More than half of customers report irritation with long checkout lines. And when it comes to convenience stores, many of those agitated customers may decide to put back their sodas and try another store rather than waiting in a long line at yours.
Let’s see if this scenario sounds familiar: Your convenience store is bustling, full of commuters grabbing coffees or snacks on their way into the office. They don’t have much time to make their purchases, so you’re doing your best to work through the line. Then, your cash register glitches. The line grows as you wrestle with outdated technology, calculating change by hand and processing payments.
If this scene sounds familiar, your cash register is likely not built for a high-traffic convenience store environment. Your store — and stress levels — will be much better off with a modern solution designed for the volume of transactions you need to process.
This post walks through the features convenience store owners need from their cash registers and point of sale (POS) systems. Then, we’ll discuss five top options you might consider for your store.
Do You Need More Than a Cash Register for Convenience Store Operations?
In years past, convenience store owners could get by with just a basic cash register. But in the modern environment, if you’re not taking advantage of the benefits offered by a full point of sale system, you might just fall behind.
Related Read: How To Start a Convenience Store: 8 Steps to Success
But what are those benefits? Some of the critical benefits convenience store owners can enjoy when switching to an integrated POS solution include:
- Flexible Payment Options: This is no longer a cash-first world. With a modern POS solution, you can process credit/debit cards, mobile payments, loyalty points, and more.
- Dual Pricing: Save on credit card processing fees by offering passing payment processing fees to customers who pay with a card. You can also eliminate those fees for customers who pay with cash.
- Inventory Management: Stop tracking your inventory with manual spreadsheets and other inefficient processes. Use your point of sale system’s automatic inventory tracking features to get stock alerts when a bestselling item is running low.
- Store Analytics: Take the guesswork out of store management by using real-time dashboards that provide insights into sales, transaction size, margins, and other KPIs.
- Loyalty Programs: Use built-in tools to create customized loyalty and reward programs, keeping your best customers coming back.
- Employee Management: Use your point of sale system to track employee hours and sales performance and set granular permissions.
- Age Verification: Manage tobacco, alcohol, and lottery sales more effectively with integrated age verification and compliance monitoring.
All-in-one POS systems consolidate everything from inventory to payroll to analytics in a single platform. Rather than piecing together separate systems, convenience stores need integrated POS solutions with the right combination of software and hardware. Top providers offer comprehensive packages tailored to convenience stores with everything you need built in.
Let’s explore some of the best options for POS providers with hardware like cash registers for convenience stores.
1. C-Store POS
C-Store POS offers a point of sale solution designed specifically for convenience store owners to help streamline operations and boost sales. Our system has an intuitive interface, unlimited product database, and all the tools convenience stores need to run their businesses efficiently. With robust reporting, inventory control, e-commerce integrations, and checkout features tailored to c-stores, our goal is to help you better manage your business, serve customers faster, and boost profitability.
Hardware options:
We offer a fully customizable hardware solution. You can select the tools you need and skip the ones you don’t choosing from our catalog of durable, top-quality tools, including:
- Widescreen touch PC
- Thermal receipt printer
- Barcode laser scanner
- Pinpad
- Mini keyboard
- 16” cash drawer
- Label printers
- Customer displays
- Scales
- Handheld inventory devices
- Magnetic Stripe Readers
Related Read: 5 Top Convenience Store Inventory Management Solutions
Key features:
- Easy inventory tracking and management
- Employee time management and scheduling
- Sales and performance reporting
- Flexible payment types like EMV, gift cards, etc.
- Integrated dual pricing to save on credit card fees
- Intuitive interface and checkout
- Age verification
- Built-in lottery ticket sales
2. Lightspeed
Lightspeed is a cloud-based point of sale software solution designed for retail stores, restaurants, and golf courses. Their solution offers tools for inventory management, employee management, customer data tracking, and reporting while also supporting e-commerce integrations.
Hardware options:
Lightspeed offers preselected kits for iPad-based point of sale solutions and desktop point of sale solutions. You can also select hardware add-ons:
- Label printers
- Cash drawers
- Barcode scanners
- Mobile card readers
Key features:
- Real-time visibility into sales and inventory
- Tools for managing multiple locations
- Integrated payment processing
- Custom reporting
- APIs to connect other software systems
- Multi-channel selling (in-store, online, etc.)
3. National Retail Solutions
National Retail Solutions (NRS) offers cloud-based retail point of sale software and hardware solutions. Their software solution includes digital register functions, inventory management, sales reporting, and more. You can also use NRS for promotional tools and take advantage of their Boss Revolution integration for simple money transfers.
Hardware options:
NRS offers a prebuilt kit with five critical point of sale hardware tools and multiple options for add-ons:
- 15" touchscreen register terminal
- Barcode/ID scanner
- Customer-facing display screen
- Heavy duty metal cash drawer
- Thermal receipt printer
- EMV card reader (add-on)
- UPS backup battery (add-on)
Key features:
- Easy-to-use touchscreen interface
- Barcode scanning for quick checkout
- Inventory tracking and management
- Customizable sales reports
- Built-in customer loyalty program (BR Club)
4. POS Nation
POS Nation offers a point of sale solution tailored to a variety of small and mid-sized businesses, including grocery stores, liquor shops, and convenience stores. They offer an advanced suite of tools including integrated lottery sales, inventory management, scan data reporting, and employee management solutions.
Hardware options:
POS Nation offers customized hardware packages. Business owners can build their perfect solution from a range of tools and systems, including:
- Touch PCs/terminals
- Receipt printers
- Cash drawers
- Barcode scanners
- Pinpads
Key features:
- Customizable hotkeys for quick item lookup
- Dual pricing/cash discounting capabilities
- Robust inventory tracking and management
- 55+ reports with customization options
- Built-in lottery ticket sales
- Unlimited product database
- Break pack inventory tracking
5. Clover
Clover offers point of sale systems for retail stores, restaurants, and service businesses like salons. You can use their cloud-based point of sale software for payment processing, advanced reporting, integrated loyalty programs, and online ordering.
Hardware options:
Clover offers both countertop and portable POS devices, allowing business owners to check out customers from the register or anywhere on the floor. They also offer additional hardware accessories like:
- Card readers
- Cash drawers
- Barcode scanners
Key features:
- Accepts all major payment types (card, contactless, mobile wallets, etc.)
- Real-time sales and business reporting
- Tools for inventory management
- Built-in customer engagement features like loyalty programs and email marketing
- Options for online ordering, delivery, and pickup
- Table management and employee management capabilities
Thinking Beyond Cash Registers for Convenience Stores: Optimize Your Operations
Upgrading your basic cash register to a feature-rich POS system is the best way to simplify operations and boost profits in your convenience store. The solutions covered in this post showcase some of the tools and accessories you can use to modernize the checkout process in your store.
However, convenience stores have unique needs that off-the-shelf POS systems often can’t meet. C-stores require special functionality and features from their point of sale solutions, from lightning-fast transactions to targeted promotions to consolidated financials across a chain.
C-Store POS is the only solution reviewed that is specifically engineered for convenience store owners. Our system seamlessly combines robust inventory tracking, mix and match bundle pricing, omnichannel payments, and real-time analytics tailored to the c-store environment.
If you're looking to streamline point of sale workflows in order to better focus on customers and growth, schedule a personalized demo of C-Store POS today.
