16 Best POS Software and Point of Sale Systems (Free & Paid)

Have you been finding it difficult to process sales and accept payments from your customers?

Do you want to receive payments from your customers through the channels they want and sell your goods fast?

Would you mind a software that will allow you to manage your sales, inventory, customers and employees all in a single platform without any hassle?

If you don't mind having such powerful software, then read on.

So what's this software solution that will allow you to record more sales, keep your customers happy and track all your inventory?

It is no other than a POS software.

A POS software is affordable, robust, and highly-scalable.

It allows you to run your retail business the way you want even more than what the traditional cash registers can guarantee.

But there are many POS software in the market today.

And it might be a little difficult finding the best one for your business.

However, this review will let you navigate the troubles associated with finding a suitable POS software.

All you need to do is to gently read to the end, take note of the features and benefits and see the one that best fits your business needs.

In the end, you would be able to choose a perfect POS software for your business.

Without further ado, let's continue.

Best POS Software for Retailers

1. NetSuite SuiteCommerce

Best POS Software for Omnichannel Selling

NetSuite SuiteCommerce is owned by Oracle and it provides different solutions such as Point of Sale, Ecommerce, and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) for various businesses.

Features

• POS Transactions: Carry out traditional point of sale transactions such as cash and carry exchanges fast and easily.
• Customer Profiles: Get access to a timeline display of shopper's purchases, returns and support requests irrespective of channel type.
• Order and Inventory Management: Manage and view all the inventory held across your store.
• Built-in Reporting: Use the inbuilt reporting capabilities to gain real-time visibility into store statistics and cash management.

Pricing

NetSuite SuiteCommerce does not provide the pricing information.

So, if you want to know about the pricing and the available plans, you've got to contact them directly.

Benefits

• NetSuite SuiteCommerce is cloud-based so you only pay for the services you use
• Give your customer the flexibility to access products on their e-commerce shopping carts or wish lists at the point of sale
• Request a free product tour or watch the demo

2. Brightpearl

Best POS Software for Large-Size Retailers

Brightpearl was founded in 2007 as a omnichannel retail management software provider and it allows integrations with Amazon, eBay, Shopify and Walmart.

Features

• Synchronization: Sync inventory, orders, payments and customer information between your online and offline sales channels
• Advanced Fulfilment: Easily take orders for items that are not available in stock and mark items to be back ordered.
• Advanced Product Search Filters: Search products or product categories and run offers based on fields like barcode and product description.
• Cash Management and Payment Reporting: Add cash in or take cash out of your till for any store expense, outline all cash movements during the trading day.

Pricing

One thing about Brightpearl is that it is ideally suited for merchants who trades $1M or above.

So, you might find the pricing expensive except you are in this category of traders.

However, there is a package for small and mid-size businesses known as the Brightpearl Order Management solution which you can use to manage up to 1,500 orders per month.

For large-scale retailers, the Brightpearl is the best option for receiving more than 1,500 orders per month.

Either of the plans you choose, you would have to request a quote from the sales team.

Benefits

• Automated workflows and B2B order workflows are available on all plans.
• Availability of 24/7 unlimited tech support and continuous business consulting
• Integrate seamlessly with PayPal Here and other big commerce sites like Shopify, eBay, and Amazon

3. Square Point of Sale

Best POS Software for Advanced Inventory Management

Headquartered in San Francisco, USA, Square Point of Sale is designed mainly for small businesses and it allows you to add as many points of sale that you want while only paying for the transaction rate.

Features

• Payments: Accept payments from different channels like credit cards, plastic gift cards, transfers and process refunds, rest assured of topnotch security for your payments through protection features like fraud protection and monitoring.
• Checkout: Easily customize your checkout with item modifiers, group items in categories, and even manage all third-party pickup orders directly from your POS.
• Operations: Generate new insights from the in-app sales report to keep track of your sales, inventory and locations in a single system.
• Transactions: Accept swiped card payments when offline, make digital or printed scripts available to customers, and create automatic discounts for your chosen items or categories.

Pricing

For the Square for Retail package, available plans include Free, Plus, and Premium.

The Square Reader for Magstripe is also free for the first reader and charges $10 for each additional one.

Benefits

• Free Square Point of Sale app and Square Reader for Magstripe is provided for every account
• Availability of end-to-end encryption and PCI DSS compliant payment processing that does not incur any extra fees.
• Integrate easily with your preferred third-party tools like QuickBooks and Wix or build custom apps with the Square data.

4. Lightspeed Retail

Best POS Software for Reporting and Multi-Location Management

Lightspeed, which is a leading provider of point of sale and ecommerce software, was founded in 2005 and has now acquired ShopKeep.

Features

• eCom: Set up your eCom store with customizable templates, organize your shipments from your eCom back office, and sync your physical inventory across all locations to your eCom store with a single click.
• Shop By Appointment: Create and manage in-store appointments, take appointments from your webstore, and use the provided automatic confirmation and reminder emails to reduce no-shows.
• Google Local Inventory Ads: Allow your business to be shown to nearby shoppers looking for products online, combine local inventory ads with curbside pickup, automatically pause ads and leverage ad campaign results all in your POS.
• Retail Reports: Track sales, trends costs and margins with built-in revenue and inventory reports and extract more data by combining Lightspeed analytics with your POS system.

Pricing

If you want a solution that will only take care of your basic business needs, then consider purchasing the lowest plan, Lean, which charges $69 per month.

Other available plans are Standard, Advanced and Enterprise.

Benefits

• More than 50 built-in retail reports are available
• Unlimited 24/7 support and free one-on-one onboarding session are available
• Integrate with tools from different categories including accounting, customer service and marketing or publish your own integration.

5. Shopify POS

Best POS Software If You Already Have a Shopify Online Store

Shopify POS is a point of sale solution by Shopify and if you already have a shopify store, all you need to do is to log in to set up Shopify POS.

Features

• Omnichannel Selling: Give your customers the best shopping experience in store and online with features like automatic discounts, email carts, in-store availability, product detail QR codes, and built-in or custom shipping fees.
• Payments: Receive payments in different forms with external card terminals, split tenders, partial payments, gift cards, and custom payment types like checks or gold coins.
• Smart Inventory Management: Manage your inventory better with Stocky by Shopify, inventory counts, purchase orders, demand forecasting, inventory analysis, low stock and detailed inventory reports.
• Reporting and Analytics: Stay informed about your business' health with retail sales report, finance reports, cash flow reports, discount reports, product reports, daily sales reports, cash tracking, and cash tracking report.

Pricing

The Shopify POS Lite which contains the Shopify POS app is already in all the Shopify plans.

Note that there are three Shopify plans; Basic Shopify, Shopify and Advanced Shopify.

If you want to access more features in your Shopify POS, subscribe for the Shopify POS Pro plan which includes the Shopify plan and an additional $89/month per location.

Benefits

• Free unlimited bandwidth is available on all plans
• 24/7 support covering email, live chat, phone support is available
• Availability of a free 14-day trial plan

6. Infrasys Cloud POS

Best POS Software for Hospitality Industries

Infrasys Cloud POS is an enterprise level cloud point of sale and has built point-of-sale solutions for over 7,000 outlets for two decades.

Features

• Management: Build a central media library where you can carry out all your updates, design the dashboard to fit your menu, keep your credit cards and digital pay-to-room secure with digital signature, save time and boost sales with digital signage.
• Payment Technology: Easily accept payments through a variety of solutions such as credit cards, disruptive wallets and room debits.
• Customer Service: Take orders right at the table and transmit directly to the kitchen, build fast take away-options, allow your guests to order on their mobile devices and enable the pre-order in line during busy periods.
• Reports: Access hundreds of pre-built reports or use the data export tools to build more reports that you want.

Pricing

Infrasys Cloud POS does not provide any pricing information so you have got to contact them directly to know about the pricing and available plans.

Benefits

• Multilingual support is available
• Infrasys cloud works on any operating system and hardware, and even has an offline mode.
• Request a demo to see how the infrasys cloud POS work

7. Odoo Point of Sale

Best Free and Open-Source POS Software

Odoo Point of Sale is an open source software solution by Odoo and it allows full integration with other Odoo apps for sales, Ecommerce and email marketing.

Features

• Payments: Available payment methods include cash, checks and credit card payment, add new ones and handle all your payments seamlessly with split tenders, currency rounding, offline payments, and Odoo accounting integration.
• Checkout: Process multiple orders at a time, set customer prices or offer percentage-based discounts, create customized receipts, calculate product weight during checkout, and sell anywhere within your store or restaurant.
• Store Management: Manage your investing and multiple cashier accounts easily, view order history and keep track of daily sales and totals for all payment types.
• Products: Product categories, product search, multiple barcodes, product variants, and large product count allows you to manage all your products effectively.

Pricing

There are three versions of the Odoo Point of Sale and they are the Odoo Community, Odoo Enterprise and Odoo Online.

The Odoo Community is free; you can download and add free or paid third-party modules to it.

On the other hand, the Odoo Enterprise is paid and the Odoo Online is also offered as a SaaS model.

Benefits

• Availability of a free forever version and unlimited user support
• Use Odoo's Point of Sale even when offline
• Integrate fully with other Odoo apps in different categories like email marketing, eCommerce and sales.

8. CashierLive

Best POS Software for Independent Retailers

CashierLive was established in 2008 and is presently used by more than 1,000 stores around the world.

Features

• Payments: Accept all forms of payments from any device you use, save time and money by using the integrated card processing.
• Search Inventory: Search through your inventory by filtering items using UPC, description, supplier or reorder number, and sort your items fast.
• Transactions: Put a transaction on hold and provide special pricing for a specific item or an entire transaction using the discount tools.
• Reporting System: Get a comprehensive overview of your business with more than 25 reports that display a variety of data and dashboard view, export your data where you want.

Pricing

If you want unlimited registers, unlimited inventory and unlimited support, choose the Standard plan which charges $75/month per store.

And if you want a plan that will allow you to connect to your pharmacy management system, then choose the Pharmacy plan.

The last available plan which includes data migration is the Hardware Store plan.

You would have to contact them directly to get the pricing information for both the Pharmacy and Hardware Store plans.

Benefits

• Premium support through training video library, 1-on-1 training and email support is available
• CashierLive is PCI Service 1 accredited, so rest assured of your data's security.
• Availability of a free 14-day trial plan and yearly subscription discounts.

9. Simphony POS

Best POS Software for Restaurant Owners

Simphony POS is another leading point of sale software, built for complete restaurant management.

Features

• Online Ordering and Delivery: Easily update menu items and take orders from your website or mobile app, notify customers of ready orders and optimize your online ordering experience using customer profile data present in Simphony's cloud.
• Table Management: The customizable table management screen allows servers to see the stage of each dining experience and the amount of time spent by guests at each table.
• Conversational Ordering: Take orders in the exact way they are spoken directly from customers with a conversational ordering screen and encourage cross and upselling.
• Reporting and Analytics: Get insights on trends and forecasts from the pre-built dashboards, view reports by employee, location or restaurant type, and stay updated with mobile push notifications.

Pricing

If you manage a small restaurant or bar and you want a plan with low cost of ownership, then go for the Essentials plan which begins at $55.

For more flexibility and advanced analytics, subscribe for the Plus plan at $75.

If you want to run the POS system on-premise, then a Single Tenant plan which requires a custom quote is available.

Benefits

• Integrate easily with third-party tools from more than 85 integration partners
• Support for multiple languages and currencies, including French and Spanish is available
• Take a free personalized tour of Simphony's feature set to see if it's best for you.

10. RICS

Best Point of Sales Software If You want to Move More Inventory

Used by more than 1,900 retail locations and boasting a 94% customer retention rate, RICS provides a modern POS software with comprehensive inventory management.

Features

• Payments: Integrated and non-integrated payments, simple transactions in two touches, simple returns and exchanges, multi-tender payment and check out.
• Customer Profiles: Create detailed customer profiles, connect them to your preferred marketing software or communicate directly with your customers from RICS>Retail
• Reporting: Organize reports with groups and tags, export reports in CSV, PDF and Excel formats, and easily share reports with other users.
• Inventory Management: Create grid for product size management, access smart product catalogs from over 125 brands, and set supplier account, terms, and discount information.

Pricing

Contact the sales team for the pricing information if you want to start using RICS today.

Benefits

• Availability of a variety of eCommerce integrations like Shopify, WooCommerce, and Amazon FBA.
• Access to open API for unlimited integrations
• Get an integrated card processing with lower processing costs and contactless payments with the RICS>Pay.

11. TouchBistro

Best POS Software for Restaurant Management

Founded more than a decade ago, TouchBistro has powered over 29,000 restaurants globally and processed over $13B payments annually.

Features

• Menu Management: Build and update menus from anywhere, upsell and manage on- and off- premise orders easily.
• Floor Plan and Table Management: Easily customize and edit your floor plan anywhere using important factors such as table distance, time seated and spend per table as determinants.
• Inventory Management: Reduce wastage, understand your food costs and notify staff members when there is shortage of items with the restaurant inventory management software built into your POS.
• Reporting and Analytics: Generate deep insights and make fast and informed business decisions with over 50 reports that cover staff performance and sales trends.

Pricing

TouchBistro pricing starts at $69 per month covering menu management, reporting and analytics, floor plan, table management and integrations.

Note that you can still purchase various add-ons like online ordering, gift cards, digital menu board, and kitchen display system.

Benefits

• Integrate with other tools in different categories like accounting, payment processing, inventory management and business insights and analytics.
• Choose from a variety of add-on products for customer engagement and restaurant operations.
• Availability of 24/7 customer support

12. ParTech

Best POS Software for Digital Ordering and Detailed Reporting

Look no further than ParTech if you need an enterprise-level and cloud-based point of sale software solution that will allow you to streamline your daily operations and integrate with other useful applications.

Features

• Branding: Easily create custom built layouts, borders, and panels, use your logo and images to increase brand awareness.
• Menu Management: Execute menu modifiers fast while your menu updates can take place anywhere.
• Configurable Reports: Get complete insight into your data anywhere, personalize your data view and easily identify customer buying behavior and staffing requirements.
• Remote Management: Enjoy access to remote technical support and operate at peak maintenance.

Pricing

Although ParTech specified using a monthly SaaS subscription, information about the available plans is not provided.

So you would have to contact them directly and you can also schedule a demo.

Benefits

• It is cloud-based which means you can manage your data in one place and only pay for the service you use
• Availability of offline mode which prevents service interruption during low or no internet connection
• Access to an extensive library of third-party applications from different categories like accounting, digital signage software, and employee scheduling.

13. Revel POS

Best POS Software for Small Businesses

Revel POS is a leading cloud-native POS system which is trusted by more than 20,000 businesses worldwide.

Features

• Online Ordering: Allow your customers to conveniently order online, increase your sales, gain and retain loyal customers.
• Mobile Order Takers: With the Revel's mobile order takers, take orders and process sales anywhere, sell on the go and speed up the order process easily.
• Payment Management: Enjoy payment flexibility from split bills, store credits to bar tabs, use the Revel's QuickBooks integration to manage your business' finances in a single platform.
• Loyalty Programs: Create loyalty programs that serve your customers best all from your POS software.

Pricing

The Revel POS software starts at $99/monthly fee per terminal and it includes features like point of sale, inventory management, customer relationship and employee management.

You can also get a tailored POS software solution for your business.

Revel's Onboarding also starts at $674 and available services are software onboarding, menu consultation, hardware installation and management console training.

Benefits

• Revel POS is easy to set, scalable and provides regular updates
• Run your business the way you want with integrations from third-party partners
• Availability of a free demo and 24/7 phone and web support

14. CAKE POS

Best Simple-To-Use POS Software for Restaurants and Bars

CAKE POS is a simple, intuitive and affordable point of sale solution which you can use to accelerate your order process with customized workflows.

Features

• Online Ordering: Your online orders integrate directly into the CAKE Point of Sale allowing you to save time and money while giving your guests the best service.
• CAKE OrderPad: Serve customers faster and more efficiently with CAKE's mPOS, the OrderPad is also integrated directly with the CAKE Point of Sale and provides a simple intuitive interface.
• Waitlist and Reservations: Enhance your table management processes, optimize customers' reservation process, accept online reservations, and manage curbside orders in a single system.
• Reporting: Get access to dynamic reports in the cloud which you can access from any device, track metrics that you want including weekly category sales, employees hours, and wages.

Pricing

The Software and Service package starts at $69/month and it includes the cloud software, training portal and security monitoring.

Under the Guest Manager, the monthly subscription for unlimited usage costs $79/month and it covers all features.

Benefits

• Integrate with other third-party tools such as Restaurant365 and Paytronix
• Availability of 24/7 customer support including call, text, chat and email.
• Request and book a live demo of the software.

15. eHopper

Best Free and Cloud-Based POS Software for Small Businesses

Built with small businesses in mind, eHopper is the right go-to if you want a free POS software that also offers free processing.

Features

• Order Management: Ensure all customer orders are completed by your employees while keeping track of the fulfilment on all customer orders.
• Payments: Easily process credit and debit cards with full EMV compliance, accept payments with Apple Pay and Samsung Pay.
• Inventory: Keep track of your inventory, customers' purchase and make popular items available for sale anytime.
• Reporting: Make informed decisions from and generate comprehensive reports on important business transactions.

Pricing

For the monthly subscription, eHopper has a free plan known as the Essential plan which is only limited to 1 POS and about 300 transactions per month.

All other paid plans which are Freedom, Restaurant and Omnichannel allow unlimited products, unlimited transactions and even offer pre-authorization and free digital signage app.

Benefits

• eHopper also provides free card processing and free payment terminal, provided you are a US customer.
• You can use eHopper POS on computers, mobile devices and Poynt mobile terminal, plus it even works offline.
• Availability of yearly discounts; save a whopping 76% by subscribing for the 3 year plan.

16. PayPal Here

Best POS Software for Payment Management

PayPal Here is a mobile payment solution which you can use to accept various forms of payment from your customers.

Features

• Checkout: Select products, add multiples or discounts, accept customers' payment and issue receipts straightforwardly.
• Reporting: Receive daily performance reports, track staff productivity, sales, cash and card transactions, identify refunds in sales reports, and keep tabs on top-selling products per day, week or month.
• Inventory Management: Update stock levels automatically, edit stock levels and add new items using the app, add product photos and descriptions, add barcodes to products and scan barcodes with the app.

Pricing

The PayPal Zettle POS app is free but the card reader comes at a cost of $29 and the available rates depend on the payment type.

You can also request a custom pricing plan by filling out a form.

Benefits

• Get the PayPal Zettle POS app for free
• Reliable security measures including payment data encryption
• Integrate with Ecommerce accounting and other POS apps.

POS Software Features You Need to Look For

What are the features you need to look for when choosing a POS Software?

Don't worry, here are 6 indicators of a good POS software that will satisfy most of your business needs.

1. Good Invoicing Capabilities

A major function of a POS software is to record every transaction that is made in your store.

As such, you should be able to scan and sell products fast, record sales and store records easily with a good POS software.

So look for a POS software that provides good invoicing capabilities which you can use to handle all your invoices effectively.

Manage customer and supplier invoices, track your shop's rented products, consign your customers' products and transfer inventory between stores.

Some POS software even allow you to view all sent invoices and send automated invoices to your customers via emails during transaction periods.

2. Payment Options

Accepting payments from customers is one of the major activities that are carried out in every business irrespective of the type.

So, a good POS software should make it easier for you to receive payments from your customers in whichever way they want to pay.

Cash, credit cards and other traditional payment methods are still in circulation and used by many shoppers today.

However, as technology becomes more advanced, more modern payment methods such as Apple, Google and Samsung pay are being introduced into the system.

Choose a POS software that will allow you to accept payments via these modern payment methods like multi-channel payments, gift cards and split payments.

This will, in turn, streamline your transactions' process and increase your sales.

3. Inventory Management

Inventory management is another fundamental aspect of business operations and if you are already using inventory management software, you are on the right track to business growth.

However, you still need a POS Software that combines good inventory management features with sound POS capabilities.

This way, you would be able to visualize all your inventory and keep track of all your products smoothly.

A POS software with integrated inventory management will allow you to organize your products into different categories, manage items and product categories, view and set alerts for stock levels across your store.

You can also view your order history and keep track of your daily sales.

4. Reporting and Analytics

Another important feature you should look for in any POS software you want is the reporting and analytics feature.

Getting important reports can keep you informed about the state of your business whether you have a large or small store

This allows you to make timely decisions and take effective actions that will drive your business's growth.

Put simply, reporting and analytics is another way you can evaluate the overall health of your retail business and know the right thing to do at the right time.

So, you should definitely be on the lookout for a POS software that gives you access to rich reporting and analytics features.

Fortunately, most POS software offers good reporting and analytics capabilities with some even providing access to more than 50 reports on different business areas.

5. Integrations, Hardwares and Multi-Device Support

One of the main perks of various software is the ability to integrate with other third-party tools and applications for increased productivity and efficiency.

When you are able to integrate with other tools, you can easily collaborate with your teammates and perform most of your functions from a single platform.

So, check if the particular POS software you want to choose will allow you to integrate with other applications you use or prefer in your business.

Some POS software vendors even provide open APIs which you can use to build custom integrations.

Hardwares and multi-device support are other features you should definitely watch out for in a POS software.

Does the POS software support all necessary hardware that you might want to use together with it?

Can you use the POS software on every device?

Provide the right answers to these questions to determine whether the POS software is suitable for you or not.

6. Multilingual Support

If you transact with international customers and receive payments from different countries globally, then multilingual support becomes a feature you should look out for. The good news is that a considerable number of POS software vendors offer support for popular languages around the world such as Spanish, German, and French.

Common Uses of POS Software

1. Handle All Your Invoices Seamlessly

Invoices contain important details like quantity or number of goods sold, goods' descriptions and purchase value.

They help to serve as evidence that the sale of a product or service has taken place.

It can really get complicated and tiring most times when you have so many invoices to handle, from purchases to sales and repairs.

And even with the help of employees, nothing works better than having a POS software to help you manage all your invoices seamlessly.

So, you can easily use POS software to record and categorize all your invoices according to selected criteria, and these invoices are easily issued thereby accelerating sales.

2. Manage Your Inventory Better

You would agree with me that having to manually track store inventory and checking for item shortage can be hectic and time-consuming.

And this is different from the day-to-day business operations that you would have to monitor simultaneously.

Hence, inventory management is one of the core functions of a POS software and most POS software come inbuilt with features that will allow you to manage your inventory better.

You would be able to know the number of your in-store product or item at a given period.

Any item you sell would be deducted from the inventory and you would know in real-time, the quantity of other items remaining in store.

3. Accept Payments Where and How Your Customers Want

There is no way a POS software would be mentioned without making reference to payments.

In fact, some people only think of payments as the only function of a POS software.

They are not wrong, POS software is used by many retailers for accepting payments.

But, do you know what POS software does better?

A POS software allows you to receive payments from different channels accessible to your customers and therefore complete transactions faster.

Some of these channels include credit and debit cards, contactless payments otherwise known as NFC payments, and mobile e-wallets such as Google Pay and Apple Pay.

4. Run Promotions and Discounts Easily

A major way you can retain your customers' trust and patronage is by attending to their needs and requests fast by using topnotch CRM software.

Another way, which is often neglected by most retailers is running regular promotions and periodic discounts.

With POS software, doing both is simple and straightforward as it allows you to manage different promotions together efficiently.

All you need to do is to select the exact items you want to promote, the type of the discount that you want and your preferred duration for the discounts.

Then you need to activate them in your POS software and you are done; it is that simple.

5. Manage Customers and Employees All From a Single Platform

POS software allows you to manage your customers and employees better.

For example, some POS software lets you view important details like the number of sales recorded by each employee and the number of hours spent by employees on tasks.

Track and measure employees' performance easily to identify the ones that offer the best outputs.

A POS software also allows you to satisfy your customers with the best shopping experience.

One of the ways you can do this is through cross-selling in which you offer different but related items to existing customers.

Benefits of Retail POS Software

A retail POS software is a valuable tool for both big and small retailers.

Equipped with lots of features, a POS software allows you to carry out transactions easily, gather and combine data from your customers, inventory and sales, all in a single platform.

Here are other benefits you can derive from using a retail POS software.

• Close sales and complete transactions quickly.
• Generates more profits and increase your business revenue
• Saves time that would have been spent on manual repetitive tasks
• Manage both customers and employees easily
• Increase business automation
• Ensure faster delivery of service to your customers
• Increase better collaboration between your employees
• Get reliable and regular business reports
• Increase the security of your payments and other important business data
• Make better and insightful decisions faster
• Integrate with other important tools and applications that you already use.
• Make everybody-your customers and employees happy and satisfied with your business
• Gain more reputation and win customers' trust

A POS software is powerful and vital to the smooth running of your retail business.

When you choose the right POS software, you open your business to immense and endless benefits.

Trends in Point-of-Sale Systems

1. Go Multichannel and Increase Sales with Ecommerce and Social Media

Back in the older centuries, most retailers sold their products in stores and only a few engaged in e-commerce.

Fast forward to the 21st century, selling on e-commerce platforms has become so popular that most new retailers have started neglecting physical stores and only focus on online sales.

Ecommerce offers many advantages like constant availability and wider reach of potential customers from different parts of the world.

Starting an online store is also easy and comes with low operating costs.

The same thing goes for social media.

It gives you access to a large pool of customers and you have many social media marketing statistics which you can even use to your advantage.

Round it up with a POS software and you would be able to sell online, in store and on social media without stress.

You can easily combine all these channels and gain more customers.

2. Cloud-Based POS Software Have Gained More Popularity

Cloud technology, generally, has become very popular and continues to dominate the digital space.

Cloud servers and cloud service have now become everyday terms and cloud-powered tools like cloud analytics providers and cloud ERP software solutions are becoming increasingly common.

The POS software realm is not an exception.

This saves hardware costs, allows them to access their business data and store transactions anytime anywhere.

3. You Can Now Run Your Favorite Customer Loyalty Programs

You know one of the major secrets of successful businesses?

It is keeping customers happy.

This is because customers who are satisfied with a particular business are less likely to switch their patronage.

The big question is how do you keep your customers happy?

And the simple answer is running customers' loyalty programs such as sweet offers, discounts and promotions regularly.

The good news is that most POS software now allow you to do this conveniently from your POS system without needing a different system.

It is as simple as specifying the exact loyalty program you want to run and then activating them right from your POS software.

4. Ever Wished to Market to Each Customer Differently?

Now you can do this with your POS software through personalized marketing.

But, what is personalized marketing, in the first place?

Personalized marketing is the art of selling to customers using the available customer data to best satisfy their personal needs.

Customers are more likely to recommend, pay or trust your business more when you allow them to enjoy a personalized shopping experience.

How do you get the needed data?

You can get them with recent POS systems which allow you to easily track customer shopping behavior and activities.

5. Mobile Devices Have Never Been More Useful

Mobile technology has been around for a long time and they are deployed for different business solutions such as business phone services and office phone systems.

However, they have presently become more useful than ever in the retail business too and you can now access your POS software from your mobile devices.

Your customers can also pay easily from their mobile devices using mobile payments.

FAQs

What Hardware Do I Need for My Retail POS System?

• POS Machine: Your POS machine is the computer and in most cases, a touch screen monitor that runs your POS system software, used for recording and processing sales transactions.
• Barcode Scanner: Otherwise known as barcode reader, a POS barcode scanner reads the products' barcodes which contains important details like Stock Keeping Unit(SKU) number and product information.
• Card Reader: This is a device that reads and decode the payment data contained in a credit or debit card's magnetic strip or microchip
• Receipt Printer: This is used for printing receipts and credit cards to keep track of your business transactions.
• Cash Drawer: Here is where you store all valuables such as your cash and cheques.
• Scale: This is required to measure the weight of your items, especially if your items are priced based on their weight.

Choosing the Best POS Software Solution

There is no one-size-fits-all POS software in choosing the best POS software solution for your business.

You have to consider a substantial number of factors such as the pricing, the available features and your business needs before you would choose any POS software.

Customer support is also another important factor that you should consider as you don't want to choose POS software that offers a poor customer service experience.

I have provided the major use cases of different POS software.

• Small Businesses: Odoo Point of Sale, Revel POS, eHopper, PayPal Here.
• Large-Size Retailers: Brightpearl.
• Multichannel Selling: Shopify POS, Netsuite Suitecommerce.
• Inventory Management: RICS, Square Point of Sale.
• Reporting: Lightspeed Retail, Partech.
• Restaurant Management: Simphony POS, Infrasys Cloud POS, TouchBistro, CAKE POS.
• Pharmacy Management: CashierLive.

Go through the review and choose two or three POS software that fit your budget and needs.

Then, try out their trial plans and see which one you would want to stick with, for a long time. Overall, select the POS software that provides enough features that you want and take your retail business to the level you have always wanted it to be.

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