7 Best POS For Retail To Buy In 2023: Small Business Guide To Retail POS Systems

We appreciate how Square is built for the retail startup with big dreams of selling offline and online and almost no capital to fund those dreams. The free POS software, online store builder, social media selling suite, and affordable card reader eliminate just about all the POS-related financial hurdles new businesses face.

Small retail business owners can sell anything such as digital downloads, subscription memberships, services, event tickets, and bundled packages. With Square, the options are limitless.

Note: Square’s free plan is absolutely free to use, with no special conditions or limitations. Square’s paid plans come with a 30-day free trial.

The free plan is completely free to use forever, and you can start using Square immediately. Paid plans are billed by location.

Square allows retail business owners to use an unlimited number of devices as POS registers at each location. This is a huge advantage over other POS providers such as Lightspeed Retail and Hike, who typically charge by the device and by the location.

Retailers may also want to consider these popular Square add-ons:

• Square Loyalty: $15+/month (price dependent on number of loyalty member visits per month)
• Square Payroll: $35+/month (price dependent on number of employees)
• Square Marketing: $15+/month (price dependent on number of marketing emails sent per month)

Square offers an extensive amount of free POS system features for retailers, including:

• Free Square online store builder and Square online checkout links to sell online, with or without a website
• Free employee time clock, scheduling, and reporting
• Unlimited number of POS registers on the free plan
• TikTok social media selling and Instagram shoppable posts
• Free invoicing and online appointment setting

Square retail POS for clothing store website.

Paid plans offer more inventory features such as the ability to link vendors to products in your item catalog, which will make reordering items easier. You can also manage inventory and employees in multiple locations on the Square Plus plan. Square’s marketing and loyalty programs come as separate paid add-ons.

Square is flexible enough to work for most smaller single-location businesses that don’t need intensive inventory management functions.

Square POS on iPad, Square Register, and Square contactless card reader.

Square software works on phones and tablets. You get a free magstripe card reader to start, but you should purchase at least the $49 Square Contactless + Chip Reader so you can take chip cards and NFC-based payments such as Google Pay and Apple Pay. A full Square Register bundle, suited for countertop businesses that accept cash, is $1,329.

Read our guide to Square POS hardware to make an informed POS hardware purchasing decision.

Other hardware, such as receipt printers, does not need to be purchased from Square. Just make sure that the hardware you buy is compatible with Square software.

Square is incredibly affordable because the company makes its money on payment processing fees, which means you can only process payments via Square’s in-house payment processor.

Square charges a payment processing fee of 2.6% plus $0.10 per card-present transaction on the free plan. You’ll pay 2.5% plus $0.10 per transaction on the Plus plan. You are charged a 3.5% plus $0.15 fee for card-not-present transactions.

The fee for online transactions and invoices is 2.9% plus $0.30 per transaction.

Square subscriptions are month-to-month, and you can cancel your merchant account anytime without consequences.

If you damage your Square hardware within your hardware warranty period, even if you didn’t purchase the hardware directly from Square, the company will send you new equipment. Don’t forget to send old pieces back to Square within 14 days of getting your new hardware, or you will be charged for the new equipment.

We love how detailed retail inventory management can be with Lightspeed Retail. Department stores, wholesale stores, and even stores that offer rental items (like how REI rents out camping equipment in addition to retail sales) can easily upload and categorize items. You can also create purchase orders and automatically complete them across multiple vendors, which will help midsize to large retailers save a lot of time on ordering.

Lightspeed also has built-in eCommerce functionalities, a fairly advanced Lightspeed loyalty functionality, and allows you to build targeted marketing campaigns aimed at predefined customer groups to turn one-time buyers into lifelong shoppers.

Note: Lightspeed Retail offers a 14-day free trial, no credit card required.

You’ll pay an extra $59/month for each additional device you install Lightspeed Retail on (each plan starts with one POS software license).

Lightspeed Retail allows you to offer several ways for customers to shop, including purchasing online for in-store pickup, layaway purchases, purchasing wholesale or by individual item, and shopping item bundles for a discount. Shoppers can also fill out inquiry forms to get a custom quote, log into a wholesaler account for a bulk discount, and start returns/exchanges online.

Lightspeed Retail B2B order quote.

The unique inventory matrixing system makes it simple for retailers to sell items in singular departments or across departments, add inventory tags to items, and attach items to a vendor. When you’re running low on something, you get a low-stock alert, and then you can look up a vendor and order several things at once. If you want to sell and rent out items, Lightspeed has an app that monitors rental windows, fees, and more.

Multilocation businesses will especially appreciate these special Lightspeed features:

• Stock transfers across locations
• Pricing modifications depending on location
• Master inventory, purchase order, and item performance dashboard
• Loyalty program cross-location sync so customers can earn points no matter their location
• Buy online, pick up in any store

Lightspeed Retail loyalty program customer group settings.

Lightspeed Retail iPad POS, iPad stand, PC admin dashboard, and barcode scanner.

You can purchase a Lightspeed Payments-compatible WisePOS E card reader for $299 and an iPad for $329.

Lightspeed offers accessories such as an iPad stand for $199, a cash drawer for $129, a barcode scanner for $199, a label printer for $124, and a receipt printer for $399.

Contact a Lightspeed representative and ask about a discount on a retail POS hardware bundle.

With Lightspeed Payments, Lightspeed Retail’s in-house payment processor, you will pay a processing fee of 2.6% plus a $0.10 flat fee per card-present transaction. That flat fee increases to 2.9% plus a $0.30 flat fee per card-not-present transaction.

Lightspeed offers monthly and annual contracts for retailers. Annual contracts cost less per month. However, we suggest starting with a monthly contract, since an early termination fee can get pretty high depending on how long your contract term is.

Also, you must verify that you have received your Lightspeed hardware within five business days of receiving it, or you do not qualify for the 30-day warranty (14 days for Apple products).

We appreciate that Revel can be customized to fit virtually any retail POS need, from kiosk shopping to delivery management to integrated eCommerce. With its advanced and flexible features, we often recommend Revel for very niche markets, including a golf course POS system and a garden center POS system. Plus, the company packages together its retail, restaurant, and service/appointment business management software, so you can run any type of business from the Revel platform.

Revel’s open API (application program interface) means this versatile system can integrate with virtually any other business software you use. Midsize and larger retailers with multiple locations will find everything they need in a custom-built Revel solution.

If you agree to Revel’s three-year, two-terminal minimum requirements, you will pay $99/month/terminal, billed annually. With this deal, you also have to commit to Revel for your payment processing needs for three years.

Most businesses will require more than Revel’s basic POS offering though, as they will want to add on products like multilocation management, online ordering, and local delivery/shipping management. This means that every retail and niche business owner will get a custom quote.

Revel also charges a one-time implementation fee that starts at $674 and covers onsite hardware installation and a detailed software setup.

Revel POS, founded in 2010, has had years to refine its niche market offerings and expand the somewhat open-world capabilities of the software.

Specialty stores such as gourmet grocery stores and international stores with perishable items for sale will appreciate Revel’s perishable inventory management, sales by weight, and the ability to create menus for any made-to-order items.

Specialty stores that sell services in addition to products, such as hardware stores and retail makeup stores, will find it easy to sell items and schedule services with Revel.

Businesses that plan on opening several locations or franchising should strongly consider Revel, as the system offers excellent multilocation inventory and employee management, as well as franchise royalty calculations and franchise owner system permissions.

Revel Systems stock transfer between business locations.

All Revel users will enjoy these unique Revel features:

• Offline payment mode so you can take payments on the go
• Online ordering with delivery tracking
• Intelligent reporting suite (on labor versus sales, employee activity, etc.)
• Real-time inventory tracking, including a mass inventory matrix
• Open API (application program interface) access to connect Revel to any app you want

Revel iPad POS register, iPad stand, iPad customer-facing display, cash drawer, receipt printer, and card reader.

Revel works on iPads, which you can buy independently or from Revel. You’ll have to contact Revel for a quote on hardware like card readers, printers, and cash drawers.

Revel offers its own in-house payment processing solution, Revel Advantage. Revel no longer advertises a definitive flat rate fee, meaning that you’ll get a custom quoted fee based on order volume, average transaction size, and mix of payment methods.

If you choose to work with a third-party payment processor (which you cannot do on the three-year plan), you will likely pay a higher monthly subscription fee.

Revel requires a three-year processing agreement and a two-terminal minimum if you want the most cost-effective pricing.

However, the company charges a high early termination fee if you cancel early, so it might be worth it to pay a higher monthly price in case you’re not sure whether Revel POS is right for you. You can switch to a long-term plan later on for lower fees.

While Clover systems aren’t cheap, we believe that the streamlined hardware, software, and payment processor setup are smooth enough to be worth the money for many retailers. This is especially true if you have to train new people on the POS relatively often. Clover systems come with many POS features you want, such as built-in loyalty programs and bulk item importing, without having to pay extra.

We also like that Clover has such a simple feature add-on process. Adding Clover-tested apps to your POS system is as easy as adding a new app to your phone. Simply download an app to add features such as employee payroll and customer feedback monitoring or to integrate with third-party software.

Plus, several merchant services providers sell Clover machines with their merchant accounts, so you can get the best merchant agreement and payment processing terms available. This is an especially positive POS feature for larger retailers who want to get better payment processing rates than the ones flat-rate payment processors such as Square and Lightspeed can offer.

If you buy from Clover directly, you can purchase a Clover retail software plan for between $14.95/month and $54.90/month if you purchase your Clover hardware upfront.

If you decide to enroll in Clover’s “pay monthly” plan so that you can pay for your hardware over time, you’ll pay one monthly fee for both your hardware and software. That fee will range from $60/month to $175/month, depending on your hardware package.

Additional devices are $9.95/month/register if you have all your registers in one location. If, for example, you have two Clover Minis in two different stores, you’ll have to pay the full Register subscription cost for both Minis.

Read our Clover POS pricing guide for more on how much you could be paying for your Clover software/hardware package.

Clover retail software itself is a pretty straightforward offering, with an online ordering page for pickup or delivery, in-store discounts and promotions, physical and eGift cards, and an offline payments mode so you can still check out customers even if your store’s Wi-Fi stops working.

Whatever advanced or specialized features you want will come in the form of a Clover app. There are 450+ apps available in Clover’s app store which take EBT payments (great for grocery and convenience stores), scan IDs (great for liquor stores and wineries), and more.

Clover is also special because you can get a merchant account with one of several Clover hardware/software resellers, meaning that you can find great payment processing fees and contract terms (so long as you get your Clover setup from one of these best Clover merchant account providers).

Clover countertop POS system, handheld POS system, barcode scanner, cash drawer, and card reader.

You may purchase your Clover system from Clover or one of several Clover resellers. If you purchase hardware from Clover, you’ll pay between $49 (Clover Go contactless card reader) and $1,799 (Clover Station Duo).

Clover POS software only works with Clover hardware.

If you purchase your devices from Clover, you must use Fiserv as your payment processor. Fiserv charges the following payment processing fees:

• Card-Present Transactions: 2.3% + $0.10 (Clover Register plan) and 2.6% + $0.10 (Clover Essentials plan)
• Card-Not-Present Transactions: 3.5% + $0.10 (all plans)

Card-not-present transactions include online sales, phone orders, orders from third-party shopping platforms, manually-keyed-in card payments, and anything else that is not a chip/tap/swipe card payment, cash, or check.

If a huge chunk of your sales happens online, consider a different Clover reseller or a different POS provider altogether to avoid the relatively steep card-not-present payment processing fees.

If you purchase your device from a Clover reseller, your fees and fee payment structure will change. Large retailers may save on payment processing fees if they choose to work with a Clover-authorized reseller.

Clover offers 36-month and 48-month contracts with early termination fees should you cancel your contract early. There’s also nothing you can do with your Clover hardware if you stop using Clover POS software since Clover hardware is proprietary. The company won’t fix hardware that you obtain from any source other than Clover.com.

If you work with a Clover reseller, you are subject to that reseller’s terms, so do your research before committing. Read your contract and other customer reviews of your potential merchant service provider to avoid Clover scams.

The bottom line is that no matter where you get your Clover hardware, buying expensive proprietary hardware is a big commitment. So, make sure Clover is right for you before shelling out the money for the fancy POS hardware.

We believe that Shopify is an excellent multichannel solution for retailers wanting to sell at one (or several) physical locations, on a website, on an individual seller platform such as Etsy or Amazon, and/or on social media. Customers have several ways to buy and receive their items, which they will appreciate.

If you find that Shopify’s built-in POS features do not provide all the functionalities your business needs, you can add free or paid apps from the huge Shopify app store to complete your POS system setup.

Also, where other POS apps like Square For Retail, Revel, and Lightspeed primarily (or only) operate on iOS devices, Shopify is one of the best Android POS systems available for Android smartphones.

Note: Shopify offers a three-day free trial, no credit card required.

Shopify’s eCommerce pricing plans range from $39/month to $399/month. You get 25% off if you pay for an entire year upfront. Each eCommerce plan (that comes with a full store) offers the “Shopify POS Lite” app for free.

For more retail features, such as store pickup and unlimited staff accounts, you’ll need the $89/month/location Shopify Pro subscription, which is added to your monthly eCommerce plan. Additionally, while there are many free Shopify apps on the company’s app market, some require you to sign up for a paid subscription.

Your payment processing rate decreases on higher-level plans. Businesses with larger transaction volumes should strongly consider upgrading to save money in the long run.

Read our guide to Shopify plans and pricing for an idea of what your business needs for fast growth.

Shopify includes these omnichannel sales features:

• Buy online for in-store pickup, local delivery, or ship-to-customer
• Dedicated online store using beautiful Shopify store builder
• In-app Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, Twitter, and WhatsApp sales (so you can sell directly within static and video posts)
• Etsy, eBay, and Amazon marketplace sales
• Dropshipping and wholesale purchasing

Shopify POS integration with TikTok for in-app social media sales.

Shopify’s in-store sales features include the ability to take partial payments/deposits, schedule discounts and generate digital coupons, put items on layaway, and take custom payment types.

Shopify retail POS purchase order example.

Most of Shopify’s best features will come in the form of an app from Shopify’s app market. The market has over 8,000 apps, with more being added every day. With a Shopify add-on app, you can create your own product catalogs, start an email marketing campaign, sell subscriptions and memberships — your only limit is your imagination (and in some cases, your willingness to pay an added monthly software subscription fee.)

The Shopify app itself runs on most phones and tablets.

The Shopify Chip & Swipe Reader, which is the bare minimum requirement for taking card and mobile phone payments, starts at $29. The most expensive hardware is the $639 Shopify Star® mPOP™ With Scanner, an all-in-one customizable retail hardware package.

Not sure what equipment your retail POS system needs? Read our post on Shopify hardware choices, which includes pricing and where to source your hardware.

Shopify integrates with its own in-house payment processor, Shopify Payments. Retailers that use Shopify Payments do not need to pay transaction fees. In-person Shopify Payments processing fees are between 2.4% and 2.7% per transaction, while online payment fees are between 2.4% and 2.9%, plus a $0.30 flat fee. Percentage fees vary depending on your pricing plan.

If you prefer to use a different processor or do not qualify for Shopify’s in-house payment processor, you have several options, but you will have to pay transaction fees.

Most Shopify requirements surround payment processing. To use Shopify Payments, you must purchase a card reader directly from Shopify. To use a Shopify-approved third-party payment processor, you must use a card reader sold by that payment processor.

We love that Helcim offers completely free POS software and transparent interchange-plus payment processing fees to all retail business owners. With this POS model, many business owners (especially ones with higher average transaction sizes) will save money and understand exactly what they’re paying for.

The company’s easy-to-use customer account manager, invoice/quote/estimate designer, wholesaler accounts, and higher-level card information storage vault make Helcim a very good choice for retailers that offer both B2B and B2C sales, as well as businesses that offer custom retail products and/or services. The card vault also has unique features well-suited for subscription retail businesses.

Note: You can make a Helcim account for free using information like your business’s operating name and tax ID. You will not be charged until you start accepting payments.

Helcim’s POS software is completely free to use. You only pay Helcim’s payment processing fees, which are transparent and fair.

In fact, Helcim’s free features and transparent interchange-plus payment processing are what make this POS provider one of the best credit card processing companies.

Helcim’s free POS system offers all standard POS functions, and it’s easy for employees to add products, discounts, tips, and automatically generate customer accounts during transactions. You can also sell individual items and sell to businesses using customer portals and large catalogs.

Helcim’s custom order invoicing, customer management, and recurring payments features are what really sets Helcim apart from the other providers in this list when it comes to large retail/B2B sales. Helcim’s invoicing features include:

• Custom drag-and-drop invoice creation and payment settings
• Start by generating a quote or estimate, then convert to an invoice for online payment through a payment portal
• Set full and partial invoice due dates
• Send reminders to customers about upcoming and overdue invoice payments
• Set recurring invoice payments with card or account on file
• Create automated and manual tax settings for invoices

Helcim invoice designer request deposit for B2B wholesale order.

Helcim’s subscription manager allows you to easily create plans with free trials, initial setup fees, preset and unlimited billing cycles, and a subscription account portal so customers can add onto or cancel their plans if they want. If a customer cancels their subscription, you can get feedback that will help you understand why they canceled to optimize your subscription business. Additionally, customers will get an automated email when their credit card is about to expire so there will be no lapse in billing.

You can package physical and digital products or services together with Helcim’s subscription manager. This is great for retail businesses such as art supply stores that offer something like a monthly subscription paint box and digital tutorial, or dog groomers that offer a recurring grooming service and supply package.

Helcim works very well for custom retail orders because the POS allows for custom item creation, notes, and line items on the spot, while Helcim web pages (which include checkout carts, subscription signup, approvals, and client portals) can be built with a drag-and-drop builder. You can build custom pages to ask for the custom information types you require for custom orders, and allow for custom orders to be created in person at a register.

Helcim POS on smartphone, tablet, and desktop, plus Helcim card reader.

The Helcim app is compatible with just about all smartphone, tablet, and desktop devices. To take credit and debit card payments in person with lower card-present payment processing rates, you’ll need at least the $109 Helcim card reader.

Since our last update, Helcim has released a new mobile POS device. The all-in-one handheld POS system, which includes a built-in POS register, card reader, and terminal receipt printer costs $349. It allows you to create orders and invoices, and add retail items to an order on the spot. It’s also similar to the Square Terminal and Clover Flex in terms of shape and functionality.

There are also a few compatible receipt printers available.

Helcim offers interchange-plus payment processing for all businesses, small or large. There are no minimum sales volumes or transaction numbers. This is highly uncommon among POS providers.

The company offers a sample “find your custom rate” tool on its website. As an example, if a retail business makes less than $25,000 per month and has an average transaction size of $250, with an even split between in-person and online payments, the business can expect to pay a processing fee of 1.93% plus $0.08 for in-person payments and 2.40% plus $0.25 for online transactions.

Note: B2B business owners may choose to enter Level 3 card data to orders for added security and to decrease payment processing fees. Read more about PCI compliance and how it relates to payment processing fees.

Helcim offers very flexible month-to-month contracts with no early termination fees, much like Square does.

We like that KORONA offers flexible monthly plans and allows you to choose your own payment processing service provider, which is great for high-risk businesses such as cannabis shops that won’t qualify for providers like Square or Shopify. You can also integrate KORONA software with POS hardware from several different providers, giving business owners even more flexibility.

KORONA also offers great loss prevention features like forced till counts and blind stock takes, plus highly custom employee and manager restrictions so only certain people can change prices, void items, make returns, and change anything in your back office setup. This is why we consider KORONA one of the best POS systems for convenience stores and one of the best POS systems for liquor stores.

We also appreciate how affordable KORONA plans are in general. Business owners using KORONA get eCommerce capabilities on all plans, very affordable multilocation capabilities, and employee time tracking on lower-level plans. You also get open API access on all plans, which means you can create custom connections between KORONA and third-party software.

Note: KORONA offers an unlimited free trial, no credit card required. You sign up for a paid plan once you’re ready to accept customer payments.

KORONA plans are priced by terminal and on a monthly basis, although you will get one month free if you pay for a year upfront.

The software’s solid inventory management features start at the $69/month Advanced plan, while the multi-store/franchise management features are available on the $89/month Plus plan.

KORONA’s most unique retail POS features are its loss prevention features, affordable inventory management, and franchise capabilities.

You’ll get these loss prevention features with KORONA:

• Forced drawer closing, blind till counts, and restricting cash drawer access to open only when they make a sale
• Require manager approval for item voids, price changes, item returns, and inventory changes
• Run cash drawer reports at any time, at the end of shifts, and set maximum allowed balance differences
• Cashier balance and time tracking reports
• Restrict which cashiers can grant permissions to other cashiers (used for managers who need to be able to use registers but will also need to create new cashiers and associated cashier permissions)

KORONA POS system cashier permissions.

• Set reordering levels with preferred vendor/warehouse reordering sources
• Pack to single item conversion (great for selling items like cigarettes and liquor bottles)
• Product performance reports, including slow sellers, product movement, and reorder optimization level recommendations
• Stock difference lists and product discrepancy reports
• Inventory app so you can send purchase orders, receive items, and scan barcodes from your phone (Plus plan and higher only)

KORONA POS system set inventory item reordering levels.

Franchise owners will appreciate the ability to create portals for franchisees with restricted user permissions. You’ll also get franchise revenue reports and a royalty collection setup.

KORONA POS compatible barcode scanner, PC, tablet, and card reader.

KORONA does not list pricing online but is compatible with hardware from Epson, PartnerTech, PAX, Genius, Dejavoo, Econduit, Aures, Honeywell, and more.

KORONA does not offer in-house payment processing but instead integrates with several payment processors, including Merchant Warehouse and Merchant Payment Systems.

You can also integrate KORONA with several merchant service providers through PAX and Dejavoo payment devices.

KORONA offers month-to-month contracts with no early termination fees. You can pay for an annual contract and get one month free.

The provider also offers an unlimited free trial so you can try out the software for as long as you need to before committing to it.

You do have to be careful about your merchant agreement and make sure the terms are fair for your business. High-risk business owners should expect to pay a little more for payment processing than other lower-risk business owners.