosks, and fuel site controllers that integrate well and are easy to use.

The best features for convenience stores include:

• Retrofit card readers on existing fuel pumps
• Fuel controlling and monitoring
• Sell regulated items
• Fuel prepayments, reservations, and reversals
• Drive-off monitoring
• Self-ordering kiosks
• Kitchen display system integration
• Third-party integrations for carwashes, digital signage, and more

Verifone does not list hardware pricing on its website, so you’ll need to get a quote. The company offers registers, fuel site controllers, self-serve food order kiosks, and credit card terminals.

Verifone hardware is universal, so you can use it with almost any POS software you like.

Verifone has several POS systems, along with payment devices and fuel site controllers.

Verifone partners with First Data, Heartland, National Bankcard Services, and Worldpay to meet your convenience store POS system payment processing needs.

If you choose to purchase a Verifone POS or credit card terminal from a third-party seller, Verifone is not responsible for repairing or replacing any damaged devices.

If you purchased a device from an authorized Verifone seller, it is covered under a warranty for either 13 months or 36 months, depending on the device.

The Core plan will work for very small stores, but we do recommend at least the Advanced plan for most stores that want excellent inventory management features.

Since KORONA pricing is per terminal, we recommend that you consider how many terminals you really need in your stores before you sign on with KORONA. You can always add more terminals later.

If you pay annually, you get one month free.

KORONA offers the majority of convenience store sales features you need, including:

• EBT sales
• ID verification
• Age restrictions on items
• Lottery ticket scanning
• Food sales
• Alcohol sales

However, KORONA’s most unique POS features are its loss prevention features, affordable inventory management, and franchise capabilities:

• Forced drawer closing, blind till counts, and restricting cash drawer access
• Require manager approval for item voids, price changes, item returns, and inventory changes
• Run cash drawer reports at any time, at the end of shifts, and set maximum allowed balance differences
• Cashier balance and time tracking reports
• Restrict which cashiers can grant permissions to other cashiers
• Set reordering levels with preferred vendor/warehouse reordering sources
• Pack to single item conversion
• Product performance reports, including slow sellers, product movement, and reorder optimization level recommendations
• Stock difference lists and product discrepancy reports
• Inventory app
• Franchise features and reports

KORONA hardware integrates with most POS hardware. If you’re not sure what to pick, look into our best credit card machines and terminals.

TSYS, First Data, Heartland, Cayan, Clearant, Elavon, EVO, Merchant Warehouse, Merchant Payment Systems, Global Payments, Cost Plus Processing, and Eagle Processing can all be used to process payments on transactions made through KORONA POS.

KORONA POS offers a free trial, which you may use for as long as you like before buying. However, the free trial does have limitations.

You may cancel a monthly KORONA account at any time.