Becoming your neighborhood’s best grocery store takes more than offering the highest quality products or lowest prices.
You also need the right tools to manage your day-to-day operations, create an excellent shopping experience, and keep your shelves and coolers stocked with exactly what your customers want.
Fortunately, a powerful grocery store point of sale (POS) system is the tool that checks all these boxes.
In this blog, we’ll explore what a grocery store POS system does, the six key features to look for, and three providers to consider.
What Does a Grocery Store POS System Do?
Let’s start with the basics.
A grocery store POS system with the right selection of features should act as your most valuable business asset, performing three key functions to keep your business running smoothly.
- Checkout: Your POS system shapes the checkout process, ensuring accuracy and enabling your cashiers to provide fast, friendly service.
- Inventory management: Your POS system tracks your inventory in real time, helping you keep your customers’ go-to products in stock.
- Marketing: Your POS system helps you attract new shoppers, build a loyal customer base, and increase revenue.
In short, your grocery store POS system is much more than a cash register; it’s a comprehensive tool that can save you time and help you grow your business.
Now, let’s explore six specific features that can help you accomplish these goals.
1. Built-In Payment Processing
Integrated payment processing is a non-negotiable when searching for a reliable grocery store POS system. This feature lets you process sales transactions quickly, securely, and accurately.
For the easiest checkout process, look for a POS system that can handle various payment types, including credit cards, debit cards, mobile and contactless options, and EBT.
Choosing a grocery store POS system with modern payment processing technology will keep checkout lines short, prevent fraud, and build customers’ trust in your business.
2. Customizable Layout
A customizable interface is another must-have ingredient for speedy checkouts.
Your POS system should allow you to rearrange your touchscreen layout to put your cashiers’ most-used tools right at their fingertips. It should also let you create custom hotkeys, letting them quickly ring up items without barcodes.
This feature is even more important if you’ve embraced the grocerant trend and sell made-to-order meals like sandwiches and wraps. Your cashiers can add modifiers like “no tomatoes” or “extra mayo” to ensure customers get exactly what they want.
3. Grocery Inventory Management
Inventory management is one of your toughest responsibilities as a grocer — but the right grocery store POS system can help you walk the fine line between stockouts and spoilage.
Since your POS system plays such a key role in your inventory management approach, let’s break it down into three specific features.
- Perishable stock tracking: Your POS system should give you an overview of what’s in stock and when it expires, helping you prevent spoilage and waste.
- Deli scale integration: Your POS system should integrate with a deli scale and printer to simplify your butcher and deli department operations.
- Automated purchase orders: Your POS system should detect when you’re running low on a product and automatically generate a purchase order to replace it.
To get features like these, we recommend opting for grocery-specific software rather than a POS system designed for general retail.
Related read: Why Is Grocery Inventory Management So Important? [+ 3 Best Tools]
4. A Customer Loyalty Program
Repeat business is the most essential ingredient for grocery store success — which is why you need a customer loyalty program.
A loyalty program rewards shoppers for choosing your store and incentivizes them to spend more during each visit. The more they shop with you, the more discounts and perks they’ll unlock.
Your grocery store POS system should include a built-in customer loyalty program, making it easy to customize your rewards structure, enroll new members, and track the program’s success over time.
Another perk of this feature is that you can collect and store your customers’ contact information, making it easier to stay in touch with them through email or text. You can send regular newsletters and timely updates about new seasonal products and upcoming promotions to keep them engaged and informed.
5. E-Commerce Integration
The online grocery shopping trend is here to stay, and more customers than ever are opting for convenient pickup and delivery options.
That’s why you need a grocery store POS system with e-commerce integration. This feature lets you partner with a grocery e-commerce platform and seamlessly manage your online and in-store sales.
6. Advanced Reporting and Analytics
The final feature on our list is an advanced reporting and analytics suite.
Your grocery POS system constantly collects data about your store’s operations, monitoring your inventory turnover, sales trends, and customer shopping habits. It should break this data down into meaningful insights to help you make data-driven decisions, meet customers’ needs, and grow your store.
For example, if your POS system reveals an uptick in sales of organic products, you might expand your organic and health-conscious offerings to align with your customers’ changing preferences.
3 Grocery Store POS Options
You’ve made a list of must-have features; now it’s time to find a POS provider who checks the right boxes.
With so many options on the market, finding the perfect POS system for your grocery store can be overwhelming. That’s why we’ve done the hard work for you and created this shortlist of the top three grocery POS solutions.
1. Square
First is Square. This popular POS provider is known for their user-friendly software, sleek hardware, and affordable pricing options.
We’ve included them on our list because they’re a great introduction to POS systems and a solid option for new grocery store owners. Their starter plans include only basic features like simple inventory tracking and payment processing, so you can experiment with these tools in a low-risk way.
However, Square’s lack of grocery-specific features makes it a less-than-ideal fit for established grocery stores.
Square’s most popular pricing plan starts at $29/month.
2. Lightspeed
Next up is Lightspeed, an option for grocers who want powerful, customizable POS software.
Lightspeed offers far more advanced features than Square, including omnichannel management, personalized promotions, and advanced inventory tracking and forecasting. Lightspeed’s software also runs on an iPad, making it a convenient option for retailers on the go.
Lightspeed isn’t the most user-friendly or affordable solution, so make sure it’s the right fit for you and your budget before committing.
Lightspeed’s pricing options range from $109 to $339/month.
3. Markt POS
Our final (and favorite) grocery store POS solution is Markt POS.
Designed by and for small grocers like you, Markt POS includes everything you need to run an efficient and profitable grocery store — including perishable inventory management, a built-in customer loyalty program, flexible e-commerce integration, and more.
Plus, our team of grocery industry experts is available 24/7 to help you make the most of your grocery store software.
We offer pricing options to meet every grocer’s needs and budget, so check out our build and price tool for a custom quote.
Savor Grocery Store Success With POS Nation
Want to become your neighborhood’s go-to grocery store? Then don’t settle for less than the best when it comes to grocery store POS systems.
Markt POS, our unique grocery store POS solution, is specifically designed to help your grocery store thrive. With Markt POS, you can maintain the perfect balance of inventory, attract and retain customers, and boost your profits — all while saving time.
Schedule your personalized demo today to see our grocery POS software in action.
