6 Best POS For Retail To Buy In 2023: Small Business Guide To Retail POS Systems

Why We Chose Lightspeed Retail POS System For Small Business

We love how detailed retail inventory management can be with Lightspeed Retail. Department stores, wholesale stores, and even stores that offer rental items (like how REI rents out camping equipment in addition to retail sales) can easily upload and categorize items. You can also create purchase orders and automatically complete them across multiple vendors, which will help midsize to large retailers save a lot of time on ordering.

Lightspeed also has built-in eCommerce functionalities, a fairly advanced Lightspeed loyalty functionality, and allows you to build targeted marketing campaigns aimed at predefined customer groups to turn one-time buyers into lifelong shoppers.

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

Lightspeed Retail POS System Pricing

Monthly pricing starts at $69/month for basic POS functionality on one device, but features such as eCommerce, loyalty, analytics, and accounting software integration will cost you extra. You pay an extra $29/month for each additional device you install Lightspeed Retail on (each plan starts with one POS software license.)

Lightspeed Retail Features

Lightspeed Retail allows you to offer several ways for customers to shop, including purchasing online for in-store pick up, layaway purchases, purchasing wholesale or by individual item, and shopping item bundles for a discount. Shoppers can also fill out inquiry forms to get a custom quote, log into a wholesaler account for a bulk discount, and start returns/exchanges online.

The unique inventory matrixing system makes it simple for retailers to sell items in singular departments or across departments, add inventory tags to items, and attach items to a vendor. When you’re running low on something, you get a low-stock alert, and then you can look up a vendor and order several things at once. If you want to sell and rent out items, Lightspeed has an app that monitors rental windows, fees, and more.

Multilocation businesses will especially appreciate these special Lightspeed features:

• Stock transfers across locations
• Pricing modifications depending on location
• Master inventory, purchase order, and item performance dashboard
• Loyalty program cross-location sync so customers can earn points no matter their location
• Buy online, pick up in any store

Hardware Cost

Lightspeed Retail runs on iPads and desktop PCs. For hardware bundles or individual hardware such as scanners and printers, you can get a quote from Lightspeed or purchase what you need elsewhere.

Unlike Clover, your Lightspeed Retail POS software will work with any hardware.

Payment Processing

With Lightspeed Payments, Lightspeed Retail’s in-house payment processor, you will pay a processing fee of 2.6% plus a $0.10 flat fee per card-present transaction. That flat fee increases to $0.30 per card-not-present transaction.

Lightspeed Retail also integrates with third-party payment processors, such as FIS Worldpay and TSYS Merchant Solutions.

Contract Requirements/Warnings

Lightspeed offers monthly and annual contracts for retailers. Annual contracts cost less per month. However, we suggest starting with a monthly contract, since an early termination fee can get pretty high depending on how long your contract term is.

Also, you must verify that you have received your Lightspeed hardware within five business days of receiving it, or you do not qualify for the 30-day warranty (14 days for Apple products.)

Why We Chose Revel Retail POS System For Small Business

We appreciate that Revel can be customized to fit virtually any retail POS need, from kiosk shopping to delivery management to integrated eCommerce. With its advanced and flexible features, we often recommend Revel for very niche markets, including a golf course POS system and a garden center POS system.

Revel’s open API (application program interface) means this versatile system can integrate with virtually any other business software you use. Midsize and larger retailers with multiple locations will find everything they need in a custom-built Revel solution.

Revel’s reporting suite is the real decision-making feature for retailers with several locations or complex inventory. It puts critical data on your sales, employees, customers, and inventory at your fingertips, so you can easily grow your customer base.

Revel Retail POS System Pricing

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 Retail POS System Features

Revel POS, founded in 2010, has had years to refine its niche market offerings and expand the somewhat open-world capabilities of the software.

Specialty stores such as gourmet grocery stores and international stores with perishable items for sale will appreciate Revel’s perishable inventory management, sales by weight, and the ability to create menus for any made-to-order items.

Specialty stores that sell services in addition to products, such as hardware stores and retail makeup stores, will find it easy to sell items and schedule services with Revel.

All Revel users will enjoy these unique Revel features:

• Offline payment mode so you can take payments on the go
• Online ordering with delivery tracking
• Intelligent reporting suite (on labor versus sales, employee activity, etc.)
• Real-time inventory tracking, including a mass inventory matrix
• Open API (application program interface) access to connect Revel to any app you want

Hardware Cost

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.

Payment Processing

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 requires a three-year processing agreement and a two-terminal minimum if you want the most cost-effective pricing. It might be worth it to pay a higher monthly price in case you’re not sure whether Revel POS is right for you. You can switch to a long-term plan later on for lower fees.

Why We Chose Clover Retail POS System For Small Business

While Clover systems aren’t cheap, we believe that the streamlined hardware, software, and payment processor setup are smooth enough to be worth the money for many retailers. This is especially true if you have to train new people on the POS relatively often. Clover systems come with many POS features you want, such as built-in loyalty programs and bulk item importing, without having to pay extra.

We also like that Clover has such a simple feature add-on process. Adding Clover-tested apps to your POS system is as easy as adding a new app to your phone. Simply download an app to add features such as employee payroll and customer feedback monitoring or to integrate with third-party software.

Note: Clover offers a 30-day free trial. Alternatively, you can create a demo account to try out the software and make sure you won’t forget to cancel the trial (we’ve all been there.)

Clover Retail POS System Pricing

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.

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

Clover Retail POS System Features

Clover retail software itself is a pretty straightforward offering, with an online ordering page for pickup or delivery, 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.

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 which take EBT payments (great for grocery and convenience stores), scan IDs (great for liquor stores and wineries), and more.

Clover is also special because you can get a merchant account with one of several Clover hardware/software resellers, meaning that you can find great payment processing fees and contract terms (so long as you get your Clover setup from one of these best Clover merchant account providers.)

Hardware Cost

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).

Clover POS software only works with Clover hardware.

Payment Processing

If you purchase your devices from Clover, 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 shelling out the money for the fancy POS hardware.

Why We Chose Square Retail POS System For Small Business

We appreciate how Square is built for the retail startup with big dreams of selling offline and online and almost no capital to fund those dreams. The free POS software, online checkout links, store builder, social media selling suite, and magstripe reader (that you will hopefully upgrade from) eliminate just about all the POS-related financial hurdles new businesses face.

Small business owners will also appreciate the simple setup and inventory management process and the marketing features in the Square Marketing add-on.

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 Retail POS System Pricing

Square has a free plan with enough POS features to get small business owners selling with no overhead. Square For Retail Plus costs $60/month/location.

This pricing structure is not the same as many other POS providers, which charge by the register, not by the location. Paying per location could help retailers with many registers keep costs down.

Square Retail POS System Features

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
• Free employee time clock, scheduling, and reporting
• Unlimited number of POS registers on free plan
• TikTok social media selling and Instagram shoppable posts
• Free invoicing and online appointment setting

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. Square’s marketing and loyalty programs come as separate paid add-ons.

Square is flexible enough to work for most smaller single-location businesses that don’t need intensive inventory management functions.

Hardware Cost

Square software works on phones and tablets. You get a free magstripe card reader to start, but you should purchase at least the $49 Square Contactless + Chip Reader so you can take chip cards and NFC-based payments such as Google Pay and Apple Pay. A full Square register bundle is $1,329.

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

Square is incredibly affordable because the company makes its money on payment processing fees, which means you can only process payments via Square’s in-house payment processor.

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.

Why We Chose Shopify Retail POS System For Small Business

We believe that Shopify is an excellent multichannel solution for retailers wanting to sell at one (or several) physical locations, on a website, on an individual seller platform such as Etsy or Amazon, and/or on social media. Customers have several ways to buy and receive their items, which they will appreciate.

If you find that Shopify’s built-in POS features do not provide all the functionalities your business needs, you can add free or paid apps from the huge Shopify app store to complete your POS system setup.

Note: Shopify offers a three-day free trial, no credit card required.

Shopify Retail POS System Pricing

Shopify’s POS pricing plans range from $29/month to $299/month. You get 10% off if you pay for one year upfront and 20% if you pay for two years upfront.

For more retail features, such as store pickup and unlimited staff accounts, you need the $89/month/location Shopify Pro subscription, which is added to your monthly plan.

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

Read our guide to Shopify plans and pricing for an idea of what your business needs for fast growth.

Shopify Retail POS System Features

Shopify includes these omnichannel sales features:

• Buy online for in-store pickup, local delivery, or ship-to-customer
• Dedicated online store
• Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, Twitter, and WhatsApp sales
• Etsy, eBay, and Amazon marketplace sales
• Dropshipping and wholesale purchasing

Shopify’s in-store sales features include the ability to take partial payments/deposits, schedule discounts and generate digital coupons, put items on layaway, and take custom payment types.

Most of Shopify’s best features will come in the form of an app from Shopify’s app market. The market has over 4,200 apps and more are added every day. With a Shopify add-on app, you can create your own product catalogs, start an email marketing campaign, sell subscriptions and memberships – your only limit is your imagination (and in some cases, your willingness to pay an added monthly software subscription fee.)

Hardware Cost

The Shopify app itself runs on most phones and tablets.

The Shopify Chip & Swipe Reader, which is the bare minimum requirement for taking card and mobile phone payments, starts at $29. The most expensive hardware is the $639 Shopify Star® mPOP™ With Scanner, an all-in-one customizable retail hardware package.

Not sure what equipment your retail POS system needs? Read our post on Shopify hardware choices, which includes pricing and where to source your hardware.

Payment Processing

Shopify integrates with its own in-house payment processor, Shopify Payments. Retailers that use Shopify Payments do not need to pay transaction fees. In-person Shopify Payments processing fees are between 2.4% and 2.7% per transaction, while online payment fees are between 2.4% and 2.9%, plus a $0.30 flat fee. Percentage fees vary depending on your pricing plan.

If you prefer to use a different processor or do not qualify for Shopify’s in-house payment processor, you have several options, but you will have to pay transaction fees.

Contract Requirements/Warnings

Most Shopify requirements surround payment processing. To use Shopify Payments, you must purchase a card reader directly from Shopify. To use a Shopify-approved third-party payment processor, you must use a card reader sold by that payment processor.

Why We Chose Hike Retail POS System For Small Business

We love that Hike POS is extremely transparent about pricing, offering a breakdown of what you can expect to pay each month. You can also add or remove registers, locations, and users as needed with no fees or added difficulty. You also have the choice to buy compatible POS hardware or use what you have lying around as a POS device.

This, as well as the impressive inventory and reporting features within Hike’s user dashboard, are what make Hike POS one of the top POS systems for businesses with fluctuating/seasonal inventory, employees, and sales.

Note: Hike POS offers a 14-day free trial, no credit card required.

Hike Retail POS System Pricing

Hike’s Essential plan starts at $59/month billed annually and $69/month billed monthly. Additional registers cost $39/month. With this plan, you can only have one location.

For multiple locations, you will have to upgrade to Hike’s Plus plan, which starts at $89/month (if billed annually.) Extra locations cost $99/month. Every new location adds another register (e.g., if you have three locations, you automatically get three registers, but you can pay for more.)

Hike Retail POS System Features

Hike has an excellent feature set for both single-location and multilocation/multi-outlet businesses. Some of Hike’s best features are part of its inventory management ecosystem, such as:

• Built-in purchase ordering and supplier directory
• Full, partial, and scheduled inventory counts
• Composite product building and tiered pricing models
• Automated stock tracking and product re-ordering
• Profit margins so you can figure out a selling price based on your product’s cost of goods and desired percentage profit

This POS also offers surprisingly good wholesaler/large retailer features, such as customer accounts with account credits, a product catalog that customers can filter through, and a quote system.

Hike allows you to take deposits, lay-bys, store credit, BNPL (buy now, pay later), redeem loyalty points, and charge transactions to customer accounts. You can integrate Hike with a Shopify, Magneto, BigCommerce, or WooCommerce website to create a holistic online/offline sales solution.

Hardware Cost

Hike has dedicated apps for iPad and Android tablets. You can also run the POS software on a PC or Mac in a web browser. The company does not make its own hardware but has a list of compatible hardware for merchants.

Payment Processing

Hike integrates with various payment processors, including PayPal, Westpac, Square, Tyro, and Worldpay.

Contract Requirements/Warnings

You can add or remove locations or registers as you need to. Just don’t forget to cancel any add-ons before you get charged for another month.