Gas station owners have unique needs for their POS systems. Gas station POS systems should be able to handle fuel pumps, retail and food items in-store, kitchen- or fresh-made items, and even car washes. Plus, a gas station POS needs to have basic point-of-sale functions, including reliable payment processing and reporting tools.
Based on those criteria, the best gas station POS systems are:
- NCR: Best overall gas station POS system
- Verifone: Best for travel stops and multiple locations
- LS Retail Forecourt: Best for gas stations with a large number of fueling stations that want in-depth fuel management features
- Petrosoft SmartPOS: Best for businesses that need strong inventory and reporting capabilities
How We Evaluated Gas Station POS Systems
The best gas station POS systems should let you handle all your business needs from a single register without having to integrate several POS software programs. We found many POS systems that worked for convenience stores, so our first criterion was the built-in ability to sync with fuel pumps for control and monitoring. Next, we looked for special features needed for tobacco, alcohol, and lottery ticket sales, plus the ability to handle food sales from the register.
Based on our evaluation, we found NCR the best overall, scoring a 4.74 out of 5 on our grading system. It’s a highly popular POS system for other uses and offers excellent features for convenience stores and gas stations.
Click through the tabs below for our specific evaluation criteria.
10% of Overall Score
Nearly all the POS companies on our list have custom pricing, which can depend on hardware, software, and payment processing.
30% of Overall Score
In addition to standard payment processing, we gave weight to loyalty programs. We also considered age verification for the sale of alcohol or tobacco.
35% of Overall Score
We chose only those POS systems that explicitly included fuel management, both for tracking and pricing and for controlling or monitoring the pumps. We also looked at other features, such as grocery and lottery sales.
5% of Overall Score
Gas stations typically don’t follow business hours. So, we gave favor to 24-hour phone support, as well as installation and training in person or online.
20% of Overall Score
We considered ease-of-use and overall feature set, as well as any stand-out features, user reviews, and customer support, to determine the value for your dollar.
NCR
PROS
- Popular and easy-to-use
- Kiosks, car wash management
- Marketing programming for pumps
CONS
- NCR hardware needed
- May not have live help 24/7
| RATING CRITERIA | Pricing & Payment Processing | 3.75 | OUT OF | 5 |
| Checkout Features | 5 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Fuel and C-Store Features | 5 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Ease of Use | 4.38 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Expert Score | 4.5 | OUT OF | 5 |
NCR makes highly-rated POS software and hardware for retail and restaurants and has put those features into a system that works great for gas stations. In addition to handling the retail, including food, it lets you run a kitchen, the fuel pumps, and even the carwash. You need NCR hardware, which can add to the price, but users say it’s good value for the money.
NCR earned a 4.74 out of 5. It scored very well for feature set and ease of use, as would be expected from a company that has served businesses from banks to restaurants. Users praise the intuitive interface.
NCR Pricing
NCR for gas stations and convenience stores requires custom pricing. It will depend on the hardware and features you need. Payment processing may be included in the price. NCR’s pump POS hardware can be installed into most pumps.
NCR Standout Features:
- NCR lets you manage gas prices, allows your cashiers to manage pumps from their station, and even handles car wash stations. You can set up self-service kiosks for restaurants or a coffee bar.
- Outdoor pumps can handle contactless payments.
- NCR’s pump POS systems have highly customizable video functions that you can use for promoting products, loyalty programs, sales, or other items.
- NCR is staying at the forefront of technology, with mobile checkout for customers. In this time of COVID-19, where people are trying to limit public interactions, this could give you an edge.
What NCR is Missing
NCR’s inventory reporting lacks some customization and tax programming features. It also lacks wet inventory for tracking and ordering more fuel, something LS Forecourt does well.
Verifone
PROS
- Sell lottery tickets at the pump
- Manages up to 64 pumps
- On-site support and maintenance
CONS
- Support for other than hardware issues can be slow
- Complaints of touch-screen malfunctions
| RATING CRITERIA | Pricing & Payment Processing | 3.63 | OUT OF | 5 |
| Checkout Features | 5 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Fuel and C-Store Features | 5 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Ease of Use | 5 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Expert Score | 3.75 | OUT OF | 5 |
If you own a travel stop with gas pumps, souvenirs, and food-to-order, or have multiple gas stations, then Verifone is worth considering. Its versatile system manages not only fueling and retail but also self-serve kiosks. It also handles age-dependent sales like tobacco, and you can even sell lottery tickets at the pump.
Scoring 4.61 out of 5, Verifone is a close second to NCR for gas stations. It does not have the emphasis on marketing that NCR offers and did not score as highly on ease of use. Nonetheless, it’s a good system worth considering.
Verifone Pricing
Like most forecourt/c-store POS systems, Verifone will customize to your needs, including self-service kiosks and controllers in addition to countertop POS systems. The pricing is similarly customized. Contact Verifone for more information.
Verifone Standout Features:
- Verifone controllers support up to 64 fueling positions of a single dispenser type and can integrate up to 36 workstations.
- Sell lottery tickets at the pump.
- Food-service kiosks can connect to the kitchen.
What Verifone is Missing
Verifone is a full-featured system, but there’s little online information about specifics. Be sure to discuss your needs in detail with a sales rep. The most common complaints online were of touchscreens not working and of slow customer support.
LS Retail Forecourt
PROS
- All-in-one system
- Excellent fuel monitoring features
- Automatic wet stock (fuel) replenishing capability
CONS
- Need LS Forecourt hardware
- Most expensive platform
| RATING CRITERIA | Pricing & Payment Processing | 2.88 | OUT OF | 5 |
| Checkout Features | 5 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Fuel and C-Store Features | 4.5 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Ease of Use | 4.38 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Expert Score | 4.38 | OUT OF | 5 |
LS Forecourt is the best gas station POS system for fuel management. Its system makes it easy for cashiers to manage pumps from approval to shutdowns and to calculate wet inventory levels so that you know what fuel to reorder and when. The backend is powered by Microsoft Dynamics 365 for customer resource management and inventory.
LS Retail Forecourt scored a 4.46 out of 5. The system offers nearly all the features you could use in a gas station or convenience store. It’s a well-known POS system for retailers as well. However, it can be more expensive than the other solutions on our list.
LS Retail Forecourt Pricing
Contact LS Retail about pricing. It offers three LS Forecourt systems—LS Central, LS One, and LS First—plus business intelligence, payment processing, and other programs. It also has its own hardware but can work on mobile for management functions.
LS Retail Forecourt Standout Features:
- Cashiers have complete control of the pumps. They can authorize, pause, stop, and lock/unlock pumps. You can log drive-aways and refund money if a customer doesn’t use his full prepay.
- Wet inventory control includes an automatic reading of tank gauge information and deliveries. You can manually add data that is not automated, such as tank dip readings or delivery notes.
- The system can automatically replenish wet stock based on sales history and stock levels.
What LS Retail Forecourt is Missing
If you sell lottery tickets, be sure to ask how LS Retail Forecourt handles those transactions. It has separate plans for business intelligence, inventory forecasting, payment processing, and product recommendations. It uses MS Dynamics, so if you are not a Microsoft fan, consider carefully.
Petrosoft SmartPOS
PROS
- Lottery, beer, and tobacco sales functions
- Over 200 reports
- Kitchen and food prep tools
CONS
- Need CStore Office for inventory
- Limited customer service hours
| RATING CRITERIA | Pricing & Payment Processing | 3 | OUT OF | 5 |
| Checkout Features | 5 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Fuel and C-Store Features | 5 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Ease of Use | 3.75 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Expert Score | 3.56 | OUT OF | 5 |
SmartPOS by Petrosoft is an all-in-one hardware and software solution built for convenience stores. It also coordinates with your pumps. When combined with CStore Office, you get a powerful backend with over 200 customizable reports for optimizing your sales and inventory.
In our evaluation, Petrosoft scored a 4.45 out of 5. Like the other gas station/c-store POS developers on our list, Petrosoft has decades of experience in the field and has developed a product to meet the needs of most gas station owners. It lost points on ease of use when compared to other systems, however.
Petrosoft SmartPOS Pricing
- SmartPOS Apexa G: $2,349
- SmartPOS Apexa Prime: $2,399
- CStore Office: $249/month
Petrosoft SmartPOS Standout Features:
- Consent mode for pumps signals the cashier when a customer makes an authorization request.
- Cashiers can customize their screen with their favorite or most used buttons for quicker check-outs.
- If you limit the amount of cash in your registers as a theft deterrent, the system can signal you when it’s time to do a safe drop.
What Petrosoft Is Missing
The interface is not as colorful or modern as other POS systems, and users give it a lower ease of use rating than its competitors on our list. Plus, you need the CStore Office subscription to get full inventory support and reports.
Bottom Line
A POS system that addresses the needs of a gas station, from pumps to hot snacks, can improve the efficiency of your checkout, which helps customer satisfaction. It also makes it easier on cashiers and managers as they handle the varied kinds of sales and inventory, plus keeping up with regulations like legal age limits. We found NCR to be the best overall for gas stations. Call NCR for a quote and get started.
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