Lisa Huyhn
This is our roundup for the best Point of Sale (POS) software available to small businesses in 2016. We based our decisions on what business owners have told us is critical for them when selecting a POS system. That is they want to work with a reputable software provider, they demand value for money, they expect the software to be easy to use and not require vast amounts of training to implement and that they should receive a high standard of customer support as POS is critical to the function of their businesses.
Our Best POS Software Picks
We had four categories for best accounting software for small businesses and they break down as follows:
Vend – The Best POS System for Small Businesses Overall
Vend is really impressive; it’s the ideal POS for many a small business. It’s designed not just to help make the point of sale transaction as fluid as possible but also to provide you with better insight into your business overall. One nice touch with Vend is they offer “out of the box” specialist solutions for a range of retail industries which can really save time when you’re getting set up.
TouchBistro – The Best POS System for Restaurants and Cafes
TouchBistro isn’t for every business but for restaurants and cafes it’s just about perfect. The system specializes on food businesses and it enables your wait staff and kitchen staff to work more efficiently and you can choose whether or not you want to operate the POS “from the table” or “from the register” which is a nice touch. The support and training packages available are also very much second to none.
Read our TouchBistro Review Here
ShopKeep – The Best POS System for Retailers
ShopKeep is a great retail POS system which runs in the cloud and works on an iPad. It’s good for saving time and there are no long-term contract arrangements necessary to install and implement ShopKeep. Customer support is impressive. We really liked the analytics package too which lets you “look under the hood” of your business and maximize your operations without wasting any time manually reporting.
Bindo – The Best POS System for Mobile iPad Use
Bindo’s greatest strength is in its pricing which is very reasonable compared to nearly all other POS packages on the market. That doesn’t mean that it’s underpowered though and it has a great range of tools and reporting packages. It only works on the iPad but given that this is true of many POS packages – it’s probably not a huge drawback either.
Other POS Packages
There are many other POS packages available to small businesses and while none of these came top of our list; they may be the right package for your business. It’s a good idea to shop around for the best POS package for your business when you’re ready to run with it.
Please note that the quotes below are what the software vendor says about their own product and they may not reflect our opinion of their software.
Acme Point of Sale
“Dump that cash register or point of sale app that loses you more money than it saves. Use a complete solution built for specialty retail.” Says Acme Point of Sale
Aireus
Aireus says; “For years, companies such as eBay, Amazon and Google have used cloud computing to bring easy-to-use services to consumers by offering a fundamentally faster, less risky, and more cost-effective alternative to on-premises hardware and software. Cloud computing has now reached the hospitality POS industry and is now exploding all over the restaurant landscape as restaurateurs are re-discovering new, affordable and mobile ways to run and enhance operations. Restaurants that embrace new technological tools “have a definite business advantage,” Smart restaurants aren’t ignoring technology, they’re figuring out how to make it work for them. Aireus POS is a true Apple iPad POS restaurant application designed and built to operate wirelessly as a native application on your iPad without the need of a computer in your restaurant.”
Ambur
“Ambur is the complete restaurant POS system. Created by people in the restaurant and bar industry, Ambur POS will keep your business in the black (and out of the weeds).
Blue Fish Retail
There’s a free trial at the Blue Fish Retail site where they say that they offer; “A simple, powerful, cloud-based Point of Sale.”
Breadcrumb
Breadcrumb distinguish themselves by; “Industry-leading features, continual updates, and the best support available. Unlike other POS systems, there are never any hidden costs.”
Clover
“Clover handles the business part of being in business. Get paid, sell more, and run your business better.” says Clover.
ERPLY
“ERPLY retail software is web-based, making it accessible anywhere and contains modules for every aspect of your retail establishment. Centralize your day-to-day operations in one, real time system.”
GiftLogic
GiftLogic are straight to the point with their claim to be “the complete point of sale solution.”
HarborTouch
HarborTouch is “free” but you do have to buy their POS hardware and use their processing services for cards. Otherwise it’s “The Point of Sale Systems that will Revolutionize Your Business FOR FREE!”
Heartland Dinerware
Dinerware is the product and it’s offering the chance to “Get mobile freedom to choose how you run your business.”
iConnect
“Empower your business to grow & succeed with iConnect POS. Create a modern shopping experience for your customers with the best mobile cloud point of sale system. Simple enough for your employees and customers, robust enough to manage multiple locations, large scale inventories, and thousands of transactions.”
Imongo
Imongo goes with the bold claim of being “The World’s Easiest Point of Sale”.
Instore
Another straight to the point explanation by instore “The iPAD POS loved by small business”.
Lavu
Lavu are in the brevity club too and they claim their offering will “Keep your restaurant in check.”
LightSpeed
LightSpeed says they are “the world’s most powerful POS and eCommerce software.”
NCR Silver
NCR Silver has a limited time offer for free hardware at the moment. “What Kind of Business Do You Run? You know where you want to go. Whether you run one location, or many, NCR Silver can get you there”
Pose
Pose says that it’s; “Easy setup. Easy to use. Retail Simplified. Pose is a web based POS that simplifies the retail process so you can sell more and keep customers coming back.”
QuickBooks (Intuit)
Our award winning accountancy package also offers an integrated POS system which is worth checking out if you like to keep your vendor arrangements as simple as possible.
Revel Systems
Revel claims to be; “The fastest point of sale for your quick service restaurant.”
Shopify
Shopify isn’t just an online store portal it also offers its own POS system too with a mobile app and reader.
SilverEdge
“EDGEPOS Point of Sale is built to handle the everyday tasks and the unexpected challenges of doing business.”
Verifone
An unusual offering in that it’s Android only Verifone offer; “an Android-based Cloud POS solution that delivers powerful payment and business functionality to merchants in a simple and affordable package.”
