The average day for an independent grocer can quickly turn from pleasant to chaotic. With so many products to track and customers to help, it can feel like you’re constantly reacting to new problems instead of planning for the future.
The right technology can help. Grocery store point of sale systems are designed to automate manual tasks, make inventory management a breeze, and improve checkout — all to make your customers’ shopping experience better.
However, with so many grocery POS systems to choose from, which one is the right fit for your business?
In this article, we’ll dive into the must-have features every grocer needs along with some nice-to-have extras and top providers.
Grocery POS Systems: 5 Must-Have Features
No two POS systems are built the same. They all have specific strengths and weaknesses. However, to get the main benefits of a grocery POS system, you should ensure any provider you consider has these key features at a minimum.
1. Inventory and Vendor Management
The most challenging aspect of running an independent grocery store is managing inventory. At any given moment you have to keep popular items in stock, know which products need reordering, and manage various suppliers.
Effective inventory management is the key to keeping customers happy and reducing costs. However, doing it manually can be extremely inefficient and error-prone — even for small stores — and lead to you running out of items at the wrong time or overstocking.
Instead, use the inventory management software built into a grocery POS system to:
- Update your current stock levels automatically when receiving an invoice or making a sale
- Set low stock alerts based on average sales and supplier lead times to avoid stockouts and optimize stock levels
- Add or change products on the fly, no matter where you are
- Manage your supplier information and generate purchase orders
- Perform faster inventory counts and audits
With a comprehensive inventory management system, you can spend less time roaming the aisles and checking stock rooms and more time with customers.
2. Flexible Payments
While you could use a separate system to process credit and debit card payments, it slows down checkout and requires you to reconcile sales and inventory at the end of the day.
Grocery store POS systems make accepting debit, credit, and contactless payments easy. They help speed up checkout and allow customers to pay using their preferred methods. Many systems also include built-in options for EBT payments.
Integrated payments also allow you to take advantage of up-to-date sales information for use in reports and inventory tracking.
3. Scale Integrations
Having a meat counter with cuts from local farms or selling homemade goods is an excellent way to make your store stand out. However, weighing out items and calculating prices manually is a fast-track ticket to frustrated customers and long lines.
If you plan to sell variable-weight items, integrated scales are a must. An integrated scale lets you enter a product code, weigh the item, and automatically print a label to scan at checkout.
If you pre-cut meat or pre-portion ready meals, you can also put in the number of items in inventory to know exactly how much you have left on hand without walking the floor.
4. Inventory and Sales Reports
Many small grocers find themselves making decisions based on intuition instead of data. While data-driven insights might sound like something only available to big chains and corporations, you’d be wrong.
Modern grocery POS systems collect invaluable data every time you make a sale, receive an invoice, or enter a discount code. The reports on your POS system then contextualize all this data in reports to give you visibility into store performance.
Using reports you can understand things like:
- Average daily sales
- Average cart size
- Bestsellers and items frequently bought together
- Peak hours
- Inventory turnover and shrinkage sources
… and more.
This information can help you make smarter, more cost-effective decisions about staffing, store layout, and product selection.
Related Read: 6 Ways To Use Grocery Store Data Analytics
5. Custom SKUs and Labels
Many small grocery stores pride themselves on their specialty items, many of which are locally sourced or made in-house. Unfortunately, these same specialty items can complicate running a grocery store without the right POS system.
With custom SKUs, you can add and price homemade products and other items that don’t have a barcode. To make selling them even easier, you can use a barcode printer to print custom labels that can be scanned at checkout like any other regular item.
Flexible SKUs also let you build custom product bundles as part of a seasonal promotion or upselling strategy.
Grocery POS System: 4 Nice-To-Have Features
While these features aren’t required to run a grocery store, they can add value to your brand and provide more ways to engage with your customers.
1. Customer Loyalty
Retaining customers is important for any small business, especially since returning customers tend to spend more than new ones.
Customer loyalty programs are a highly effective strategy for keeping customers coming back to earn points. According to some studies, over 70% of loyalty members will spend more to optimize the number of points they receive.
Pair that with strategic discounts, double-point items or days, and other creative grocery store promotions, and customers will be clamoring to see what you have in store next.
2. Age Verification and ID Scanning
If your small grocery store also offers wine, beer, or tobacco, you’ll need to take extra care to avoid underage sales and stay in compliance.
Some grocery POS systems integrate with ID scanners that help you quickly verify the validity of a customer’s license. This feature will help reduce the chances of human error, especially when the store gets busy.
3. E-Commerce Support
Online sales and curbside pickup continue to be popular. Offering curbside pickup or partnering with popular delivery services like Mercato or InstaCart helps put your store in front of more customers.
However, these services require a POS system that connects your in-store and online inventory. This will ensure that customers browsing your website or looking for groceries on a service will have an accurate view of your stock.
4. Order Management Features
A delicatessen counter or grocerant gives people a reason to come to your store outside of grocery shopping alone.
However, you won’t be able to use just any grocery POS system to manage orders. Instead of using a separate system, look for a grocery POS with order management features. This will allow cashiers to:
- Input order modifications
- Send orders to kitchen printers
- Customize menus
… and more.
5 Top Grocery Store POS Systems
Now that you have an idea of what a grocery POS system can do, which provider is right for you?
While we’d love to say our top-rated solution is a good fit for every business, that wouldn’t be true. Every provider has strengths and weaknesses that will fit your business needs.
To make your search easier, we’ve compiled a list of five top options.
1. IT Retail
At IT Retail, we have over 25 years of experience working with independent grocers to build cost-effective solutions that fit their unique needs.
Standout features
- Improve inventory processes with automated invoicing and receiving, real-time stock level updates, perishable inventory tracking, and low stock alerts.
- Create the perfect customer loyalty program for your store to keep customers coming back for more.
- Offer local pickup and delivery, or partner with services like Mercato or InstaCart to expand your reach and boost sales.
- See your bestsellers, understand inventory turnover, and other key performance indicators using pre-built reports.
Pricing
We offer custom quotes based on your business’ unique needs. Try our pricing configurator tool to get started.
2. ECRS CATAPULT POS
ECRS focuses on making scalable, innovative systems for retailers and grocery stores, including many automated features to streamline marketing and inventory management.
Standout features
- Leverage advanced AI to automate your inventory tracking and reordering processes.
- Send personalized marketing offers to customers based on their purchase history.
- Connect your grocery POS system with a wide number of services like Quickbooks, ShipStation, and more, using CATAPULT’s flexible integrations.
Pricing
ECRS offers custom quotes through their website and optional paid training courses and certifications.
3. Square
Square’s ease of use and user-friendly hardware have made it popular with smaller retailers. While lacking some industry-specific features, Square is a solid choice for new businesses running a small number of transactions.
Standout features
- Keep customers coming back with Square Loyalty customizable rewards.
- Simplify online sales and e-commerce through Square Online.
- Build your own POS with user-friendly hardware and flexible integrations.
- Track and manage inventory with low stock alerts, multi-location support, and more on Square’s Plus plan and above.
Price
Square Retail’s plus plan starts at $89/month and requires the use of Square hardware.
4. Markt POS
Markt POS (spelled without the “E”) is tailored toward small food markets (e.g., butchers, cheese shops, and specialty food markets), offering advanced features in a cost-effective package.
Standout features
- Easily weigh and price variable-weight items with flexible scale integrations and secure self-checkout hardware.
- Track and modify orders for grocerants and delis attached to your grocery store.
- Monitor inventory in real time and optimize stock levels with automatic low stock alerts.
- Offer flexible pricing, including mix and match promotions.
Pricing
Markt POS offers custom quotes based on your compatible hardware and business needs. Use their pricing tool to learn more.
5. Lightspeed
Lightspeed builds highly scalable solutions for hundreds of thousands of retailers worldwide. Lightspeed’s powerful multi-location tools make it ideal for chains and larger grocery operations.
Standout features
- Seamlessly manage multiple locations with franchise-level, multichannel inventory management.
- Offer tailored marketing with automated customer segmentation, built-in marketing templates, and multichannel marketing support.
- Gain insights into every facet of store and franchise performance with a mix of pre-built and custom reporting and analytics tools.
Pricing
Lightspeed’s Core plan starts at $149/mo.
IT Retail: A Grocery POS System With All the Features You Need at the Right Price
Whether you know exactly what features you need in a grocery POS system or are seeing them for the first time, follow this advice: take your time.
It should be clear that a grocery point of sale system isn’t just a way to process payments. It will touch every aspect of your business, and you and your staff will use it every day.
That’s why it’s important to schedule demos with multiple providers, ask lots of questions, and find a system that’s truly a right fit for you.
IT Retail is trusted by grocers nationwide, helping them simplify operations, boost sales, and delight their customers.
Schedule a custom demo today to see if IT Retail is a good fit for your business.
