Best retail POS software of 2024

Square POS

Square is a financial and mobile payment services company based in California, USA. Their Square Point of Sale lets merchants process different types of payment including cash, cards, and gift cards in store. Joining the POS market is a big step for Square to compete with other financial competitors.

Here are some remarkable features of this retail POS software.

• POS works well on phones, iPad, or Android devices.
• This software accepts all kinds of payments, including contactless.
• Merchants can accept payments even when the internet gets disrupted.
• Square POS connects with lots of Square hardware such as receipt printers, cash drawers, and scales. 
• Businesses can customize the POS by add-ons (Team Management, Marketing, and Payroll).
• It’s available to merchants to run curbside pickup programs.
• Retailers can manage inventory and loyalty programs.

Businesses in different industries can use Square POS, but it is especially the best fit for restaurants.

Square offers a pay-as-you-go pricing model. You don’t need to pay for POS at starting, hidden fees, or contracts. You only need to pay per transaction processed. The rate is 2.6% + 10¢ for every tap, dip, and swipe.

The Square POS has both advantages and disadvantages you should be aware of.

Vend POS

Vend is a cloud-based POS located in New Zealand. This retail point of sale makes everything simple to sell in person. 

Vend POS’s outstanding features include:

• Vend POS supports different devices including Mac or PC on both online and offline. For example, you can use 2 iPad devices in one store. One is to consult customers, the other is for your customers to enter their email for a receipt. Then, use one PC for your point of sale to check out
• This system helps you run a business via multiple channels and outlets.
• Vend POS supports diversified payment methods such as cards, customer payment, gift cards, mobile contactless payment, partial payment, and split payment.
• Managing inventory becomes easier with Vend’s inventory control, stock count, stock transfer, etc.
• The customer-facing display keeps transparency during checkout.
• The vendor report system covers sales, employees, and product aspects.

Besides, Vend also offers onboarding service with 3 plans—Standard, Enhanced, and Customized. Also, if you want to learn how to set up products or any subject about Vend, you can select their training service.

This retail POS software is a good choice for businesses in homeware, fashion, and sport & outdoor.

In terms of pricing, merchants can select one of three plans Lite, Pro, or Enterprise.

• Lite—Retailers need to pay $99 per month billed annually or $119 billed monthly. Vend’s basic plan has an allowance for one retail outlet. It’s limited to a $20,000 monthly turnover. If you exceed the turnover three times in 12 months, you’ll have to upgrade to the Pro. Users that purchase the Lite can enjoy real-time inventory management, small business reporting, and a Xero accounting add-on. It suits the businesses with one location only. 
• Pro—This plan costs $129 per month billed annually or $159 billed monthly. You’ll have everything in Lite, plus promotions, gift cards, add-ons, eCommerce channels, multi-outlets retail management, and API access.
• Enterprise—Vend doesn’t publish the price of this plan. You need to leave contact information to get a quote from them. Compared with the Pro, this plan adds two more benefits that are a dedicated account manager and customized onboarding.

Below are the strengths and weaknesses of Vend POS

Shopify POS

Shopify is the world’s best eCommerce company based in Ontario, Canada. In 2013, this company released POS that helps their retailers run both online and brick-and-mortar retail stores on the Shopify platform.

Let’s see which features that this POS covers.

• Merchants can keep social distancing via in-store or curbside pickup and local delivery options.
• It enables you to manage inventory across all channels.
• The mobile POS app helps you serve customers anywhere in the store.
• Business owners are able to sell items that are available at other locations.
• You can easily integrate POS to other apps like appointment scheduling or door-counting apps.
• Store performance and report help merchants make better business decisions. You can access these reports wherever as long as you are using the Shopify POS mobile app.
• You can use the Shopify tool to transfer data to a new system quickly.
• Shopify POS supports Bluetooth barcode scanners for adding products during checkout, usable within a 100-meter range from your iPad or iPhone

Shopify POS is a perfect choice for small and medium-sized businesses in any industry. It’s a little bit confusing for new visitors who are researching Shopify POS price. The cost retailers have to pay depends on both the POS plan and Shopify plan they use.

• Shopify POS Lite is included with all Shopify plans. It means that Shopify POS Lite is free and you can use this plan if you’re subscribing to at least one of Shopify’s plans. Then, you need to pay per processing transaction. The in-person credit card rate depends on the Shopify plan that you register and starts at 2.4% + 0¢ USD.
• Shopify POS Pro costs $89 per month for one location. Besides, you also have to pay with the in-person credit card rate starting at 2.4% + 0¢ USD.

We’ve summarized the pros and cons of this retail pos software as follows.

Lightspeed Retail POS

Lightspeed is a leading retail POS system provider based in Canada. The company receives investment from well-known firms such as Accel Partners Silicon Valley Bank, iNovia Capital, CIBC, Investissement Quebec, and Caisse de Depot et Placement du Quebec.

The POS Lightspeed has some outstanding following features.

• Select a theme from a range of templates
• Create and manage in-store appointments from the retail point of sale.
• Manage multiple supplier portals right on POS
• Accept all popular payment methods
• Run reward points, memberships, and subscriptions to keep customers engaged
• Built-in purchase orders 
• Keep track inventory 
• 50 built-in retail reports relating to sales, inventory, employee performance, etc.

Lightspeed POS system targets a variety of retail industries including grocery, toys & hobbies, and others. It also suits small and medium-sized businesses.

They offer you 5 POS plans with the price starting at $69 per month (annually). If adding more registers, you have to pay $29 more per month.

Here is the pricing plan they published on their website.

Let’s see the pros and cons of this brand from well-known review websites.

EPOS Now

Epos Now is a cloud-based POS software provider that has served over 30,000 customers around the world. The story of this company began when their CEO, Jacyn Heavens, couldn’t find a POS for his bar, so he built the POS that suited his needs. 

This POS is considered a good option for small to mid-sized businesses in a variety of industries, including apparel, homeware, grocery, sporting, and many more. 

Key features of EPOS Now includes:

• Single item performance management, stock alerts, purchase order management, barcode management, product import, and management
• Integrate with leading eCommerce platforms, including Shopify, Quickbook, and Sage
• View sales, product, and employee reports
• Apply loyalty programs such as store credits, loyalty cards, promotions, and more.
• Accept contactless payment and different types of payment

The price of EPOS starts at $39 per month billed annually or $449 billed monthly. 

Here are the advantages and disadvantages of EPOS Now.

Quickbooks POS

Established in 1983, Intuit today is well-known for the Quickbooks accounting software. This company released the Quickbooks Point of Sale which is an excellent choice for merchants who are using Quickbooks for their accounting.

Remarkable features of this retail POS software includes:

• Accept contactless and mobile payments, like Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Samsung Pay
• Run different tablet options, including Microsoft Surface Pro, Acer Switch, and Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro
• Provide built-in customer relationship management tools
• Email receipts right to customers
• Send timely offers via Constant Contact
• Offer POS gift cards
• Sync with QuickBooks

While Vend, EPOS Now, or Square are cloud-based systems, Quickbooks POS is a locally installed system. You only pay one time to acquire the POS and get the license for one domain.

Merchants can purchase one of three plans — POS Basic, POS Pro, or POS Multi-Store. 

• POS Basic covers in-store sales, contactless payments, inventory management, eCommerce integration, customer data management, basic reporting, QuickBooks Desktop finance integration. Price of this plan is $720.
• POS Pro includes all features of POS Basic, plus purchase management, rewards, loyalty program, layaway, gift cards, employees and payroll management, and advanced reporting as well. $1,020 is the cost merchants need to pay for POS Pro.
• POS Multi-Store gives you every feature offered in POS Pro and follows—multiple stores, inventory transfer, and advanced reporting by store. To run business with this package, retailers need to pay $1,140.

Revel Systems POS

Revel was the pioneering cloud-based iPad POS system in the market. It’s a management tool to help retailers deliver a better customer experience and streamline business operations. 

The Revel POS has the following features:

• Offer gift cards, refunds, and exchanges.
• Have management tools: Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and Inventory management
• Support a wide variety of card reading options, including swipes, dips, and taps. Accept a variety of wave to payment options, including Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, and others.
• Work well on iPad
• Provide detailed reports and analytics

The Revel POS pricing is quite complicated, so it’s not easy to say the price of this system. It includes payment processing fees, installation costs, and hardware costs.

You’ll have to pay for this software on an annual basis with the cost starting at $99 per month. Additionally, Revel requires you a 3-year Revel advantage contract and a minimum purchase of two terminals.

Then, you need to pay processing fees. To know about the rate, you can contact Revel’s sales representative.

In case you want to get implementation service from them, it costs $674.

This is a summary of Revel Systems’s pros and cons.

Magestore POS

Found in 2009, till now, Magestore has served more than 10,000 global merchants. In 2018, Magestore released PWA POS on Magento 2 after the success of Web POS on Magento 1. Magestore POS system is a perfect piece for Magento retailers who desire to expand Magento power to their offline stores.

Let’s have a look at the main features of this solution.

• Retail POS works well on any browser, and both PC and iPad with a friendly interface.
• Inventory management includes barcode, inventory tracking, inventory transfer, inventory movement, inventory adjustment, inventory forecast, and more.
• Order management lets merchants manage orders right on the POS screen. This system provides the ability to fulfill orders into 5 steps —verify, prepare, pick, pack, deliver from one centralized system.
• Purchase management lets merchants complete the purchasing process on the backend.
• Magestore POS is native to Magento, so merchants can run Magento promotions both in-person and online.
• Reward points, gift cards, and store credits are available online to offline as well.
• Real-time POS reports about sales, inventory, and employees help merchants make quick and right decisions.
• POS performance is one of Magestore’s priorities recently. They have released a POS Performance feature letting merchants proceed with retail operation without any interruptions.

Magestore offers POS Commerce Plan which helps businesses centralize their operations and deliver an omnichannel strategy.

Similar to Quickbooks POS, Magestore POS uses a one-time purchase model. When you purchase any POS package, you will obtain a license for one live site and one dev site domain. Magestore uses this license to verify your installation of POS and support requests.

Magestore POS price is not published, so you need to contact Magestore business consultant to get a quotation. 

Homeware, furniture, sporting & outdoor, fashion, hobbies & toys, vape & cannabis, and food & drink are top industries that have businesses using this solution. 

Let’s see the pros and cons of this POS.