Advertiser Disclosure

💳 Save money on credit card processing with one of our top 5 picks for 2022

6 Best Bookstore POS Systems

The best point of sale systems for bookstores will track inventory, take digital payments, and offer gift cards. Which is the right fit for your small business?

    Kymberlin Bush
  • Last updated onUpdated

  • Matt Sherman
  • REVIEWED BY

    Matt Sherman

    Lead Staff Writer

Advertiser Disclosure: Our unbiased reviews and content are supported in part by affiliate partnerships, and we adhere to strict guidelines to preserve editorial integrity.
Bookstore POS systems

A bookstore POS system allows bookstore owners to take digital payments, easily track book inventory, and sell books (and other goods) online and in-person.

The best bookstore POS systems also allow you to create and maintain a customer loyalty program, manage your bookstore inventory, and advertise in-store events.

We evaluated over 15 different point of sale systems to discover the best POS system for your bookstore. Read on to learn more about 6 of our favorite bookstore POS systems and figure out which one is best for your business!

Learn More About Our Top Picks

CompanyBest ForNext StepsBest For

Read More

  • Best for large inventory and book rentals
  • Excellent large inventory management, item rental integrations, and eCommerce site integration
  • Pricing starts at $69 per month
  • Best for large inventory and book rentals
  • Excellent large inventory management, item rental integrations, and eCommerce site integration
  • Pricing starts at $69 per month

Visit Site

Read More

Read More

  • Best free option
  • Free POS software, free online store builder, and affordable card readers
  • Pricing starts at $0 per month
  • Best free option
  • Free POS software, free online store builder, and affordable card readers
  • Pricing starts at $0 per month

Visit Site

Read More

Read More

  • Best for eCommerce and international sales
  • Excellent online store builder, great pickup and shipping options, and lots of third-party app integrations
  • Pricing starts at $39 per month
  • Best for eCommerce and international sales
  • Excellent online store builder, great pickup and shipping options, and lots of third-party app integrations
  • Pricing starts at $39 per month

Visit Site

Read More

Read More

  • Best for scalability
  • Thorough but affordable inventory management, lots of employee permissions, and the ability to use any POS hardware and payment processor
  • Pricing starts at $59 per month
  • Best for scalability
  • Thorough but affordable inventory management, lots of employee permissions, and the ability to use any POS hardware and payment processor
  • Pricing starts at $59 per month

Visit Site

Read More

Read More

  • Best for event and fundraiser management
  • Easy account setup, lots of POS hardware options, built-in online ordering page, and 450+ add-on apps
  • Pricing starts at $0 per month
  • Best for event and fundraiser management
  • Easy account setup, lots of POS hardware options, built-in online ordering page, and 450+ add-on apps
  • Pricing starts at $0 per month

Visit Site

Read More

Show More Options

Read More

  • Best for bookstores with cafes
  • Retail and food POS system, perishable inventory management, and multi-location management
  • Pricing starts at $99 per month
  • Best for bookstores with cafes
  • Retail and food POS system, perishable inventory management, and multi-location management
  • Pricing starts at $99 per month

Visit Site

Read More

Show Fewer Options

Read more below to learn why we chose these options.

Table of Contents

6 Best Bookstore POS Systems

Our favorite bookstore POS systems offer robust inventory management support, eCommerce capabilities, gift card sales, customer loyalty programs, and niche features like event ticket sales and customer book wish lists.

Learn more about our picks for the best bookstore POS systems: Lightspeed Retail, Square, Shopify, KORONA, Clover, and Revel Systems.

1. Lightspeed Retail: Best For Large Inventory & Book Rentals

Lightspeed Retail POS


Visit Site

Pricing

Starts at $89/month ($69/month billed annually)

Contract

None

Equipment Cost

Contact Lightspeed for a quote

Pros

  • Rental item integrations
  • Excellent inventory management
  • Customer accounts and wish lists
  • Great loyalty program

Cons

  • Early termination fee
  • High prices for small businesses

Lightspeed Retail tablet POS system

Lightspeed Retail tablet POS, store management dashboard, and loyalty program points on smartphones.

Why We Chose Lightspeed Retail For Best Bookstore POS System

We love Lightspeed Retail's extensive inventory management features, which help bookstores track lots of books moving in and out of stores, build featured collections, allow for custom orders, and more. Lightspeed's inventory management will work well for booksellers that get new books from distributors and wholesalers, as well as bookstores that focus mostly on sourcing niche-used books.

We also appreciate that some bookstores offer a lending library program where people can rent books (either for free, for a fixed time period, or for an open-ended amount of time), and Lightspeed can help you manage rental items. With Lightspeed's rental item management integrations, it's easy to implement a program like this at your store and get books into the community in an economical, sustainable way.

Finally, we like that Lightspeed has so many built-in products to help you expand your bookstore's offering even more, like subscription memberships with discounts, a loyalty program, and an employee discount program, so your employees can enjoy some perks, too.

Note: Lightspeed Retail offers a 14-day free trial; no credit card required.

Lightspeed Retail Pricing

Lightspeed Retail POS Plans Price  When To Use
Lightspeed Retail POS Lean $89/month ($69/month billed annually) For mid- to large-sized businesses that want a POS with retail-specific features
Lightspeed Retail POS Standard $149/month ($119/month billed annually) For businesses that want a POS with retail-specific features plus accounting integration & eCommerce
Lightspeed Retail POS Advanced $269/month ($199/month billed annually) For businesses that want a POS with retail-specific features, accounting integration, eCommerce, & loyalty

All Lightspeed plans include one register. You’ll need a custom quote to place multiple POS registers in your store.

Third-party software integrations, such as item rental inventory software, cost an extra monthly fee.

Lightspeed Retail Bookstore POS Features

Lightspeed Retail POS Features Availability
Multi-Store Support
Contactless Payments
Multi-Channel Selling Standard plan & up
Gift Cards
Customer Loyalty Advanced plan
Marketing Tools Standard plan & up
Online Ordering Standard plan & up
Inventory Management
Reporting
Menu Management
Delivery Management
EBT Acceptance
Employee Management
Text Messaging

Lightspeed’s best feature for bookstores is its extensive inventory management capabilities, which include:

  • Scanner App: The iOS/Android app allows staff to add books to your inventory by scanning the book’s barcode, take full and partial inventory, fulfill online orders, and see how much stock you have in all inventory locations while on the sales floor
  • Purchase Ordering: Set minimum reordering levels for books with automated purchase ordering, add customer wish list items/requests to your regular purchase orders, automatically add received items as inventory, and set preferred book vendors
  • Composite Products: Create gift boxes, featured collections, build custom packages for customers, and more by creating one composite product out of several individual ones
  • Inventory Types & Management: Take order quotes, manage work orders, sell event tickets and merch, offer eBooks and audiobooks, sell tickets, and more with Lightspeed’s inventory management dashboard

Lightspeed bookstore POS

Lightspeed inventory management dashboard creates a composite product out of individual products.

Lightspeed also allows you to sell subscriptions, so you can offer memberships and provide discounts to your members. As an example, for $10/month, members of your “book club” can get 10% off all purchases.

You can offer this type of discount using Lightspeed’s customer tagging system.

There are several rental item integrations that allow customers to reserve books online, rent them out in-store, and request books that are already on loan. You can track the status of rental books, create predefined and open rental periods, charge late fees, and more with integrations like Booxi.

Lightspeed POS for bookstore

Lightspeed rental item integration Booxi used to import book products to rent out.

For more information on Lightspeed’s excellent loyalty program, read our post on the best POS software with loyalty programs.

POS Hardware Cost & Options

Lightspeed Retail POS hardware

Lightspeed Retail POS register, Bluetooth barcode scanner, and online storefront.

Lightspeed products run exclusively on iPads, and you can use tablets as POS registers, customer-facing displays, and POS dashboards.

You can get a custom quote from Lightspeed to get a POS hardware bundle that will include a cash drawer, receipt printer, iPad stand, and barcode scanner, or purchase individual items.

You may purchase your own Lightspeed-compatible hardware instead. You can see a list of compatible hardware on Lightspeed’s support page.

Payment Processing Costs

Lightspeed has its own processing solution, Lightspeed Payments, which qualified business owners are required to use (this includes pretty much everyone in the US and Canada).

Lightspeed Payments charges a flat-rate fee of 2.6% + $0.10 for in-person (card-present) transactions and 2.9% + $0.30 for online transactions.

The company also offers an enterprise-level plan, which is completely customized and allows high-revenue bookstores to get lower payment processing rates and save on fees.

Contract Requirements/Warnings

Lightspeed requires all businesses to fill out an order form, which will show your custom pricing. You will pay one-time fees upfront, and you may (depending on your billing cycle) pay for your software subscription on a monthly basis or upfront (in the case of annual or long-term plans.)

In general, the longer your POS subscription is, the less you’ll pay per month. However, Lightspeed charges an early termination fee if you decide to cancel your subscription early, and hardware return windows are short, so consider starting out on a monthly plan until you’re sure Lightspeed is the POS for your store.

Get Started With Lightspeed Retail POS

Read our in-depth review

Jump back to comparison chart

2. Square For Retail: Best Free Option

Square For Retail


Visit Site

Pricing

$0-$60/month

Contract

None

Equipment Cost

$0-$799/month

Get a free card swiper from Square at no cost when you create a free account. Claim your card reader.

Pros

  • Completely free POS software plans
  • Free online store builder
  • Affordable card readers and tablet stands
  • Low-commitment with monthly contracts

Cons

  • Average inventory management
  • Must use Square payment processor

Square POS for bookstores

Square online bookstore builder.

Why We Chose Square For Best Bookstore POS System

We love that Square offers a completely free plan for smaller booksellers to start selling books affordably and easily. You don't need much technical skill or a lot of upfront capital to start selling anything from books, to merch, to eBooks and audiobooks, to events and memberships online and in-person.

With Square's online store builder, you can create your own custom website that customers can order and request books from, and online orders can automatically sync with your physical inventory. You can use an unlimited number of tablets as POS devices and inventory management dashboards on the free plan, which is unique among POS providers.

Note: Square’s free plan is absolutely free to use, with no special conditions or limitations. Square’s paid plans come with a 30-day free trial.

Square Pricing

Square For Retail Plans Price  When To Use
Free Plan $0/month (2.6% + $0.10 processing fees) You have a retail store with basic inventory and reporting needs
Pro Plan $60/month (2.5% + $0.10 processing fees) You have a small to mid-sized retail establishment with advanced back-end needs
Premium Plan Custom pricing (2.5% + $0.10 processing fees) You sell more than $250,000 a year

The Plus plan includes inventory management features like vendor management, inventory counts, automated purchase ordering, and barcode printing. You can also accept cross-location returns and exchanges on the Plus plan.

Once you get a substantial amount of moving inventory, it would be wise to move up to the affordable Plus plan.

Square Bookstore POS Features

Square For Retail Features Availability
Multi-Store Support
Contactless Payments
Multi-Channel Selling
Gift Cards Add-on
Customer Loyalty Add-on
Marketing Tools
Online Ordering
Inventory Management
Reporting
Menu Management
Delivery Management
EBT Acceptance
Employee Management
Text Messaging

Square offers an extensive amount of free POS features, including:

  • Free Square online store builder and Square online checkout links to sell online for free with or without a website
  • Ability to sell physical and digital items such as PDFs and audiobooks, events such as workshops, and memberships
  • Free employee time clock, scheduling, and reporting
  • Unlimited number of POS registers on free plan
  • TikTok social media selling and Instagram shoppable posts

Square bookstore POS

Square bookstore POS online store builder add writers workshop.

Paid plans offer more inventory features, such as the ability to link vendors to products in your item catalog, which will make reordering items easier. You can also manage inventory and employees in multiple locations on the Square Plus plan. Customers can preorder books, send books as gifts, and backorder books on the Plus plan.

POS Hardware Cost & Options

Square best POS system hardware

Square POS on iPad, Square Register, and Square contactless card reader.

Square software works on phones and tablets. You get a free magstripe card reader to start, but you should purchase at least the $59 Square contactless card reader so you can take chip cards and NFC-based payments such as Google Pay and Apple Pay. A full Square Register Kit is $1,189.

Read our guide to Square POS hardware to make an informed POS hardware purchasing decision.

Other hardware, such as receipt printers, does not need to be purchased from Square. Just make sure that the hardware you buy is compatible with Square software.

Payment Processing Costs

Square charges a payment processing fee of 2.6% plus $0.10 per card-present transaction on the free plan. You’ll pay 2.5% plus $0.10 per transaction on the Plus plan. You are charged a 3.5% plus $0.15 fee for card-not-present transactions.

The fee for online transactions and invoices is 2.9% plus $0.30 per transaction.

Contract Requirements/Warnings

Square subscriptions are month-to-month, and you can cancel your merchant account anytime without consequences.

If you damage your Square hardware within your hardware warranty period, even if you didn’t purchase the hardware directly from Square, the company will send you new equipment. Don’t forget to send old pieces back to Square within 14 days of getting your new hardware, or you will be charged for the new equipment.

Get Started With Square For Retail

Read our in-depth review

Jump back to comparison chart

3. Shopify POS: Best For eCommerce & International Sales

Shopify POS


Visit Site

Pricing

Starts at $29/month

Contract

None

Equipment Cost

$0-$500+

Pros

  • Excellent online store builder
  • Social media sales capabilities
  • Free and paid add-on apps
  • Affordable POS hardware

Cons

  • Shopify Payments required to avoid fees
  • Advanced management requires paid subscription

Shopify bookstore POS

Shopify website builder bookstore-specific template.

Why We Chose Shopify For Best Bookstore POS System

We love that Shopify offers such a comprehensive eCommerce sales platform and that the company has built a POS system around its core online store builder. Shopify offers the best shipping, domestic and international order fulfillment, and a multichannel sales platform out of all the best retail POS systems available.

The store builder and POS interface are also very customizable, with a drag-and-drop website builder and POS flow builder, plus 8,000+ add-on apps in the Shopify App Store. With these many apps, including general apps like upselling and cross-selling add-ons, as well as bookstore-specific ones like book metadata imports and comic book subscription plans, you'll be able to build the perfect online and in-store sales solution for your bookstore.

Note: Shopify offers a three-day free trial of its online store builder and POS app, no credit card required.

Shopify Pricing

Shopify POS Plans Price  When To Use
Basic $39/month ($29/month billed annually) If you have a growing eCommerce business with occasional in-person sales
Shopify $105/month ($79/month billed annually) If you want additional reporting and reduced payment processing fees
Advanced $399/month ($299/month billed annually) If you want advanced reporting and additional discounts on processing fees
Shopify Plus $2,000+/month If your high-volume or large business needs an enterprise-level solution

All plans come with the free POS Lite app. There is a POS Pro app you may add onto one of the above plans for an extra $89/month/location. This app comes with more employee permissions, better inventory reporting, and in-person workflow automation.

Your payment processing rate decreases on higher-level plans. Businesses with larger transaction volumes and inventory management needs should strongly consider upgrading to save money in the long run.

Shopify Bookstore POS Features

Shopify POS Features Availability
Multi-Store Support Supports multiple inventory locations
Contactless Payments
Multi-Channel Selling
Gift Cards
Customer Loyalty
Marketing Tools
Online Ordering
Inventory Management
Reporting
Menu Management
Delivery Management
EBT Acceptance
Employee Management
Text Messaging

Shopify’s free in-person sales features include everything you need to make sales at a retail store or mobile business, while the paid Shopify Pro POS app adds functions like exchanges, purchase ordering, and stock transfers between locations.

On all Shopify plans, shoppers can buy items online for in-store pickup. They can also purchase items in person for local delivery. This is great for instances when you don’t have enough items in-store to fulfill a customer’s order, but you do have them at a warehouse or another location.

Shopify best point of sale system

Shopify POS order for in-store pickup.

Shopify’s eCommerce features are what sets this software apart. These features include:

  • Custom online store builder with item sales for in-store pickup, delivery, and layaway, plus upsells and customer wish lists
  • Sales on social media channels like TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter
  • Book listings and sales on marketplaces like Amazon, eBay, Etsy, and Walmart Marketplace
  • Suite of shipping tools to streamline item shipping and give accurate tracking updates to customers
  • B2C and B2B customer accounts to sell individual books, take bulk orders, and build personalized catalogs/memberships and book recommendations

International booksellers will appreciate Shopify’s entire suite of international sales management tools, including automated website translations for customers in different locations, local currency conversion, international shipping calculations, imports and taxes, and book pricing by market area.

Shopify also has the largest app store out of all the providers on this list, with over 8,000 apps available for users to add any functionality to their POS and online store that they want. With this much customization available, Shopify can be tailored to suit the needs of any bookstore.

For example, Shopify has lots of digital download apps, a bulk book metadata entry app (the ONIXEDIT app automatically populates book information like author, format, dimensions, and weight), and even a comic book subscription management app to help bookstore owners reach their sales goals.

POS Hardware Cost & Options

Shopify POS hardware

Shopify POS register stand with card reader.

To start selling, you need at least the $49 Shopify card reader as well as a smartphone or iPad. You can also purchase a retail kit for $219 as well as accessories like barcode scanners ($229), cash drawers ($139), and label printers (starting at $299) from Shopify.

Shopify also recently released a new handheld mobile POS system, the Shopify POS Go, for $399.

Payment Processing Costs

Shopify offers its own in-house payment processor, Shopify Payments, in a number of countries. To avoid transaction fees that range from 0.5% to 2% per transaction, qualified business owners must use Shopify Payments.

Shopify Payments charges a payments processing fee between 2.4% and 2.7% for in-person orders, while online orders have a processing fee between 2.4% and 2.9%, plus a $0.30 flat fee.

The higher your monthly Shopify subscription, the lower your payment processing fees will be. As companies increase their sales volumes, they should move to a higher plan to save money on fees. At some point, it may be worth it for larger businesses to switch to a third-party payment services provider that offers better payment processing rates and just pay the transaction fees.

Contract Requirements/Warnings

Shopify has monthly and annual contracts. Annual contracts have better pricing, and Shopify doesn’t charge early termination fees. However, you won’t get a refund on any plan, so consider this as you’re purchasing your subscription plan. As always, make extensive use of your free trial before committing.

Most Shopify POS users get a one-year warranty on Shopify POS hardware. If you sign up for the POS Pro plan, you’ll get an extended two-year warranty.

Get Started With Shopify POS

Read our in-depth review

Jump back to comparison chart

4. KORONA POS: Best For Scalability

KORONA POS


Visit Site

Pricing

$59-$69/month

Contract

None

Equipment Cost

Contact for quote

Pros

  • Use any POS hardware and payment processor
  • Unlimited free trial
  • Affordable inventory management
  • Substantial reporting and insights

Cons

  • Interface is slightly dated
  • Limited third-party integrations

KORONA best point of sale

KORONA POS system set stock reordering levels example.

Why We Chose KORONA POS For Best Bookstore POS System

We like that KORONA is a system that makes it affordable for your bookstore to expand its inventory management capabilities, expand employee permissions, open and monitor more locations, and offer loyalty programs and gift cards for book lovers.

We also like that KORONA is very customizable in terms of what you can use with the software. KORONA has an open API (Application Programming Interface), so you can integrate the software with many third-party apps that don't have pre-built integrations. You can use a lot of different POS hardware with KORONA, and can choose your own payment processor so you can get the best rates for your business.

Note: KORONA offers an unlimited free trial; no credit card required. You only start paying monthly fees when you start taking sales, so you can take your time trying out the system and working with its inventory management features.

KORONA POS Pricing

KORONA POS Plans Price  When To Use
KORONA POS Core $59/month Basic business operations
KORONA POS Retail $69/month Advanced inventory needs
KORONA Plus (optional additional module) Extra $20/month per terminal Advanced analytics needs
KORONA Food (optional additional module) Extra $10/month per terminal Restaurants with table service

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.

We really have to point out that while the software isn’t as good as Lightspeed’s in terms of inventory management, it’s very comprehensive for its price.

KORONA Bookstore POS Features

In terms of POS features for bookstores, KORONA has you covered with:

  • Multi-Store Capability: Easily track and send inventory to and from multiple locations. This is great for when customers have items they want to put on hold.
  • Advanced Inventory: Crucial for bookstores, KORONA allows you to transfer entire product lists, sort by a variety of categories, track when new items are scheduled to arrive, and stay informed about your store’s exact item counts in real-time.
  • Loyalty Integration: Implement a system that rewards your customers with points and encourages repeat business. You can also track customer preferences, including things like favorite genres.
  • eCommerce Integration: In order to compete with the publishing giants out there, you almost have to have a strong online presence. KORONA POS’s eCommerce integration with WooCommerce makes it easy to set up a functional and simple online store to increase your customer base.
  • Reporting: KORONA point of sale comes with detailed reports that can help you know what titles are selling and what to keep stocked for the future.

KORONA POS for bookstore

KORONA POS business reporting suite.

POS Hardware Cost & Options

korona pos hardware

KORONA iPad POS, card reader, barcode scanner, and PC dashboard.

KORONA does not list pricing online but is compatible with hardware from Epson, PartnerTech, PAX, Genius, Dejavoo, Econduit, Aures, Honeywell, and more.

Payment Processing Costs

KORONA does not offer in-house payment processing but instead integrates with several payment processors, including Merchant Warehouse and Merchant Payment Systems.

You can also integrate KORONA with several merchant service providers through PAX and Dejavoo payment devices.

Contract Requirements/Warnings

KORONA offers month-to-month contracts with no early termination fees. You can pay for an annual contract and get one month free.

The provider also offers an unlimited free trial, so you can try out the software for as long as you need to before committing to it.

You do have to be careful about your merchant agreement and make sure the terms are fair for your business. High-risk business owners should expect to pay a little more for payment processing than other lower-risk business owners.

Get Started With KORONA POS

Read our in-depth review

Jump back to comparison chart

5. Clover: Best For Event & Fundraiser Management

Clover POS


Visit Site

Pricing

Starts at $0/month

Contract

Depends on merchant services provider

Equipment Cost

$49-$1,799 per device

Pros

  • Excellent mobile POS hardware to sell at events
  • Easy to use and customize
  • Can work with several payment processors
  • Event management and fundraising apps available

Cons

  • Expensive startup costs
  • Potential scams

Clover bookstore POS system

Clover donation integration that bookstores can use during fundraisers.

Why We Chose Clover For Best Bookstore POS System

We like that Clover allows you to purchase your tablet hardware, POS software, and payment processor from one place. Having the freedom to choose your own payment processor means that you can shop around for the lowest payment processing fees for your business.

You also get access to Clover’s extensive app market, with 400+ apps available for bookstores to operate efficiently and find new revenue opportunities. For example, Clover offers event ticketing software so you can sell tickets to lectures, workshops, and offsite events. There are also donation management apps so you can create donation campaigns for literacy nonprofits, local schools, and communities in need.

Additionally, we believe that the Clover Flex mobile POS system is an excellent handheld POS system that booksellers can use to take payments at events like book fairs and pop-up shops.

Clover Pricing

Clover POS Plans Price  When To Use
Clover Payments $0/month If you only need to process payments and don’t need any POS hardware
Clover Essentials $14.95/month If you have a small retail/service-based business and don’t take returns
Clover Register $49.95/month If you have a small to mid-size retail/service-based business and need more POS features
Clover Counter Service Restaurant $54.95/month If you have a quick-serve restaurant, cafeteria, or mobile food service business
Clover Table Service Restaurant $84.95/month If you have a full-service restaurant or bar

If you buy from Clover directly, you can purchase a Clover retail software plan for between $14.95/month and $54.90/month if you purchase your Clover hardware upfront.

If you decide to enroll in Clover’s “pay monthly” plan so that you can pay for your hardware over time, you’ll pay one monthly fee for both your hardware and software. That fee will range from $60/month to $175/month, depending on your hardware package.

Additional devices are $9.95/month/register if you have all your registers in one location. If, for example, you have two Clover Minis in two different stores, you’ll have to pay the full Register subscription cost for both Minis.

If you buy your Clover hardware from another provider, you could pay a different monthly software fee.

Read our Clover POS pricing guide for more on how much you could be paying for your Clover software/hardware package.

Clover Bookstore POS Features

Clover POS Features Availability
Multi-Store Support
Contactless Payments Depends on hardware choice
Multi-Channel Selling
Gift Cards
Customer Loyalty
Marketing Tools
Online Ordering Depends on software plan
Inventory Management
Reporting
Menu Management
Delivery Management
EBT Acceptance Add-on app
Employee Management
Text Messaging

Clover retail software itself is a pretty straightforward offering, with an online ordering page for selling books and merch that readers can pick up or have delivered, in-store discounts and promotions, physical and eGift cards, and an offline payments mode so you can still check out customers even if your store’s Wi-Fi stops working. You can also connect your Clover shopping page to your Google business profile so users looking for bookstores near them can find and shop from your store.

Clover’s unique offering is its large app market that, much like Shopify’s app market, gives your POS software the basic and advanced features your bookstore needs. There are excellent inventory management apps for SKU inventory management, upsells and cross-sells, membership apps, rental timers, and subscription management.

Clover is great for event management because of these unique features:

  • Fundraising Apps: Bookstores that run fundraisers can create timed fundraisers and fundraising parameters with one of Clover’s many fundraising apps.
  • Ticketing Apps: If your location hosts events either in-store or elsewhere in partnership with another organization or venue, one of Clover’s ticketing apps will automatically generate tickets that customers can present at the door.
  • Mobile POS: Clover’s handheld POS is a sturdy mobile sales solution that also acts as a barcode scanner and inventory manager so you can tell interested customers whether a book they want is in one of your stores, at another location, and if they can backorder a copy of what they’re looking for.
  • Booking Apps: If you want to host private or special events at your store for schools, community organizations, or individuals, one of Clover’s booking apps will help you streamline the booking process. You can either set up a calendar that people can use to book themselves or create a form for interested individuals to reach out to you.

Clover bookstore POS

Clover event ticket management app example.

POS Hardware Cost & Options

Clover POS hardware

Clover countertop POS system, handheld POS system, barcode scanner, cash drawer, and card reader.

Clover POS software only works with Clover hardware.

You may purchase your Clover system from Clover or one of several Clover resellers. If you purchase hardware from Clover, you’ll pay between $49 (Clover Go contactless card reader) and $1,799 (Clover Station Duo).

We recommend the $599 Clover Flex for bookstores that take sales or preorders on the go. The POS is large enough to see but easy to hold, includes an integrated barcode scanner, and has a built-in receipt printer.

Payment Processing Costs

If you purchase your devices from Clover.com, you must use Fiserv as your payment processor. Fiserv charges the following payment processing fees:

  • Card-Present Transactions: 2.3% + $0.10 (Clover Register plan) and 2.6% + $0.10 (Clover Essentials plan)
  • Card-Not-Present Transactions: 3.5% + $0.10 (all plans)

Card-not-present transactions include online sales, phone orders, orders from third-party shopping platforms, manually-keyed-in card payments, and anything else that is not a chip/tap/swipe card payment, cash, or check.

If a huge chunk of your sales happens online, consider a different Clover reseller or a different POS provider altogether to avoid the relatively steep card-not-present payment processing fees.

If you purchase your device from a Clover reseller, your fees and fee payment structure will change. Large retailers may save on payment processing fees if they choose to work with a Clover-authorized reseller.

Contract Requirements/Warnings

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.

The bottom line is that no matter where you get your Clover hardware, buying expensive proprietary hardware is a big commitment. So, make sure Clover is right for you before spending a lot of money on POS hardware.

Get Started With Clover POS

Read our in-depth review

Jump back to comparison chart

6. Revel Systems: Best For Bookstores With Cafes

Revel POS Systems


Visit Site

Pricing

$99/month

Contract

Three-year commitment for lowest rate

Equipment Cost

$20-$1,500

Pros

  • Food software features
  • Extensive inventory management
  • Multi-location management
  • Highly customizable option

Cons

  • Long-term contract and early termination fee
  • Expensive for smaller bookstores

Revel bookstore POS software

Revel POS system used in coffee shop.

Why We Chose Revel Systems For Best Bookstore POS System

Unlike many other POS systems, you don’t have to choose between retail, restaurant, and service business software plans. This is great for bookstores that want to build a café into their store. Revel also offers several proprietary add-ons, business reports, and third-party integrations for business owners to streamline operations and thoughtfully expand their offerings.

This POS is also a great option for bookstores with multiple locations. Revel has excellent multi-establishment hierarchy settings that help you manage brands, individual establishment permissions, product settings, and more. There are also lots of product transfer settings that help you monitor the location of any book at any given time.

We also appreciate that Revel is consistently updating its product offering based on feedback from customers, so you can rest assured knowing that your POS will continually remain one of the most well-designed systems.

Revel Pricing

Revel POS Systems Plans Price  When To Use
Revel plan $99/month with three-year commitment Use if you are committed to the product and have a need for high-end features.

If you agree to Revel’s three-year, two-terminal minimum requirements, you will pay $99/month/terminal, billed annually. With this deal, you also have to commit to Revel for your payment processing needs for three years.

Revel’s website does not list monthly fees, so you need to call for a quote.

Revel Bookstore POS Features

Revel POS Systems Features Availability
Multi-Store Support
Contactless Payments
Multi-Channel Selling
Gift Cards
Customer Loyalty
Marketing Tools
Online Ordering
Inventory Management
Reporting
Menu Management
Delivery Management
EBT Acceptance
Employee Management
Text Messaging

Revel’s best features for bookstores that want to serve food and beverages include:

  • Food & Liquid Inventory Management: Revel includes perishable inventory management, sales by weight, and the ability to create menus for any made-to-order items. There are also liquid inventory management integrations to help bookstores identify sources of wastage, maximize profits, and make better purchasing decisions.
  • Purchase Ordering: Generate purchase orders with set par levels, vendor management, and partial/full order receiving.
  • Kitchen Orders: Revel integrates with kitchen printers and kitchen display system software, with either system helping baristas get orders out the door efficiently (without making mistakes.)
  • Online Ordering: Create online ordering site sections for your books, merch, and food.
  • Rentals: You can rent out your coffee shop/bookstore for events with Revel’s appointment booking software.
  • Loyalty Program: Includes custom rewards point setup, gift options, and automated loyalty points marketing for customers who haven’t stopped by in a while
  • Employee Management: Revel’s employee management includes scheduling, time clocks, employee roles, and payroll, all within the Revel dashboard.

Revel POS system with QuickBooks

Revel POS generate new purchase order.

POS Hardware Cost & Options

Revel POS hardware

Revel iPad POS register, iPad stand, iPad customer-facing display, cash drawer, receipt printer, and card reader.

Revel works on iPads, which you can buy independently or from Revel. You’ll have to contact Revel for a quote on hardware like card readers, printers, and cash drawers.

Alternatively, with Revel’s written permission, you may purchase Revel-compatible hardware on your own. The company asks for written permission to ensure that you are definitely spending your money on hardware that will work and can avoid having to return any equipment to third-party providers.

Payment Processing Costs

Revel offers its own in-house payment processing solution, Revel Advantage. Revel no longer advertises a definitive flat-rate fee, meaning that you’ll get a custom quoted fee based on order volume, average transaction size, and mix of payment methods.

If you choose to work with a third-party payment processor (which you cannot do on the three-year plan), you will likely pay a higher monthly subscription fee.

Contract Requirements/Warnings

Revel’s standard contract is three years, with a substantial early termination fee depending on how far you’re into your contract before canceling.

While you’ll get the best prices with a longer contract, we recommend making extensive use of your demo, asking lots of questions to your Revel account representative, and even signing up for a month-to-month plan until you’re sure that Revel is the right fit for your growing business.

Revel typically offers a discount for users who bundle their software, hardware, and payment processing into one bill. We recommend that you get an estimate on hardware and payment processing rates from outside companies and bring that estimate to Revel to see if they’ll match it.

Get Started With Revel POS Systems

Read our in-depth review

Jump back to comparison chart

Our Methodology

To find the best bookstore POS system, we evaluated 15 different retail POS systems based on pricing, ease of use, inventory management capabilities, eCommerce sales integrations, POS hardware options, and niche features like tickets for events, customer accounts, product requests, food sales, and book rentals.

We tried out POS systems using free trials when possible, read through recent, unincentivized customer reviews, and considered value for money when making our decisions.

Bookstore Inventory Management Software

There are a few programs specifically built for managing bookstore inventory software that may integrate directly with your POS. If you’re looking to go that route, here are a few solid options.

Thrive By Shopventory

Thrive by Shopventory is extremely advanced for an inventory management system and a very strong option for smaller businesses. It has a free plan with a limited number of transactions and more advanced plans starting at $79 a month. Here are some of its key features:

  • Supports bundling for advanced purchases with multiple products
  • Integrates with Square, Clover, Shopify, and other POS systems
  • Customizable stock alerts
  • Simple tax management
  • Create and manage purchase orders
  • Basic employee management
  • Loyalty

Cin 7

Cin7 is another highly advanced inventory management system with its own built-in POS system. Pricing starts at $349 a month, which comes with a bevy of features, such as:

  • Batch importing
  • Ability to handle 50,000 SKUs
  • Mobile stock-taking, which can be done remotely
  • Purchase orders with multi-currency functionality
  • Label printing
  • Payment integrations
  • Offline mode
  • Built-in eCommerce

Booklog

Booklog is a quote-based inventory system that includes a POS system made entirely with booksellers in mind, and it offers a number of convenient features, including but not limited to:

  • Sales, purchasing, and receiving orders
  • Preferred stock level and reorder points
  • View entire inventory with one click
  • Built-in point of sale
  • Gift cards
  • EMV-compliant card processing
  • Alternate SKUs and ISBNs
  • Multiple reports

Basil

Another book-seller specific software is Basil, which costs a one-time set-up fee of $250 and $225 per month with no contract. It also features a Lite package starting at $65 a month per machine, and you can add eCommerce for $50 a month. Basil comes with the following features:

  • UPC and ISBN scanning
  • Cayan and Elavon integrations for card processing
  • Gift cards
  • Automatically-applied customer credit
  • Split transactions
  • Multi-store functionality
  • Built-in eCommerce

BookTrakker

BookTrakker is another solid option for bookstores to consider and offers a generous free trial with basic packages starting at just $10 a month for a basic package and $30 a month for its most advanced software. Some of the features it includes are:

  • Data entry from a remote computer
  • Uploads and exports
  • Image scanning
  • ISBNs and ASINs
  • List view and column management
  • Catalogs
  • Invoices

4 Essential Features Booksellers Need In A Bookstore POS

If you’ve narrowed down your choices for bookstore point of sale software but still aren’t quite sure which way to go, it can be helpful to have a checklist of the most important features you’re looking for to help run your business. As a reference, here are just a few things that any top-of-the-line bookstore POS should include:

ISBN Management

If you’ve been in the book business for any amount of time, this will be an obvious one for you. International Standard Book Numbers are the way that books are tracked and information is stored. A point of sale system with this feature can scan a book’s ISBN, and the information (author, title, publisher, etc.) is stored and readily available.

If you are operating with a system that does not have ISBN scanning, the only way to record all of this data would be to enter it manually, something that raises my blood pressure to think about. ISBN management is practically essential, saving countless hours of time for you or your employees and also cutting down on errors.

Customer Management

Strong customer management is a great feature for nearly any business, but it can be especially useful for bookstore owners. Small bookstores and booksellers often pride themselves on the personal touch their employees can add to a customer’s experience. Having a customer management system in your POS that can store personal information and spending histories of customers can help employees track reading habits for future suggestions.

It can also help with marketing campaigns, allowing you to tailor promotions toward specific groups of customers and get them the information and offers that are most relevant to them.

Loyalty

Along those same lines, a robust loyalty program can also give your bookstore a huge boost. If a customer likes your bookstore, it’s likely they will be a repeat spender in the future. And one of the best ways to ensure that a customer will return is to offer rewards for purchases at your establishment.

Many loyalty programs will offer a number of ways for customers to rack up points, whether it’s by dollars spent or a certain number of items. Many will also have a way for customers to check their loyalty credits online and see how close they are to getting something for free or earning a discount, giving them plenty of incentive to visit your shop again.

eCommerce Functionality

For better or worse, in order to stay competitive in the book-selling industry, it’s nearly essential that you have at least some online presence. Fortunately, your point of sale system can help you set up a professional-looking website in a very short amount of time. This can open you up to new customers and dramatically increase your sales.

A strong eCommerce platform can also help customers place orders for books that you might not currently have in stock, allowing you to still get that sale. And, depending on the program, you can include a database of your current inventory and keep customers informed of new releases.

Which Bookstore POS System Is Right For Your Business?

Hopefully, by now, you have made some headway in locking down the perfect POS system for your bookstore. With the above systems, you really can’t go wrong, but it’s crucial that you take care of your most pressing retail needs. Make a list of the most important things you’re looking for in a system, and don’t be afraid to get specific. Then, compare that list to what these POS systems offer; assuming the price is right, you might have your answer.

If you have a smaller operation and are looking to save money on a system, check out Square for Retail or KORONA, as you likely won’t be paying for features you’re not using. If you have a flourishing online presence or are looking to build one, it’s difficult to go wrong with Shopify.

And if you’re looking for systems with truly advanced inventory management along with fully loaded feature sets, Lightspeed Retail might be your best bet.

FAQs: Bookstore POS System

What is a bookstore POS system?

A bookstore POS system is software that allows you to take digital payments for books in person and online, manage book inventory, curate book collections for sale, offer discounts and gift cards, and build a loyalty program.

How do bookstores keep track of books?

Bookstores use book inventory management software to keep track of books. This software, often integrated into your bookstore POS, allows you to assign product codes to books and track them as they come into your store, get rented out (if you offer a lending library), and are sold.

How much does bookstore software cost?

Bookstore software costs between $0 and $400 or more per month depending on how many POS registers you need, whether you sell books online, and whether you offer any niche products/services such as book subscription programs.

Are there free bookstore POS systems available?

Square offers a great free bookstore POS system.

In Summary: 6 Best Bookstore POS Systems

  1. Lightspeed Retail POS:
    • Best for large inventory and book rentals
    • Excellent large inventory management, item rental integrations, and eCommerce site integration
    • Pricing starts at $69 per month
  2. Square For Retail:
    • Best free option
    • Free POS software, free online store builder, and affordable card readers
    • Pricing starts at $0 per month
  3. Shopify POS:
    • Best for eCommerce and international sales
    • Excellent online store builder, great pickup and shipping options, and lots of third-party app integrations
    • Pricing starts at $39 per month
  4. KORONA POS:
    • Best for scalability
    • Thorough but affordable inventory management, lots of employee permissions, and the ability to use any POS hardware and payment processor
    • Pricing starts at $59 per month
  5. Clover POS:
    • Best for event and fundraiser management
    • Easy account setup, lots of POS hardware options, built-in online ordering page, and 450+ add-on apps
    • Pricing starts at $0 per month
  6. Revel POS Systems:
    • Best for bookstores with cafes
    • Retail and food POS system, perishable inventory management, and multi-location management
    • Pricing starts at $99 per month
Kymberlin Bush

Kymberlin Bush

Staff Writer
Kymberlin started contributing to Merchant Maverick as a freelancer in 2022 and joined the team as the full-time small business health insurance expert in 2023. She earned her Bachelor of Arts in Creative Writing from Pacific University in 2020 and continues to reside in Portland, Oregon.
Kymberlin Bush
View Kymberlin Bush's professional experience on LinkedIn.