4 of the Best POS Systems for Convenience Stores Reviewed

For small and middle-sized business management, there are few areas of retail as competitive and laborious as a convenience. The everyday stress of inventory management, the constant referral to business reports, and the need to maintain a smooth sales process wear you down, all. At the same time, you're forced to compete on price and service with much larger retailers.

Convenience store owners and managers must therefore look to make life and business easier wherever possible. There's no greater opportunity to do that than using a world-class convenience store POS system. A good POS system can drastically reduce the concern of inventory and product management, speed up service, and generate sophisticated reports that can help you boost your profit levels.

The point of sale (POS) industry is globally valued between 20 and 25 billion dollars, demonstrating its importance to businesses everywhere[1]. Many large, reputable companies compete for the trust of customer-facing businesses and often provide seemingly similar services. Given how important the choice of POS is for your convenience store, this makes researching them a high-stakes endeavor.

So who are the major players in the convenience store POS systems market? What are the differences between the big POS providers? And which one should you trust with your business?

What is POS?

POS is the technology (comprised of hardware and software) that your business uses to serve customers and complete business operations. While many years ago, "POS" would be as simple as the cash register that printed receipts, counted sales, and fired a cash drawer to store your takings, these days, it is far more complicated.

As computers have grown more sophisticated, POS has expanded to allow businesses to rely on them for a much wider range of processes. POS systems now keep a record and update inventory; they generate reports to help managers optimize product prices and employee performance, complete payroll and taxes, and notice changes in customer behavior.

The more effective POS systems become the foundation of the company that uses them. Almost every business process is monitored and enacted through the system. The difference between systems is most obviously based on how many processes can be run through the POS, the efficiency they have, and the value for money.

The POS industry pricing norms

Most providers in the POS industry use a monthly fee, which usually contributes towards the cloud data storage all customers use, the support service, and software development. Some providers will even offer hardware for free when new customers contract with them, while others provide the POS so long as users join up with their payment processing.

There are good and bad deals associated with all of these approaches. The key is to determine exactly what you're getting so you can decide if you feel happy with the provider's offer.

For instance, you will find offers of free POS software that can seem like you're saving a lot of money each month. However, free software will almost always come with many of the basic functions of a POS hidden behind a paywall. Given how expansive POS can be, all POS companies offer additional app purchases to give businesses the option of a function without having to pay for it if it isn't industry relevant. But there are other functions all users require, such as transaction software.

What POS hardware does a convenience store benefit from?

The best POS system for convenience stores doesn't have to be all that complicated. For smaller stores, it could be as simple as having a reliable, secure, and quick POS terminal with a printer and a card machine. The best convenience store POS will be suited to the business that uses it.

Flexibility is one of the most valuable characteristics of a POS system because the same software will be used by thousands of businesses across some countries, and yet they all have different needs. Epos Now has over 40,000 customers, all using their software, but no two setups are identical.

So what range of hardware can a convenience store use in its POS solution?

• POS terminal. In most cases, most of the sales and management will be conducted through an adapted computer that sits on your countertop. The POS terminal is a good-sized screen with a scanner, card machine, cash drawer, and printer connected and is specifically designed to process sales quickly and comfortably.
• Receipt printer. Receipt printers may no longer be the only way of printing receipts, but it's still essential that a business can produce a paper receipt when requested. Receipt printers can also print your hard copies of end-of-day readouts, which is a basic component of your POS setup.
• Cash drawer. It may be that your cash drawer contains more card receipts than cash. Nevertheless, cash drawers tend to come as standard with your POS hardware purchase. The Epos Now cash drawer comes with an electronic fire with a lock and key as a fallback in the event of an electrical issue.
• Scanner (handheld or countertop). Convenience stores sell hundreds and thousands of products, so although your POS terminal can have some of your bestsellers as on-screen hotkeys to save a little time, the quickest way to sell is through a scanner. Countertop scanners tend to be more expensive than handheld, but depending on your setup may be the queue-busters every retailer craves.
• Payment processor. With cash on a seemingly endless decline, your card machine holds a central role in the business. POS providers often have in-house payment processing services, with only some offering 3rd party integrations. No matter what deal you get, integrated payment processing linking your POS with your card machine is a must to save time on sales.
• Barcode printer. When selling thousands of products, finding a cheap and efficient way of creating shelf edge labels and scannable barcodes for unlabelled products can be awkward. The best convenience store POS will offer retailers solutions to these problems. A barcode printer linked up to your POS (which stores barcode numbers for each product) can print labels to go on your shelf and help you create a clear and navigable store.
• Swipe card reader. Swipe card readers can attach to the side of POS terminals and offer staff quicker, secured access to begin transactions. They can also help you offer a more personal loyalty service. Epos Now offers personalized loyalty cards that allow customers to access sales history and loyalty scores and give you a record of purchasing habits.
• Customer displays. Customer displays come in two forms: checkout displays and advertising boards. These can inform the customer about the sum of each product scanned in or display advertising materials within the store to update customers on your latest deals, promotions, and any media you wish to show.

A convenience store might employ anywhere from one or two to all of this hardware, including extras like scales for grocery stores. What's important in piecing a system together is that all hardware is purchased with a purpose. Some businesses are able to run to great effect using a tablet or terminal system with no other technology.

With these hardware options and expenses in mind, how does convenience store POS software help businesses, and what can it achieve?

Implementing convenience store POS systems

POS systems are designed (and in competition with each other) to provide businesses with all the tools they need. As a result, they adapt to markets to ensure they have all the potential anyone could need to trade.

So what does this look like in practice?

POS transaction software

Equipped with a scanner and terminal, POS technology can motor through retail queues with the simple scan and pay process we're all familiar with. However, there are many features that help to distinguish between a good and bad system.

An example of this would be the hotkey modifiers. Most systems have options for managers to place best-selling items, or non-barcoded items like lottery sales, on screen for the cashier to place in the basket. For convenience stores, it's important to be able to structure hotkeys in such a way that hundreds of products can be found quickly and easily.

Color coding and ordering products and product categories are common examples of this. Some providers like Epos Now have a bestseller feature that causes many of the most popular products to appear on the screen.

POS systems must also offer flexible payment options, for instance, card and cash, but also potential options of cheque, credit, bank transfer, and any other options that a business may or may not accept. Some systems will allow users to set up payment options, while others may be preset.

Credit options for customers provide a great example of thought-out POS software features. Credit payments must link to a customer account, and convenience stores often need to enact credit limits if a customer does not pay. Linking a transaction to a customer's account must be quick and smooth, with staff quickly notified of any owed money to be able to maintain customer relationship management while refusing the sale.

Inventory management

Convenience store POS systems must have good inventory management. This means reliable stock counting software, quick updates to the system, low stock notifications, stock reduction options for wasted or lost inventory, and secure access and reporting.

There are many things that can go wrong with inventory, some of which result from lesser-used features. For instance, product bundling (selling multiple, distinct products at once) can often cause difficulties during seasonal promotions. Your staff will need to sell one product, but it must reduce the stock of numerous other products. This feature might not be one you consider during purchase, but POS providers need to accommodate these needs.

Product management

Separate from inventory control, the thousands of products convenience stores sell will require adding to the system, constant price management, and regular updating. The POS needs to find an effective and quick way to help staff do this.

When it comes to the initial upload and any changes afterward, having the freedom to export and import your product list onto spreadsheets is of endless value. Spreadsheets allow quick modification, copy and pasting, and it's easy to find any product, even from your entire list.

Sales reporting

With so many products to manage, knowing which products are underperforming takes a lot of work. As a manager, you also need to watch your staff, engage with customers and evaluate the business's overall performance. Your POS can take so much of that weight off of your shoulders with real-time reporting on every area of trade.

POS reports mean a complete transaction history, sales figures, and employee and customer reports. A good system can also generate detailed data on how each of your products is selling. This includes profit margins and sales volume and can be segregated by time period so you can see how changes you make affect the business.

When trying to compete with larger convenience stores and supermarkets, recognizing when your customers find your retail pricing too high and stop buying can help you walk the delicate line between making a good profit and pricing yourself out of the market. Therefore, these kinds of reports are one of the most valuable POS tools.

Customer management and marketing

A convenience store business that will compete needs a good reputation and strong bonds with its customer base. Being able to provide a more personal service than the retail giants is a key part of that. Having customer accounts and a loyalty program is part of that.

POS systems documenting customers' past purchases can also help you engage with customers about their experiences and bring up information when needed.

The import/export functionality also allows you to export that customer database to marketing software, such as Mailchimp, to help you remain in contact with customers when they're away from the business. You can then use Mailchimp to compose a newsletter, abandoned cart emails, loyalty updates, and any other form of email marketing you employ with your business.

Epos Now convenience store pos system

The Epos Now point of sale is a popular choice for convenience store owners. The company offers all of the hardware listed above, giving users a chance to create a system as large or small as they desire.

The company has over a decade of experience and has been expanding its services during that time, including many partnerships with leading business software providers. These apps complement the in-house offers that any convenience store can run with excellent efficiency.

If a business looking for a system wishes to understand the Epos Now mindset, the values expressed by founder Jacyn Heavens sum the system up perfectly: "Affordability, accessibility, simplicity."

Epos Now retail POS systems

Setting up with Epos Now is a fairly straightforward process. Many POS providers use a tiered system withholding access to some features to users on lower memberships, but not Epos Now. All users get full access to transaction software, product, employee, and inventory management; customer data storage; reports and accounting; and a host of free apps to include as part of your system as required.

Staff can get familiar with the straightforward transaction software very quickly. The hotkeys have all the adjustable options you might expect, and the action buttons for miscellaneous actions are intuitive and labeled.

The till boasts ease of use few other systems can match, with training time for new staff as low as fifteen minutes. Getting staff comfortable and confident in the system takes a lot of pressure off the business and improves customer satisfaction, keeping queues to a minimum and service time short.

Epos Now Payments

Epos Now has an in-house payments option, with options for countertop, mobile, and the Pro+ mobile POS and payments device. The advantage of using one company for all of the technology is clear with seamless integration, an easy setup, and the company's customer service for business advice, payment, and POS queries, all coming from one expert team.

The payment rates Epos Now offer are blended. This provides a further simplification of the regular industry standards. The average credit card processing charges have different rates for every kind of card, making it extremely difficult to understand whether you're being offered a good or bad deal.

Blended payments charge one flat rate on all payments, and with Epos Now, your current processing fee will always be visible in your back office next to your other business reports.

The Epos Now AppStore

The simplicity and transparency of the Epos Now deal works to make all convenience store operations simpler and easier. The scope of the AppStore demonstrates the desire to offer flexibility without overburdening users with a busy main system.

There are dozens of free apps on the system, such as product plus, which allows businesses to add images and details about products in case customers enquire about them. There are also dozens of third-party integrations in every area, from employee management tools to customer loyalty, to accounting software like Xero and Quickbooks, to online ordering and online store integrations with Shopify, Wix, and WordPress.

Online integrations have proven important in recent years as the meaning of convenience changes, and the retail delivery industry continues to grow. Small convenience stores taking orders online and through apps have competed more effectively with larger brands. The website integrations offer the same business insights to online commerce as for in-store sales, as well as updating inventory in real-time to prevent over-selling and disappointing customers.

When it comes to making big changes to the system, Epos Now offers Bulk Import to manage inventory, products, and any data through the spreadsheet. The accounting integrations automatically take your sales figures and direct them into your preferred finance software, speeding up tax management and end-of-day processes.

The app options combined with straightforward POS software design makes Epos Now a flexible but user-friendly system that can expand your business and adapt to suit your needs.

Revel POS systems

San Francisco-based Revel produces a complete POS solution that's proven popular, particularly in the hospitality industry. While Revel focused predominantly on building up a restaurant user base through the 2010s, they have developed their system to suit retailers as well, finding some success.

In 2015, Revel partnered with Apple, so their iPad-based system depends on IOS and may not be so well suited to businesses and managers unfamiliar with the "Apple way" of doing things. Due to this partnership, users cannot use the software through different operating systems.

The Apple partnership makes Revel systems POS much less flexible than some of the competition. For instance, Epos Now customers can log in to their accounts, serve customers on most pre-owned devices, and use Windows, IOS, or Android.

In either case, the cloud-based systems of Revel and Epos Now both require steady internet connections, but Revel can match Epos Now's offline mode, and both can function reliably if your internet connection drops.

Revel software packages

Revel's product has received mixed reviews, with some users trying to use it to run multiple sites complaining of payment failures and unreliable inventory[1]. Given the thousands of products convenience store POS systems need to manage, this raises questions about Revel's suitability for the retail industry.

Nevertheless, Revel has many positive testimonies to their system, with their detailed reporting and willingness to improve their interface receiving regular praise from customers.

Users report some updates requiring them to call Revel for them to process, but many argue a technology solution of Revel's scale would naturally require such maintenance. Revel has also received criticism from small businesses due to the number of paid apps required to run the ideal system they were hoping for.

The Revel AppStore is large, with many, many partnerships with business software providers. Revel's third-party management platform comprises big-name software companies such as Davo, the accounting company that automatically filters sales tax as you sell, and Deputy, the employee management portal.

However, the expense of these can make Revel a less viable option for most smaller convenience stores.

Vend convenience store POS system

Unlike Revel, Auckland-based Vend seems to be targeting small and medium-sized business and are particularly useful for retailers looking to access the online market. Every Vend customer receives API access, the option of linking to a website, giving Vend customers the opportunity to compete in the delivery, eCommerce, and online marketing fields.

Vend's software works well on their in-house or third-party hardware, so you could use most POS hardware, perhaps a device you already own when signing up with Vend. The interface is easy to learn but has many features convenience stores will look for, including good inventory management and reporting.

One key distinction between Vend and much of the competition is that while most POS providers offer integrations with third-party payment processors, Vend customers will be dependent on them as they do not offer in-house card payments.

Vend users can take card payments through Lightspeed, Paypal, and more traditional providers such as Worldpay. While these companies are well-established in the payments market, this does mean using multiple companies and potentially being caught between the two in the event of tech issues.

A further criticism of Vend is the occasional slow speed of the servers, a big issue for users depending on their POS to bust queues and optimize sales. Users wanting to create a larger hardware system may also have difficulty finding a cohesive set of devices. For instance, the Vend customer-facing displays only currently work with iPad devices.

Clover convenience store POS system

Convenience stores looking to find the right POS system may well have heard about Clover and be considering the California company for their business. Clover's origins are the reverse of Vend, having been founded for retail and since adapting to the hospitality industry.

Clover's retail enterprise has a reputation for easy setup, with a vast app store that can help convenience stores create the bespoke system they're looking for. Their system has a lot of positive features well suited to the convenience store layout, with cash management features, employee management features, pricing inventory, and low stock alerts.

Clover payments and customer support

One key factor to think about before using Clover is payment processing. Clover is owned by Fiserv (now First Data), a merchant processor. This means no matter how hard you try, you will have to use one of First Data's card devices in order to work with Clover.

The kinds of rates you can expect to pay might depend on where you source your system, as Clover can be purchased through a large number of resellers, each with its own twist on the Clover deal. Card payment fees are mentioned as high as 3.5%, and working to find out how much you'll be paying might be difficult. In fact, finding out about the Clover system can be difficult due to the lack of transparency.

Clover's customer service is dependent on phone support, which can put users in a difficult position if all agents are busy. They do not have a live chat option like Epos Now, nor do they offer email or "ticket" support for queries and issues.

To purchase hardware, you might be looking at a significant upfront cost. However, once purchased, you can expect to pay in the region of $50-100, depending on the size of your business.

Use Epos Now for the best convenience store POS

Retailers across the globe are selling with more speed, and safety than ever using Epos Now's dedicated retail solutions. Epos Now provides retailers with hundreds of options allowing them to create bespoke systems that suit the way they operate:

• Choose from hundreds of apps and integrable partner programs to run accounting, marketing, and other back-of-house functions in a way that suits you.
• Use Epos Now Payments to incorporate card processing into your POS with a simpler, easier style.
• Manage your business stress-free with cloud technology that gives you instant access to the latest business data from anywhere in the world!

To find out more about Epos Now's hospitality POS or retail POS, submit your details below and speak to a member of our expert team.

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