6 Best POS Systems for Cafes and Coffee Shops in 2024

If you’re looking for the best POS systems for cafes, coffee shops, and smaller food service companies, you’re in the right place. A reliable point of sale system is a must-have for any company managing in-person transactions.

However, the functionality you’ll need as a food service company may differ from that of an everyday retail store.

Depending on the nature of your business, you may be looking for specific hardware options, unique features, like menu management, and even tools for supporting staff members.

We’ve examined some of the most popular and reliable POS solutions for business owners in the food service landscape, to help you choose the right option for your company.

Top POS Systems for Cafes

1. Shopify POS
2. Square POS
3. Lightspeed POS
4. Toast POS
5. TouchBistro
6. SumUp
   

What is a POS System?

Before we start looking at the best POS systems for coffee shops and cafes, it’s worth taking a moment to define what a “POS” system is. A POS, or “Point of sale” system is a collection of hardware and software tools which allows merchants to make sales in-person.

Point of sale systems enable payment processing, allowing you to take credit card and debit card payments wherever you are. However, in today’s world, the electronic point of sale systems entrepreneurs use to run their business can also offer a lot more functionality.

Some POS solutions support integrations with accounting and marketing tools. Others integrate directly with your ecommerce platform, so you can sync sales and inventory information across multiple channels.

Cloud-based POS systems can even provide access to employee, customer, and inventory management features wherever you are.

What are The Best POS Systems for Coffee Shops and Cafes?

While the best POS systems for your business will depend on various factors, most of the top solutions will include dedicated restaurant management features, a unified backend environment for selling, and easy-to-use dashboards and tools.

We’ve examined some of the best solutions on the market, to bring you our top picks.

1. Shopify POS

If you’re looking for a multi-location POS system that supports both online selling and in-person transactions, Shopify POS could be the perfect solution. This comprehensive point of sale system integrates directly with the Shopify ecommerce platform.

While there are no restaurant management tools built into the platform, Shopify’s vast app marketplace makes it easy to access various add-ons.

Plus, the solution comes with access to loyalty programs, convenient payment processing, and even marketing tools, to help you grow your business. You can even create your own hardware bundle with Shopify’s team, or access mobile POS solutions like the Shopify POS Go system, for tableside payments and barcode scanning.

Top features:

• Omnichannel sales: With Shopify POS, you can manage online orders and in-person transactions in the same unified backend, with customizable checkout options.
• Staff management: You can assign specific permissions and roles to each member of your team, and give every employee their own unique PIN.
• Customer management: Build extensive customer profiles with contact details, purchase history information, and data on marketing preferences.
• Payment processing: Shopify POS includes Shopify Payments, which supports all kinds of transactions, and can even take payments in offline mode.
• Inventory management: Shopify tracks inventory, returns, exchanges, transfers and more in one place, with demand forecasting and low stock reports.

Pricing

Shopify POS Lite is included with all Shopify ecommerce packages, including the “Starter” plan for $5 per month. However, you’ll need the Basic plan ($39 a month) at a minimum to build your own store.

To use Shopify POS Pro, you’ll have a few options to choose from. There’s the dedicated “Retail” plan, for $89 per month with 1 POS pro location, 2 admin accounts, and unlimited logins.

Alternatively, you can add Shopify POS Pro to an existing Shopify plan for an extra $89 per month per location. Shopify POS Pro is also included with Shopify Plus (starting at $2,000 per month).

2. Square POS

Square is one of the most popular POS solutions on the market. Not only does it offer a fantastic retail POS system, but there’s a dedicated option for restaurants too. Square for Restaurants includes everything you need to run a successful business, including floor and kitchen management tools, payment processing, and live reporting updates.

There are also dozens of different hardware options available from Square, including specialist kiosks, kitchen display system options, and POS terminal solutions. What’s more, you can add modules to Square to connect with online ordering and delivery companies.

Top features:

• Restaurant management: Square for Restaurant includes floor management tools, kitchen management solutions, and straightforward integrations for food service companies.
• Employee management: Extensive employee management tools ensure you can make the most of your human resources, and empower your teams.
• Customer engagement: With online ordering options, customer loyalty programs, and customer profiles, you can design unique experiences for diners.
• Payment processing: Square accepts all kinds of payment methods, and offers a range of tools for collecting transactions on the move.
• Analytics: With live reporting updates and insights into cash flow, you can keep track of your company’s performance.

Pricing

The Basic Square POS system is free to use, with straightforward transaction fees of 1.75% in person. If you want to upgrade, there’s a “Plus” and a “Premium” version of the Square for Restaurants service, with access to more features and tools, starting at $69 per month per location.

3. Lightspeed POS

Lightspeed offers one of the best retail POS systems around, but like Square, it also has a solution for restaurant owners. Supporting food trucks, cafes, coffee shops, and bars alike, the Restaurant POS includes everything from floor management tools, to integrations with ecommerce platforms.

You can take payments anywhere, using virtually any payment method. Plus, the inventory management tools are excellent, with real-time stock reporting, supplier management, menu pricing suggestions, and even wastage logs.

Top features:

• Powerful restaurant management: Lightspeed supports delivery, takeaway and order at table options, floor plan management, and menu management.
• Payment options: Take fast payments anywhere with credit card, debit card and mobile payments. Plus, you get chargeback management and fraud assistance.
• Inventory tools: With automated stock counts, wastage logs, gross profit tracking, and supplier management, handling inventory is easy.
• Contactless payments: Allow customers to pay you directly from their mobile phone without the need for extra hardware.
• Integrations: Easily connect to a range of tools for business management, including accounting software like QuickBooks, and Xero.

Pricing

Pricing for Lightspeed Restaurant starts at $69 per month for the Starter package. There are also more advanced options available, and an Enterprise plan with custom pricing. Hardware prices can vary depending on what you need, there are cash drawers and cash registers available, as well as Kitchen displays, and receipt printers.

4. Toast POS

Easily one of the most popular options for restaurants and food service companies, Toast POS is an all-in-one solution for restaurant management. Toast offers POS software for quick service companies, bakeries, cafes, coffee shops and more.

This cloud-based solution offers everything from invoicing tools, to credit card processing, menu and shop floor management and employee management. There’s also the option to take payments in offline mode, so you don’t have to worry about an internet outage. Plus, with a range of hardware options to choose from, such as KDS and card reader tools, you can kit out your full store.

Top features:

• Restaurant features: Toast POS includes integrations with takeout apps and delivery services, as well as kitchen display systems, menu management tools and more.
• Omnichannel sales: You can sell through a range of different channels with the Toast coffee shop POS system, including through your own online store.
• Employee management: Toast services a range of business needs with payroll and staff management, kitchen management tools, and more.
• Customer engagement: You can boost sales with loyalty programs, gift cards, and email marketing automation. Plus, there are specialist kiosks for self-service.
• Analytics: Keep track of your entire business with in-depth analytics, customizable reports, and real-time dashboard insights into sales.

Pricing

There’s a free “Quick start” bundle available from Toast, which includes hardware setup and the cloud POS software. Alternatively, you can choose from premium packages starting at $69 per month with more mobile dining solutions.

5. TouchBistro

Another excellent POS solution designed specifically for food service business, TouchBistro is an all-in-one POS with a host of front and back of house, and guest engagement features. You can take all kinds of payments through the POS software, create your own kitchen display system, and design marketing and loyalty programs for customers.

The comprehensive toolkit is ideal for food companies, with staff management and tableside ordering, menu management, and floor plan and table management options. Plus, TouchBistro offers a variety of hardware options, alongside flat rate transaction fees.

Top Features:

• Comprehensive restaurant management: TouchBistro offers a full restaurant management system, with countertop, back-end and front-end solutions.
• Employee management: You can manage all of your team members and track their performance in one unified environment.
• Guest engagement: Leverage online ordering tools, reservations, gift cards, marketing integrations, and loyalty programs for guest engagement.
• Analytics: The profit management system makes it easy to track all your payments and sales in one convenient environment.
• Self-service: With TouchBistro hardware, you can offer customers the option to checkout and make payments however they choose.

Pricing

Plans for TouchBistro POS start at $69 per month, with access to the full cloud-based POS software. You’ll also get all of the tableside ordering, menu, and table management tools. However, you will need to pay extra for any hardware you need.

6. SumUp

SumUp is a cloud-based POS solution perfect for all kinds of business owners. There are tools for companies from a range of different industries, including the restaurant space. With SumUp, you can plan tables and floor settings, communicate with the kitchen in real-time, and edit menus in seconds.

Plus, there’s support for organizing reservations and deliveries. You can even integrate with some of the most popular delivery partners on the market. The company even offers a wide variety of hardware options, with user-friendly features.

Top features:

• Payment processing: SumUp offers one of the best payment processors available, allowing any coffee shop owner or café leader to take all kinds of payments.
• Analytics: You can monitor every aspect of your store with the core dashboard and reporting tools, and even track insights from your iPad.
• Inventory management: Inventory tracking tools make it easy to monitor your most popular products, and place orders for supplies whenever you need them.
• Restaurant features: Edit your menu or floor plan in seconds, and communicate directly with your kitchen from your POS backend
• Employee management: Provide different roles to each member of staff, and track every performance metric from your full-service team.

Pricing

SumUp doesn’t publish pricing for its restaurant POS on the website. You’ll need to contact the team to request a demo, and then get a quote for your services. However, the good news is the hardware solutions are relatively affordable, starting at less than $20 for a card reader.

Choosing the Best Restaurant POS Systems

Finding the best restaurant POS system for your business can be tricky. There are a lot of different options out there, from free POS solutions like Square, to more comprehensive tools for food service businesses. The right solution for you will depend on your specific business models and needs.

The good news is all the options above come packed with fantastic features that can help to boost your sales and drive success for your business. Plus, they’re all highly customizable, with plenty of different hardware options and modules to choose from.