6 Best POS Inventory Systems in 2022

The recent economic disruption has brought a new age of automation, and blockchain is the next logical step. This article will explore some of the best national inventory management systems for businesses in 2022.

“POS inventory system free” is a term that refers to a type of inventory management software. This type of software is used in retail stores, restaurants, and even warehouses. There are 6 best POS inventory systems in 2022. Read more in detail here: pos inventory system free.

Retailers and restaurants utilize point-of-sale (POS) inventory systems to handle customer transactions and manage product or ingredient stock levels. The majority of POS inventory software includes features for ringing sales, counting inventory, and generating basic reports. They help firms simplify back-office operations by allowing them to monitor data across numerous channels and locations from a single spot. The top point-of-sale systems also make product purchases easier, and they start at less than $100 a month.

The finest inventory management POS systems for small firms are:

• Lightspeed is the best POS system for inventory management in general.
• For new and small companies, Square is the best free inventory management app.
• Toast: This is the best option for food and beverage establishments.
• Shopify is the best platform for multichannel retailers.
• Vend is best for physical businesses with a lot of inventory or several locations.
• Hike: The most feature-rich, cost-effective POS inventory solution for retail.

Comparing the Best POS Inventory Systems

How We Assessed Point-of-Sale Inventory Systems

Before narrowing down our choice of software with notable inventory capabilities and/or inexpensive pricing points, we looked at dozens of popular and top-rated POS systems. Then we compared monthly prices, Characteristics (such as reporting), and Features of the Inventory for each system (including low-stock alerts and purchase ordering). We also spoke about how simple it is to use (such as whether or not the system is cloud-based). Finally, we analyzed the total value provided by each program for its price point, as well as its popularity and user feedback.

Lightspeed is the finest POS inventory system, according to our research, with a score of 4.43 out of 5. After years of analyzing POS systems for Fit Small Business and working in small enterprises and retail settings handling inventory, our expert’s personal suggestion is in line with this. At its pricing range, Lightspeed’s detailed inventory management tools and extensive analytics are unequaled.

For a complete overview of how we assessed POS systems with inventory management, click through the sections below:

20% of the overall score

Because we presume that organizations in need of advanced inventory management software are prepared to pay for the capabilities they want, cost accounts for just a tiny component of our review. The most crucial price aspect we looked at was whether the POS system limits the quantity of goods you can have in any given plan. We also investigated subscription pricing that was both inexpensive and linked with payment processing.

20% of the overall score

We needed detailed inventory monitoring solutions in each system, such as variant-level management in retail and ingredient-level tracking in restaurant systems. However, we took into account reporting capabilities such as mobile-accessible data, configurable reports, and the system’s ability to manage different sales channels.

30% of the overall score

We emphasized real-time inventory monitoring, customized low-stock notifications, barcoding, vendor management, and the ability to issue and manage purchase orders while assessing Features of the Inventory.

10% of the overall score

Retailers in high-volume environments want a point-of-sale system that works offline and provides customer service 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Touch-screen devices also received scores since they are simple to learn and utilize by staff. Cloud-based solutions get marks since they enable organizations to access data from any location.

20% of the overall score

We set aside 20% of the total score for our subjective assessments of each product. Here, we looked at a product’s features, how effectively they perform, and how user-friendly the UI is. We also left room for any unique features that weren’t already taken into account. Positive customer ratings received bonus points, and we took into account the total value each POS provides for its pricing.

*Percentages based on total score

Overall, Lightspeed is the best POS Inventory System.

Lightspeed

4.43 OUT OF 5 STARS FOR THE OVERALL PERFORMANCE

What We Enjoy

• Matrix inventory that may be customized
• Purchase ordering and vendor catalogs are built-in.
• Variants, complete items, and work orders all have granular control.

What Isn’t There

• Pricey
• Interface that is difficult to use
• There is no free plan available.

Pricing at Lightspeed

• Lightspeed Retail POS costs between $69 and $239 per month. Additional registers are available for $29 per month.
• Lightspeed Restaurants POS: $59 per month for the first month. Monthly fees for additional registers are $34. Monthly add-ons range from $12 to $39.
• Payments via chip, tap, and swipe: 2.6 percent + 10 cents
• Payments made by keying in: 2.6 percent plus 30 cents
• Retailers who handle more than $250,000 get a volume discount.
• Third-party Payment Processing: Using a third-party payment processor instead of Lightspeed Payments results in higher monthly software prices.

Lightspeed is a cloud-based POS system designed for growing small businesses with massive inventories that need to be categorized by multiple variants. Its detailed Features of the Inventory support both retail and restaurant POS solutions. Paired with a sophisticated custom reporting tool for a starting price less than $100 per month, Lightspeed is the best overall POS inventory system for small businesses.

Lightspeed scored a 4.43 out of 5 rating in our review. The system received a good ranking because to granular inventory management, built-in buy ordering, and the most powerful analytics platform. Lightspeed, on the other hand, does not provide a free package. Lightspeed does not offer a mobile reporting app like Square, Toast, or Shopify, despite the fact that the reporting is cloud-based and available from anywhere.

Lightspeed’s Standout Features of the Inventory

• Sell distinct product versions that are packaged and serialized using customizable matrixes.
• Work order management: In the POS system, process and track work orders.
• Categorization and tracking: To identify each item of inventory, use serial numbers and/or SKUs.
• Over 3,000 preloaded vendor catalogs, upload up to 10,000 goods, aggregate all purchases into one order, define custom reorder points, and handle special requests for consumers.
• Set up automatic rules and discounts for customer segmentation, seasonal discounts, freebies and promotions, bulk price adjustments, and more using intelligent pricing.
• Supplier network: Creates a more efficient supply chain by allowing you to browse items, issue purchase orders, and monitor stock shipments all from inside Lightspeed POS.
• Over 40 built-in reports, as well as adjustable settings, data visualizations, and actionable advice, provide detailed analyses.
• Synced eCom: Lightspeed POS and Lightspeed eCom work together to handle online sales.

See how to utilize Lightspeed inventory management software in our guide.

Square: Best Free POS Inventory System for New & Small Businesses

Square

4.35 OUT OF 5 STARS FOR THE OVERALL PERFORMANCE

What We Enjoy

• Has a no-cost plan
• Simple to use
• Upgrades and add-ons to help your company expand.

What Isn’t There

• It is devoid of intricate characteristics.
• There aren’t many customizing possibilities.
• Phone help is limited.

Pricing in Squares

• Square POS is a free service.
• Square for Retail: $0–$60 per month–$60 per month for Square for Retail
• Restaurant Square: Square for Restaurants: $0–$60 per month–$60 per month
• Transaction Fee (flat rate): 2.6 percent + 10 cents
• Payments made by keying in: 3.5 percent plus 15 cents
• Volume Discounts: For any firm processing more than $250,000 in credit card purchases, we offer custom pricing packages.

See our guide on Pricing in Squares and Fees for detailed pricing information.

Square is a free point-of-sale system with tools for managing payments, customers, orders, and items. Make a product catalog and keep track of your inventory depending on sales. Except for Toast, Square is the only supplier on our list that provides a free plan that includes native ecommerce capabilities that facilitate multichannel sales.

Square isn’t a good match for established enterprises with a lot of SKUs or sales channels, but it’s a great deal for startups and businesses with a few goods. Square’s Pro POS subscriptions provide extra inventory management options, allowing your firm to expand.

In our evaluation of POS inventory systems, Square earned a 4.35 out of 5. Aside from its forever-free plan, its Pro-level tier is priced at just $60 per month, making it the most cost effective choice for startups. Square has basic Features of the Inventory like variant tracking and low-stock alerts. However, lack of detailed purchase ordering, vendor management, Reporting that may be customized, and unPhone help is limited. prevented Square from earning a higher score.

Square’s Standout Features of the Inventory

• Add products one at a time or in bulk using a spreadsheet, add information and variations, establish product categories, and add fields for ecommerce product listings to your product catalog.
• Low-stock alerts: Get daily emails with information on goods that are low on stock or out of stock.
• Reports that can be downloaded: Export reports, including inventory levels, to a spreadsheet that may be printed.
• Upgrade to a Pro plan or link with third-party solutions like Stitch Labs, Shopventory, and Sku IQ for more extensive inventory management.
• Receiving stock shipments, adjusting stock levels for returns and exchanges, creating and sending purchase orders by email, editing and noting purchase orders, creating vendor lists, creating item libraries for each vendor, tracking inventory value by item, viewing COGS, and other advanced reports are all available with Square for Retail Pro.

On get started, check out our tutorial to utilizing Square’s Features of the Inventory.

Toast is ideal for food service establishments.

Toast

4.30 OUT OF 5 STARS FOR THE OVERALL PERFORMANCE

What We Enjoy

• The standard package includes inventory and analytics.
• Restaurant management that is all-in-one
• Extensive training is available.

What Isn’t There

• Setup and add-on costs are costly.
• It binds you to the company’s payment processor.
• A necessary installation cost is required for key add-on functionality.

POS Pricing for Toast

• Toast Point of Sale: Toast POS: $0–$272 monthly–$272 per month
• Platform rate: 2.99 percent + 15 cents processing fee for pay-as-you-go customers of the Starter kit
• For Standard users, the regular processing charge is 2.49 percent + 15 cents.

Toast is a software platform tailored to the food and beverage sector. The inventory module is included with Toast’s standard subscription, and it allows customers to categorize inventory items according to their actual location for easy navigation. Toast’s cloud-based operations management solution also powers point of sale, online ordering, menu management, and more.

Toast’s extremely granular inventory tracking and control, best-in class menu and food waste reporting, and feature-rich, user-friendly interface earned Toast a 4.3 out of 5 in our evaluation, and its new free plan (joining Square) managed to rack up more points in its favor. However, Toast lacks a 100% integrated purchase ordering system and requires you to use its proprietary hardware; Square, on the other hand, allows you to use your own hardware. These, along with Phone help is limited. hours and mandatory installation fees for key add-on tools prevented Toast from earning a perfect score.

Toast’s Standout Features of the Inventory

• Menu analysis: Best-in-class menu analysis report with recipe and food pricing calculators, allowing businesses to choose which menu items to maintain and which to eliminate. Comparing real and theoretical performance is a good way to start.
• Real-time ingredient-level monitoring based on sales, countdowns to out-of-stocks, and integrated online ordering are all features of Auto 86’ing.
• Manage your distributors, write purchase orders in Toast, and import invoices from distributors through CSV files for ingredient purchasing.
• Reporting and analytics: Cost of goods sold (COGS) and food waste statistics, product mix reports, comparative reporting, and more—all with understandable data visuals—are all available on mobile devices.
• For accurate reporting, map your inventory count to your real kitchen setup.

Toast just unveiled xtraCHEF, a new inventory management partner solution. It will no longer sell the Toast Inventory module to new clients, but it will continue to service current Toast Inventory users until they migrate to the new product. Toast customers may now combine thorough inventory and food cost control with streamlined monitoring and inventory counts thanks to this new functionality.

Shopify is the best multichannel POS inventory system on the market.

Shopify

4.20 OUT OF 5 STARS FOR THE OVERALL PERFORMANCE

What We Enjoy

• Interface of a mobile app that is easy to use
• Stocks should be synced with Amazon, Facebook, and Walmart.
• There are several add-ons and connectors available.

What Isn’t There

• Pricey, and you’ll need a Shopify ecommerce account to use it.
• There are no features for automation.
• Customization choices are limited.

Pricing on Shopify

• Monthly fee for Shopify Ecommerce (required): $29–$299
• Shopify POS costs Shopify POS: $0–$89 monthly–$89 per month.
• Fees for online transactions range from 2.4 percent to 2.9 percent plus 30 cents.
• Fees for in-person transactions range from 2.4 percent to 2.7 percent.

*Access to POS functionality requires a Shopify ecommerce account.

Shopify is an ecommerce platform with a POS software that includes inventory management features for all sales channels. If you sell both online and in person, Shopify is the ideal POS inventory system since it allows you to keep track of all client orders and inventory in one place. Integrated barcode scanners, thorough inventory reporting, and stock monitoring tools are all part of the package.

Shopify’s POS inventory system scored a 4.2 out of 5 score based on our criteria, outperforming major rivals like Square and Lightspeed in cross-channel inventory management functionality. The system’s comprehensive, multichannel inventory management, as well as buy ordering features, mobile applications, and a user-friendly interface, received good honors. Shopify, on the other hand, was unable to climb higher in our rankings due to costly software costs and a lack of customization possibilities.

Shopify POS Standout Features of the Inventory

• Purchase online, pick up in store; buy online, return/exchange in store; and buy in-store, ship to customer are just some of the omnichannel transactions that can be made with centralized inventory management.
• Create collections for various seasons or categories, manage several versions, and give SKUs to your products.
• Inventory status: As items are received, transported, and orders are fulfilled, keep track of their state and location.
• Transfer items between locations, take rapid counts with a barcode scanner, and accept orders with a barcode scanner for smart inventory management.
• Create and manage purchase orders, as well as keep track of vendors and suppliers.
• Demand forecasts, inventory analysis, sale item recommendations, low-stock reports, and more are all part of the reporting and analytics process.
• Stocky app: Stocky is an inventory management app by Shopify for POS Pro users. Many of the Shopify Features of the Inventory can be managed through Stocky.

Building your online shop is the first step in utilizing Shopify to manage inventory; from there, you can link Shopify POS and manage multichannel sales. Read our tutorial on how to set up a Shopify shop.

Vend: Best for Large-Inventory Brick-and-Mortar Retailers

Vend

4.20 OUT OF 5 STARS FOR THE OVERALL PERFORMANCE

What We Enjoy

• App for scanning
• Reporting that may be customized
• Forecasting demand

What Isn’t There

• For the base plan, imposes a monthly sales turnover limit.
• There isn’t a reporting app.
• Customization choices are limited.

Pricing by Vendor

• Vend POS costs $99–$129 per month if billed annually, or $119–$159 per month if billed monthly.
• Additional Registers are $49 per month payable yearly or $59 per month billed monthly.
• Payment processing is dependant on the payment processor you choose.

Vend is a popular cloud-based POS system used by retailers worldwide and stands out as the best option for large retailers selling age-restricted products. Aside from being intuitive and Simple to use, Vend is Retail Access Control Standards (RACS) compliant, and easily integrates with payment processors like Worldpay that support high-risk businesses. It also includes unique features like a barcode scanning app, weighing scale integration, and product lookups from the sales floor.

Vend tied with Shopify, scoring 4.2 out of 5 based on our POS inventory system scoring criteria. Vend’s detailed Features of the Inventory including streamlined purchase ordering and shipment tracking, automation tools, and mobile scanning app earned the POS system a high score.

Vend, on the other hand, is the only supplier on our list that has a monthly turnover cap in its basic plan, and given that its monthly rates are already costly, the absence of mobile reporting and limited live assistance ultimately kept Vend from achieving a better grade.

Vend’s Standout Features of the Inventory

• App for scanning: Free barcode App for scanning for scanning and searching products, taking full or cycle stock counts that sync with your POS, receiving stock orders, and creating and sending inventory CSV files.
• Stock orders: Use Vend to create buy orders, monitor order and invoice numbers, manage supplier lists, and track delivery. Create custom reorder points to aid in the automation of stock order creation. Orders may be sent to suppliers directly from the POS.
• Product management: Upload products individually or in bulk, manage variations and composites, and store everything in a centralized catalog. Use your current product portfolio and integrate with ecommerce systems.
• Create and print new or existing barcodes using barcoding software.
• Building bespoke reports, seeing on-hand inventory levels, comprehensive sales statistics, and more are all possible with reporting and analytics. Reports may be exported as required, and real-time data can be accessed from anywhere.

Hike POS is the most feature-rich, cost-effective POS inventory software available.

Hike POS

4.15 OUT OF 5 STARS FOR THE OVERALL PERFORMANCE

What We Enjoy

• Subscriptions that are both affordable and scalable
• Inventory and customer information are centralized across several retail locations.
• Can manage a large inventory

What Isn’t There

• Upgrades are required for customized reporting and analytics.
• The ordering procedure for purchases might be cumbersome.
• Unreliability; downtime and inventory tracking issues are reported.

Increased Pricing

• Hike POS costs $59–$89 per month on a yearly basis. Monthly pricing ranges from $69 to $119 per month.
• Additional Registers are $39 per month and are invoiced on a monthly basis.
• Payment processing is dependant on the payment processor you choose.

Hike is a POS system for retail businesses with full Features of the Inventory and ecommerce integration right out of the box. The subscription structure is based on features required by business size. You can upgrade and downgrade easily, activating or deactivating outlets and registers with a touch of a button. With its competitive pricing, Hike is an ideal choice for seasonal retailers, pop up stores, and specialty shops that want a highly scalable POS solution.

Hike joins our list, earning a score of 4.15 out of 5 and receiving top marks for its User-Friendliness and inventory-specific features. It might not have a free plan like Square or Toast, but Hike offers a pricing structure that allows users to make most of its inventory management tools. However, users have complained of numerous reporting downtime and glitches. This, along with the lack of built-in processing option and full-service restaurant features, prevented Hike from claiming a higher spot in our roundup.

Hike Standout Features of the Inventory

• Easy bulk inventory upload: Upload thousands of SKUs to Hike using CSV files instead of a Hike-specific format. The system will only ask you to match data fields and will warn you if there are any formatting mistakes.
• Multiple categories, standard items, and products with variations may all be created, and SKUs and/or UPCs can be assigned to each. Configure inventory monitoring by product and use barcodes for each variety.
• Composite product bundling allows you to generate new items based on conventional products that are suitable for ingredient and menu inventories. Ideal for fast-casual eateries such as coffee shops and convenience stores that sell food.
• App for scanning: Hike’s App for scanning is compatible with Android and iOS devices. Use your smartphone or tablet to manage retail inventory counts, including partial counts.
• Hike’s iPad register software lets you to set up a checkout counter on your iPad. It also offers you access to your whole retail management system, which includes inventory management and reporting.

Conclusion

Sales must be processed, and supplies and items must be reordered in every retail and restaurant operation. Businesses can manage all of these demands in one location with a POS inventory system, which enables them to effortlessly ring sales, monitor items, analyze statistics, and reorder things.

Payment processing, inventory management, and low stock notifications are all basic capabilities in Lightspeed. It also provides unrivaled reporting and analytics, including configurable reports, graphs, and visual data, as well as report lessons. It’s the only POS system on our list with inventory management that comes packed with over 3,000 product catalogs for quick ordering. For a free trial, go to Lightspeed.

Lightspeed is a great place to start.

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