How much does a point of sale system cost?

How much does a POS software subscription cost?

While there are some providers that do sell software for a single upfront charge, the most common method is to pay a monthly fee (sometimes this is billed annually – in other words, you’ll pay for 12 months in one go). The majority of providers will have a tiered system, ranging from a free or cheap plan to expensive premium packages.

Can I get POS software for free?

In short, yes. A number of providers offer free POS software, which will provide you with the basics you need to process payments, but it often comes at the cost of more advanced features. Another trade-off is that free plans often come with more expensive transaction fees.

Square, Zettle and SumUp all provide free POS software that’s good quality and comes with some decent features, despite being zero-cost. These plans are best for small, single location operations like cafés, pop-ups and mobile businesses.

Despite being free, our testing found that Zettle still provides a simple and intuitive POS interface. Source: Startups.co.uk

Here’s an example to show you what we mean: Square only offers its bulk inventory intake feature on its paid plan (£69 per month for the restaurants plan, and £49 per month for the retail plan). This tool would help streamline large deliveries for businesses that receive them, but would be less useful for those with small inventories.

How much are the paid plans?

Paid POS software tiers cover a broad price range, from as cheap as £19 per month to as expensive as £219 per month.

Paid plans can come with features like:

• Advanced inventory management tools
• Detailed data reports
• Insightful cost versus profit analyses

You can expect to pay between £30 and £100 per month for an entry level to mid-tier paid plan.

The first thing you should do before choosing a software tier is to determine the specific needs of your business.  POS systems are usually tailored towards businesses in either the retail or hospitality industry. A POS system for a retail business, like a pop-up clothes shop, will come with different features to a hospitality POS that’s been built for a multi-chain restaurant.

Food and beverage businesses will need industry specific features like floor planning, as demonstrated here in the Lightspeed Restaurant POS. Source: Startups.co.uk

Some are even more sector-specific – Epos Now, for example, has a dedicated POS system for pubs and bars, which includes features like one-tap ordering to streamline customer transactions.

You should decide what features are crucial to your operation (for example, a POS for takeaway businesses will need to accept mobile ordering) and look for providers and plans that cover these features.

Features you could look for include:

• Real-time reporting
• Detailed cost insights
• Multi-store support
• Mobile and QR code ordering
• Gift card creation and acceptance
• Loyalty reward programmes for customers
• Floor planning and table management
• Staff management
• Ingredient tracking
• Automated tip allocation

How much does POS hardware cost?

When talking about POS hardware, this is generally refers to the handheld terminals and countertop terminals you’ll use to access the frontend of the software, as well as take payments from your customers. It also incorporates any accessories you’ll need, like barcode scanners and printers.

The range of POS hardware provided by Clover, including a handheld POS terminal, countertop till and printer. Source: Startups.co.uk.

POS hardware can come in a variety forms, with different devices suited to different businesses. Unlike POS software, you’ll usually buy your devices upfront instead of paying for them monthly.

Buying hardware is usually the most expensive part of getting a POS system, but chances are it’ll be a one-time upfront fee, whereas your software costs will recur for as long as you use the system.

You should also keep in mind that, when you’re budgeting for your POS system, you might need multiple card machines or tills, depending on your business.

What will my business need?

Of course, what you should be budgeting for will depend on your specific business type and size. There’s a lot of nuance when calculating these costs, but we’ve given a broad overview below:

Micro-businesses and solopreneurs (with around one to two employees)

A pop-up, small café, food truck, or single-store retail outlet could (depending on customer traffic) get by with a simple, affordable setup.

Essentially, a micro-business should focus on free software plans and basic card readers. Steer clear of costly plans with advanced inventory tools you won’t actually use.

The SumUp Air is lightweight, low cost and connects to your smartphone to take payments. Source: Startups.co.uk

We’d also recommend understanding the transaction fees you’ll be charged, as this is what’s most likely to eat into your budget. You can find out more in our guide to UK card fees (it even has its own handy calculator to work out your potential costs).

Small businesses (roughly three to 20 employees)

If you’re running a more established operation, you should be looking at paid software plans with features for streamlining your daily operations (like inventory tracking). You should also be looking at high quality hardware, like fast and reliable handheld POS terminals, and countertop tills.

When we tested it, we appreciated the takepaymentsplus’ ergonomic design. Source: Startups.co.uk

Let’s say you’re running a medium-sized restaurant (roughly 60 to 150 covers). You’ll probably need about three handheld terminals for wait staff to carry around the restaurant floor, and at least one countertop terminal for the front of house staff.

Mid-sized restaurants will likely need a robust countertop terminal, like the Clover Station Solo, to allow for tasks like editing a floor plan on the fly. Source: Startups.co.uk

If you’re running a chain of three full service restaurants, naturally you’ll need to budget for three times as many pieces of hardware as the above setup. You’ll also need to consider premium plans that support multilocation features, like unified inventory management.

To give you a rough idea of of your total (and ongoing) business costs for a POS system, we’ve put together a comparison table below. Just keep in mind this is just a general idea, and your final costs will vary depending on factors like your exact business type, footfall throughout the day, and total number of transactions:

Tablets

You can run many modern POS platforms from an iPad or other tablet. If you already own a tablet that you’re willing to use for business, this is an excellent option for keeping spending to a minimum.

Many of these providers offer tablet stands for around £100 – these will turn your tablet into a countertop POS terminal.

Card machines

In order to take card payments, you’ll need a card machine, which generally range from about £20 to £200 each upfront.

The Square Terminal, a handheld POS device, being used in the Startups offices. Source: Startups.co.uk

Some devices, such as the Square Terminal, double as a card reader and a handheld touchscreen POS terminal. Understandably, these tend to be more expensive, with the Square Terminal sitting at £149 + VAT.

Countertop terminals

Countertop terminals (also known as till systems) are the most expensive bits of POS hardware. These are essentially touch screen monitors that sit on sales counters, reception desks, or bars, and so are suited to businesses with more space.

Some businesses will want a terminal with a separate customer-facing screen as well as a staff-facing screen, so customers can see the total they’re being charged or check their order has been put through correctly.

An example of the Epos Now dual-screen countertop terminal. Source: Startups.co.uk

These can cover a broad range, from roughly £250 to over £1,000 each. For example, the Square Register costs £718.80, while the dual-screen Clover Station Duo is priced at £1,300, so they can be expensive, especially if you’re charged upfront.

Accessories

You’ll also need to factor in any extra equipment you’ll need to run your business smoothly.

The majority of POS providers will supply accessories, but you can buy them third-party as well – just make sure they’re compatible and can be integrated with your system before you buy them.

We’ve provided the rough costs of the most commonly needed accessories below, but keep in mind that these may be bundled into the total cost of your hardware.

The Clover Station Duo, for example, already comes complete with a receipt printer and a cash drawer, and takepayments tPOS Counter comes with scanners and a printer built-in.

The tPOS Counter comes with both front and rear scanners already built into the device. Source: Startups.co.uk

Here’s what you should roughly expect to pay per accessory:

You should also budget for ongoing costs like consumables –such as receipt printer paper and barcode labels. These small costs can add up!