Finding software can be overwhelming. We've helped thousands of retailers choose the right retail POS systems so they can streamline customer transactions and maximize revenue.
Showing 1-20 of 482 products

Epos Now FrontRunners 2020
Epos Now is a retail management system for small to mid-sized businesses. In addition to its Point of Sale module, the solution also offers integrated Inventory Management, Customer Management, and Retail Accounting, including general... Read more

ShopKeep FrontRunners 2020
ShopKeep By Lightspeed is an iPad and Android POS system for retail businesses, restaurants, bars, franchises and quick-serve businesses. The POS software offers a touch screen interface, when used on an iPad or Android tablet device,... Read more
Toast POS is a flexible system built exclusively for restaurants and the food service industry. Offering tools like online ordering, delivery, takeout, mobile app ordering, contactless payments, and e-gift card purchasing, this solution... Read more

Lightspeed Retail FrontRunners 2020
Lightspeed RetailFrontRunners 2020
Lightspeed Retail is a cloud-based POS solution that is suitable for retailers in industries such as apparel, footwear, bike, jewelry, pet, sporting goods and home decor. The solution offers retailers tools including inventory management,... Read more
HungerRush is a food delivery solution that enables restaurants of all sizes to streamline operations related to online ordering, loyalty programs, reporting and more. Professionals can utilize the platform to create custom order types... Read more
Pacific Amber’s AmberPOS offers a point of sale software solutions to a variety of retail specialties, ranging from small to midsized, in the United States and Canada. In addition to point of sale functionality, AmberPOS includes... Read more
Epicor retail POS and business management solutions are designed to help independent retailers work smarter, not harder. With more than 45 years of experience built-in, Epicor retail solutions help retailers in nearly 8,000 locations. Epicor... Read more

Talech Register FrontRunners 2020
Talech RegisterFrontRunners 2020
Talech POS is a cloud-based retail, restaurant & bar and professional services solution that offers point-of-sale (POS), inventory and customer management, appointment scheduling and deep, real-time analytics. The solution stores data... Read more
Rain retail software is a cloud-based point of sale (POS) and integrated website solution that is Mac OS and Windows compatible. Rain is an all-in-one platform designed for small to medium sized specialty retailers that offer sales,... Read more
NetSuite for Retail is a cloud-based multi-channel retail management solution for retailers that combines e-commerce, POS, and order management functionalities. The software provides a unified retail system with back office management... Read more
AIM is a secure end-to-end point of sale (POS) business solution that can be used in any retail environment. This retail management solution features customizable menus and screens, inventory management, complete POS activity and customer... Read more
CAP Retail Point of Sale is built to support retailers, including specialty businesses such as tobacco and vape shops, liquor, wine and beer stores, lawn and garden centers, hardware stores, convenience stores, groceries and markets. The... Read more
Retail Pro is a specialty retail management software platform featuring POS, replenishment, inventory management, promotions, customer management, back office, performance, and KPI reporting capabilities. Retailers can use Retail... Read more

KORONA POS FrontRunners 2020
KORONA provides point of sale software, inventory management, and CRM services for all types of retailers, such as convenience stores, liquor shops, and QSRs. The POS software also caters to museums, theme parks, and wineries with... Read more
COMCASH ERP is a cloud-based retail management solution that caters to multi-channel and multi-location retailers. The point of sale module utilizes multi-touch capabilities allowing users to navigate the menu similarly to the iPad.... Read more
Agiliron cloud-based point-of-sale (POS) solution is designed to serve both in-store and mobile businesses as well as online sales channels. The system offers a host of features that work in tandem with the point-of-sale solution,... Read more
Retail MARKET is a cloud-based point of sale (POS) solution built especially for independently-run grocery stores and retailers. Key features include inventory management, customer management and mobile device support. Retail MARKET... Read more
SpotOn Restaurant is a cloud-based point-of-sale solution that enables businesses to streamline processes related to food ordering, tableside payments, customer retention and more. The online ordering functionality enables businesses... Read more

Revel Systems FrontRunners 2020
Revel SystemsFrontRunners 2020
Revel is a cloud-based business platform that integrates operations and customer channels with point-of-sale (POS) functionality in a single dashboard. It is suitable for stores and restaurants of all sizes and provides users with... Read more
Acme Point of Sale by Total BusinessWare is an on-premise POS solution that helps businesses across various industries including grocery stores and supermarkets, sporting goods shops and pet supply stores to manage POS, transactions... Read more
Popular Comparisons
2021 Retail Pricing Guide
Learn about the key aspects of accurate software pricing before you make your purchase decision.
Includes:
Pricing models & ranges
Unexpected costs
Pricing of popular systems
Here's what we'll cover:
What is a retail point of sale (POS) system?
Benefits of retail POS software
Competitive advantages of using retail POS software
Business sizes using retail POS software
Software related to retail POS
Features guide
Pricing guide
FAQs
Tips & tools
Recent Events in the Retail POS Market
What is a retail point of sale (POS) system?
A retail POS system is any technology that includes software where a retail transaction is completed. It provides capabilities such as scanning a barcode, making a purchase order or printing a receipt. Features include inventory management, sales reporting, and analytics. The software also helps retailers nurture relationships with customers by providing customer relationship management (CRM) tools.
Benefits of retail POS software
Retail POS systems bring many benefits to retailers aside from simply completing transactions. These include:
- Sales reporting and analytics: Provides retailers with insight into their sales, helping them make informed decisions that strengthen the business.
- Inventory management: Automates stock control and helps retailers determine optimal product counts and when and how to reorder top selling products.
- Customer management capabilities: Help retailers automatically record and track valuable customer information, enabling stronger relationships and encouraging repeat business.
Competitive advantages of using retail POS software
Surprisingly, many retailers we work with at Software Advice have survived without software. In fact, 64 percent of single-store retailers we work with are operating without retail POS systems in place.
But Excel spreadsheets can only go so far in supporting the operational processes retailers need to accomplish every day. As retailers grow, software can:
- Scale the business: Key insights provided by a POS solution can help retailers identify the strong points of their business. This information can be used to pinpoint top-selling products and the most valuable customers to focus on in order to scale.
- Operate more efficiently: The operational efficiencies and automations provided by retail POS systems enable shop owners, operators and managers to spend more time training employees and interacting with customers.
Business sizes using retail POS software
The POS market easily accommodates retailer demographics ranging from small retail store operations to large enterprise retailers.
- Small: If you operate a single store, or even just do pop-up events, you're likely best suited for a basic POS system with limited hardware and advanced features.
- Medium: If you operate a growing, high-volume single store or up to five stores, you're best suited for a POS system that enables multiple location management and features advanced reporting and analytics.
- Large, enterprise: If you operate a chain of five or more stores, you're best suited for an enterprise POS system with enterprise resource planning support, including warehousing, shipping logistics and advanced analytics.
Software related to retail POS
Many retail POS systems on the market today offer retailers with all the critical capabilities packaged into one solution. However, if a core capability that retailers need is missing from their POS system, they'll want to look to specialized software to fill the void. Popular specialized software includes:
- Inventory management for maintaining desired product counts.
- Sales reporting and analytics for pinpointing key performance indicators.
- Customer relationship management (CRM) for generating customer loyalty.
- Accounting for managing payroll, taxes and other accounting.
- Ecommerce for setting up an online store.
Aside from software for specialized functionalities, retailers might want to consider software designed specifically for the unique needs of their business. For example:
- Restaurant and foodservice business owners often require restaurant software to process orders, print tickets, analyze ingredient availability and determine how much to charge for meals.
- Jewelers might need jewelry POS software to manage repairs and quotes, in addition to processing sales and inventory tracking.
- Consignment, pawn shop and resale store owners need specialized software since they don't own their inventories. These retailers need software with functionality tailored to their store types.
Features guide
Common retail POS feature overview
Here are four core features that most all POS systems offer:
For greater features detail, check out our "What Is A Point of Sale System?" article.
Feature details and examples
Here are some examples showing the top common features of POS solutions:
Reporting and analytics: Highlights key data. Enables insight into sales data. Supports data filtering options for pinpoint analysis.
Reporting and analysis by Lightspeed Retail (Source)
Customer management: Helps retain valuable customers. Create and manage customer profiles. Track valuable contact information and purchase histories. Send personalized marketing and deals.
Inventory management: Automates the management of supply levels. Deducts inventory as sales are completed and provides alerts when inventory levels reach pre-defined thresholds. Also provides reports on inventory movement trends.
Employee management: Optimizes scheduling and tracks commissions (when applicable). Provides employee logins to enable clocking in/out for shifts.
Payment processing: Accepts payments from multiple modes such as credit card, debit card, e-wallet, and cash.
Some retail POS solutions also offer the following advanced features:
- Ecommerce: Many of the top POS players on the market today offer some form of e-commerce integration, either within their system or through a specialized e-commerce platform.
- Accounting: Manages the process of generating customer invoices and receiving payments as well as tracking all payments made to partners and vendors.
- Purchase orders: Tracks items and amounts ordered, including date of order, shipping information and progress.
- Loyalty program: Manages and tracks customer loyalty by providing rewards or points for purchase frequency or other incentive goals.
- Targeted marketing: Allows retailers to segment customers and create mailing lists based on custom criteria such as items purchased, total amount spent etc.
- Loss prevention: Monitors inventory levels and purchase orders and reports discrepancies or missing quantities.
- Variable pricing: Allows managers to automate the process by which varied prices are assigned to products, typically based on walk-in/phone orders, time of day or season.
Retail POS buyers' top requested features
Our advisors at Software Advice have helped thousands of SMB retailers find the best POS system for their unique business needs. We're able to analyze these consultations to determine trends in POS needs.
According to this analysis, these are the top requested POS solution features by your SMB retail peers:
The retail POS software features you really need
Depending on the number of stores your business is operating, certain software capabilities take priority over others. Here are some must-have retail POS features for retailers at different stages of business:
Independent retailers not operating an actual store | Payment processing: Just need the bare-bone ability for retailers to manage transactions and checkout customers. |
Single-store retailers | Sales reporting: Identify key performance indicators within the sale system and pinpoint top selling items to help drive more business. |
Multi-store retailers | Multi-store merchandise management: Enables creation of the optimal balance of SKUs. Provides analytical tools to plan merchandise based on sales histories, trends and forecasts. |
Enterprise retailers | Shipping and transportation management: Helps organizations efficiently transport inventory from distribution centers to store locations and customers. Enables enterprises to plan shipments via air, land or sea with their own or via third-party fleets. |
Pricing guide
For an accurate snapshot of what retail POS systems cost, download our Pricing Guide.
FAQs
What questions should I ask vendors when evaluating retail POS products?
Here are some key questions you need each vendor to answer when evaluating their POS offerings:
Does the functionality of the system suit your specific business needs?
Create a list of must-have functionality that you need your new POS system to do. Walk through each of these with each vendor and record how many each system offers.
How much does the software really cost?
You don't want to be sold on a system based on inaccurate pricing. Figure out how much each system will cost over the next three months, six months and year.
Is your only option to sign a contract?
You don't want to be stuck paying for an inadequate system, so see if there's a monthly subscription you can agree to rather than committing to paying for a system for a year or more.
Are there any hidden fees?
Many POS system costs include payment processing fees. Some even include fees for upgrading or for tech support. Figure out all the potential costs before committing to a system.
Is any POS hardware proprietary?
POS hardware is often just as important for a retailer as the software it supports. Determine if you're required to purchase hardware through POS vendors (which is often marked up).
Do I have options for my merchant service provider?
Merchant service providers (MSP) are a critical partner for SMB retailers. Some POS systems allow you to work with whichever MSP you prefer, while others require you to work with their partner MSPs.
What hardware do I need for my retail POS system?
These are the critical hardware tools you need to get the most out of your POS system:
Register screen: Displays transaction information and product database. Visual hub of a POS system. iPads and other tablets are replacing bulky, traditional monitors.
Barcode scanner: Automatically pulls product details, and adds price to transaction total. Adjusts inventory level once transaction is complete.
Credit card reader: Processes credit, debit and gift cards. Most new readers accept EMV readers as well as enable mobile payments (Apple Pay, Android Pay).
Receipt printer: Paper receipts provide customers with data on their purchase. Phasing out in exchange for email and text receipts.
Cash drawer: A secure place to house cash from payments.
Tips & tools
Build a business case for retail POS software
If you're having trouble justifying the purchase of a new POS system for your business, take a look at this narrative to see how beneficial such a system can be.
Relevant articles
Here are some recent articles about retail POS systems you should check out:
- "What Is a Merchant Service Provider—And Why Do They Matter?"
- "Why Your Business Should Start Offering Gift Cards Now"
- "Improve Customer Experience in Retail Stores With New Technologies"
Popular Retail POS System Comparisons
There are many POS systems on the market that might work for your business, so we've included the following pages for you to see detailed comparisons of a few top systems:
Recent Events in the Retail POS Market
- Lightspeed POS launched an e-commerce solution. The new offering is called Lightspeed eCom and integrates brick-and-mortar retail with an e-commerce presence and syncs the disparate inventories as well. Lightspeed eCom has been integrated with Lightspeed Retail, its cloud-based POS solution. It also integrates and synchronizes online and retail store inventory, sales figures and customer sales data while enabling the retailer to shift stock quickly between channels.
- Samsung and payment processing provider Total Merchant Services released the Groovv POS Flex. Groovv is designed for SMBs and features a Samsung Galaxy Tab and an EMV-compliant, NFC-enabled payment processing device that is pre-programmed with software for inventory management, reporting and integrated marketing. The technology brings Samsung into the mobile POS space, as store associates can detach the tablet to roam a store with the consumer. The system connects wirelessly to peripherals, including a cash drawer receipt printer, barcode scanner and kitchen printer, so that retailers can customize their setup to match their environment and needs.
- Fujitsu launched a software solution for wearable devices. It creates a two-way, secure and collaborative digital communication platform between Fujitsu U-Scan Self-Checkout (SCO) or Fujitsu Fresco Point-of-Sale (POS) touch-screen systems and Samsung wearable devices. The software allows employees to handle their core duties, while also having hands-free access to important alerts and messages that ensure the entire store is operating smoothly. It promotes increased staff responsiveness and overall store efficiency in grocery, convenience and retail environments.
Your Guide to Top Retail Software, September 2020
Software Advice uses reviews from real software users to highlight the top-rated Retail POS Systems products in North America.
Learn how products are chosen