If you haven’t upgraded the POS software for your supermarket lately, now is the time to do it.
With profit margins tighter than ever, independent supermarkets need better ways to cut costs, make smarter decisions, and retain customers.
Supermarket POS software gives small businesses the tools to do just that. In this article, we’ll give you the must-have features every supermarket POS system should have, along with the top providers.
Implementing new POS software at a supermarket can be daunting. For many stores, it can feel like their old system isn’t perfect but good enough.
Unfortunately, as prices increase and competition heats up, “good enough” may not cut it. Independent supermarkets need to take every advantage they can get, and a modern POS system provides many tangible benefits for small businesses.
Think of it this way: a supermarket POS system helps you give customers the same convenient shopping experience of a bigger chain while freeing up your staff to spend more time helping customers.
In other words, updating your supermarket POS software is a win-win.
With so many POS systems out there, it can be hard to know which one is the right fit for your business. At a minimum, a POS system for supermarkets should have these eight features.
A great supermarket offers a wide range of staples from meat and produce to cleaning and pharmaceutical products. Keeping track of all these items is essential to avoiding stockouts and keeping customers happy.
However, that’s easier said than done, especially if you’re tracking inventory by hand.
POS software for supermarkets includes a suite of inventory management tools. At a basic level, this creates a list of all your products on the POS system that are automatically updated when you receive invoices or make a sale.
However, beyond the basics, a supermarket inventory management system can:
Inventory management software reduces the amount of tedious work in your day-to-day while giving you better visibility, so you can spend less time pacing the aisles and more time with customers.
With such a wide range of products, supermarkets also have to juggle many different suppliers and vendors. Without a centralized place to store that information, reorders can become chaotic and fray your vendor relationships.
Vendor management tools in a supermarket POS system considerably improve the receiving and invoicing workflow. Today’s POS systems allow you to receive inventory against a purchase order or on the fly.
You can also set low stock alerts based on your vendor’s lead times and historical sales data to reorder the right amount at the right time. Purchase orders can be generated automatically, eliminating the need to manually write them out every time.
Bringing in new customers is good, but retaining customers is even better. That’s because returning customers tend to spend more money and are more likely to spread positive word of mouth or leave a review.
One of the easiest and most cost-effective methods to encourage repeat visits is setting up a customer loyalty program. At its most basic, a supermarket loyalty program lets customers earn points for purchases, but you can get creative by customizing your loyalty program.
For example, you could:
However, a customer loyalty program is only tempting if it’s convenient and doesn’t slow down the checkout process. That’s why it’s vital to use a supermarket POS with customer loyalty features built in.
Local supermarkets stand out through their homemade or imported items. However, tracking and selling them can be challenging when you need to enter prices manually.
A better solution is to enter a custom SKU into your inventory management system and then print a unique barcode. That way, cashiers can easily ring up products made in-house just as quickly as something else.
You can also create embedded barcodes for sell-by-weight items to use with scanner scales.
Related Read: What Is the Best Grocery Store Barcode Scanner? 10 Top Options
Do you sell locally supplied meat or ready-to-eat items? Then you need a method to easily weigh out and price items at checkout.
The easiest way to do this is to use an integrated scale. With an integrated scale and printer, you can weigh items and then print a label to scan at checkout. This is particularly helpful for stores with delis.
The scales available for use depend on what POS system you choose. Some POS systems, including IT Retail, support many popular brands, such as Zebra, while other companies have smaller compatibility lists. So, if you have existing scales, check if your POS provider is compatible.
A lot of questions come up when you run a supermarket, such as:
…and many more. But how can you answer these questions without spending hours crunching the numbers?
The answer: sales and inventory reports. Whenever you receive an invoice, clock in an employee, make a sale, or do anything else on your POS system, it generates data. Your POS system can then synthesize that data into a variety of reports.
Reports give you an honest look into your grocery store's key performance indicators (KPIs) and make it easier to spot seasonal and sales trends to help you make better decisions.
Reports also help you provide accurate financial data to accountants and other external groups.
Online grocery shopping is an excellent way to reach more customers and compete with bigger chains. The first step to making that happen is using a compatible POS system.
A supermarket POS system will track your inventory levels and share that database with e-commerce platforms (e.g., a website or popular services like InstaCart or Mercato). This ensures that when customers browse your selection online, it’s accurate and up to date.
Even if you’re not interested in or quite ready to offer grocery delivery, e-commerce integration is still vital for offering local pickup, which continues to be popular with customers.
Since the vast majority of people find local businesses online, a website that features an accurate view of your inventory is an easy way to showcase the types of items you have available.
It should be clear by now that a supermarket point of sale system does much more than process payments. However, a frictionless checkout experience is still essential.
Look for a POS system that can process multiple forms of payment, including:
Understand the payment processing fees you’ll be paying. They tend to fall between 1.5% and 3.5% for every transaction, which doesn’t seem like much but can add up over time.
Additionally, if you sell alcohol, tobacco, or other items that are considered high risk, you’ll need to use a high-risk payment processor to offer non-cash payments.
Now that you have a better idea of how POS software for supermarkets can benefit your store, let’s get into specifics.
Every POS provider has its strengths and weaknesses, and while we wish we could say our top-rated solution is a perfect fit for everyone, that simply wouldn’t be true.
Here are four recommendations.
Markt POS (spelled without the “E”) is a newer but solid option for butchers, small supermarkets, and other specialty food markets.
Standout features
Pricing
Markt POS works directly with businesses to create custom quotes. Use their pricing configurator tool to learn more.
In addition to inventory tracking and other stand features, Toast boasts flexible order and table management, making it ideal for food markets with made-to-order meals or grocerants.
Standout features
Pricing
Toast’s retail POS plan starts at $69/month with optional paid add-ons for functions like payroll and third-party integrations.
ECRS focuses on creating innovative retail solutions, including leaning into AI-driven solutions that streamline your marketing and inventory management.
Standout features
Pricing
ECRS offers custom quotes through its website.
IT Retail is built on over 25 years of experience creating solutions for independent grocers and supermarkets.
Standout features
Pricing
We work closely with your business to create custom software and hardware packages that fit your store’s unique needs. Try our pricing configurator tool to get started.
The best way to evaluate POS software for your supermarket is to try it out for yourself. Schedule demos and have a list of questions ready based on difficulties you’ve had or features you’re interested in seeing.
If a POS software provider can’t answer your questions during a demo (or direct you to someone who can), then be cautious — this could be a preview of how customer support might be down the line.
We may be biased, but we think it’s crucial that a software provider truly understands their clients’ businesses. At IT Retail, we have over 25 years of experience working directly with grocery stores, supermarkets, and international markets.
Collaborating closely with our customers, we build tools that are truly tailored to your industry's unique needs and challenges.
Schedule your custom demo today to learn how IT Retail can help improve the customer experience, simplify inventory, and more.