While any POS system can be used to ring sales, in today’s competitive landscape retailers need functionality beyond simply processing payments. Robust inventory control, multichannel sales tools, streamlined customer relationship management features, and insights into which products and employees are performing the best are a must for retailers. The best retail POS systems offer all these functions in a package that’s both affordable and easy to use.
Based on our evaluation, the best retail POS systems are:
- Square for Retail: Best overall and best free retail POS system
- Shopify POS: Best retail POS for seamless omnichannel selling
- Lightspeed Retail: Best for inventory management and processing custom orders
- Vend: Best for flexible payment processing options
Looking for something different? Check out our top picks for convenience stores, liquor stores, grocery stores, and gas stations:
- POS Nation: Best for convenience stores and liquor stores
- Revel Systems: Best for grocery stores
- NCR: Best for gas stations
How We Evaluated Retail POS Systems
We prioritized POS systems that are affordable, reliable, and easy to use. We also considered inventory management tools, online store and multichannel selling features, customer and employee management, payment processing options, reporting and accounting tools, customer support hours and quality, and third-party integrations.
Each of the systems on our list has multiple hardware options including iPad apps, tools for selling online, and multiple plans so the software can grow with your business. Based on our evaluation, Square for Retail is the best overall retail POS system, earning a 4.58 out of 5.
Click through the tabs below for our full evaluation criteria:
15% of Overall Score
We prioritized systems that have a starter plan with monthly fees below $75, awarding extra points to systems that have a free plan. Payment processing fees and whether each system offers negotiable or volume discount rates. Finally, we penalized systems that cap the number of users, products, transactions, or sales you can process without upgrading plans.
20% of Overall Score
Retailers need speedy checkout tools like customizable hotkeys and easy product lookup, return management, and mobility to ring sales curbside or on the sales floor. We also prioritized systems with flexible payment tools like contactless, gift cards, store credit, layaway, and order-ahead options. Finally, we considered whether each system can process custom, work, or service orders such as repairs.
35% of Overall Score
The most important consideration was inventory management, including low-stock alerts, matrix inventory, purchase orders, plus easy stock counts and shipment receiving. We also looked at CRM tools like directories, loyalty programs, marketing, and customer feedback collection. In addition, we considered employee management including logins, scheduling, and commission reporting. Seamless omnichannel management for creating an online store and processing ecommerce orders and detailed reporting for products, sales, customers, and employees were also considered.
15% of Overall Score
24/7 customer support, detailed training materials, and easy installation were important considerations. We also prioritized systems that are a hybrid installation or otherwise offer an offline mode so you can still operate if the internet goes down. Finally, we awarded points to software that can run on a variety of hardware so retailers can choose their preferred devices.
15% of Overall Score
In this section, we evaluated each system by its overall feature set including any stand-out tools, the value it offers for the price, popularity and user reviews, whether or not the system experiences a lot of downtime, and the overall experience of navigating the system’s interface.
Square for Retail
PROS
- Forever free plan
- Pro plan offers incredible value
- Grows with your business
CONS
- Free plan lacks critical features
- Register screen is not customizable
- Limited customer support hours
| RATING CRITERIA | Pricing | 5 | OUT OF | 5 |
| Register Features | 3.94 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Management Features | 4.81 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Ease of Use | 4.38 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Expert Score | 4.69 | OUT OF | 5 |
Overall, Square offers some of the best POS systems for small businesses of all types. Square for Retail is no exception. The starter plan is free to use, the Plus plan offers some more sophisticated features, and the Premium plan offers access to almost all products in the Square ecosystem. The system is cloud-based, runs on iPads or Square Register, and is incredibly easy to use.
Every plan comes with built-in payments, a free online store for ecommerce and curbside pickup, digital receipts and customer feedback collection, a bar code-based user interface, and customer profiles with marketing insights.
In our evaluation, Square for Retail earned a 4.58 out of 5 and is the only system on our list to earn a perfect score for pricing. Square stands out as a user-friendly system offering unbeatable value and smart tools to grow your business.
Square for Retail Pricing
Free | Plus | |
|---|---|---|
Monthly fee | $0 | $60 per location |
Card-present processing fees | 2.6% + 10 cents | 2.5% + 10 cents |
Inventory tools | Basic | Advanced |
Reporting | Basic | Advanced |
Team management | Standard | Plus |
- Runs on iPads (stand and card reader bundle starts at $169) or Square Register ($799)
- Interest-free payment plans available for qualifying hardware purchases
Square for Retail Features
- Checkout tools: Bar code-based UI with advanced product search, save carts for later, process returns, and exchanges. Online orders automatically appear in the POS registers. Options for mobile, contactless, QR code, gift card, and online payments.
- Inventory management: Variant tracking and management, low stock alerts, create and print bar codes, receive stock from the app in bulk, create and track purchase orders as they come in, manage vendors, perform stock counts, and COGS tracking.
- Sophisticated hardware: In addition to running on iPads, Square for Retail also operates on Square Register, a countertop POS with a detachable customer-facing display with a built-in chip, swipe, and contactless payments.
- Omnichannel features: Every account comes with a free online store, features to sell on Instagram, a smart website builder, automatic inventory sync, and omnichannel tools like in-store pickup and local delivery.
- CRM tools: Automatically generate customer profiles based on the payment method, create and segment customer groups, add shopper details, and send digital receipts with feedback surveys.
- Square ecosystem: One of the biggest benefits of using Square is having a seamless integration with all of the additional business tools like payroll, team management, appointments, loyalty, invoicing, and online store. You can add and take away software at any time to build a solution customized for your business.
- Employee management: Square for Retail Plus includes advanced team management features like shift scheduling and swapping, custom permission settings, activity logs, and advanced reporting.
Shopify POS
PROS
- Best-in-class omnichannel features
- Customizable mobile checkout
- Accept many payment types
CONS
- Only available with ecommerce plan
- Unreliable offline mode
| RATING CRITERIA | Pricing | 3.75 | OUT OF | 5 |
| Register Features | 4.88 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Management Features | 4.25 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Ease of Use | 5 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Expert Score | 4.69 | OUT OF | 5 |
Shopify POS is an add-on to Shopify’s industry-leading ecommerce platform. It’s only available to Shopify ecommerce sellers, so it’s best for online stores looking to expand to in-person sales, or small businesses looking to sell online and upgrade their in-store software program.
However, Shopify offers powerful, comprehensive omnichannel selling features that make it the best option for retailers wanting to grow online sales or emphasize curbside pickup – a necessity for retailers today.
In our evaluation, Shopify earned a 4.48 out of 5 with perfect marks for ease of use and a near-perfect score for register features. Shopify offers sophisticated sales tools in a customizable, user-friendly package that can grow with your business. Ecommerce subscription requirements along with limited functionality in the free POS plan prevented Shopify from earning a higher score.
Shopify POS Pricing
Shopify POS Lite | Shopify POS Pro | |
|---|---|---|
Monthly fee* | $0 | $89 |
Customizable checkout screen | ✔ | ✔ |
Shop in-store, buy online | ✔ | ✔ |
Buy online, pickup in-store | N/A | ✔ |
In-store shipping options | N/A | ✔ |
Gift cards and custom payment types | ✔ | ✔ |
Team management | Basic | Advanced |
Inventory tracking | Basic | Advanced |
Reporting | Basic | Advanced |
*In addition to Shopify ecommerce plan, which ranges from $9 – $299 per month.
- Card-present transaction rates range from 2.4-2.7% based on ecommerce plan
- Hardware bundles start at $229, not including the iPad.
- Installment plans available for hardware purchases
Shopify POS Features
- Omnichannel sales: Customers can browse in-store and have items emailed to them, scan QR codes to open product pages on your website, offer curbside pickup, accept returns and exchanges for online purchases in-store, ship in-store purchases to customers homes, and get real-time shipping updates. All data seamlessly syncs between ecommerce and in-store.
- Checkout: Customize the register screen, add shortcuts, sell on mobile, customize receipts, and save carts.
- Products and inventory management: Create collections and item variants, manage multiple locations, track stock levels, manage purchase orders, receive vendor shipments, set up low stock alerts, forecast product demands, and get suggestions for items to discount.
- Reporting: View stats at-a-glance, see cash flows, review finance reports, cash tracking, and daily sales.
- Staff management: Assign individual PINs, set custom permissions, and attribute sales to award commissions.
- Customer management: Create customer profiles, segment customers, add notes to profiles and individual orders, set marketing preferences, and build loyalty programs.
- Marketing: Collect product reviews, create email marketing campaigns, integrate social media accounts, and create Google Ad campaigns.
Lightspeed Retail
PROS
- Detailed, actionable analytics
- Granular inventory management, including matrices
- Strong ecommerce platform
CONS
- Complex interface
- Pricey
| RATING CRITERIA | Pricing | 3.5 | OUT OF | 5 |
| Register Features | 3.94 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Management Features | 4.88 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Ease of Use | 5 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Expert Score | 4.38 | OUT OF | 5 |
Lightspeed Retail is a moderately priced, robust retail POS system that includes more than 40 sales and inventory reports, analytics tools, and detailed inventory management. Lightspeed also has top-of-the-line ecommerce and loyalty add-ons.
Overall, Lightspeed is one of the best overall retail POS systems because of its sophisticated inventory and analytics tools. However, its unique native features for processing custom and work orders make Lightspeed especially great for specialty shops like bike stores or jewelers that need to process repairs or order individual parts.
In our evaluation, Lightspeed earned a 4.43 out of 5 with perfect scores for ease of use and a near-perfect score for management features. In fact, it’s also ranked as our top recommended POS for inventory management. Pricey subscriptions and a complex checkout screen prevented Lightspeed from earning a higher score.
Lightspeed Retail Pricing
Basic | Starter | Standard | Advanced | Pro | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Monthly fee* | $69 | $99 | $119 | $169 | $229 |
POS and payments | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Ecommerce | N/A | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Accounting | N/A | N/A | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Loyalty | N/A | N/A | N/A | ✔ | ✔ |
Analytics | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | ✔ |
*These fees are for annual billing and retailers using Lightspeed Payments. Month-to-month billing and integrated third-party merchant services available for higher monthly fees.
- Additional registers are $29 each
- Every account includes POS and payment processing with a free payment terminal
- Card-present processing rate is 2.6% + 10 cents
- Startup hardware bundles start around $699
Lightspeed Retail Features
- Inventory management: Manage custom orders from shoppers, bundle items for gift baskets, and anticipate inventory needs. This forecasting tool and ability to predict shopping trends are part of what sets Lightspeed above the competition.
- Supplier market: Lightspeed POS comes with over 8 million products loaded in the supplier directory, so you can create, manage, and submit purchase orders from within the system and easily import accurate product information. View updates on orders in real time.
- Customer management: Create customer profiles, track transactions, assign VIP status, manage promo codes, and sell and redeem gift cards. Automated loyalty program available with Advanced and Pro plans.
- Reporting and analytics: Lightspeed includes more than 40 built-in reports that cover inventory, sales, employee performance, and more in one analytics dashboard. What sets Lightspeed apart is that this system translates data into actionable business tips. For example, Lightspeed can take sales and traffic data and translate that into staffing and inventory reports to help you prepare for peak hours.
- Ecommerce and omnichannel tools: Lightspeed eCom integrates seamlessly with the POS software. Choose from several mobile-responsive and customizable online store templates, manage inventory, product pages, shipping, returns and exchanges, marketing, and reports. Lightspeed eCommerce is available in multiple languages, currencies, with international shipping options. Boost traffic by connecting your social accounts, utilizing Lightspeed’s SEO tools, and sending newsletters and notification emails.
Vend
PROS
- User-friendly
- Custom payment options
- Free apps for inventory scanning and customer-facing display
CONS
- Pricey
- No native ecommerce functions
- Basic reporting tools
| RATING CRITERIA | Pricing | 1 | OUT OF | 5 |
| Register Features | 4 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Management Features | 4.25 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Ease of Use | 5 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Expert Score | 4.38 | OUT OF | 5 |
Vend is an incredibly intuitive iPad POS system built specifically for retailers with key features like built-in loyalty programs, mobile checkout, a free customer-facing display app, and mobile scanner app for quick inventory counts. Vend also stands out for its flexible payment options—you can choose your own merchant account, and set up custom payment types like layaway, store credit, and on-account sales.
The checkout screen is also one of the easiest to navigate, especially when it comes to ringing returns and exchanges. While many POS systems try to offer every feature for every business, Vend focuses on providing fantastic in-store retail functions and lets third-party apps handle everything else.
In our evaluation, Vend earned a 3.84 out of 5. Vend has exceptional functionality, but its steep price point prevented it from earning a higher score. It is especially pricey when you consider that you will need a separate merchant account, ecommerce software, and employee management tools.
Vend Pricing
Vend Lite | Vend Pro | |
|---|---|---|
Monthly fee - annual billing | $99 | $129 |
Monthly fee - monthly billing | $119 | $159 |
Monthly turnover limit | $20k | Unlimited |
Inventory management | ✔ | ✔ |
Customer-facing display | ✔ | ✔ |
Bar code scanning app | ✔ | ✔ |
Loyalty | N/A | ✔ |
Reporting | Basic | Advanced |
Add-ons and ecommerce integrations | N/A | ✔ |
Customer support | 24/7 | 24/7 with a dedicated account manager |
Vend Features
- Checkout: Customize the POS app with shortcuts, add notes and line items to transactions and customer receipts, save transactions to complete later, manage gift cards, and set up layaway and on-account payments.
- Payment processing: Vend integrates with CardConnect (First Data), Chase, Elavon, Klarna, PayPal, Square, WorldPay, and others so you can shop around for the lowest rates. Vend also offers lots of flexibility with features like store credit and layaway payments.
- Inventory: Track inventory across multiple stores, create a centralized product catalog, edit products in bulk, automate purchase orders, create variants and composites, and print labels and bar codes. Vend has a unique Scanner mobile app to look up products by bar code, perform inventory counts, update stock counts, and add new products to the catalog.
- Customer management: Create customer profiles, import existing customer lists, sell and redeem gift cards, segment customer groups, export customers to email marketing software, issue store credit, and create a custom loyalty program.
- Add-ons and integrations: MailSync syncs Vend POS data to Mailchimp, Constant Contact, and other email software. Connect with other marketing tools like Yotpo and Perkville, inventory tools like Orderhive and SkuIQ, accounting tools like QuickBooks and Gusto, ecommerce platforms BigCommerce and Shopify, and more.
- Employee management: Create customized user logins and permissions for staff, option to require employee password for each sale to track performance, and get register and shift reports. One unique feature of Vend is that you can set individual employee and team sales goals and average basket sizes.
- Reporting: Customize reports and adjust filters and variables to view data on customers, inventory, and employees. View real-time stock levels, gift card data, and team performance from anywhere with Vend’s mobile-friendly web-based dashboard.
Bottom Line
A retail POS system is a crucial software tool that serves as the central hub for your retail business. In addition to processing sales, retail POS systems collect and analyze data to help inform purchasing and staffing decisions, manage employees and inventory, and help build your customer base with loyalty and marketing efforts.
Square for Retail is our top pick because it has a free plan to help new businesses (or businesses new to using a point-of-sale) get started, with plans and add-ons to grow with your business. Square also makes it easy and free to set up a basic online store with in-store pickup options, manage customers, and track sales. Visit Square to create a free account.
