Pos Software For Small Business

Do you need a POS system? If you want to be a successful small business owner, you definitely do. And that’s because these simple point of sale systems can save you a lot of money and allow you to get a lot more done in a single day. And the best part about it is that they are completely free to use.

If you are considering changing to a reputable POS system, you might want to know which one has the best features for your business. Another question people ask is if there are any free point of sale systems out there. Hopefully, the list below will help make your decision easier.

Square Point of Sale

Our pick for the best POS system for small-business owners is Square. It’s free to start, easy to use, and chock-full of useful features. These benefits make Square a great choice for new business owners who need simple but powerful features from the get-go.

Square is a common favorite of mobile businesses like food trucks and boutique retail shops. In fact, we also picked Square as the best mobile POS system for small businesses. For an all-in-one system for taking payments wherever your customers are, pair the Square POS and mPOS systems together to give your business an extra boost.

Taking customer payments is easy with Square’s credit card readers and point-of-sale mobile app, which works with most Android and Apple devices; for example, many Square users run their businesses with iPads. You can create customized receipts to send via email or print from a receipt printer. Plus, you can keep open tabs, split checks, and manage your inventory in real time—all within Square’s point-of-sale software.

Strengths

Zero monthly cost for the basic plan

Software and hardware that’s easy to set up and use

Transparent transaction fees

Weaknesses

Pricier transaction fees than some major processors

Higher fees for manual entry

Square provides detailed reporting and analytics and lets you send invoices, track employee shifts and timecards, and manage multiple locations. You can also run email marketing, customer loyalty plans, and gift card programs from Square’s point-of-sale software.

Now the downsides. Transaction fees with Square Point of Sale can be more expensive than what other POS providers are charging. The transaction costs can add up if you process loads of payments a day.

That said, Square POS doesn’t have a monthly fee, and the company keeps its transaction fees pretty simple (for the most part):

Tapped, dipped, and swiped payments: 2.6% + $0.10
Keyed-in and card-on-file payments: 3.5% + $0.15
Square Register (purchased before 8/20/19) payments: 2.5% + $0.10

Square also offers other plans geared for certain types of businesses. With Square for Restaurants, for example, you get POS software that’s geared specifically for restaurant use. The plan costs $60 per month for each of your locations, plus an extra $40 per month for each additional POS system you use.

Square for Retail plans have the same monthly fees as the Square for Restaurants plan, but they come with discounted transaction fees (2.5% + $010 for in-person payments).

What’s nice about these additional plan types is that they are optional. So, if you want more functionality and features, it’s easy to add them to your POS at any time with Square.

eHopper

Inexpensive software with everything a small business owner needs to run a company.Pros

Most affordable POS system
Built-in inventory management
Works with most tablets

Cons

No gift card management
Credit card processing fees charged to customers

For nearly 15 years, eHopper has provided an affordable alternative to pricey POS software. Its low-cost plans give entrepreneurs access to customer and inventory management tools, making it a clear winner in our best value category.

The eHopper POS system offers four plans, all of which include integrated credit card processing features. Currently, the merchant fees are passed to customers via a surcharge. With all versions, you’ll get features like:

Inventory management
Print or email receipts
Tip management
Reporting options
Customer management

Each of the four plans provides extra features, and the cost covers one POS system. The four programs are:

Essential: The free plan helps you easily adjust inventory, manage customer accounts, or create barcode labels for your products.
Freedom: For $29.99 a month, you get employee time tracking options, low stock alerts, and QuickBooks integrations.
Restaurant: It’s $39.99 a month for menu building, table management, and floor planning tools, along with standard POS features.
OmniChannel: The regular cost is $49.99. This plan adds loyalty, e-commerce, and enables Meta sales.

With eHopper, you can use existing hardware or Android tablets, iPads, Windows PCs, and Poynt terminals. But, eHopper offers a variety of hardware options for sale, including:

Hardware bundles
Thermal printers
Cash drawers
Credit card terminals
Scanners
Tablets
Stands and accessories

You won’t get many integrations with eHopper, but you can add an additional loyalty package to your plan. You can call, initiate a support ticket, or chat with customer service for help with your POS system. The company also offers an online knowledge base.

Shopify

Shopify is an ecommerce platform that comes with a free POS software for selling products at events or on-the-go, plus features to sell on social media and third-party marketplaces. For brick-and-mortar retailers, Shopify has a POS Pro plan with omnichannel selling tools, sophisticated inventory management, and more detailed analytics. With all Shopify plans, sales, inventory, and customer data are stored in one place, making Shopify the best POS for multichannel sellers.

In our evaluation, Shopify earned a 4.47 out of 5, coming in just behind Square. Whereas Square excels in price and ease of use, Shopify earned a perfect score in register features and a high score for management tools. So, while they earned nearly identical scores, their strengths are very different. The biggest drawback to Shopify POS is that an ecommerce subscription is required, and many of the best POS features (smart inventory management and advanced reporting) require you to upgrade to POS Pro for an additional $89 per month.Shopify is also one of the most popular ecommerce platforms, so you can create a fully integrated online store. Swipe to see more Shopify POS features. (Source: Shopify)

Shopify POS and POS Pro can be used on tablets for a countertop solution, or on mobile devices to meet your customers where they are. Swipe to see more Shopify POS features. (Source: Shopify)
Shopify’s contactless and chip reader is portable and has a smartphone case option for market and curbside sales. Swipe to see more Shopify POS features. (Source: Shopify)Shopify POS has a checkout screen with customizable tiles so you can put whatever products, policies, information, or actions are most important to you at the front and center. Swipe to see more Shopify POS features. (Source: Shopify)Shopify POS also works on mobile (along with the contactless reader). Swipe to see more Shopify POS features. (Source: Shopify)Shopify’s mobile app alerts you to new sales, shows what orders need fulfilling, and show you general sales data. Swipe to see more Shopify POS features. (Source: Shopify)Shopify’s web-based dashboard provides deeper insights into sales, customers, and online store traffic. Swipe to see more Shopify POS features. (Source: Shopify)Shopify is also one of the most popular ecommerce platforms, so you can create a fully integrated online store. Swipe to see more Shopify POS features. (Source: Shopify)

Shopify POS Features

Omnichannel selling: Offer frictionless shopping experiences with buy online, pick up or return in-store; buy in-store, ship to the customer; and browse in-store, buy online with email carts and QR product codes.
Products: Add unlimited products, categories, and collections, including multiple variants.
Inventory management: POS Pro includes Stocky, a smart inventory app for performing inventory counts, receiving products with a barcode scanner, generating low-stock alerts and detailed inventory reports, forecasting demand, performing inventory analysis, and viewing sale item suggestions.
Customer management: All Shopify plans include tools to generate customer profiles with contact information and shopping habits, add customer tags (such as VIP designations), track special requests, generate targeted promotions, create marketing content, and optimize social media campaigns.
Online sales: Shopify is the leading small business ecommerce platform, but it also offers features to sell on social media and third-party marketplaces and to add “Buy” buttons to blogs. Learn more in our Shopify ecommerce review.

What Shopify Is Missing

Shopify is an ecommerce platform that has a great POS extension. If you’re not looking to sell online, a different retail POS that does not require an ecommerce subscription, like Vend, might be a better option. And, while Shopify does advertise solutions for cafes and coffee shops, it’s built with retailers in mind. So, these businesses might be better suited with Square or Toast.

Heartland Retail POS (previously Springboard Retail)

Springboard Retail merged with Heartland retail and is now called Heartland Retail. According to Heartland’s website, “with this cloud-based Retail Point of Sale solution becoming part of Heartland, we can continue to scale and support the outstanding product Springboard Retail has built, and continue to grow our customer family of more than 100,000 retail customers.”²

Heartland Retail has packages that start at $80 a month and include multi-location support, customer management, and advanced inventory and purchasing features. It’s a point-of-sale system designed specifically with retail in mind, giving it an edge over more general offerings.

Conclusion:

The advantages of the pos system offer to the small business owner are many. Although simple in its design, the POS software offers several features designed to help the retailer to streamline their business practices and better manage their transactions.