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5 Best Garden Center POS Systems

These excellent garden center point of sale systems offer software for nursery management with robust inventory tools and a variety of integrations for eCommerce and accounting.

    Nicolette Kier
  • Last updated onUpdated

  • Matt Sherman
  • REVIEWED BY

    Matt Sherman

    Lead Staff Writer

Our content reflects the editorial opinions of our experts. While our site makes money through referral partnerships, we only partner with companies that meet our standards for quality, as outlined in our independent rating and scoring system.

Garden center POS systems help garden stores manage plant inventory, accept sales, build an online presence, sell landscaping and decorating services, start loyalty programs, and start marketing campaigns.

We reviewed 12 of the best POS systems with retail sales functions based on pricing, ease of use, niche garden center features, POS hardware availability, and software contract requirements to help you find the best garden center software for your business.

Learn More About Our Top Picks

CompanyBest ForNext StepsBest For
Lightspeed Retail

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  • Best for managing inventory and item rentals
  • $69-$269+/month
  • Monthly and custom contracts, early termination fee
  • Best for managing inventory and item rentals
  • $69-$269+/month
  • Monthly and custom contracts, early termination fee

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Square POS

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  • Best free garden center POS
  • $0-$60+/month/location
  • Monthly contracts, no termination fee
  • Best free garden center POS
  • $0-$60+/month/location
  • Monthly contracts, no termination fee

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Revel POS

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  • Best for large and multi-location garden centers
  • Custom pricing
  • Custom contracts, early termination fee
  • Best for large and multi-location garden centers
  • Custom pricing
  • Custom contracts, early termination fee

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Shopify POS

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  • Best for online sales
  • $39-$399/month ($29-$299/month with annual billing)
  • Monthly/annual contracts, early termination fee
  • Best for online sales
  • $39-$399/month ($29-$299/month with annual billing)
  • Monthly/annual contracts, early termination fee

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Clover POS

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  • Best built-in loyalty program
  • $14.95-$64.90/month or custom pricing
  • Custom merchant agreements
  • Best built-in loyalty program
  • $14.95-$64.90/month or custom pricing
  • Custom merchant agreements

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Read more below to learn why we chose these options.

What Is A Garden Center POS System?

A garden center POS system is software that, combined with a credit card reader, allows you to create orders and accept digital payment types at your garden center or on the go.

Garden center software also allows you to manage inventory, print barcodes, sell nursery items and garden accessories online, rent out tools, print barcodes, sell weighted items like gravel, account for spoilage, start a customer loyalty program, and more.

5 Best Garden Center POS Systems

The best garden center POS systems allow business owners to take sales, manage inventory, sell plants online, print weather-resistant tags, and sell services such as landscaping.

Our top choices include:

Compare The Best Garden Center Software

Pricing Hardware Cost Payment Processing Free Trial
Lightspeed Retail $69-$269+/month $299-$329+ 2.6%-2.9%
Square $0-$60+/location/month $49-$1,269 2.5%-2.9%
Revel Custom Custom Custom
Shopify $29-$399+/month $49-$459 2.4%-2.9%
Clover $14.95-$64.90+/month or custom $49-$1,799 2.3%-3.5% or custom

Lightspeed Retail: Best For Managing Inventory & Item Rentals

Lightspeed Retail

Total Rating 4.1
Pricing3.7

Ease Of Use4.4

Features4.3

Customer Service4.1

User Reviews4.0

Pricing Range

$109-$289/month ($89-$239/month billed annually)

Contract

Monthly, annual, and custom

Equipment Cost

$199-$329

Pros

  • Rental item management
  • Excellent retail inventory management
  • Built-in services management or integration available
  • eCommerce integration available

Cons

  • Early termination fee
  • Can get expensive

Booxi, Lightspeed Retail's scheduling and rental integration

Booxi, Lightspeed Retail's scheduling and rental integration.

Why We Chose Lightspeed Retail POS For Managing Inventory & Item Rentals

We love how detailed inventory management can be with Lightspeed Retail. Small garden centers can easily upload and categorize items and service offerings, while larger ones can do even more, including wholesale orders and B2B customer management. 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 so you can sell online, a fairly advanced Lightspeed loyalty functionality, and lots of third-party integrations including rental item management integrations so you can rent out tools, and repair/labor management integrations so you can service items. All these tools help to manage all the different services your garden center has to offer.

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

Lightspeed Retail POS Pricing

Lightspeed Retail Plans Price  When To Use
Basic Plan $109/month ($89/month billed annually) For single/multi-location retail business looking for strong inventory management and a customizable POS interface
Core Plan $179/month ($149/month billed annually) For single/multi-location retail businesses looking for eCommerce and accounting features
Plus Plan $289/month ($239/month billed annually) For single/multi-location retail businesses looking for a strong loyalty program and advanced business reporting

Note: With each new location, you get another register. For example, if you have two locations, you’ll get two registers, one in each location, but will only pay the added location fee. If you purchase a third register license, you’ll pay the added location fee and an additional $59/month.

Lightspeed offers several proprietary add-ons such as Lightspeed Subscriptions and Lightspeed Workflows. The company also offers third-party integrations like Booxi appointment scheduling software and Hubtiger rental software.

Lightspeed Retail POS Features

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

Lightspeed Retail allows you to offer several ways for customers to shop, including purchasing nursery plants and garden necessities online for in-store pickup or local delivery, purchasing wholesale or by individual item, and shopping garden kits/bundles for a discount. Shoppers can also fill out inquiry forms to get a custom quote and log into a wholesaler account for a bulk discount.

Lightspeed’s best inventory management features for garden center owners include the following:

  • Item Bundling: Bundle together individual items such as individual flowers in flat cells into new larger items such as a flat of flowers for purchase to keep all inventory accurate while also creating deals.
  • Inventory Adjustments: Designate whether products are dead, damaged, or returned and adjust stock as needed. Complete manual product counts with the Lightspeed scanner app for smartphones.
  • Sales By Weight: Sell items such as soil amendments or gravel by weight with unique sales units and a weight scale integration.
  • Rental & Service Inventory: Create quotes and invoices, require deposits, and accept payments in increments for both rental items and services such as garden maintenance. Charge for services regularly via client accounts.
  • Subscriptions & Workshop Charges: Create recurring membership subscriptions (great for lending libraries and garden supply depots) and ticket items for things like workshops (great for providing education and community-building).
  • Multi-Store Management: Transfer stock between locations and monitor where stock is in transit.

Lightspeed Retail schedule service

Lightspeed Retail schedule service.

One of Lightspeed’s best third-party integrations is Booxi, an appointment scheduling and rental management app that is a more accurate time-based rental management software as well as an appointment booking system that’s great for florists doing weddings and other special occasions.

With Booxi, florists can conduct phone, email, or in-person consultations, manage their calendar to ensure no double booking and to make sure there’s enough time to arrange orders, and the ability to create personal shopper appointments so associates can dedicate themselves to helping customers make their special day a magical scene.

Hardware Cost & Options

Lightspeed Retail card reader, iPad POS device in case, eCommerce site on PC and smartphone device

Lightspeed Retail card reader, iPad POS device in case, eCommerce site on PC and smartphone device.

As of 2023, Lightspeed has listed that you can Lightspeed Payments-compatible WisePOS E-card reader for $299 and an iPad for $329.

Lightspeed offers accessories such as an iPad stand for $199, a cash drawer for $129, a barcode scanner for $199, a label printer for $124, and a receipt printer for $399.

The company also integrates with the StarMicronics series of scales through the Hyperspace POS app integration. You connect the scale to Lightspeed through this app. This way, shoppers can fill bags or containers with supplies and then put the items on a scale to pay for exactly how much they want, rather than buying a pre-weighed item.

Contact a Lightspeed representative to get the most accurate estimate of a garden center POS hardware bundle.

Payment Processing Costs

Lightspeed offers its own payment processing service, Lightspeed Payments, which US and Canadian garden centers are required to use. You are required to purchase your card reader from Lightspeed as well.

The company charges processing fees of 2.6% + $0.10 per card-present transaction and 2.9% + $0.30 per online transaction.

Contract Requirements/Warnings

You can sign up for Lightspeed Retail on a month-to-month, annual, or custom contract length. It’s important to note that every Lightspeed user must fill out an order form before signup, meaning that users may get custom contracts with custom terms.

Lightspeed charges an early termination fee if you decide to cancel your plan early, so consider getting a monthly plan until you’re sure Lightspeed is the right POS system for you.

If you purchase hardware from Lightspeed, you must confirm that you have received it within five business days. Otherwise, your hardware will not be covered under Lightspeed’s hardware warranty (14 days for Apple products and 30 days for non-Apple products).

Get Started With Lightspeed Retail

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Square POS: Best Free Garden Center POS

Total Rating 4.9
Pricing4.9

Ease Of Use5.0

Features4.8

Customer Service4.7

User Reviews4.8

Pricing Range

$0/month

Contract

None

Equipment Cost

$49-$799

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

Pros

  • Free POS plan available
  • Free online store builder
  • Affordable POS hardware
  • Easy to use

Cons

  • Average inventory management

Square For Retail POS stand with barcode scanner and Bluetooth card reader

Square For Retail POS stand with barcode scanner and Bluetooth card reader.

Why We Chose Square As The Best Free Garden Center POS

While Square does not have many niche garden center software features, it is one of the best free POS options available and works perfectly well for smaller garden centers that do not need complex inventory management. It's extremely easy to use, allows you to sell plants and supplies online for in-store pickup or local delivery, and all you need to get started is an iPad or smartphone and the $49 Square card reader.

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 POS Plans Price  When To Use
Free Plan $0/month If you have basic POS and processing needs
Square Appointments $0-$69/month If you are a business with extensive scheduling needs
Square For Retail $0-$89/month If you are a retail business with needs for advanced features
Square For Restaurants $0-$60/month If you are in the foodservice industry and need restaurant-specific features
Square Online Store $0/month depending on plan If you have eCommerce needs

Square pricing is per location, so you can have an unlimited number of smartphone/iPad/PC or proprietary Square devices at any one location. This is very cost-efficient for larger spaces and for taking POS systems on the go to places like farmers’ markets or vendor fairs.

Square POS Features

Square POS Plans Price  When To Use
Free Plan $0/month If you have basic POS and processing needs
Square Appointments $0-$69/month If you are a business with extensive scheduling needs
Square For Retail $0-$89/month If you are a retail business with needs for advanced features
Square For Restaurants $0-$60/month If you are in the foodservice industry and need restaurant-specific features
Square Online Store $0/month depending on plan If you have eCommerce needs

Square’s best free features for small garden center owners include:

  • Online Store Builder: Build a completely free Square Online store to sell items for pickup or delivery and collect custom order requests.
  • Quotes & Invoices: Provide quotes and invoices for services such as landscaping and garden planning. Also, collect split payments over time on large orders.
  • Subscription Memberships: Sell multi-tier subscription memberships for garden center members to get special perks.
  • Advertising: Create social media posts on platforms like TikTok and Instagram to advertise and even sell your products. Use the built-in blog feature of Square’s website builder to connect with your local crowd, provide important gardening information, and get found in more places online.
  • Register & Barcode Scanner: Square’s POS register interface is customizable to make checkout a fast and easy experience for cashiers. There’s also a free barcode scanner app for iPhone users to count inventory, check pricing, and scan items for purchase.

Square POS free online garden center store example

Square POS free online garden center store example.

The free plan offers basic inventory management, which includes the ability to quickly add and edit individual items or in bulk, add variants and sale prices to items, group items into different categories, and sync inventory between online and offline sales.

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.

Hardware Cost & Options

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

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

Square software works on phones and tablets. There are many Square hardware options available, 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, suited for garden centers that accept cash, is $1,269.

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

You’ll pay 3.5% + $0.15 for card-on-file payments, which include recurring subscription membership payments.

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 POS

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Revel POS: Best For Large & Multi-Location Garden Centers

Total Rating 3.9
Pricing3.6

Ease Of Use3.9

Features4.3

Customer Service4.2

User Reviews3.8

Pricing Range

Quote-based

Online Ordering

Yes

Equipment Cost

Call for quote

Pros

  • Excellent reporting features
  • Multi-location inventory support
  • Strong wholesale ordering capabilities
  • Very customizable

Cons

  • Expensive
  • Early termination fee

Revel Systems POS product forecasting report

Revel Systems POS product forecasting report.

Why We Chose Revel Systems For Large & Multi-Location Garden Centers

We appreciate that Revel is a highly customizable POS system that makes it possible for midsize and larger garden center businesses (especially ones with multiple locations) to manage stock, customer orders, and marketing efforts within one system.

Revel's reporting suite helps you keep your production timeline in mind, cater to your best customers, and determine how much inventory you are moving and what to keep stocked on the shelves. Multi-location businesses can transfer inventory and employees across locations so every place is covered in terms of items and labor. Larger businesses can also offer wholesale pricing and wholesale accounts, plus product catalogs, to their customer base and maintain retail consumer operations.

Revel Systems Pricing

Revel POS Plans Price  When To Use
Revel plan Quote-based: three-year commitment for cheapest plan Use if you are committed to the product and have a need for high-end features.

Revel has recently moved to a completely quote-based pricing system, so all business owners will need to contact a Revel representative to get a custom quote.

Revel also charges a one-time implementation fee that starts at $674 and covers onsite hardware installation and a detailed software setup.

Revel Systems POS Features

Revel POS 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, especially for larger garden center businesses, are the system’s business reporting, inventory management, and customization capabilities.

Revel’s unmatched reporting features include the ability to generate reports based on pre-built templates with different filtering options, as well as the ability to create and save your own report templates. This could be very useful for garden centers that want to build reports based on specific factors such as blooming times or growth from propagations.

Some of Revel’s most useful pre-built reports include:

  • Product Summary: Get detailed information on your best-selling products to inform future stocking decisions. Filter by dates, discounts/promotions offered, and ranking to find out what sells best and when. Also, view item damages and losses, and hopefully learn about how to avoid losses in the future.
  • Product Forecasts: Previous sales and inventory data are funneled into the product forecast report. This report will help you figure out what, when, and how much to plant to produce an adequate amount of product you’ll need at any given time. You can also flag irregular transactions (e.g. a large one-time wholesale order) and remove them from the data used to generate forecasts.
  • Customer Analysis: Find out what customers are most interested in, whether they engage with any marketing or promotions you offer, whether they’re part of a loyalty program, and use all this information to create targeted marketing efforts.
  • House Account Analysis: This report will help you keep track of wholesale/B2B customer orders, payment status, and complete actions like adjusting an account balance or adding new payment methods.
  • Multi-Location Reports: Multi-location reports show you how successful each location is in terms of sales, inventory movement, product loss, and employee performance. If you franchise your garden center business, you’ll also see royalty payment reports.

When it comes to inventory management, you get to decide how to classify items, which ones are available for wholesale and how to charge wholesale items, work out different pricing tiers, and how to adjust inventory when it comes to things like large backorders and future orders. Choose to create inventory items and information (such as weight unit pricing) from a template or create your own. You can move inventory between locations and monitor inventory in transit.

Revel Systems wholesale account discount pricing

Revel Systems wholesale account discount pricing.

Revel’s highly customizable setup includes open API (application program interface) access, which means that you can build out or link to any accompanying software to streamline your business. You can also have cloud-based and locally installed setup options, which allow you to sell completely offline or anywhere on your center’s property (or off the property altogether).

Hardware Cost & Options

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

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

Revel offers bundles through its website that come with everything you need to get set up. It also offers individual items for purchase, but you will need to call for a quote.

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 requires a three-year processing agreement and a two-terminal minimum if you want the most cost-effective pricing.

However, the company charges a high termination fee if you cancel early, so 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.

Get Started With Revel POS

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Shopify POS: Best For Online Sales

Total Rating 4.3
Pricing4.0

Ease Of Use4.9

Features4.4

Customer Service4.8

User Reviews4.4

Pricing Range

Starts at $29/month

Contract

None

Equipment Cost

$0-$500+

Pros

  • Beautiful online store builder
  • Lots of third-party add-on apps available
  • Excellent multichannel sales capabilities
  • Low-cost POS hardware

Cons

  • No offline payment processing
  • Potential for transaction fees
  • Some features cost extra

Shopify garden center online store

Shopify garden center online store.

Why We Chose Shopify POS For Online Sales

The Shopify eCommerce store builder dominates the small business online store builder space, and we believe that the Shopify POS app, included with every Shopify online store, gives garden center owners a simple yet innovative way to sell online in several places and do things such as offering fundraising opportunities, sell live plants or decorations on places like Etsy, and advertise on places like Pinterest.

We also like that Shopify is a highly customizable solution.

The software offers numerous online store templates, a customizable POS register interface, and 8,000+ third-party software apps on the Shopify app store. Plus, like Square, Shopify works on tablets and smartphones and requires only a low-cost card reader and software subscription to get started.

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

Shopify POS 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

Shopify’s eCommerce pricing plans range from $39/month to $399/month. You get 25% off if you pay for an entire year upfront. Each eCommerce plan (that comes with a full store) offers the “Shopify POS Lite” app for free.

For more retail features, such as store pickup and unlimited staff accounts, you’ll need the $89/month/location Shopify Pro subscription, which is added to your monthly eCommerce plan. Additionally, while there are many free Shopify apps on the company’s app market, some require you to sign up for a paid subscription.

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.

Shopify 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 best features are related to omnichannel selling and include:

  • Beautiful Online Store Builder: Shopify’s store builder is the most advanced and professional-looking software out of all the POS software on this list. You can customize it with anything from adding detailed plant care instructions in item listings to adding plant care videos and guides to creating an email newsletter signup popup. Accept sales online for local pickup, local delivery, or shipping.
  • Social Media Sales & Advertising: Some garden centers and nurseries offer plants, such as succulents, or items, such as tools and garden décor, that can be packaged and sold. You can advertise products and even sell them on places like Instagram, TikTok, and Pinterest.
  • Online Marketplace Sales: Sell packageable plants, seeds, tools, and decor on marketplaces like Etsy and Amazon. Your sales on these platforms, as well as social media platforms, will be synced, and inventory will be updated automatically.
  • Mobile Sales: Sell on-location at farmers’ markets and popup events with the Shopify smartphone app. You can sell items that you brought with you as well as items from a catalog. People can purchase items for future delivery or pickup wherever they encounter them.
  • QR Code Generator: Use the Shopcode app to create product QR codes and print them onto product tags and branded plant label stakes. People can scan them in-store for more information, or when they see your plant somewhere out there in an office or garden, they can scan the QR code and buy one of their own!

Shopify garden POS center succulent listing on Etsy online marketplace

Shopify garden POS center succulent listing on Etsy online marketplace.

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 8,000 apps, with more being added every day. With a Shopify add-on app, you can create your own product catalogs, start an email marketing campaign, and 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 & Options

Shopify POS hardware

Shopify POS register stand with a card reader.

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, costs $49.

The most expensive hardware is the $459 POS stand for USB-C tablets with a connected card reader. The card reader features a customer-facing display.

Payment Processing Costs

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.

Get Started With Shopify POS

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Clover POS: Best Built-In Loyalty Program

Total Rating 4.3
Pricing4.0

Ease Of Use4.8

Features4.5

Customer Service4.4

User Reviews4.1

Pricing Range

Starts at $0/month

Contract

Depends on merchant services provider

Equipment Cost

$49-$1,799 per device

Pros

  • Easy setup
  • Custom payment processing rates
  • Lots of third-party software apps available
  • Built-in loyalty app

Cons

  • Potential for getting scammed
  • High upfront cost
  • Average inventory management

Clover Mini countertop POS system at garden center

Clover Mini countertop POS system at garden center.

Why We Chose Clover POS For The Best Built-In Loyalty Program

We like that Clover offers the type of system that you can set up and not have to think about. It has an incredibly simple and visually appealing interface and an excellent array of features and plans to choose from to make sure that you're not overpaying for unnecessary services. It also has outstanding customer management and loyalty capabilities.

Plus, you get your own merchant account with a Clover POS hardware and software subscription, so you'll get custom payment processing rates. For many businesses, this can help save money on payment processing fees.

Clover POS 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

The above Clover pricing only applies to Clover users who purchase their POS hardware upfront from Clover.com.

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.

You can purchase your Clover POS hardware from several Clover resellers that may have different software contract terms, so your monthly software pricing may vary.

Clover 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 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. It also has a built-in loyalty program available for all Clover users.

Garden centers that take any sort of service job on-location, such as garden maintenance or commercial landscaping, will appreciate these service-specific features:

  • Invoice by email with status order updates on invoice payments
  • Customer database with loyalty program setup and private feedback
  • Inventory tracking, stock takes, and itemized order creation through Clover Flex
  • Recurring payments with a card on file
  • Invoice status monitoring

Clover best POS system

Clover POS system invoice status monitoring.

Any 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 for anything from integrating a weight scale at your garden center to starting an email newsletter with a MailChimp integration.

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 & Options

Clover POS hardware

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

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).

The Clover Flex, which costs $599, is an excellent choice for garden centers that accept garden design or maintenance jobs, workshops and consulting, or any other on-location job. The Clover Flex allows you to send and accept payments on invoices, quickly charge for any additional items or service fees, accept signatures, and print out receipts.

Clover POS software only works with Clover hardware.

Payment Processing Costs

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.

Get Started With Clover POS

Read our in-depth review

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Retail POS Review Methodology

Merchant Maverick has been researching and reviewing POS providers since 2012. Our writers have tested over 100 different point of sale systems, evaluating pricing, features, ease of use, customer service, and user reviewers. Read more about how we rate POS providers.

Weighted Rating Breakdown

Pricing 40%
Features 30%
Ease Of Use 15%
Customer Service 10%
User Reviews 5%

When comparing different POS software systems, we consider many data points, including relative pricing, the depth of niche features offered, the price of hardware, and any associated payment processing fees. Our lists of the best providers include only apps we’ve deemed worthwhile from multiple vantage points. The POS vendors we pick share qualities such as widespread availability, accessibility, user-friendliness, and reasonable pricing. We also look carefully at niche features, such as check-splitting, inventory management, eCommerce, loyalty programs, gift cards, and more.

We spend an average of 10-15 hours researching and updating each one of our lists, making sure the providers included meet our internal standards for quality and reputation.

80+

Vendors evaluated

65+

Attributes assessed per vendor

20+

Features weighed

30+

Combined years of experience


Which Garden Center Software Is Right For Your Business?

The garden center POS system that’s right for your business is affordable, easy to use, has any niche features you may need, provides excellent inventory management, and has good software contract terms. You should also consider systems that offer detailed sales reporting, a customer management database, and built-in marketing methods such as a loyalty program and preplanned item sales.

Think about what POS hardware you need for your business and whether you want to start a new venture like selling at a farmers’ market when making your decision.

FAQs: Garden Center POS System

How much is a POS system for a garden center?

Garden center POS systems cost between $0 and $99/month or more, depending on the number of POS register licenses you have, add-ons such as a loyalty program or rental item management integration, and the length of your garden center software contract.

What is a good POS system for a landscaping business?

Good landscaping POS systems include Square, Clover, Lightspeed Retail, and Revel Systems.

Do you need specialized garden center software?

Many garden centers will not need to use specialized garden center software to take sales and manage plant inventory. With the right product offering and inventory management setup, you just need a retail POS system.

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Nicolette Kier

Nicolette Kier

Expert Contributor
Nicolette began writing on small business topics in 2020. After hundreds of hours researching, testing, and assisting small business owners with web building and point of sale software, she is now an expert on all things eCommerce and point of sale. She has a bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Pittsburgh and resides in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Nicolette Kier
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