There are many POS systems out there. But not all of them are specific for bars. For your bar to operate smoothly, you will need a sound POS system with excellent bar-centric features. You will also need to consider the pricing and how suitable the hardware is for your business.
However, the best POS system for a bar will be one that meets all the above-given criteria. This guide will look at the best POS system for a bar and the factors to consider while choosing a bar POS system.
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Factors To Consider When Choosing A Bar POS System
Bars need a POS system with specific features, and not every POS comes with these features required to serve this business type. There are several factors you need to keep in mind while choosing a bar POS system. These factors include the following:
1. Feature set
The first thing to check while selecting a POS system for your business is the feature set. You need a POS system that matches your bar. If it lacks the necessary features that your bar really needs, your sales process won’t function efficiently.
It is necessary to consider your business needs before making a choice of a POS system. Consider all the features you do not need now but will need in the future.
2. Pricing
It is tempting to choose the cheapest POS system, but you cannot consider price alone. Doing this may result in you purchasing a POS system that is unsuitable for your bar.
- It would help if you considered the following:
- Card processing fees
- Monthly or annual contracts
- Cost of the POS hardware
- Software costs
3. Hardware
You will also need to check the kind of hardware that will be suitable for your bar. Check how many POS terminals you will need in your bar. You will ensure that your POS hardware matches your bar setup.
Four Best POS Systems For Bars
Below is a list of the best four POS systems for bars with their feature set, hardware options, and pricing breakdowns.
1. Lightspeed POS
Lightspeed POS system has two features – Lightspeed Restaurant and Lightspeed Retail. Lightspeed Restaurant feature is best for small and medium-sized businesses. It is suitable for cafes, bars, full-service restaurants, etc. It is as an iPad POS system for bars with the following features:
- Split bill functionality
- Menu management
- Custom floor plan management
- Tableside ordering
- Timed events (sets promotional prices or offers for happy hours, etc.)
- Built-in PCI compliance
Lightspeed Restaurant POS comes with a charge of 2.6% plus $0.10 per transaction. The registration fee for one POS is $69 per month. If you want more, then Lightspeed will give you a custom pricing quote.
You will also get add-on packages with specialized POS features for bars for $12 or $39 per month. If you are willing to pay a little more for a POS system with highly bar-centric features, then go for Lightspeed.
2. Square
Square is another excellent iPad POS system with bar-centric features. Square for Restaurants is user friendly and very affordable system. This quality makes it great for small bars, and tech novices Square for Restaurants offers the below-given specific features for bars:
- Dark mode
- Menu management
- Drink modifiers
- Conversational ordering
- Promotional menus such as Happy hours, etc.
The Square for Restaurant’s POS software is entirely free and has no monthly fees. But it comes with payment processing fees at a flat rate of 2.6% plus $0.10 per transaction. Square’s POS hardware registration fee is $60 per month for the first time. Additional registration will cost you $40 per month.
Square for Restaurant is an affordable POS system. If you need a simple POS system at a great price, go for Square.
3. Toast
Toast POS is an Android POS system for the foodservice industry. But it is also suitable for bars. Though it is more expensive than some other POS systems, Toast has powerful features. These features make it ideal for medium and large businesses.
You accept credit card payments with Toast. It has the following bar-centric features:
- Pre-authorized payments
- Menu management
- Advanced POS reports
- Split bill functionality
- Employee management
Toast POS has an in-house payment processing feature. Though they don’t advertise their credit card processing fees to the public, they offer a custom rate that is suitable for your bar. It will cost you $79 per month to purchase one POS terminal. For additional terminals, you will pay $50 each. You will get a custom quote if you need more than six terminals for your bar.
4. ShopKeep
Shopkeep is suitable for quick service businesses, and this makes it ideal for bars. Their POS system runs on Clover devices. ShopKeep is not as specific to any business. It is a simple POS system, but it has features suitable for small and medium-size bars. These features are:
- Inventory management
- Employee permission management
- Menu management
- Tab management
- Split bill functionality
Pricing is on a monthly subscription with no contract and is very good for new businesses. Shopkeep does not have a fixed-rate pricing option. They create custom pricing quotes for your business.
You will pay $69 per month for a POS terminal, and you can have up to three. Subsequent terminals will cost $29 per month. Small businesses that handle less than $5,000 per month and operate out of one location require only one register. ShopKeep has a free plan that comes with unlimited inventory and sales reporting for such businesses.
Conclusion
There are various point of sale (POS) systems for bars. But the best is the one with bar-centric features, good pricing, and suitable hardware. For small to mid-size bars, Lightspeed is the way to go. Small bars should go for the Square POS system. I believe that after reading this, you now know the best bar POS system out there.
