Looking for a POS Solution Provider? Compare Our Top 5 Here

Are you a business owner? Do you work at a business where your current point of sale solution is causing problems. It may be time to explore your options to ensure you are getting the best bang for your buck.

The following five companies are POS solution providers come highly recommended. Each of these companies has been ranked with over a four out of five rating by customers. Hopefully this can help you find the right company for your POS needs.

Clover: Best POS system

• Types of POS — Clover provides solutions for full-service restaurants, quick-service restaurants, retail businesses, and service and repair businesses. This is a great perk because a large number of POS providers cater to the needs of just one industry instead of having compatibility with software to run any of these businesses.
• Software and hardware — Both POS software and POS hardware are provided in these packages to provide optimal services and functionality. This helps you to create a reputation of seamless transactions with all of your customers which builds customer loyalty.
• Mobile compatibility — Clover software is compatible with mobile devices making management and use that much simpler.
• Pricing — The Clover Mini Retails for $399 but check for promotional sales for new users. The Clover Flex is on sale for $450, the Clover Station is being sold for $1,300, and the Clover Go is being sold for just $90. These are promotional prices, so it is not guaranteed that they will remain the same. The software and apps each have their own price.
• Common complaints — Users have complained that the system seems to be catered towards restaurants even though it says it is for many types of POS. They also mentioned that they struggled working with customer service when trying to get help or to cancel the service.

TouchBistro: Restaurant point of sale solution for iPad

• Types of POS — TouchBistro specializes in restaurant point of sale solutions. It is not easily compatible with retail POS or other POS needs.
• Software and hardware — The software used by TouchBistro allows owners and managers to run the restaurant from an iPad or an iPhone. The only other hardware used are payment processors and receipt printers.
• Mobile compatibility — This software is compatible with iPhones.
• Pricing — A number of pricing options are available.
  
  • Solo plan — one license can be purchased for $69 per month if you are only going to use the software and for $105 per month if you would like the hardware as well. This is used mostly for quick service venues.
  • Dual plan — two licenses can be purchases for $129 per month for just the software and for $209 per month for the software/hardware bundle. This is most commonly used for quick service venues and small restaurants.
  • Team plan — three to five licenses costs $249 per month for the software or $359 per month for the bundle of software and hardware. This plan is used for midsize restaurants or bars.
  • Unlimited plan — six or more licenses costs $399 per month if you just want the software and $539 per month if you would like the software and the hardware. This is most commonly used for high-volume restaurants or bars.
• Common complaints — The two main issues that users have with TouchBistro is that it is only compatible with iOS devices and that it only caters to restaurants.

LightSpeed: Restaurant and retail POS provider

• Types of POS — LightSpeed provides POS solutions for both restaurants and retailers.
• Software and hardware — LightSpeed provides customers with both software and hardware. It provides iPad as well as desktop hardware including label printers, cash drawers, bluetooth barcode scanners, USB barcode scanners, and receipt printers. The software includes reporting, inventory management, customer management, and much more to help managers keep things running even when offline.
• Mobile compatibility — This software is compatible with a mobile device allowing you to see reports, manage employees, and much more all using the cloud system.
• Pricing — The retail POS payment plan starts at $99 per month and includes a register, access for five employees, 24/7 support, free updates, basic reporting, and secure cloud backup. All payments are subject to a 2.6 percent + $0.10 service fee. The restaurant POS starts at just $69 per month and includes a register, personalized onboarding, 24/7 support, free updates, secure cloud backup, and basic reporting.
• Common complaints — The most common complaint that users had for LightSpeed was the pricing. They felt that it was pricey compared to other POS providers.

Square: Free software for retail, restaurant, and appointment POS solutions

• Types of POS — Square POS offers POS solutions for retailers, restaurant, and small business owners that schedule appointments with clients. A good example of appointments is a hairdresser.
• Software and hardware — Square offers a number of software and hardware options. Hardware for sale includes: The Square Register, Square Stand, Square Terminal, cash drawers, USB receipt printer, printer paper, eero Wi-Fi, USB barcode scanner, and the Ethernet Kitchen Printer.
• Mobile compatibility — Square is compatible with mobile devices allowing business owners to keep things running even when not present at the business location.
• Pricing — The only thing you pay for other than the hardware is a basic fee for each transaction. Depending on the hardware you decide to use, the fee will be between 2.75 percent–2.5 percent + $0.10 per transaction. The hardware available includes the square register which can be purchased for $799, the Square Stand that facilitates contactless and chip transactions which costs $199, and the Square Terminal costing $399.
• Common complaints — The most common complaint among customer reviews is poor experience with customer service.

LivePOS: A retail POS specialist

• Types of POS — LivePOS provides a number of software options to retailers. This includes clothing and apparel stores, jewelry shops, liquor stores, cellphone and accessories providers, fitness and health stores, service and repair shops, vape shops, retail stores, and kiosks.
• Software and hardware — LivePOS unfortunately does not support a long list of hardware options. The current devices that are supported are a LivePad, a tablet, receipt printer, cash register, USB credit card swiper, and a Verifone Pin Pad. The software provided facilitates cash sales, credit card sales, split sales, coupons, text alerts, gift cards, clocking in and out, company chat, offline mode, refunding, exchanges, barcode printing and scanning, inventory, and cash registers.
• Mobile compatibility — You are able to use any type of mobile device to access your dashboard to see company data and statistics and communicate with employees.
• Pricing — For a single outlet plan, you can pay $89 per month. This plan comes with a real-time dashboard, customer relationship management, sales and inventory reports, and inventory management. If you would like to add an additional lane, it will cost an additional $39 per lane. For the growing chain plan, you will pay $129 per month and this plan includes all of the features in the smaller plan, employee payroll and commission, vendors and purchase orders, custom access levels, chat and sms alerts, customized tenders, work order and repair, invoicing and accounts receivable, analysis and reporting, and an additional discount. For franchise pricing, you will need to contact a representative for a bid.
• Common complaints —The main complaint made by users is the high pricing. The majority of those that complained of this mentioned that though the price was higher, the quality of the product was well worth it.

Getting to know the competition will help you to make the best decision for your company’s future POS solution! Good luck!