As an established business owner evaluating POS upgrades or replacements, your decision should balance current operational pain points with future growth requirements. The selection process requires careful consideration of multiple factors beyond basic functionality. We consulted with experienced business owners to understand their evaluation criteria and gather insights for making informed POS decisions.
Pricing
POS systems generally have recurring monthly costs, so it’s essential to make sure your business can cover the long-term expense. While you shouldn’t sign up for a plan that will break your budget, it may be worthwhile to choose a mid-level or high-tier plan that will be more beneficial over the long run than a basic package.
“An advanced POS may cost more but provides tools to scale,” said Haiko de Poel, owner of The Great Greek Charleston. “If growth is a goal, the extra investment in a sophisticated system will pay off.”
Jay Owen, CEO of Business Builders agreed. “If growth and scale are priorities, invest in a system with powerful features, even if [it] costs more,” he told us.
Dylan Cleppe, owner of OneStop Northwest, similarly said, “An advanced platform may cost more upfront but provide infrastructure to scale, avoiding replacement costs down the road.”
Industry-Specific Features
Many of the leading POS vendors today offer feature sets designed for specific industries. For example, Clover has different packages built for various sectors in mind, such as retail stores versus businesses in home and field services.
For Matt Foley, founder of LobsterOrder.com, choosing a restaurant-specific POS system was critical, leading his team to select Toast. “We had to choose this really because of its strong features and design for the food service business, [which is] very important for us having a seafood business,” he said.
Omnichannel Ease of Use
Your chosen POS system should be easy to navigate, especially across different sales channels. If you operate in multiple locations or offer e-commerce in addition to brick-and-mortar retail, using your POS solution should operate seamlessly in all situations.
Those needs drove Nathan Clark’s search when he was looking for a POS system as the CEO of Organix SEO Agency. “Our main criteria for selecting a POS were ease of use and smooth integration with our store. We also needed a system that could manage both our in-store and online sales,” he said.
Clark found Shopify “intuitive to use,” noting, “The way it seamlessly works with our store has been fantastic.”
Payment Options & Rates
During her quest for a POS system, Bas Rouge Farm & Forge owner Ivonne Vazquez found that “there were many factors to consider such as transaction fees, customer service, ability to accept many types of payments including NFC … the facility to integrate securely with my financial institution and quick processing time to add funds into my account.”
Prioritizing payment options and credit card processing rates led Vazquez to GoDaddy’s POS solution. “It had lower transaction fees, which is great for business,” she said. “Plus, the ability to tap, swipe or insert was also a deciding factor as it means I can cater to more groups of customers and their preferred payment methods, leading to a better overall customer experience.”
Scalability
With any enterprise, your objective is to keep growing and scale your business over time. That means your company’s needs will continue to evolve over time, too, which is why it’s important to choose a flexible POS system that can scale as your business does.
“Select a POS that can grow with your business,” Foley said. “For instance, Toast offers flexible pricing plans and additional features that can be added when needed, thus [making it] ideally suited for businesses preparing for growth.”
Integrations
Brett Henrichsen, owner of Posterprintshop, was particularly concerned about integrations and customizability. He liked that “Clover offered an open API to connect with our store,” and said business owners should “choose a POS that integrates completely with your current systems.”
Reports
During his search, Henrichsen also placed value on “in-depth sales reporting to optimize our business.” That’s a lesson de Poel learned the hard way.
“I wish I had evaluated analytics and data more closely,” he told us. “For catering, understanding sales trends and menu performance is key to growth. Clover’s basic reports don’t provide the insights I need.”
de Poel’s advice? “Determine your ‘must-haves’ and focus on systems that excel in those areas. Don’t just consider the basics,” he said. “For food businesses, consider inventory management, menu building and data analytics.”
