These 5 Best Bakery POS Software Systems Are The Icing On The Cake For Small Businesses

Get Started with Lightspeed POS

Best for an advanced feature-set.

Lightspeed Restaurant was established in 2014, but that doesn’t mean Lightspeed is a new kid on the block — Lightspeed’s Retail POS product been around since 2005. With the cloud-based Restaurant version of Lightspeed, the POS runs on the iPad exclusively, and you can access your back end through the Lightspeed website or a mobile app. You can process payments via Lightspeed Payments (Lightspeed’s in-house flat-rate processing), or connect with an integrated third-party processor.

One of the many benefits Lightspeed Restaurant offers is the ability to tie in records of raw ingredients to specific products for real-time raw goods tracking. Some more of its strongest back-end features include employee management, product management, customer management, and reporting. Lightspeed also boasts many third-party software integrations as well as paid add-ons for advanced features, including loyalty, self-order kiosk, online ordering, delivery management, a customer-facing display, and advanced reporting. And we can’t help but love Lightspeed’s sleek, modern UI.

Lightspeed could be the right POS for your bakery if you want a cloud-based iPad POS that offers a lot of bells and whistles (available with paid add-ons). However, with a base price of just $59/month (billed annually), Lightspeed could also be a good choice if you want an affordable POS with robust core functionality.

Pros

“Quick serve” mode for fast order-taking
Self-order menu option
Orders from third-party food delivery services sent directly to your POS
Lite Server local server option provides strong offline functionality

Cons

Advanced features cost extra

2. TouchBistro

TouchBistro

Get Started with TouchBistro

Best for offline data storage.

Toronto-based TouchBistro, est. 2011, is an iPad point of sale solution that serves the POS needs of food-related businesses of all types, from food trucks to fine dining. Even Gordon Ramsey uses it (and we know how hard to please that guy is). We think TouchBistro is great for bakeries because it’s affordable, easy to use, and allows you to take complex bakery orders with ease. It’s for these reasons (and others) that TouchBistro is the Apple Store’s number-one grossing food and drink app in 37+ countries.

TouchBistro is an ideal iPad POS option for bakeries that want a modern tablet-based system but also want the security of onsite data storage. TouchBistro differs from most other “mobile” POS systems in that all of your data is stored onsite. Rather than syncing back to the cloud, POS app data is stored directly on your iPad or a local Mac server. For the Standard (1-iPad) subscription, your entire bakery will be run and managed directly from the iPad. For two or more registers, you will need to set up a local server on a Mac Mini, Macbook Pro, or iMac, which will sync data to and from your iPad registers. However, you will need an internet connection to process credit card payments.

At $69/month (for one register), TouchBistro includes a lot of functionality at a very reasonable price point. Online ordering, loyalty, delivery, and gift cards are extra. Most essential features, though, are included in the core package — menu management, table management, cloud-based reporting, unlimited users, software integrations, and 24/7 support. While the system may not be advanced enough for some full-service restaurants, TouchBistro can work great for quick-serve eateries, such as bakeries and cafes.

Pros

Integrates with Square and PayPal Here
Can perform most functions offline
Kiosk mode for self-ordering (billed as an additional license)
Online ordering free for the first year (COVID-19 promotion)

Cons

Mixed customer reviews
No in-house payment processing

3. Square

Square POS

Get Started with Square POS

Best for a free POS.

Square is a simple and easy-to-use POS software that provides everything you need to sell baked goods and manage your bakery. Square is super popular among all kinds of small businesses in the foodservice sector, as it conveniently combines payment processing with cloud POS functionality and can be used on any hardware, from iPads to Android smartphones, to Square’s custom-built POS hardware solutions, such as Square Terminal and Square Register.

Oh yeah, and it’s free! Besides your hardware costs, all you pay is Square’s in-house payment processing fees. You even get a free card reader, a free eCommerce store, and a free Square Online Checkout link to sell online without setting up an online store. Inventory management, team management, menu management, reporting, invoicing, eGift cards, and unlimited devices all come with the free plan as well. All in all, Square is probably the most feature-rich free POS available — while also being the easiest to use.

Square does have several paid add-ons that extend its basic POS functionality, such as Square Loyalty, Square Payroll, and others. The POS also integrates with an extensive list of third-party software extensions, including advanced inventory management solutions, such as Shopventory. Square additionally has a restaurant-centric version of its POS called Square for Restaurants that is $60/month. However, most bakeries that do not need sit-down restaurant features such as floor planning and table management will be fine with the free version of Square. You’ll need Square for Restaurants if you want to integrate third-party food delivery services, or you can use your free Square Online Store to set up in-person pickup and local delivery options.

At 2.6% + $0.10, Square’s flat-fee payment processing is well-priced for low-volume businesses (processing less than $10 to $15K/month) with small ticket sizes. However, higher-volume, established businesses will likely be better off getting their own dedicated merchant account.

Pros

Unlimited devices
Free online store
Free digital gift cards
Can use on any hardware setup

Cons

Not for high-volume businesses
Limited live customer support

4. Toast

Toast POS

Get Started with Toast POS

Best for restaurant-grade POS hardware.

While there are several iPad-based POS systems for cafes and bakeries, Toast is the top Android-based POS solution for restaurants. Toast offers numerous features and hardware options, all specifically designed for restaurant use. Couple its advanced functionality with best-in-class customer support, and you get a highly capable POS for any sized bakery, including even franchises and multilocation eateries. With a base price of $75/month and features such as inventory management and team management costing extra, Toast is definitely on the pricier side. However, high-volume or quickly-growing eateries will be hard-pressed to find a more capable cloud-based restaurant POS system.

Toast is a complete all-in-one POS and payment processing solution. It’s meant to be used with Toast’s custom-built Android hardware, which includes options, such as the Toast Go handheld ordering device, the Toast Flex POS monitor and customer-facing screen, and the Toast Tap contactless payment terminal. All of the hardware is built for restaurants, so it’s spill-proof and drop-resistant, with more RAM and longer battery life than consumer tablets. You’ll also have to use Toast’s in-house, flat-rate payment processing. So Toast is probably not the best choice if you want to use your own hardware or merchant account.

An interesting option Toast has added recently is digital ordering options, which can be purchased separately from the Toast POS offering. That means even bakeries that use a different POS can still use Toast to set up an online ordering website, a mobile ordering app, eGift cards, and contactless delivery options. Toast charges $75/month for its full suite of digital ordering solutions, and the first three months are free during COVID-19. In addition to socially-distanced online ordering and delivery options, Toast allows for socially-distanced guest experiences in your restaurant as well — Toast’s Pay at the Table feature allows guests to scan a QR code on their receipt and pay on their own device, no credit card handling or screen-touching required.

Pros

Restaurant-grade hardware
Excellent customer support
Contactless ordering and payment options

Cons

Must use with Toast payment processing
Must use with Toast hardware

5. ShopKeep

ShopKeep POS

Get Started with ShopKeep POS

Best for ease of use.

ShopKeep is one of the best all-around POS systems for small businesses, food-related or not. For bakeries, this affordable, easy-to-use iPad POS provides some handy features, such as raw ingredient tracking, employee management, integrated in-house payment processing, and email marketing (via integration with Mailchimp) to stay in touch with your customers, and a loyalty program to encourage repeat business. Since it can also support retail and integrates with barcode scanners, ShopKeep is also a good POS for small businesses that sell merchandise in addition to food items.

ShopKeep features an attractive and intuitive register interface with the option of tableside ordering, allowing you to move down your busy bakery line and take orders with your iPad to send back to the kitchen or main register. While sleek and uncluttered, ShopKeep’s ultra-customizable interface is also really enjoyable to use, with animations and sound effects (which you can turn off if you’re not into that kinda thing). The register can host 3,000 item buttons and makes it easy to ring up items, add modifiers, take payments, split tenders, apply quick discounting (item and order level), and issue returns and refunds.

Another cool bakery-related feature of the ShopKeep POS is its raw goods tracking function: Every time you sell a pastry or cupcake, ShopKeep will track the amount of sugar/eggs/flour/etc., that was used and let you know when ingredients are running low.

ShopKeep has a free plan with a pared-down feature-set; paid plans are quote-based, but most merchants are somewhere in the neighborhood of $60-$80/month.

Pros

Free plan available
Runs on iPad, Android, and Clover hardware
Multiple payment processing options (in-house or your own merchant account)
eCommerce add-on with online ordering

Cons

Lacking in advanced features
Occasional bugs and glitches