POS Nation is a point-of-sale system that offers age verification, perishable inventory tracking, mix-and-match pricing, case-break inventory tracking, and detailed vendor management. It also has options for integrated self-checkout, scales, and scanners. Overall, the software is a great choice for convenience, liquor, and grocery stores.
POS Nation’s drawbacks include an incomplete set of marketing and ecommerce tools, the lack of a free plan, and a reportedly steep learning curve. This software is priced from $69 to $149 and has excellent user reviews.
In my review of POS Nation, I rated the system a 4.07 out of 5 based on pricing, register tools, management features, ease of use, user reviews, and overall value.
POS Nation Overview
Pros
- Every subscription includes a 2-year hardware warranty
- Robust, highly customizable system
- Built-in ID scanning for age verification
Cons
- Lacks email marketing and ecommerce features
- Steep learning curve
- No free plan
Deciding Factors
Supported Business Types | Retail Convenience, liquor, and grocery stores; hardware stores; lawn and garden shops |
Standout Features |
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Monthly Software Fees |
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Contract Length | Month-to-month |
Free Trial | None |
Customer Support | 24/7 technical support |
Why You Can Trust Fit Small Business
I’ve been researching, testing, and writing about retail topics and point-of-sale systems for the past two years. I’ve evaluated dozens of systems designed for various priorities (inventory management, ecommerce, brick-and-mortar sales) and for a variety of industries (general retail, restaurants, service businesses).
For this review, I evaluated POS Nation using data points like sales and register features, management tools, and overall ease of use. I also adhered to the Fit Small Business Editorial Policy.
Is POS Nation Right for You?
Convenience stores, liquor stores, and grocery stores will benefit from POS Nation’s standout features. If your business needs to sell lottery tickets, perform age verification for restricted sales, keep track of perishable inventory, and detect shrinkage, then this software is a great choice.
Since POS Nation is designed for retailers, it lacks features specific to food-based businesses, such as reservations or bar tabs. POS Nation is also not particularly suited for taking orders over the phone or online, so if you need that, consider a multichannel POS system.
POS Nation Alternatives
Best For | Monthly Fee From | |
|---|---|---|
 | Security-minded retailers in grocery or convenience stores | $69 |
 | Businesses that need mobile and in-store POS | $0 |
 | Small retailers, restaurants, and service providers wanting an all-in-one system | $14.95 |
 | Convenience stores without gas sales; high-risk businesses | $59 per terminal |
POS Nation User Reviews
| Users Like | Users Dislike |
|---|---|
| Intuitive user interface; easy to learn and train others | Occasional lags and crashes |
| Specialized reporting | Steep learning curve on some features |
| Great customer service | Lacks online store connectivity and mass email capability |
According to user feedback, POS Nation is intuitive, fast, and easy to maintain. Managers praise the reporting, inventory, and customer management functions. Users also give the POS Nation support staff high marks, calling them professional, knowledgeable, kind, and even genius.
Complaints were few; most involved the desire for specific additional features, as well as complaints about customer support—these were well outnumbered by praise, however. The one consistent complaint was about the system lagging and crashing.
Here’s how POS Nation scored on a few third-party review sites:
POS Nation has three basic plans, with each one offering the POS software plus support, a 2-year warranty for any hardware you purchase, and no long-term contracts or hidden fees. All plans include customer loyalty features, POS onboarding and training, a customer database, unlimited logins and custom permissions, and 24/7 technical support. While POS Nation has a “Build and Price” page where you can specify your business type and size, you can also contact them to get a custom quote.
POS Nation earned high marks for its affordable starter subscriptions and zero installation fees. However, the lack of a free plan and fairly expensive hardware kits (which you’ll need to purchase separately) cost it several points.
POS Nation Pricing Plans
Starter | Growth | Premium | |
|---|---|---|---|
Monthly Fees | $69 | $99 | $149 |
Best For | Small retail stores needing sales and inventory functions | Medium-sized or growing businesses; multilocation | Large or complex businesses needing custom features |
Features and Limitations |
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Integrations can also be purchased to upgrade your POS system. POS Nation currently does not disclose the fees for all of these integrations on their website, but as of our last update, the available integrations and prices are as follows:
- Ecommerce integration: $15 per month
- QuickBooks integration: $15 per month
POS Nation Payments
POS Nation can connect you to several payment processors, including Heartland, Worldpay, and Swipely. Whichever you select, POS Nation Merchant Services offers integrated payment processing. POS Nation is also Payment Card Industry (PCI)-compliant, providing greater security for credit card payments and data.
Payment processing includes gift card, debit card, credit card, and check processing. It also has a dual pricing/cash discounting program (which is available even at the lowest subscription) so that you can pass the cost of credit card processing to your customers, or reward customers for paying with cash.
POS Nation Hardware
You can purchase POS system hardware kits from POS Nation, including a bundle that contains various accessories. (Source: POS Nation)
In addition to the software included with the plans, you can purchase hardware devices; POS Nation offers a variety of options at different levels of pricing and features. For example, scales run from simple on-counter weighing devices to label-printing scales to in-counter scanner scales. Entire POS hardware kits are available well.
Here are some of the available items and their prices:
- Tablets with charging dock, scanner, and reader: $1,499 (extra docks $179 to $299)
- Printers (barcode, thermal, and receipts): $279 to $769
- Barcode scanners: $99 to $569
- Pin Pads: $399 to $999
- Customer displays: $200 to $340
- Scales: $500 to $2,000
- Mobile inventory device: $930
- Touch PCs: $1,200 to $1,500
POS Nation has solid register and checkout features. Based on our evaluation, it earned perfect marks for its speedy checkout tools, transaction management features, customer management, sales mobility, and loyalty program features. However, it got docked points for lacking online ordering tools like ecommerce and order-ahead.
Unlike most POS systems, POS Nation has multiple interface options. Clerks and cashiers can easily find an item to see its stock-keeping unit (SKU), price, availability, and more. You can set discounts, bulk pricing, and time-based pricing. Scales and scanners make it a great option for delis and grocery stores. Customers can also check themselves out, or you can check them out with a mobile option.
When processing a transaction, you’ll have the option of providing the customer with no receipt, text receipt, or print receipt. You can also use a shortcut menu within the system to choose favorite products or bring up items for sale faster.
At checkout, you can select a tender or payment type and choose whether or not to print a receipt. (Source: POS Nation)
If you have age-restricted items, the ID scanning makes it easy for cashiers to verify ages. POS Nation has implemented a direct integration with the tobacco industry’s scan data program, allowing users to recoup rebates from their vendors. POS Nation claims that merchants can get hundreds or even thousands of dollars in rebates, as well as increased store traffic due to discounts and competitive pricing for tobacco products.
Self-checkout
Merchants can opt to set up a self-checkout system for customers to improve store efficiency and save time and effort for staff. The self-checkout option does not use a cash drawer, so customers must pay via credit, debit, or electronic benefit transfer (EBT) card.
Customers can use product lookup to find exactly what they need. Or, if they already have their desired item in hand, the process is as simple as scanning it and then following a few simple directions on-screen to settle the payment and finish the transaction.
For more information, POS Nation has a guide on how to set up the self-checkout system.
During self-checkout, customers can use product lookup to quickly find the items they want. (Source: POS Nation)
POS Nation software is feature-rich, and even better, customizable before being installed on the hardware. This makes setup very convenient; if you need something else afterward, you can call POS Nation about adding it.
In our evaluation, the software earned perfect marks except for marketing tools, which were good but not excellent. POS Nation does offer marketing features, but they pale in comparison to other systems or are paid.
POS Nation uses CAP Retail, an in-house product with a cloud-accessible back office and modern, clean design. This allows users to add employees with personalized credentials, set tax information, categorize inventory for better reporting, and manage vendors.
Inventory Management
You can track inventory—including perishables, case breaks, and carton packs—set low-stock alerts, and reorder quickly from the software. The program has built-in tools for creating purchase orders (POs), managing vendors, and recording inventory receipts. Additional features include a mix-and-match pricing tool.
POS Nation’s case-break wizard is a time-saver for liquor, convenience, and grocery stores. (Source: POS Nation)
Employee Management
Employees can clock in and out, with the system tracking not only work hours but also breaks. The system does not manage payroll, but does have a payroll report that lets in-house employee charges be deducted from payroll.
POS Nation also has tools specifically to help increase employee security. Permissions restrict what an employee can access on the system. Cash drawer counts force employees to check the drawer at the start and end of each shift. You can also set blind counts so that the employee doesn’t know how much cash should be in the drawer at a given time.
You can set permission levels for each employee, restricting access and increasing security for your business. (Source: POS Nation)
Customer Management
POS Nation has a built-in customer management program. It lets you record contact data, billing information, and loyalty plans. It also holds the purchase history so that you can look up items a customer has previously bought. In addition to the loyalty program, you can customize receipts, such as with a discount on the next order or transaction.
POS Nation offers a strong customer management program with many types of information available. (Source: POS Nation)
POS Nation customizes your software to your industry and your particular business before sending it to you so that you can hit the ground running. This software has a clean interface, and you can customize workflows with hot buttons to make ringing up a sale faster.
In addition to how-to guides and demo videos, POS Nation offers blogs, guides, and videos on industry topics, from Black Friday sales to how to choose and use POS systems―even its competitors.
Its onboarding process also stands out. You are assigned a customer success manager upon subscribing, and they will help set up your POS hardware and train you and your employees on the software. If needed, the representative can even help you import all your inventory.
When it comes to technical support, you have access to 24/7 technical support as long as you have an active monthly subscription. POS Nation also provides an online knowledge base that is available at all times and contains resources for troubleshooting both software and hardware.
Methodology
To evaluate POS Nation, we looked for affordability for independent business owners and basic POS functions like check and order management, the ability to process multiple forms of payment, and inventory tracking. We also looked for suitability for multiple business types.
Click through the tabs below to see the full evaluation criteria:
30% of Overall Score
We prioritized a free plan or free trial, affordable subscriptions, and additional plans so that you won’t grow out of the system. We also awarded points for affordable integrated payment processing, flexible hardware options, and no restrictions on the number of users, inventory, and transactions. Finally, we penalized long-term contracts and hefty installation fees. POS Nation didn’t perform very well in this category, as no free plan or free trial is available, and the hardware kits are fairly expensive. However, the baseline plan is affordable.
20% of Overall Score
Businesses need speedy and customizable checkout tools, easy customer management, mobility to sell anywhere, a process to track orders, and a way to process online orders. Because the way businesses operate has changed so much in recent years, we also considered contactless payments, integrated online ordering, and online store features. POS Nation did well for register features: it has an intuitive checkout interface, functionality for sale voids and returns, and a loyalty program. Its ecommerce functionality could be better, though.
15% of Overall Score
The most important feature we considered was inventory tracking. We also considered how sophisticated and user-friendly the system’s reporting dashboard is, and what marketing and employee management tools are available. POS Nation had excellent performance in this category, with solid tools for managing inventory, vendors and purchase orders, and employees.
15% of Overall Score
We prioritized 24/7 phone support; we also considered help tickets and email or chat support, installation processes, and whether the system has an offline mode or hybrid installation so that you can continue operations when you lose internet access. Finally, we considered whether the system has an online knowledge base, training videos, or a training mode to help bring new employees up to speed. POS Nation did fairly well here. It has email support, an offline mode, and easy installation.
20% of Overall Score
We considered the overall quality of the system’s features, along with system stability and security. We evaluated whether it offers a good value for its price point and standout features. Finally, we accounted for our experts’ personal experience using the system and interacting with customer service representatives, its reviews, and the personal experience of other small business owners. POS Nation did very well with this score, only losing a few points for the high monthly fees that come with its useful features.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Click through the sections below to learn more about the strengths and weaknesses of POS Nation, as well as possible alternatives.
POS Nation is a highly customizable system with streamlined checkout, good transaction management, high sales mobility, a built-in loyalty program, excellent management tools, and strong industry-specific features. In addition, all of its subscription plans include hardware.
POS Nation is relatively expensive, and there is no free plan. Payment processing options are somewhat limited. Ecommerce and online ordering are not the best. Technical support is available but comes with an additional monthly fee.
POS Nation offers lottery ticket management, granular inventory tools and vendor management, age verification for restricted sales, self-checkout, and lots of hardware options. This software is a great choice for convenience stores, groceries, hardware stores, and liquor or vape shops.
Restaurants and businesses with heavy ecommerce needs should look for another POS system, as POS Nation does not have the industry-specific tools to serve these niches well.
Bottom Line
If you are looking for POS software that is customized to your needs, POS Nation is well worth considering. It offers software and hardware that are especially suited for businesses in the grocery and liquor store industries and retail. You’ll also get 24/7 support and training as long as you have an active subscription. Call POS Nation to get started.
1 https://www.capterra.com/p/59952/POS-System/
2 https://www.trustpilot.com/review/posnation.com