A POS system is an integral part of any retail store. It’s responsible for conducting a majority of the sales operations that are vital to a business. These days a retail pos system is responsible for more than just transactions between the customer and the merchant. They’re being upgraded with advanced features that are giving POS systems more functionality.
Top POS Systems for Retail Stores
Square POS: This POS system is popular among small businesses. If you want a POS system with no startup costs, then Square POS might be your best bet. It can be upgraded with add-on features for more functionality. These additional features will cost a monthly fee.
The free version has certain key features:
- An inventory management tool that lets you add products and sends daily stock alerts via email.
- Customer Relationship Management feature that lets you collect information on customers and create customer profiles.
- Unlimited staff permissions which means the software license won’t be limited to only a few employees.
- Data analytics feature that can prepare reports on sales, customers, and inventory. These can be studied for making better business decisions.
Lightspeed POS: This retail POS system is preferable for medium and large-sized businesses. It’s known for its inventory management tools. The basic plan costs $99 per month which can be installed on one POS terminal and have up to five employee accounts.
The key features of Lightspeed POS are:
- It has several robust inventory management tools. These tools can be used to manage large quantities of inventory stored at multiple locations. Managers can add items to the inventory and group them under a variety of categories such as size, color, or material. It can also maintain vendor catalogs on the system so the items can be ordered easily when they’re running out of stock.
- It offers a massive integration library. These add-ons will give the POS system access to more features and services.
- It has many free onboarding webinar courses. These will explain the different features of the software and how to make the best use of them. With these tutorials, a new user will easily be able to learn the software.
Shopify: Shopify is popular for its ecommerce tools and can support multiple sales channels.
The key features of Shopify are:
- It can track multiple sales channels, so if a product runs out of stock, it’ll no longer be available for sale on the online store.
- Shopify allows its users to set up and track discount codes. Different kinds of discount codes can be created with their own specific rules for use. It’ll let you track the performance and popularity of these discounts through Shopify’s analytics feature.
- The Shopify app can be installed on your mobile phone. All the relevant business data can be accessed directly from your phone.
- It has inventory management tools that will let you add products, upload product photos, or change prices. It has a dashboard that displays important updates. Customer information and contacts can be accessed with this app.
Vend POS: This POS system has ecommerce features so it can track sales across retail and online stores.
The key features of Vend POS are:
- The CRM tools let you create customer groups which can be used for conducting loyalty programs. It’ll let you create gift cards or assign points to customers based on how much they spend. The customers can use these to avail discounts.
- If the POS enabled device disconnects from the internet all the sales information will be synced as soon as you come back online.
- It can be used on a Mac, PC, or an iOS device.
Shopkeep: This is a cloud-based POS system. It has an easy-to-use interface and works on iPad and mobile.
The key features of Shopkeep are:
- It has an intuitive interface which can be customized according to your business.
- The mobile app can be used to access sales information and manage store operations from anywhere.
- It has customer marketing tools that allow loyalty programs and gift card integrations.
Erply POS: It offers retail-focused POS systems.
The key features of Erply POS are:
- If you have multiple franchises you can choose how much control each franchise has over suppliers and inventory.
- It has a versatile interface.
- It can be used to prepare quotes, invoices, and fulfill sales orders.
SalesVu: It offers a collection of POS apps that can be used on your iPad and iPhone.
The key features that it offers are:
- The loyalty app lets you assign customer profiles to customer groups.
- The gift card app lets you create discount codes.
- The invoice app can be used to prepare bills.
A retail pos system will provide vital services for a business to increase its sales and profits. Choose a POS system based on what your business needs to ensure you enhance your business’ productivity.