Clover vs Shopkeep

Clover and ShopKeep are two of the best POS systems on the market today, offering plenty of hardware and software solutions for small to mid-sized businesses.

But you don't want to spend your money on the wrong one.

Today, we're going to break down the differences between these two point-of-sale solutions, helping you to find the perfect match for your business needs.

Choose Clover If...

If you're looking for an Android-based POS platform with a strong focus on POS hardware solutions, Clover is the better option. It's a wonderful solution for table-service restaurants and complex brick-and-mortar retailers. With the ability to purchase Clover through a wide range of third-party POS providers, it is also more available than ShopKeep.

Choose ShopKeep If...

ShopKeep is a tablet-based point-of-sale solution with a sleek and modern feature set for retailers, especially hybrid eCommerce retailers. It's an excellent choice if you prioritize real-time reporting and inventory tracking.

Clover VS ShopKeep POS System Comparison

	Clover	ShopKeep
Ideal For	Brick-and-mortar restaurants and retailers that need a flexible POS solution	Hybrid eCommerce retailers
Hardware Cost	$49 to $1,649	$39 to $1,500
Software Cost	$14.95 per month starting	$49 per month starting
Online Transactions	3.5% +$0.10	Quote-based
In-Person Transactions	2.3% to 2.6% + $0.10 depending on plan	Quote-based
Mobile Device	Yes	Yes
Customer Service	24/7 phone and email support	24/7 Live Support
Contract	Provider-dependent	No contract
What’s Missing	Invoicing tools, vendor management tools, and third-party seller oversight	Website builder and restaurant-specific features

Digging Into The Details

Clover's Best Features:

POS Hardware

One of the biggest upsides to this system is its long list of hardware options. While ShopKeep certainly has sleek and modern hardware to choose from, Clover offers a wide range of flexible and robust hardware solutions for businesses of all sizes who want to secure their own equipment.

As the cherry on top, all Clover POS hardware still grants employees access to the onboard features when disconnected from the internet. Even if your wi-fi goes down, you can continue processing payments and coordinating inventory.

Whether you need a simple credit card reader, a handheld POs device, or a full-fledged countertop system, you can get anything you need from Clover. The Clover Flex is one of the most popular devices for restaurants and retailers, as its small, sleek design is portable enough to carry around your establishment to take inventory or fulfill tableside orders.

Some of the most popular Clover devices in the lineup include:

The Clover Mini: This compact hardware solution offers total control over your software along with the ability to accept numerous forms of payment, including tap, swipe, and chip.
The Clover Station: This countertop Clover Station POS hardware solution comes with a receipt printer and cash drawer.
The Clover Station Pro: This fully-fledged countertop POS hardware solution comes with a customer-facing display, a receipt printer, and a cash drawer.

Payroll Management

The payroll management features found in Clover's software are some of the most powerful on the market. You'll find high-end track functionality to keep track of your employee hours and payments. Best of all, you can manage your payroll through the Clover app.

Some of the best features found in the payroll management suite include scheduling and time-tracking, two operations that often take up a fair amount of time.

With built-in payroll management, you can limit the resources necessary to perform these tasks while increasing overall accuracy.

Customer Relationship Management

ShopKeep comes with some pretty decent CRM features, though the customer management features found in Clover's software go beyond the standard functionality of storing purchase history and contact information.

In fact, Clover's CRM features cover built-in rewards and loyalty program capabilities, allowing you to give back to your most consistent customers without having to pay an extra fee each month.

Your customers will also get access to the helpful feedback app if you choose to integrate it. This app allows customers to leave reviews and feedback for you to see, which can provide insight into what your customers think of your products or services. You can then use this information to make changes if necessary.

Online Ordering

While ShopKeep provides excellent services for eCommerce, the online ordering capabilities in Clover's software are top-notch. You can upload your products and services to your Clover cloud, so customers can make quick purchases online to pick up in-store.

This feature is very helpful for restaurants operating in a post-Covid world where customers want to enjoy contactless payments. You don't have to pay any additional fees to take advantage of this online ordering either, and you can have Clover automatically build a page for you.

If you run a restaurant, any online orders that you receive can be sent directly to the kitchen for easy access.

Third-Party Integrations

Another big upside to Clover is its ability to integrate with a number of third-party services. ShopKeep has a solid integration pool as well, though with Clover's wider reach, you'll find more ways to customize your software so that it is catered to your business.

Some of our favorite integration solutions include high-end labor management and payroll solutions.

Businesses with developers on staff will certainly enjoy the open API, which comes at no extra cost. You can essentially build your own features to utilize within the Clover network.

See our Clover POS reviews and how does Clover work for more detailed information.

ShopKeep's Best Features:

eCommerce Capabilities

One of this system's biggest selling points is its eCommerce functionality. If you run an eCommerce business or a brick-and-mortar shop with a large online presence, you'll be able to set this POS software up so that it keeps everything in sync.

ShopKeep is one of the best POS systems for retail. Users get access to a ton of quality social media tools, making it easy to funnel promotions throughout your various social media platforms.

If you already have a website for your small business, you'll be happy to know that integrating with ShopKeep is easier than ever.

Employee Management

ShopKeep comes with a wide range of employee management tools that you can use to give your employees specific permissions or keep track of their schedules and payments. It's easy to customize settings and privileges, allowing certain members to access specific functionalities of the point-of-sale system, such as register control or refunds and exchanges.

If you have a high turnover rate at your store, it's nice to know that adding or inputting new employee information into the system is very intuitive. While Clover has a number of quality employee tools, the easy-to-use nature of ShopKeep's is what brings them out on top.

Pocket App

Many POS systems provide access via mobile application now, though there is something about the ShopKeep Pocket app that seems to make things more intuitive than others. You can download this handy app for use on iOS and Android devices, giving you a bit more flexibility.

The app has a streamlined design, allowing you to take the most important aspects of your business on the go with you. You can travel to the other side of the globe and receive real-time notifications regarding the daily operations of your storefront or online shop.

As long as you have an internet connection, you can also use the pocket app to make online sales from your smartphone. From back-office needs to on-the-go transactions, this clever piece of portable software can mold to your business.

Customer Support

ShopKeep offers excellent customer support, which certainly can't be said for all POS providers. With 24/7 live chat, you can troubleshoot issues at any time of the day or night. This is a lifesaver for after-hours businesses, such as bars and nightclubs, as not many POS providers have that kind of late-night support.

Of course, customer support goes beyond your standard live chat capabilities. It also offers text and email support. If your issue isn't very severe, you can check the large online knowledge database to find answers to common questions.

Lastly, ShopKeep has a unique Small Business Hub Blog with troves of information regarding the system's sales and marketing features.

Reporting and Analytics

ShopKeep is well-renowned for its extensive reporting and analytics suite, which you can use to extract important data from your business to make better decisions.

Just recently, ShopKeep added a "sales by discount" parameter to its reporting suite, as well as "average cost reporting," making the system even stronger than before.

ShopKeep even allows you to condense, download, and print your analytical data from your attached register receipt printer. Whether you're looking to get info regarding overviews of your daily retail sales or in-depth data about inventory variants, the suite is one of the best on the market.

See our ShopKeep POS reviews for more detailed information.

Clover Drawbacks:

One of Clover's main drawbacks is also one of its main advantages. While you can license Clover software and hardware from a number of third-party sellers, making it one of the most accessible systems on the market, finding the right third-party provider can be challenging. Many of them have shady contract deals and exorbitant prices that are easy to get sucked into if you don't offer caution.

We've heard horror stories of companies getting locked into long and expensive contracts with certain third-party sellers, so it's important to do your due diligence and find providers that have received positive feedback.

Another major downside is the deeply intertwined payment processing and hardware ties mean you can't disconnect from your merchant account once you already have your hardware set up. It can be frustrating for those who want to use their hardware with another merchant account if they suddenly realize the current one you're using isn't for you.

ShopKeep Drawbacks:

One major drawback of ShopKeep came after it merged with Lightspeed a few years back. It seems as though the company stopped updating the software for new customers. Essentially, if there are any bugs in the ShopKeep POS solution at this point, you can expect to continue dealing with them.

ShopKeep is also a bit more expensive than Clover, meaning it may not be the best choice for small businesses without large budgets.

Lastly, the hardware is quite limited compared to Clover, which has a number of mobile and tabletop solutions.

Which Is A Better Value?

ShopKeep and Clover POS solutions are both excellent for streamlining small business transactions, whether you run a brick-and-mortar shop, an eCommerce site, or a hybrid of the two. Both platforms offer quality features, such as employee management, customer management, and inventory management, so you'll find a lot in common between them.

When comparing the two solutions from a macro standpoint, Clover focuses more on brick-and-mortar retailers and restaurants, while ShopKeep can meet the specific needs of eCommerce businesses.