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POS for eCommerce Platforms

Streamline in-store checkout with a specialized POS interface. Efficiently handle orders across multiple POS locations. Easily locate products using barcodes. Enhance sales with an advanced loyalty program and more.

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Today’s retailers have a wide range of options for point of sales system cost. An on-premise POS like Magento POS is ideal for a larger enterprise with multiple locations because its hardware is typically more potent. In addition, its software has reliable offline functionality; you can work with unlimited POS accounts and customize your solution. Meanwhile, small businesses often choose cloud-based POS because it’s less expensive. However, you may still wonder, “How much does a POS system cost?”. Thus, this article provides everything you need to know about the point of sale fees in 2023.

How much does a POS system cost?

How much is a POS system?

The cost of a POS system is around $3,000–10,000. However, the exact POS price depends on your chosen type of POS hardware, software, and level of customization.

For example, while some POS software can only run on the devices of their brand, open-source POS systems can run on the most popular devices in the market.

In addition, costs vary based on the credit card processing, especially for small retailers. As you can see, many factors can influence the cost of a POS system, so there is no single answer that works for all.

The cost of a POS system can vary depending on its license type. Many providers offer subscription licenses, requiring recurring fees for software usage. Alternatively, some providers offer perpetual licenses, allowing indefinite software use with the option to buy upgrades or support.

Magestore offers both license types. Magestore POS for Magento operates on a one-time payment model, giving merchants ownership of the system, customizations, and data. Conversely, Magestore POS for Shopify operates on a subscription basis, aiding small and medium businesses in saving monthly operational costs until they require a more complex system.

When researching the cost of POS systems, it’s important to consider the various types of licenses available. In the later part of this article, we will discuss more about the types of POS licenses that you may want to consider.

According to a Consumer Research survey, 45% of customers feel very uncomfortable waiting in the checkout line, and 20% find that this happens quite often. Therefore, a user-friendly POS system ensures smoother day-to-day operations, resulting in better customer retention and lower maintenance costs. Thus, to get the answer to “How much does a POS system cost?”, you need to understand what constitutes a POS price to find the right solution for your business and profitability.

Also read: 6 best POS systems for small business to thrive in 2023

Components of the POS price

Components of the POS price

A point of sales system cost consists of 2 main components: hardware and software price. However, the price of the POS system is also tied to credit card processing. Therefore, you can start with choosing a few POS solutions that are right for you. Then you should compare the POS rates and transaction fees (including monthly fees and PCI compliance cost). A few percent off can save you thousands in the long run, so it’s well worth the effort. In addition, costs can fluctuate when you add more features and integrations. Therefore, we’ll break down those fundamental components as follows.

POS software cost

POS software cost

The price of POS software ranges between $10–250 a month, depending on the type of POS. There are 3 main types of POS software:

  • Cloud-based POS software that follows the SaaS model
  • Legacy or on-premise POS systems that is hosted on a local server or on premise
  • Hybrid POS that provides a combined setup between cloud-based and on-premise

Despite higher initial hardware and installation costs, on-premises POS systems typically have lower point of sale fees in the long run. As a result, on-premises POS is suitable for retail, while cloud-based POS is more prevalent among restaurant owners.

POS hardware cost

POS hardware cost

The hardware POS price is from $20 to $2,000. In general, POS hardware is the device you use to handle orders and process payments for customers. Most businesses typically require the following POS system devices to accept payments:

  • Card reader: $20–50
  • Tablet stand: $50–200
  • Barcode scanner: $30–100
  • Receipt printer: $35–150
  • Till and cash drawer: $5–200
  • Touchscreen: $250–800
  • Digital menu board: $200–2,000
  • Kiosk: $200–700

However, some retailers or restaurants prefer to process payments directly on the selling floor or by the table. With this requirement, you can choose to have some specialized hardware devices like mobile card readers. In contrast, others require multiple types of POS hardware and implement them across multiple store locations.

Additional costs of a POS system to consider

Additional costs of a POS system to consider

In addition to POS software costs and hardware prices, POS systems associate with several other point of sale fees, including:

  • Payment transaction fee: The fee you pay on each debit or credit card transaction, usually based on a percentage of a customer’s purchase plus a few cents
  • User accounts: Some POS software restricts certain employee accounts to individual plans. If you want different logins for more employees, you have to pay more.
  • The number of locations: Similar to user accounts, additional hardware for more locations, such as additional registers or card readers, will cost you more.
  • Additional features: Modern POS systems offer more than just payments. Additional features like sales reports, inventory management, and loyalty management are not usually free. You’ll pay a higher fee for more added features.
  • eCommerce integration: If you run both a physical and online store as a retailer, syncing sales data between the two channels is essential. With a standalone POS, you’ll need to pay for a connector to integrate it with your chosen eCommerce platform. However, with an eCommerce-integrated POS system like Magestore, this connection is already built-in, saving you the cost of a connector. So, assuming your eCommerce platform is Magento, you’ll want to know how much your POS price contributes to the cost of running a Magento website.

POS system cost comparison

POS system cost comparison

Combining all point of sales system costs can be challenging. To help you decide “How much does a POS system cost for my business?”, here’s a general summary of pricing for all types of POS systems. You can decide on your preferences which one suits your requirements and budget using this information.

On-premise POS system

Cloud-based POS system

Hybrid POS system

POS provider examples

NCR CounterPoint, POSExpress

Square, Vend, Lightspeed

Magestore, Toast, TouchBistro

Hardware costs

$1,300–2,000

$600–1,500

$1,500–20,000

Software costs

One-time payment

$0–200 per month

$60–200 per month

Installation costs

$0–5,000

$0

$0–$2,000

Total

$3,000–50,000 per year

$600–1,700 per month

$1,600–23,000 per year

POS prices by industry

What you’re selling is very important. For example, retail clothing stores have different needs for POS setup than restaurants. Thus, you should tailor your chosen POS system for your business types. A POS system that handles inventory management and sales reports to reconcile the POS transaction on bank statements will be more expensive than a basic POS with payments functions. To provide a clearer picture, we summarize the point of sales system cost by industry below.

Industry

Installation costs

Hardware costs

Software costs

Payment processing fees

Retail

$0–2,000

$1,000–5,000

$0–250 per month, $0–60 per additional register

2–3%

Restaurant

$500–10,000

$2,000–10,000

$0–250 per month, $0–60 per additional register

2–3%

Cafe

$0–2,000

$1,000–5,000

$0–200 per month

2–3%

Food truck

$0–1,000

$500–1,000 per truck

$0–150 per month

2–3%

Health and wellness

$0–5,000

$2,000–10,000

$0–200 per month

2–3%

FAQs

What is the average cost of a POS system?

The average cost of a POS system is between $0 and $2,000, including hardware, software, installation fee for the first year. Then, you may pay around $1,000 per year to use the POS system later, depending on business size, revenue stream, and feature enhancements. You can refer to the costs of the top 6 most popular POS systems.

Square

Shopify

Clover

Lightspeed Retail

Toast

Magestore

Type of POS

Cloud-based POS

Cloud-based POS

Cloud-based POS

Cloud-based POS

Hybrid POS system

Hybrid POS system

Recommended for

Best POS hardware

Best POS for online stores

Best POS hardware

Best POS for brick-and-mortar and online retailers

Best POS for online restaurant ordering

Best retail POS software for omnichannel retailers

POS software cost

$0–60 per month

$9–299 per month

$9.95–39.95 per month

$69–199 per month

$0–272 per month

One-time payment

Hardware costs

$0–1,343

$29–229 + cost of iPad

$99–1,649

$500–1,000

$899+

Integrated with most popular hardware

Installation costs

$0

$0

$0

$0

$699 (optional)

$0 (included in license fee)

Free trial

Free plan available

14 days

None

14 days

Free plan (with hardware subscription)

None (but offer 90-day money-back guarantee)

Average cost

$0–1,500 per month

$36–528 per month

$110–1,700 per month

$569–1,200 per month

$0–$1,172 per month

Custom quote based on needs

How much does a small POS system cost?

Today’s choice of most small businesses is a cloud-based POS system because it doesn’t require bulky POS hardware and multiple drives to store data. A small POS system cost is around $69 monthly for cloud-based software with one register and $1,300 for POS hardware. So it’s more affordable than the POS price of an on-premise system at first glance.

For instance, Magestore POS for Shopify ranges from $15 to $50 per month, depending on your feature needs and the number of physical stores you operate. It’s compatible with most common POS hardware brands, potentially saving you hardware expenses by letting you choose the best fit for your needs and budget.

On the other hand, on-premise POS systems are cheaper in the long run as you’ll only need to pay a one-time fee. In particular, open source solutions like Magestore open source POS don’t require using a specific brand’s hardware. So you can freely choose your favorite hardware and integrate it into your POS system.

Also read: 51 Best Open Source Business Software in 2o22

What is the cheapest POS system?

What is the cheapest POS system?

The cheapest POS system costs $0. Some POS providers like Toast and Square attract customers with a free POS option, and you only pay a POS rate when you make a transaction.

However, it’ll often cost you more in some ways. In general, you must contract for a POS provider’s credit card processing service to get an agreement. This service will lock you in for 1–3 years. It means that you’ll have to pay a monthly premium and a maintenance fee in addition to your monthly subscription fee and credit card processing fee via your POS.

Moreover, “How much does a POS system cost?” may reflect the quality of your POS solution. POS is a worthwhile investment with long-term benefits. So, it would help if you considered a POS solution that is customizable and scalable as your business grows in the future.

How many types of POS licenses are there?

As mentioned at the beginning of this article, there are some types of POS licenses you have to take into account when calculating the cost of a POS system. The types of POS licenses may vary depending on the specific software and vendor.

  1. Single-store license: This type of POS license allows you to use the software in one physical location or store. It means when you expand your business to more locations, you will be charged more.
  2. Multi-store license: A multi-store license allows you to use the POS software across multiple physical locations or stores, which means your number of stores doesn’t affect the cost of your POS system.
  3. Subscription license: A subscription license requires you to pay a recurring fee to use the software. This type of license may make you feel comfortable at first with a small fee each month. But when your business is growing, it will cause you headaches because of the cumulative cost to maintain your POS system.
  4. Perpetual license: A perpetual license is a one-time fee that allows you to use the software indefinitely, with the option to purchase upgrades or support as needed. With this type of license, there are a few options in the POS market for you to choose from. Magestore POS for Magento is a one-time fee POS. If you already have a Magento website, it is surely the best choice for you.

Author Jeng Nguyen

More posts by Jeng Nguyen

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