Best Convenience Store POS

Convenience Store POS Systems Reviews

We compiled a list of the top POS software providers offering services for convenience stores. We evaluated each vendor’s features, pricing transparency, and brand reputation. To learn more about how we chose the vendors on our list, check out our methodology section.

KORONA POS – Best for Best for C-Store Operations

Korona offers a robust POS system perfectly designed to fit the everyday needs of your C-store operations. It includes cashier security, allowing you to define specific cashier permissions so employees can only do what’s required for their jobs. The system also offers inventory management, EMV credit card machines, fast payment processing, and increased checkout times.

Korona POS is constantly working to improve itself, offering multiple services to streamline convenience store operations. Korona POS has cloud-based, real-time data and analytics, automatic re-order levels, product evaluations and metrics, c-store theft prevention features, age verification features, cashier action tracking, time-sensitive sales reports, loyalty programs, and much more.

Schedule a Demo Visit the KORONA POS website.

KORONA POS features

• Inventory management: Korona POS has a smart inventory system that knows when you need to reorder stock and predicts reorder dates.
• Sales Reporting: Tracks your profits and revenue, sell-through rate, average transaction amounts, gross margin ROI reports, and more.
• Various Payment Options: Korona POS processes all major types of payments, including EMV credit cards, to increase check speed and security.

How KORONA POS pricing works

Korona has two major pricing plans: Korona POS Core for $59/month and Korona POS Retail for $69/month. The Core plan includes features for simple business operations, including customer support, unlimited users and sales, gift cards, API assets, and more. The Retail plan includes everything in the core plan, as well as inventory counts, stock management, real-time tracking, and more.

Korona also offers additional module packages to enhance your POS system, including Korona Food, Korona Invoicing, Korona Franchise, and more. Depending on which modules you add, the prices range from $10 to $50 a month.

What markets does KORONA POS serve?

Korona POS serves all types of retail businesses, and its features are perfect for convenience stores, whether small, franchised, or large. It can meet your specific needs.

Read our full KORONA POS Review.

Lightspeed – Best for Multiple Locations

Lightspeed is a great POS system for convenience stores due to its inventory management, unified commerce, real-time insights, and dedicated and fast support teams ready to help you 24/7. Lightspeed improves inventory accuracy across all locations by tracking shrink and discrepancies, reordering and receiving stock, managing online orders, and more.

Lightspeed gives you full visibility across your C-store, identifying trends, tracking updates in real-time, and using forecasting tools. It also helps you automate your marketing so you can attract more customers, no matter where they shop.

Get Started Visit Lightspeed’s website.

Lightspeed Retail features

• Inventory management: Lightspeed’s robust inventory management system reduces stockouts and overstocking while giving you visibility across multiple locations and channels.
• Sales Reporting: Provides real-time sales data as well as customizable reports for product and team performance.
• Various Payment Options: Lightspeed lets you meet your customers where they shop, whether online or in person. Its POS accepts all types of payment, including cash, cards, and digital.

How Lightspeed Retail pricing works

Lightspeed has three payment plans: Basic, Core, and Plus. Each plan’s price is dependent on your country of residence, the number of locations, and the number of registers you need.

In the United States, the Basic plan costs $89 per month when you have one location and one register. The price increases for each register added (e.g., the Basic plan increases to $148 a month for two registers at one location).

The Core plan costs $149 per month for one location and one register, while the Plus plan costs $289 per month for the same.

What markets does Lightspeed Retail serve?

Lightspeed focuses on retail POS for all sized businesses, but it can serve restaurants and golf courses as well.

Square POS – Best for Basic POS Needs

Square helps convenience stores grow how they want, growing with you and your business. It takes all major forms of payment, allows you to sell everywhere, and manages inventory.

With Square, you can quickly search, scan, and weigh items, scan IDs, sell online and in-store, and track stock and cycle counts. It also provides insights into sales trends, profit margins, and top-performing brands to help you make informed decisions. Square’s intuitive POS system also ensures that you can quickly train employees by assigning different roles, passcodes, and permissions for each type of employee.

Get Started Visit Square’s website.

Square Retail features

• Inventory management: You can create items by scanning GTINs or using the bulk import tool. Square catches low stock early, counts inventory as needed, and allows you to purchase orders in one place.
• Sales Reporting: Square tracks what sells most by item, category, time frame, and location. It also provides a daily snapshot of your inventory, helping you make smart purchasing decisions.
• Various Payment Options: Square accepts all major payment methods, offers refunds and exchanges, handles offline payments, and can add hardware to every checkout point.

How Square Retail pricing works

Square offers three pricing plans: Free, Plus, and Premium. The Free plan is $0 a month plus processing fees (which range from 2.6% to 3.5% with an additional 15¢ to 30¢ per transaction depending on the type of payment). It offers basic POS and inventory management features.

Square’s Plus plan is $89 per month plus processing fees. This is the best plan for retailers and convenience stores. It offers advanced inventory features, barcode label printing, COGS reports, and more. Finally, Square’s Premium plan is custom pricing, which is best for large and established businesses.

What markets does Square POS serve?

Square primarily serves retail businesses and beauty service providers, but it also helps various service industries, including home & commercial, pet services, transportation, and more.

Read our full Square Review.

Loyverse – Best for Mobile POS

Loyverse is an easy-to-use point-of-sale system that helps you run your convenience store. Loyverse utilizes an app, which can integrate with the best payment providers, to increase checkout speed, allowing you to sell from anywhere. The system is also compatible with various hardware, like cash drawers, receipt printers, label printers, and more.

With Loyverse, you can configure the POS to meet any business needs, whether in-store systems or in the field. With the app, you can turn your iPad or Android tablet into a modern cash register. You can manage employees and set up separate cashier access. Loyverse allows you to analyze sales, manage inventory, offer loyalty programs, and integrate your POS with various tools, such as accounting, e-commerce, or marketing.

Compare Quotes Visit Expert Market’s website.

Loyverse features

• Inventory management: Loyverse allows you to create new items, check their stock status, and receive emails about low inventory. You can send purchase orders as well as predict potential revenue and profits.
• Sales Reporting: The system provides valuable insights into your store’s performance, including sales by category and item. You can also see your revenue in real-time and check on your employees’ performance by time periods.
• Various Payment Options: Loyverse offers an integrated payment system that accepts major credit, debit cards, cash, and more.

How Loyverse pricing works

Loyverse POS is free and allows you to manage multiple stores, see sales analytics, manage inventory, and offer loyalty programs. However, you can choose from multiple add-ons to enhance your POS system. You can pay for these add-ons monthly or annually, and if you choose to pay annually, the first two months are free. Each add-on comes with a 14-day free trial.

Loyverse’s Unlimited Sales History is $5/month/store or $50/year/store. The Employee Management costs $25/month/store or $250/year/store. The Advanced Inventory is $25/month/store or $250/year/store.

What markets does Loyverse serve?

Loyverse serves all types of markets, including retail, restaurants, coffee shops, bars, clothing stores, and, of course, convenience and grocery stores of all sizes.

Compare the best convenience store POS systems side-by-side 

What is Convenience Store POS?

A convenience store point-of-sale (POS) system combines hardware and software to handle sales transactions, manage inventory, and streamline store operations. These POS systems are often specifically tailored to your convenience store needs.

Convenience store POS systems usually include features such as sales processing, which enables quick and accurate checkout; inventory management, which tracks stock levels and automates reordering; payment processing; employee management; and reporting and analytics. Some providers also include tools that verify the age of customers purchasing age-restricted items.

These POS systems can also include customer relationship management (CRM) software, which allows you to track customer purchases, offer loyalty programs, and personalize customer interactions.

Benefits of Convenience Store POS

A good POS system brings a lot of benefits to convenience stores.

• Increased efficiency: POS systems streamline operations, improve the checkout process, and reduce errors.
• Improved inventory control: Many providers offer some kind of inventory tracking software that tracks inventory levels and automates reorders, reducing waste and preventing stockouts.
• Data insights: POS tools can provide valuable data about stock, employee productivity, expenses, customer habits, and more, making it easier to make informed decisions.
• Reduced costs: With streamlined operations and detailed insights, convenience stores can save time and money.
• Enhanced customer experience: Many POS systems offer some form of customer loyalty programs, which can personalize interactions, speed up checkout, and lead to increased customer satisfaction.

How much does Convenience Store POS cost?

The cost of convenience store POS tools range widely. Based on the providers on our list, business owners can expect to pay anywhere from $0 a month to $89 a month, plus processing fees. The more advanced services you need directly impact the cost. POS providers may also charge you for each register or piece of hardware needed in addition to how many locations you need serviced.

Korona POS offers two main plans, but their plan for retail businesses starts at $69 a month. However, Lightspeed has three plans, the cost of which is determined on the number of locations and registers you need, as well as which country your store is located in. For one location and one register, Lightspeed’s lowest plan is $89 a month. Square also has three pricing plans, the cheapest of which is free (aside from varying processing fees). Similarly Loyverse’s base plans are all free each month, but you can pay for advanced POS services, which range anywhere from $5 to $25 a month.

Retail POS systems frequently asked questions (FAQ)

What does POS mean in a store?

POS stands for point-of-sale. It’s a system that allows you to process customer payments. In a store, it’s usually made up of different types of hardware and software, such as cash registers, barcode scanners, receipt printers, and card readers.

What are the main types of POS?

There are four main types of POS systems that small businesses use: A legacy POS system, which is an older, hardware-based system that stores data locally; a tablet, which is often touch screen and allows stores to take payments and perform other tasks; a mobile device, which is a portable POS system, allowing businesses to take payment from smartphones or other mobile devices; and the cloud-based POS system, which stores data on a remote location and often requires an internet connection.

What is the difference between a POS and a payment system?

Generally a payment processor focuses solely on facilitating transactions, while a POS system is comprehensive, including both hardware and software to manage sales, inventory, customer data, and more.

How we chose the best convenience store POS systems

To find the best pos systems for convenience stores, we gathered a list of the top POS providers that offer services for convenience stores. From there, we selected vendors that stood out for their features, brand reputation, and pricing transparency.

We scored companies on a scale of 1 (poor) to 5 (excellent) across the following criteria, each worth 25% of our total score:

• Variety of features: We selected vendors that offered features beyond basic POS services, specifically ones designed to fit convenience and retail stores needs.
• Pricing transparency: In addition to looking at features, we chose vendors based on how transparent they are with their pricing and how that pricing compares to competitors.
• Brand reputation: We look at customer reviews and ratings published on trustworthy third-party review sites to get a sense of each vendor’s reputation with its customers.