5 User-Friendly Cloud POS Systems for Your Business

Business owners are looking for ways to reduce their reliance on bricks and mortar, increase efficiency, and offer greater value to customers. There is no shortage of POS software options that might make your business run more smoothly. These cloud-based solutions will help you manage every aspect of your store with ease.

The “cloud-based pos systems for restaurants” is a list of 5 user-friendly cloud POS systems that are designed to be used by restaurant owners.

Cloud point-of-sale (POS) systems are web-based applications that enable companies to handle client transactions and manage operations. Cloud POS systems are often easier to set up and use than local POS systems that need an on-site server since they run online via a browser or app. They also cost a lot less to install than local POS systems that require an on-site server.

Online POS systems provide company owners the freedom to access and update data such as inventory and sales statistics from any location with an internet connection. Cloud POS systems are an excellent choice for most small companies because of its flexibility, ease of setup, and cheap cost.

In 2021, the best cloud-based POS systems are:

• Square is the best cloud POS solution overall.
• Lightspeed is the best cloud-based point-of-sale system for retail management.
• Shopify is the best cloud-based point-of-sale system for multichannel commerce.
• Toast: The Best Cloud Point-of-Sale System for Restaurants
• Lightspeed Vend: The Best Cloud POS for Customer Loyalty

Comparing the Best Cloud POS Systems

How Did We Pick the Best Cloud POS Software?

Cloud-based POS solutions are intended for companies who desire the ease of operating their establishments from afar while lowering the quantity of physical paperwork in the back office. A cloud POS, in contrast to conventional POS software, saves the bulk, if not all, of its data online. This implies that a business owner may have real-time access to all information about his or her company, whether it has one location or many across numerous locations and time zones.

We looked at the most popular online POS systems with cloud features in our evaluation. Our assessment was focused on what matters most to small companies, with a focus on pricing, inventory management, customer relationship management (CRM), online ordering, mobile reporting, contactless payment, and other mobile features. We also looked at how easy the service was to use, as well as if it had device compatibility, 24/7 customer support, and online tutorials and training.

Square received a total score of 4.47 out of 5 based on our criteria, making it the best cloud POS. This system is entirely cloud-based, and all that is required to use it is a tablet and an internet connection. It includes a free basic plan with inventory and ecommerce functionality, mobile reporting, and the ability to take card payments while offline. Upgrades to Square’s industry-specific software start at $60 per month, which is relatively affordable.

To learn more about our assessment standards, click on each of the headings in the box below:

30% of the overall score

The ability to operate constantly online is the most significant aspect of a cloud POS. We looked at if the software could be accessed from any device, whether it had a mobile reporting capability, and if it supported on-the-go and contactless payments. Another important concern was the capacity to perform transactions when offline.

25% of the overall score

We looked at whether the software has the essential elements to allow a firm operate on the cloud after cloud and mobile functions. Inventory management, personnel monitoring, and customized reporting are just a few examples. The software’s CRM and loyalty functions were also taken into account throughout the review.

20% of the overall score

We deemed the following elements to be essential for a reasonably priced cloud POS software: a basic plan that costs less than $75 per month, a no-cost installation charge, and the possibility of bulk processing discounts for this criteria. We also rewarded customers that allowed for more than ten users and devices, as well as limitless transactions.

15% of the overall score

When it comes to remotely operated software, ease of use is crucial. As a result, organizations who provide interoperability with devices running common operating systems, online training and tutorials, and 24/7 customer care received bonus points.

10% of the overall score

We looked at user reviews, any noteworthy features for each system, how simple each device is to use, and if it provides excellent value for money in general.

*Percentages based on total score

Square is the best cloud POS solution overall.

Square

4.47 OUT OF 5 I I I I I I I I I I I Our ranking is based on our experts’ weighted assessment of hundreds of comparable items and services.

What We Enjoy

• There is a free plan and a free trial available.
• Offers a variety of payment alternatives, including contactless and mobile sales on the move.
• Free ecommerce and online ordering tools are included.
• The basic strategy includes employee time monitoring and time card reporting.
• Can accept credit card payments even if you’re not connected to the internet

What Isn’t There

• Inventory management features are limited.
• Reporting characteristics that are basic
• It may be sluggish and glitchy.
• Customer service hours are limited. Restaurant POS customers can only get 24/7 help if they have a premium package.

Pricing in Squares

• Plans for POS software subscriptions include:*
  • Free: $0
  • Added bonus: $60 per month
  • Premium: Individualized pricing
• Costs of hardware:
  • Square Stand: $169 for six months or $27 per month
  • $299 or $27 per month for 12 months with Square Terminal
  • $799 or $39 per month for 24 months with Square Register
  • Hardware kits range in price from $526 to $1,489
  • Card readers start at $49 and go up from there.
• Fees for processing:
  • Transactions at a flat charge of 2.6 percent plus 10 cents
  • 2.9 percent + 30 cents per transaction on invoices
  • 2.9 percent + 30 cents each transaction in ecommerce
  • 3.5 percent + 15 cents per transaction for recurring billing and card-on-file transactions
  • 3.5 percent + 15 cents per transaction for keyed-in payments
  • Discounts are available for businesses who handle more than $250,000 in credit card purchases.

*A free magstripe card reader is included with each software subscription.

Square is an all-in-one cloud POS and credit card payment processor that requires no contracts or monthly fees to set up and operate. Square for Retail or Square for Restaurants provide industry-specific features for brick-and-mortar stores and cafes. Square’s POS software needs you to use Square as your payment processor, however if your transactions are under $20, Square has some of the best payment processing prices around. Square is one of the top POS systems for small companies because of its flexibility and inexpensive cost.

In our review, Square received a flawless score of 4.47 out of 5 for cost, cloud mobility, and expert score. Despite the fact that Square offers a free plan, it does have significant restrictions with its inventory management and reporting features, which pale in contrast to rivals’ basic plans like Lightspeed. Square was denied a perfect score due to the need for a separate membership for loyalty and marketing tools, as well as unfavorable customer service evaluations.

With the Square stand, which includes a contactless and chip card reader, you can accept payments in-store from your iPad. (Image courtesy of Square)

Square Terminal is a payment and receipts all-in-one hardware solution. (Image courtesy of Square)

The Square Register is a complete point-of-sale system that includes a customer display and a payment terminal. (Image courtesy of Square)

Features that are square

• Standard inventory management tools in Square POS include the ability to monitor, manage, classify, and track individual products across all locations in real time. It sends out daily stock alert emails, as well as low-stock notifications, to help prevent stockouts. With CSV imports and exports, you may add inventory items one at a time or in bulk. More dynamic, industry-specific inventory features are available in retail and restaurant POS systems.
• Square POS generates basic customer profiles that contain purchase history. On digital receipts, there’s also a customer feedback facility for gathering real-time comments. For an extra $45 per month, Square Loyalty provides more comprehensive capabilities. If you wish to execute email and social media campaigns using your Square POS, you’ll need to pay an extra $15 per month for Square Marketing.
• Square POS gives a lot of help for firms who wish to sell their products online. The built-in Square Online shop is free to set up and syncs online and in-person sales data to a single place. Other ecommerce systems, such as WooCommerce and Wix, are also integrated with Square POS.
• Square POS reporting and analytics provide common data such as total overall sales and sales trends. You can observe how much money clients spend, how often they return items, and which things they purchase the most. Square for Retail and Square for Restaurants both provide extra reporting capabilities.

Disadvantages of Square

Square POS is a great entry-level POS system, but it’s limited in terms of customization, which a multi-location or developing firm could want. In comparison to popular alternatives, the inventory management and reporting functions are very restricted. Consider Lightspeed’s granular matrix inventory and reporting capabilities, which include data visualizations and multi-location management choices for $69 per month, if you want additional management tools from a basic subscription.

Furthermore, although Square offers a free online shop, it is quite limited. Shopify is a good choice for a company that needs a powerful ecommerce platform that can manage a large number of online sales.

Lightspeed is the best cloud-based point-of-sale system for retail management.

Lightspeed

4.44 OUT OF 5 I I I I I I I I I I I Our ranking is based on our experts’ weighted assessment of hundreds of comparable items and services.

What We Enjoy

• Inventory management with granular matrix built-in
• 40+ pre-set reports with data visualizations and customization options are available in the mobile app reporting.
• Strong ecommerce capabilities
• Payment processing flexibility with built-in and integrated options

What Isn’t There

• Offline card payments are not accepted.
• Enrolling with Lightspeed Payments is required for the best rate.
• The ecommerce function is a bonus.
• Instagram’s selling features are lacking.

Pricing at Lightspeed

• Plans for retail software subscriptions include:*
  • $79 per month (basic)
  • $139 per month is the standard rate.
  • $239 per month (advanced)
  • The cost of additional registers is $29 per month.
• Subscription prices for restaurant software start at $69 per month paid monthly or $59 per month billed yearly. Monthly fees for additional registers are $34.
• Hardware requirements: iPad and iMac. Hardware kits with custom quotes are available. Card readers and other accessories are available for purchase separately.
• Fees for processing:
  • Payments via chip, touch, and swipe: 2.6 percent + 10 cents per transaction
  • 2.6 percent + 30 cents per transaction for keyed-in payments
  • Businesses processing more than $250,000 are eligible for a volume discount.

*Price is based on a monthly subscription and needs Lightspeed Payments registration.

Lightspeed is a cloud-based point-of-sale system that can be used on iPads or in a browser. The program comes with a 14-day free trial and features for all sorts of retail and restaurant operations. Lightspeed’s features, even at their most basic level, can handle busy retail establishments that demand sophisticated inventory monitoring, customer, and personnel management, even while they are offline. Lightspeed is the ideal solution for shop administration since it is cloud-based and gives you remote access to your back office and POS.

It’s no surprise that Lightspeed comes in second place to Square with a score of 4.44 out of 5. After all, it has the best basic shop management capabilities of all the cloud POS systems on our list, with a flawless score for simplicity of use and the highest score for general features. Square, on the other hand, surpassed Lightspeed in points due to its basic plan’s absence of ecommerce and offline card payment processing functionality.

The iPad retail kit from Lightspeed allows you the flexibility to collect payments from behind the counter or while strolling around your business. (Photo courtesy of Lightspeed)

The iPad package for restaurants from Lightspeed includes a Lite Server that backs up your data on a regular basis. (Photo courtesy of Lightspeed)

With Lightspeed’s Mobile Tap, you can collect payments anywhere in your shop, even at the curb. (Photo courtesy of Lightspeed)

Features of Lightspeed

• Inventory management: Inventory management tools in Lightspeed POS enable you to add products in bulk or one at a time. Stock levels may be tracked across various locations, and low stock alarms can be created. Integrated product catalogs and purchase orders, numerous item variations, aging product reports, work orders, layaway, and thorough product labeling and organizing are just a few of the advanced inventory capabilities.
• Customer management: Lightspeed Loyalty provides extra capabilities in addition to conventional CRM operations like generating customer profiles. Develop a rewards program, create SMS and email marketing campaigns, distribute discounts and special offers, segment consumers for targeted messaging, create customer credit accounts, and get thorough customer data using this application.
• Lightspeed provides a powerful ecommerce platform that allows companies to construct unique websites using built-in themes. You may then sell to a local or worldwide consumer base. You may sell your items on social media sites like Facebook and Instagram using additional functionalities.
• Reporting and analytics: You may view your cloud POS data from any connected device to receive a real-time picture of your company. You can observe how many people come into your business, which goods have the greatest stockouts, and what hours your workers work. Using the reports module to export your data gives you a more thorough perspective.
• Lightspeed’s cloud POS works with more than 80 third-party connectors in addition to its extensive features. Employee scheduling, appointment scheduling, accounting, chatbots, payroll, equipment rental monitoring, and third-party delivery systems all have integrations.
• Advanced analytics: Lightspeed users may utilize an accounting interface or buy the Lightspeed Analytics add-on for more sophisticated analytics choices. Insights about aging stock, customer loyalty indicators, and staff KPIs will be added to the latter.

Drawbacks of Lightspeed

The native ecommerce platform of Lightspeed is only accessible with a midrange plan, which means you’ll have to pay extra to sell online. Additionally, although Lightspeed enables you to do certain company administration functions without an internet connection, it is unable to process card payment transactions. If this is a deal-breaker for you, Square for retail and Toast for eateries are both viable alternatives.

Lightspeed is a great place to start.

Shopify is the best cloud-based point-of-sale system for omnichannel retailers.

Shopify

4.32 OUT OF 5 I I I I I I I I I I I Our ranking is based on our experts’ weighted assessment of hundreds of comparable items and services.

What We Enjoy

• Ecommerce platform with a lot of power
• Payment processing rates that are competitive
• Tools for selling across several channels
• Its basic strategy includes marketing tools.

What Isn’t There

• There aren’t a lot of possibilities for non-retail enterprises.
• Uses third-party payment processors for a charge.
• There will be no card payments made offline.
• In the basic plan, there are no reporting features.

Pricing on Shopify

• The following are the Shopify POS plans:*
  • POS Lite is included with all ecommerce plans or may be purchased individually for $9 per month.
  • POS Pro costs $89 per month, per location, or is free for Shopify Plus customers.
• Costs of hardware: Startup Bundle from $789 (includes an iPad stand, card reader, receipt printer, cash drawer, and barcode scanner), Retail Bundle from $159, card readers from $29
• Fees for processing:
  • Shopify’s basic fee structure is 2.9 percent + 30 cents for online sales and 2.7 percent for in-person transactions.
  • Shopify charges 2.6 percent plus 30 cents for online sales and 2.5 percent for in-person purchases.
  • Shopify Advanced: 2.4 percent plus 30 cents for online sales and 2.4 percent for in-person transactions.

*To utilize Shopify POS, you’ll need a Shopify Ecommerce membership (which ranges from $29 to $299 a month).

Shopify is initially and foremost an ecommerce platform, followed by a cloud POS. It excels in bridging the gap between online and offline sales platforms. Inventory management, CRM, and payment processing are all basic aspects of the cloud POS. It also allows you to monitor your orders after they’ve been sent. Shopify is great for online merchants looking to expand into brick-and-mortar retail, as well as pop-up stores that need assistance for in-person activations.

Shopify received a 4.32 out of 5 rating based on our study. It achieved flawless scores for usability and outperforms the competition in terms of omnichannel sales capabilities. Shopify POS, on the other hand, is only accessible to Shopify ecommerce customers, and critical features like multiple employee roles and permissions, limitless registers, and thorough reporting are only available with the Pro plan. Shopify was unable to get a perfect score due to these constraints.

One Shopify retail stand for iPad, one mounting kit, and one chip and swipe reader are included in Shopify’s Retail Bundle. iPads 9.7″ and 10.2″/Air 10.5″ are compatible with the stands. Price: $159 (Image courtesy of Shopify)

Shopify’s Initial Public Offering (IPO) One Shopify store stand, one mounting kit, one Shopify chip and swipe reader, one barcode scanner, one cash drawer, and one receipt printer are packaged together in one bundle. iPads 9.7″ and 10.2″/Air 10.5″ are compatible with the stands. Price: $789 (Image courtesy of Shopify)

The mPOP hardware from Shopify includes both a cash drawer and a receipt printer. Right: mPOP with Scanner ($639), left: Basic mPOP ($499) (Image courtesy of Shopify)

Chip, swipe, and tap payments are all accepted by the Shopify card reader. Right: Chip and Swipe reader ($29); left: Tap and Chip card reader ($49). (Image courtesy of Shopify)

Features of Shopify

• While Shopify Lite does not enable you to create your own online shop, it does allow you to sell in-person using the POS software and add a purchase button to other websites. You can see inventory and customer profiles in-store, divide invoices, and give personalized discounts. There is also access to back office activities including product administration, order management, and reporting.
• Shopify POS Pro costs $89 a month and includes more comprehensive in-person sales tools (such as omnichannel sales, such as buy online, pick up in store), smart inventory features (such as purchase ordering and demand forecasting), and extensive sales reporting.
• Inventory management: Because Shopify is geared for ecommerce, the inventory management feature manages your online and in-store stock levels in one place. Shopify POS is also great for keeping track of goods as it moves through the receiving, selling, and shipping processes. Stock levels are also tracked across many retail locations in the company’s higher-level planning.
• Customer management: The CRM options in Shopify aren’t very dynamic. Basic client profiles may be created, including purchase history, contact information, and shopping preferences. Order updates, digital receipts, and post-purchase promos may all be sent through automated emails. Integrations provide access to additional CRM functionality.
• Shopify provides a complete ecommerce platform for businesses, enabling you to design and personalize your site using templates or custom code. Everything is synchronised in real time so you don’t sell anything you don’t have on hand.
• Reporting and analytics: Shopify’s basic reporting options, like the CRM, are adequate but not extensive. You can examine basic information like sales, orders, traffic, and returns via the POS dashboard. Popular and high-priced goods are highlighted, and the number of new vs returning consumers may be compared. You’ll need to upgrade to Advanced Shopify to get advanced reports.

Drawbacks of Shopify

Because Shopify is primarily an ecommerce platform, companies who don’t conduct a lot of online business will likely find the POS to be lacking in functionality. As a consequence, you’ll need to pay for a lot of third-party connectors to get the most out of the system, such as a full CRM and sophisticated reporting tools. Shopify also lacks the option to take card payments when offline, which is a capability offered by rivals that specialize on in-person sales.

Consider Square for Retail if your firm wants more robust POS capability with native ecommerce features in a cost-effective package. Consider Lightspeed POS if you want great ecommerce capability in a POS that’s built for stores first.

Toast: The Best Cloud Point-of-Sale System for Restaurants

Toast

3.96 OUT OF 5 I I I I I I I I I I I Our ranking is based on our experts’ weighted assessment of hundreds of comparable items and services.

What We Enjoy

• Provides a pay-per-use subscription option.
• Offline functionality is excellent.
• The UI is simple and straightforward to use.
• A multi-functional portable tablet is among the proprietary hardware.

What Isn’t There

• Toast Payments Have Been Locked In
• Purchase of proprietary hardware is required.
• Marketing and loyalty tools come at an additional expense.
• Fee for remote installation of Loyalty and Gift Card add-ons is required.

Pricing for Toast

• Plans for software subscriptions:*
  • Starter: $0 as a starter
  • From $165 per month for the essentials
  • From $272 each month, there has been a steady increase.
• Costs of hardware: $0–$799, ToastGo mobile handheld POS ($499 + $50 per month)
• Subscription prices for Toast Now’s digital ordering software range from $75 to $175 per month.
• Installation fee: Fee for remote installation of Loyalty and Gift Card add-ons is required.
• Fees for processing:
  • Plan with a pay-as-you-go option: * For both card present and card not present transactions, add 2.99 percent + 15 cents.
  • 2.49 percent + 15 cents for card present transactions and 3.5 percent + 15 cents for card not present transactions under the standard paid plan.

*When ordering a beginning kit with a basic paid plan, a POS subscription costs $69 per month.

From a centralized, online platform, Toast POS provides a spectrum of restaurant capabilities that completely covers both back-end and front-of-house operations. Menu management, table mapping, and built-in integrations such as kitchen display, self-order kiosks, ordering, and delivery capabilities are all available for food-based enterprises.

It also creates its own unique, industry-grade gear, such as a portable mobile terminal for ordering and payment at the table. Toast also has a pay-as-you-go basic membership that includes inventory management capabilities and payment processing rates that are similar to other popular restaurant POS systems.

With its powerful cloud and mobility functionality, as well as many payment choices, Toast’s capabilities as a restaurant POS is obvious. However, with an overall score of 3.93 out of 5, the program placed in third place in our roundup. It lost points because of add-on expenses for essential features like online ordering, marketing, and team administration, which are included in rival solutions’ basic plans, such as Square. Long-term contracts provide a pay-as-you-go option.

One Toast Software, one Toast Flex terminal, one Toast Tap, and one router are included in the Toast beginning set. Toast software and Toast Tap are included with the Toast Flex Terminal. (Image courtesy of Toast)

To improve client interaction at the counter, add $200 to your beginning package for a customer-facing display. (Image courtesy of Toast)

ToastGo is Toast’s tableside ordering and payment processing portable POS device. (Image courtesy of Toast)

Features of Toast

• Inventories control: Toast POS keeps track of inventory right down to the ingredient level. To prevent stockouts, you may establish menu categories, subcategories, and numerous modifier screens. You can also alter modifier price and observe item countdowns. The backbone of Toast’s menu management feature is its dynamic ingredient-level inventory monitoring, which determines which meals should be deleted from your menu in an easy-to-scan grid.
• Customer management: Create customer profiles, issue digital receipts, and gather and react to comments using the program. Toast Loyalty, which offers a customised rewards program, is available for an additional monthly subscription. Create milestones or points-based prizes using it, and obtain analytics insights on your most devoted clients. Toast Marketing also enables you to send personalized and targeted emails to loyal consumers or to persuade them to return.
• Online sales and ecommerce: Toast’s Essentials and Growth membership categories provide built-in online ordering and delivery management, as well as access to the ToastNow ordering platform. You set up an online ordering website using Toast, and all orders are delivered to your kitchen. All of the prominent third-party delivery systems are also integrated into the program.
• Reporting and analytics: Only Toast POS has restaurant-specific reporting that concentrate on ingredients, tips, and table turn time on this list. It displays how many customers each employee serviced throughout each shift, compares locations, and emphasizes the busiest days and times. At the conclusion of each day, the software will send an email with a detailed summary of sales and expenditures.

Disadvantages of Toast

Toast, unlike other cloud POS systems, only works on its own custom-built Android devices, and while it offers pay-as-you-go plans for its industry-grade hardware, you’ll be locked into a long-term contract with no flexibility in terms or payment processor, and you’ll have to pay an extra 0.40 percent on your processing fee if you want add-on tools for loyalty, marketing, gift cards, and online ordering.

Consider Lightspeed for Restaurants if you desire a supplier with greater hardware flexibility and the freedom to pick payment processing choices.

Lightspeed is a vendor.: The Best Cloud POS for Loyalty Building

Lightspeed is a vendor.

3.86 OUT OF 5 I I I I I I I I I I I Our ranking is based on our experts’ weighted assessment of hundreds of comparable items and services.

What We Enjoy

• iPads, Macs, and PCs are all supported.
• Payment processing solutions that are flexible
• Provides a free trial.
• Customer loyalty program built-in

What Isn’t There

• It may be costly.
• A third-party integration is required for the ecommerce feature.
• With the basic plan, transaction volume is limited.
• There isn’t a built-in payment processor.

Pricing by Vendor

• Plans for software subscriptions*:
  • $119 per month for Lite
  • $159 per month (pro)
  • Business: Request a quote
• Costs of hardware:
  • From $499 for an all-in-one mPop
  • $600 for an iOS starter hardware kit
  • $684 for a starter bundle for PC and iOS
  • $807 for a professional hardware kit
  • iPad stands start at $99 and go up from there.
• Fees for processing: Depends on your chosen payment processing provider (TSYS, Worldpay, CardConnect, Chase, EVO Payments, PayPal, Square, and more)

*Software subscriptions are billed on a monthly basis.

Vend POS is an iPad-, Mac-, and PC-compatible cloud POS option that includes a full suite of inventory and reporting and analytic features. Aside from its real-time inventory management capabilities, it is in its CRM functions where Vend shines. You can build detailed customer profiles and extend this information across all your sales channels. Vend’s Customer loyalty program built-in is accessible from the dashboard and checkout screens and supports store credit offers and point-based loyalty. It also gives you access to layaway tools, store credit payments, and multi-outlet handling.

What’s New

Vend’s customers now have access to Lightspeed’s payments, ecommerce, and loyalty solutions after Lightspeed purchased Vend in March 2021. While it is last on our list of best cloud POS selections, it is far from last, and with this merger, we can expect even more advancements in its service.

Vend is now ranked second after Toast in our rankings, with a score of 3.86 out of 5. It scored a flawless score for simplicity of use and does not lag behind in terms of overall functionality. Vend, on the other hand, lost points for not having in-house payment processing to facilitate contactless and mobile transactions, as well as no offline card payment capabilities. To take use of Vend’s full CRM and loyalty capabilities, you’ll need to upgrade.

Vend’s all-in-one mPOP from Star Micronics combines a cash drawer and printer in one. Cost: Starting at $499, with an iPad upgrade available for $828. (Source: Vend)

An all-in-one mPOP integrated cash drawer, printer, and scanner are included in the Starter hardware kit for iOS. Price: $600 (Image courtesy of Vend)

An Ethernet-USB Thermal Printer, USB Scanner, and cash drawer are included in the beginning hardware package for PC and iOS. Price: $683.99 (Source: Vend)

One 10.2″ iPad, one iPad stand, one mobile barcode scanner, one compact printer, and one cash drawer are included in the Pro hardware set. Price: $806.49 (Source: Vend)

Features of the Vendor

• Vend enables you to bulk upload/export, create variations, bundle goods, and break groups for inventory management. In a central product database, you may also manage wholesale inventories and categorize items using groups and tags.
• Vend Lite has basic CRM tools such as customer profiles that monitor purchase history and contact information. VIP customer groups, gift cards, shop credit, and a versatile loyalty program with configurable awards and points are all available when you upgrade to Vend Pro. You may effortlessly import your client database from a CSV file and manage your customer list from any Vend-integrated platform.
• Online sales and ecommerce: Because Vend lacks built-in ecommerce features, you won’t be able to start an online shop using the software alone. Vend, on the other hand, works with ecommerce systems like as Shopify, BigCommerce, and WooCommerce. Vend’s Shopify connection is the smoothest, and Vend recommends it to small companies.
• Reporting and analytics: Similar to Lightspeed, both Vend Lite and Vend Pro feature bespoke analytics reporting with the option to filter data. Discounts, staff insights, seasonal patterns, and gift card analytics are among the sophisticated reporting features included in Pro.

Disadvantages of Vend

Vend’s entry-level Lite package is only available to companies who handle $20,000 in monthly sales. Upgrade to the Pro plan, which costs $159 per month when invoiced monthly, to handle anything greater. Adding ecommerce capabilities or more connectors to your Vend POS might increase your subscription expenses.

Consider Square if you want a retail software with built-in ecommerce. Consider Lightspeed for greater inventory and reporting tools in a basic subscription, as well as free access to loyalty, gift cards, and staff management services.

Alternatives to Cloud-Based Point-of-Sale Systems

Cloud POS systems are only one form of point-of-sale system. Businesses that want greater security and offline capabilities may benefit from locally installed and POS (Point of Sale) hybrid systems.

Locally Installed Point-of-Sale

A Locally Installed Point-of-Sale system stores data to a specific computer or device and cannot be remotely accessed. This is most popular among foodservice businesses, typically operating legacy POS systems. For example, SpeedLine, Aloha, and MICROS have been around for decades and operate by networking several terminals through a central server that is usually housed in a business’s back office. A Locally Installed Point-of-Sale only works on-site and cannot be accessed via the internet, so you can only make updates and view reports from your business location.

Because they are not linked to the internet, such systems are more secure than fully cloud-based systems, and they have no problems with offline functioning. They are, however, somewhat more costly up front. A brand-new locally installed solution will cost $10,000 to $15,000 or more, but there are normally no monthly costs.

POS (Point of Sale) hybrid

A POS (Point of Sale) hybrid is a system that combines the flexibility of a cloud-POS and the stability of a Locally Installed Point-of-Sale. Many popular cloud-based POS, like Toast and Lightspeed, actually offer a hybrid installation option. A hybrid installation networks your terminals, printers, card readers, and other hardware through a free-standing server in your business location. The connections are usually made through Wi-Fi signals, though some rely on ethernet cabling.

Some cloud-based POS systems have enhanced offline capabilities thanks to this hybrid installation option. Hybrid solutions are somewhat more expensive up front than solely cloud-based systems, but they aren’t anywhere close to the cost of a locally installed system. Because they normally need a visit from an installation expert to set up, you can anticipate such setups to add $500 to $1,000 to your upfront expenditures.

Conclusion

Small company demands are evolving quicker than ever before, and a cloud-based POS can help firms traverse an ever-changing consumer market with its flexibility, speed, and mobility. Every organization has unique needs, which will be reflected in the software tools they choose.

The dynamic cloud-based solutions from Square POS come the closest to serving the largest range of small companies at an amazing price. Everything you need to establish a mini retail, restaurant, or service company may be found here. Square also provides reasonable paid plans, add-ons, and hardware to help you expand your company as it develops. Sign up for a free account to explore whether Square is a good match for you.

Square should be visited.

The “cloud-based pos vs traditional pos” is a question that causes some confusion. There are 5 different cloud POS systems to choose from, and each one has it’s own benefits and drawbacks.

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