Best POS System For Small Business

Picking an appropriate POS system can help boost revenue and streamline operations.

The hardest part is selecting the perfect fit for your operation. 

But we're here to help! From retail stores to restaurants, we'll explain exactly what you need to know about the 5 leading small business POS systems on the market. 

Continue reading to learn about industry-specific features and ultimately find the POS solution most suitable for you!

The 5 Best POS Systems for Small Business

Square

Accept payments by debit and credit cards, gift cards, and digital wallets, both in-person and online. They have end-to-end payment encryption and fraud prevention features. They also have built-in payment processing with varying fees dependent upon on transaction type.

The free POS software plan includes features required to run and process payments for an online store.  These include online ordering, a virtual POS terminal, and online checkout. You’ll also get access to invoicing tools, enabling you to send digital estimates, invoices, and reminders.

The free Square POS version provides customer management features allowing you to create a bank of customer data, offer physical gift cards and digital gift cards. It also has employee management tools so your staff can use the POS system to clock in and then out, and you can use it to create employee schedules as well.

Various add-ons are available to the free point-of-sale plan at additional costs. These include payroll tools, text messages, email marketing, and a loyalty program. Another add-on is the Afterpay feature, which allows customers to make payments in installments. See Square POS system cost for pricing details.

Whatever your hardware needs, Square can supply it. Square offers retail packages, restaurant packages, and individual mobile POS devices - perfect for small business owners on the go.

Hardware:

Software:

Payment Processing:

Lightspeed

The Order Anywhere feature will not only let you take contactless tableside payments, but it also allows customers to order and pay using QR codes. Other top restaurant POS features include powerful inventory management tools, online ordering and delivery, kitchen-display systems, and self-service kiosks.

Lightspeed's Retail POS system has specialized features useful to any retail establishment. Quick Keys speeds up the checkout process using customizable fields and buttons on the POS terminal. Customer details can be collected at checkout, then later used for loyalty programs and targeted email marketing campaigns.

Lightspeed has built-in payment processing, meaning you won't have to shop around for other payment processing options. And it takes contactless as well as online payments.

The reporting tools grant real-time insights into online and in-store sales data, inventory tracking, employee performance monitoring, and more.

Whether you need a cash drawer, barcode scanner or printer, Lightspeed offers a full suite of POS hardware solutions. Small business owners will be able to find exactly what their looking for within this POS provider's wide range of inventory.

Hardware:

Software:

• Lightspeed Restaurant POS system (single cash register included)

• Lightspeed Retail POS system (single cash register included)

• Lightspeed Golf POS system

Payment Processing:

Toast

The Toast Mobile Order & Pay™ is exactly as it sounds. Customers can order and pay using their mobile phones. If you opt for customer-facing displays, orders can be confirmed before being sent to the kitchen. And the kitchen-display systems show orders clearly, minimizing the risk of errors.

The advanced inventory management tools will allow you to set low stock alerts so that you won't run out of ingredients in the middle of service, and the sales and inventory tracking reports provide easy to analyze business insights.

The Toast Go 2 mobile POS device lets you take payments wherever you may be, ideal for small businesses who make appearances at pop-up markets and festivals.

Sell online with Toast's full suite of online ordering, delivery, and takeout features. It also allows third-parting integrations, perfect if you'd like to outsource the management of to-go orders and delivery.

As long as you have an internet connection, you can adjust menus, track inventory, and more from anywhere you may find yourself, due to the cloud-based platform. Plus, as your small business grows, this POS system can grow with you. It allows you to management of multiple locations from a single POS terminal or device.

Toast offers complete point-of-sale hardware packages. Their robust, restaurant-grade hardware, can give every small business owner peace of mind knowing that it is designed to withstand spills, dust, heat, and grease.

The free Pay-as-you-Go software plan includes a few pieces of free POS hardware including the Toast Tap card payment device, Toast Flex POS terminal, and router. The Standard Starter kit includes all the same hardware listed above. The difference is that it must paid for upfront. And the perk is lower credit card processing fees.

Whatever price plan you opt for, you can get additional hardware items, such as self-service kiosks and POS software features for additional charges.

Hardware:

• Starter Kit

• Individual components: Quote-based pricing

• Hardware kits: Quote-based pricing

Software:

• Starter Kit

• New Restaurant Basics plan: $110 monthly plus $4 per staff member
• Essentials plan: $165 monthly
• Custom plan: Quote-based pricing

Payment Processing:

• Starter Kit

• Custom credit card processing fees for additional plans

Shopify

Shopify POS systems' advanced inventory management tools are perfect for small businesses, as you can create purchase orders as well as transfer your stock items based on inventory performance and forecasts. This POS system also allows unlimited product numbers.

Detailed unified reports offer blended online sales and in-store sales analytics. This way, you can adjust to any trends.

Shopify helps you maximize omnichannel selling with a plethora of features. Create QR codes for your products so that customers can use their phones to buy online. Customers then have the option of having their items delivered, or picking them up in-person themselves. Their e-Commerce features offer a comprehensive suite of tools for small businesses to run a complete online store. Use social media platforms to help market and boost your online sales.

And we didn't forget about your employees! Their robust employee management features allow you to optimize staffing and labor costs.

In terms of price plans, Shopify offers a Starter plan for only $5 monthly, which is a great option for very small businesses, as well as those just starting out who want to test sales strategies.

The selection of fully integrated POS hardware includes all the items you would require to run a retail store. They also have POS system rentals, so if you need hardware for a particular event you won't have to fork out lots of cash to buy it.

Hardware:

Software:

Payment Processing:

Clover

The employee management features help set schedules, manage payroll, and other HR aspects.

Boost online sales with the extremely versatile e-Commerce features. It enables online appointment bookings, online menu creation, online product sales and secure online payments.

With Clover, you don't have to worry about doing business with a separate payment processing company, as their POS systems have payment processing built-in. They have a range of payment processing fees which will depend on your business type and selected price plan.

They offer a comprehensive inventory of stylish-looking POS hardware. The Clover Station Solo POS terminal comes with a cash drawer and printer, while the Station Duo features a customer-facing display.

They offer various other hardware options including the Clover Go mobile POS device and mobile payment processing.

Hardware:

Software:

Payment Processing:

The Bottom Line