Must-Have POS Features for Retail and Restaurants in 2023

Aside from standard ordering and payment capabilities, top point-of-sale (POS) features include inventory control, customer relationship management (CRM), reporting and analytics, and employee management — although the most important features to you will depend on your business's unique needs.

In 2023, POS systems are more versatile than ever. As the cost of supplies increases and markets remain as competitive as ever, they continue to provide businesses with valuable ways to boost their efficiency and expand their bottom line. To help you get the most from your system this guide breaks down seven POS features that you should be aware of. 

We also break down some retail and restaurant-specific capabilities, advanced features, and notable POS integrations, to give your business the best possible chance of getting ahead.

Scroll down to learn about the top POS features, or you can use our quick comparison tool to get free custom quotes comparing the leading providers.

What are the Best POS Features?

1. Inventory management 
2. Customer relationship management
3. Employee management
4. Flexible payment options  
5. Reporting and analytics
6. Marketing tools
7. Omnichannel selling

According to our research, these POS features deliver the most value to businesses, irrespective of their size or sector, because of their ability to streamline tasks and unlock key opportunities for growth. Scroll down to learn about the tools and their benefits in greater depth.

In this review:

• What are the Best POS Features?
• When to Upgrade Your POS System
• 7 Key POS Features for 2023
• Industry-Specific POS Features to Look For
• Standard vs Advanced POS Features
• POS Integrations 
• How Do We Research POS Systems? 
• Top POS Features: Key Takeaways
• FAQs

7 POS Features Your Business Needs

Whether you're investing in a POS system for the first time, or you're upgrading to a shinier model, here are 7 POS features that your business needs to be aware of in 2023.

1. Inventory management 

Whether you run a pharmacy or a market stall, if your business handles any type of stock, inventory management will be one of the most important capabilities of your POS. Not only do these features let businesses track their stock in real time, but they also help them to keep inventories safe, reduce waste, create future forecasts, and ensure they have the right amount of stock to meet demands. 

The capacities of these features will vary by industry too, but we expand on this a little further down the page. 

2. Customer relationship management (CRM)

If you intend to retain existing customers or expand your base, CRM features are a must. CRM-enabled POS systems can carry out a number of useful functions including storing customer data, producing actionable insights from consumer behavior, and incentivizing buyers with loyalty programs, perks, and exclusive offers.

Most POS systems include CRM features of some kind, but if you're serious about growing your business we'd recommend using systems like Clover, as the provider's loyalty program ‘Clover Rewards' goes above and beyond, offering stand-out features like a mobile app for customers to customizable rewards (see below).

3. Employee management 

Aside from helping you make orders and take payments, POS systems can also be used to help you manage your business's most important asset — its staff. Staff management features can ease the responsibilities of managers by carrying out a variety of functions from tracking staff time, creating shift schedules, monitoring employee activity, and even identifying high performers.

Not all POSs come stacked with employee software, so if you're looking for a system that can help ease the burden of managing your team, we'd recommend opting for systems like Talech or Lightspeed.

4. Flexible payment options 

While we're on the cusp of becoming a cashless society, we aren't there yet. So, to keep your business as inclusive as possible, choosing a POS system with multiple payment options should be a top priority. Most systems let you take multiple forms of tender, including cash, mobile payment, and credit and debit cards. However, some providers, like Square, go above and beyond by letting customers use unique payment options touch-free links, QR codes, and gift cards.

Square also offers split-payment features and integrations with buy now, pay later tools like ClearPay, helping businesses attract a wider selection of customers and make even more money.

5. Reporting and analytics

Reporting and analytics help business owners keep tabs on performance by providing them with a range of insights on key metrics like which items are selling, which staff members are performing the best, and which products have the highest margins. By transforming POS data into visual analytics, these tools will be an asset to any type of business but are especially useful for those looking to improve their efficiency and expand their bottom line.

With over 50 unique reports under its belt, our research found that TouchBistro has the most impressive reporting options on the market, while Square's powerful analytics platform is the best for businesses with smaller budgets (see above).

6. Marketing tools

Getting your brand to reach its desired customer base can be a headache for business owners. POS marketing tools can be used to overcome this obstacle by offering users valuable ways to drive up sales — from letting them launch email marketing campaigns to integrating their software with buzzing social platforms.

Aside from offering marketing tools in-house, lots of systems boast integrations with major marketing software like MailChimp and HubSpot, but we'll cover this more when we talk about common POS integrations.

7. Omnichannel selling

If your business sells across multiple channels at once, omniselling features let you manage these sales from one centralized platform. This flexible solution also helps business owners manage a range of activities, including customer feedback to stock management, creating a unified shopping experience for all customers whether they're shopping online or in-store.

Offering advanced capabilities like local pickup, local delivery, and ‘buy in-store ship to customer' features, Shopify is the best POS for omnichannel sellers, while Square offers similar tools at a more modest price.

When Is It Time to Upgrade Your POS System?

The realistic life expectancy of a POS system is around five to seven years, but how do business owners know when it's time for an upgrade?

The biggest reason to upgrade your POS is if your hardware and software are out of date, as outdated software and hardware can pose major risks to your business's security and bottom line. Businesses should also consider upgrading their point-of-sale system if it no longer meets their evolving needs. For example, if you're looking to increase sales, manage employees, expand to other locations, or open up new revenue streams, and your current POS system doesn't allow you to do so, it's time to upgrade.

Industry-Specific POS Features to Look for

While some POS capabilities aren't sector specific, some have been designed to meet the needs of certain types of businesses. Here's a quick summary of POS features that cater to retail and food service businesses.

Retail POS features

•  Product lookup – Most retail stores handle vast inventories. Product lookup, or quick keys, is a shortcut that presents your most commonly sold items in a single view for easy access.
• Returns and refunds – If your store has a return and refund policy, it's essential that you find a POS system that can carry out these functions.
• Barcode inventories – Barcode inventory systems allow stores to locate and keep track of products much more efficiently. These systems can rely on both 1D and 2D barcodes.
• Multi-store stock transfers – If your store has multiple branches, depots, or warehouses, stock transferring features allow you to move items between locations with ease.
• Stock notifications – Low-stock alerts notify retail managers when certain items are running out, helping them stay one step ahead of their inventory count.
• Cycle count tools – Cycle count features help managers ensure inventory counts are as accurate as possible by automating processes and analyzing the results of counts.
• Ecommerce integrations – 19% of global sales now take place online. If you're looking to diversify your retail strategy, ecommerce add-ons let you process orders through multiple channels, directly from your POS.

Restaurant POS features

• Menu management – Menu management features let servers build and update menus, organize dishes into categories, and determine the best-selling products through menu engineering.
• Table-side ordering – If you manage a sit-down restaurant, table-side ordering features can be a game changer as they let servers log orders on the go through a portable tablet.
• Kitchen displays – Kitchen display systems displays communicate orders to kitchen staff in real-time, increasing efficiency and replacing the need for physical tickets.
• Table management – Table management tools let food businesses design and edit floor plans, manage reservations, and allocate orders to each table.
• Waste management – Waste management is an advanced inventory capability that helps managers to minimize the amount of perishable stock that goes to waste, saving them money in the process.
• Bar tabs – If your business runs tabs, bar tab features offer a digital way to verify customer cards and keep a record of open tabs until the customers are ready to settle the payment.
• Take-out and delivery options – As the portion of food delivered online grows to 10%, in-house delivery features let businesses assign drivers, track deliveries, and communicate with customers. If your chosen provider doesn't offer these capabilities, we'd recommend exploring integrations with delivery giants like DoorDash or PostMates, instead.

What's the Best POS System for Your Business?

After researching the ranking the leading POS providers, we found that Square is the best POS system for small businesses with the system offering unbeatable value, a competitive feature stack, and a very vast pool of third-party integrations. Due to the system's versatility, we also found that Square was the best POS for retail businesses too.

Square is our best-rated POS for restaurants too, but for food businesses willing to make an investment, our research found that NCR Aloha offers a stronger restaurant toolkit than Square, while Lightspeed has the most granular inventory features we've reviewed.

There are tons of capable POSs though so take a look at our table below to learn more about how the top systems compare:

Standard vs. Advanced POS Features

Businesses should expend some POS features to be included in the system's main package. However, other tools with advanced uses tend to be available as add-ons. We list some standard and advanced features side by side below:

Standard features

• Payment options
• Mobile apps
• Basic inventory management 
• Customer management 
• Loyalty programs
• User accounts and permission
• Basic reporting and analytics
• Employee management 
• Basic marketing tools

Advanced features

• Omnichannel selling
• Perishable waste management
• Barcoded inventory
• Low stock alerts
• Staff performance tracking
• Shift management
• Appointment booking
• Menu and ingredient management
• Item modifiers
• Payroll capabilities
• Customizable reports

POS Integrations

If If your chosen point-of-sale provider lacks features that your business needs, you can unlock other capabilities through POS integrations. POS add-ons extend the use of your system even further by connecting your system with a range of tools from payroll and accounting to ecommerce.

Most POS integrations can be accessed through a provider's dashboard or app store, and while some integrations are free, certain services can cost businesses up to $300 per month. Therefore, it's important to keep track of their price tag so costs don't escalate too much.

How Did We Research POS Systems?

With the help of experienced product researchers, we've created our own unique research framework for researching POS systems.

When assessing the systems' overall performance, we recorded data on their inventory, business growth, and management features, as well as their help system and value offering. We also accounted for industry-specific capabilities – like retail and restaurant features – to see which systems were suitable for different types of businesses. Then, after collecting mountains of data, we awarded each provider with a score out of five (eg 3/5 for help & support) for each category, as well as an overall score, to understand comprehensively how they scale up against each other.

You can learn more about our research here.

Frequently Asked Questions