The Best POS System for Coffee Shops in 2023

The best POS system for coffee shops is a convenient solution for managing transactions, customer data, and inventory tracking in one place. If you’re running a fast-paced coffee shop environment, your POS solution will ensure you can make a profit, organize your team, and even keep track of your supplies as you work.

Today, there are countless convenient POS solutions available, depending on your individual needs. Some are pre-built specifically for the food service industry, while others are designed to give companies more flexibility between the online and offline worlds.

Below, we’ll be exploring some of the most popular POS systems for coffee shops on the market, looking specifically at the range of fantastic features they can offer to help you make the right impression on your customers.

Picking the Best POS System: Table of Contents

• Shopify POS
• Square for Restaurants POS
• Lightspeed POS
• Toast POS
• Clover POS
• Touchbistro POS 
• Revel POS

7 POS System Software for Coffe Shops and Cafes in 2022

Here’s our list of the best POS systems in 2022 (in no particular order).

Best POS for Coffee Shops #1: Shopify POS

In terms of flexibility, it’s difficult to beat Shopify. One of the most popular ecommerce tools available, Shopify allows companies to build fantastic websites, but it can also offer a range of tools for offline selling. With Shopify POS, coffee shops can access everything from inventory and team member tracking to innovative analytics.

Some of the major features of Shopify POS include:

• In-depth insights: Track everything from the performance of your team members to your most popular beverages with a range of reports and analytics built into your UI.
• Employee management: Keep an eye on shift patterns, payments, and a range of other important pieces of information about your team.
• Flexible add-ons: Integrate various useful tools to help you run your team more effectively, or just keep track of more of the right data in the same place.
• Inventory management: Keep a close eye on the inventory in your coffee shop and get predictive insights into when you might need more stock.
• Flexible payment options: Allow customers to pay in a multitude of different ways, to improve your chances of quick transactions.

You can even set up things like rewards cards and loyalty points to keep people coming back to your store. What’s more, there’s a range of fantastic hardware options available to get you up and running, including simple card readers for as little as $29.

Pricing

The exact price of running your coffee store with Shopify POS will depend on the range of feature you want, as well as access to any add-ons and hardware. You’ll need at least a basic plan with Shopify to access the POS functionality, starting with the Lite package at $9.

After that, the full features of the POS solution are available for $89 per month, which will give you all the power Shopify can offer for point of sale management.

Who is it best for?

Shopify is an extremely flexible tool for building your own business either offline or online. The POS system is great for building relationships with your target audience and improving your chances of sales over time.

Best POS for Coffee Shops #2: Square for Restaurants POS

Most people are already familiar with Square as a solution for payment management and offline transactions. The company has a range of great tools to offer, including its own hardware collection. The all-in-one Square for Restaurants POS is a comprehensive point of sale system built specifically for the food services industry.

There are solutions to suit all kinds of food companies with Square for Restaurants, including fast-paced coffee shops. Some of the features you can expect include:

• Easy order management: There are various comprehensive order management tools with access to tools like Uber Eats and Deliveroo
• Gift and loyalty cards: Build your chances of future transactions with customers through a range of fantastic loyalty features and gift cards.
• Integrations: Implement the other tools your team uses every day for things like finance management or HR support to boost performance.
• Reports and insights: Keep track of a wide range of analytics and insights to help you run your team more cost-effectively

There are various hardware options too choose from with Square for Restaurants too, including readers at $49, or POS terminals for $299. The more technology you want, including kitchen readers and bonus tools for team members, the more you can expect to pay.

Pricing

Although the hardware for Square for Restaurants POS can get a little expensive, you can access the software for Square restaurant management for free. This means you only have to worry about transaction fees starting at 1.75% for chip and Pin or contactless payments, and 2.5% for card-not-present payments.

There’s also access to additional functionality on the “Plus” plan for £69 or the Premium plan, depending on the kind of features you need.

Who is it best for?

If you need a point of sale system that makes it quick and simple to manage your entire coffee shop in the same unified space, Square is a great option for you. The software can even help you to build more lucrative relationships with customers over time

Best POS for Coffee Shops #3: Lightspeed POS

Ideal for smaller food service companies, like coffee shops, Lightspeed is a fantastic cloud-based point of sale solution with a range of great features to offer. The solution has evolved a number of times over the years, offering an ever more intuitive environment for business leaders who need to keep track of quick transactions.

Lightspeed POS comes with a wide range of tools, including inventory management, for tracking your supplies as you continue to grow your business. Features include:

• Marketing and loyalty: Build better relationships with your coffee shop customers through a range of advertising and loyalty features.
• Easy-to-use: Everything in the Lightspeed environment is designed to be ultra-easy to use and ideal for all kinds of business owners, even complete beginners.
• Unique integrations and add-ons: Access a range of integrations and added extras to make maximizing your business income as easy as possible.
• Inventory tracking: Keep a close eye on your most popular products, and make sure you always have the supplies you need

Pricing

Lightspeed pricing plans are offered on an annual basis, and the solution is actually quite affordable, particularly if you’re a beginner in the food services space. Basic plans start at $69 per month per year, and the Standard plan can be accessed for $99 per month. More advanced plans range into the hundreds of dollars.

Who is it best for?

Lightspeed is an excellent choice for business leaders looking for software they can easily access on Mac devices. Lightspeed POS is also fantastic for gaining access to a range of insights with useful custom reports.

Best POS for Coffee Shops #4: Toast POS

For cafes in search of the best coffee shop POS system, few products will outshine Toast. One of the most popular point of sale systems for restaurants on the market today, Toast combines simple POS software with exceptional customer service and support. You can even use the toast system to continue running your small business offline.

Toast comes with a host of tools to boost sales and generate new opportunities in a coffee shop or café. You can run customer loyalty programs and stamp cards to keep your customers coming back for their favorite drinks, and there are even special software packages just for coffee shops. Features include:

• Mobile point of sale support: If you need to streamline a small coffee shop with mobile software, Toast has you covered. You can even set up pop-up cafes
• Offline access: Make sure your baristas can continue to track takeout and inventory changes when you don’t have access to Wi-Fi.
• Hardware options: Access everything from cash drawer tools to checkout counters and guest-facing displays for your coffee shop business.
• Reporting and analytics: Track a wide range of useful metrics to learn more about your business needs and run a more efficient company.
• Customer loyalty: Create more opportunities for sales with customer relationship management and loyalty tools built into your key features.

Toast offers a range of hardware options for companies of all sizes, including customer-facing display tools, kitchen display system technology and more. You’ll need to speak to the team to get a full quote for all the hardware and software you might need.

Pricing

You can access some of the basic features of Toast, from mobile ordering to reporting, without paying any monthly fee. However, the free package is only available for up to 2 terminals. The “Essentials” package gives you access to POS solutions to optimize a wider range of terminals for $165 per month. There’s also a custom pricing option.

Who is it best for?

If you’re looking for a convenient POS solution that can come with you whether you’re taking your coffee shop on the road, or setting up your own café, Toast is a great choice. The offline mode is particularly useful.

Best POS for Coffee Shops #5: Clover

Access everything you need for a successful coffee shop in one package with the Clover POS. The solution allows customers to order ahead and collect their coffee on arrival, as well as supporting multiple convenient payment methods. You can manage everything from espresso coffee inventory tracking to loyalty programs and gift cards in one space.

Easy to use and adaptable, Clover is a convenient cafe POS system for companies in search of a quick and easy solution for running their business. You can even integrate your system with QuickBooks and similar tools for tracking debit and credit cards. Features include:

• Reporting and analytics: One of the most important restaurant POS features, Clover offers access to a host of custom reports and analytics to track conversions.
• Online ordering: Allow your customers to order ahead and pay at your cash register when they arrive in your café, to save time.
• One touch transaction: Simplify the checkout process with one-touch transactions and quick tipping, refund, and other payment options.
• Versatile range of payment processing options: Give your customers the freedom to pay for their drinks however they choose with mobile wallets, credit, and debit cards.

Clover also comes with a range of different hardware options to choose from, whether you’re looking for something simple, like a basic iPad stand, or a complete checkout counter for credit card transactions. You’ll need to contact the team to get a quote for your hardware.

Pricing

Clover doesn’t charge a monthly cost for your software subscription, but you will need to pay for payment processing. Transaction prices start at 2.3% and ten cents for each transaction, but can vary depending on a number of factors, including which payment methods your customers use.

Who is it best for?

Clover is a versatile all-in-one solution for POS software, great for companies who want to interact with their customers in a range of different ways, from online ordering to loyalty programs.

Best POS for Coffee Shops #6: Touchbistro

Flexible, versatile, and surprisingly easy to use, Touchbistro is one of the better-known point of sale solutions for restaurants and food service businesses. Companies can leverage this tool as an iPad POS or build a comprehensive café checkout system with a selection of hardware tools ready to integrate with the powerful software.

Touchbistro gives companies a kit of helpful tools for excellent customer support and service. The intuitive interface promises excellent ease of use, whether you’re accessing sales reports or taking credit card transactions, there are also various integrations available with leading tools. Features include:

• Menu management: keep track of your coffee shop with a comprehensive menu management system, complete with inventory tracking.
• Reporting and analytics: Track everything from productivity levels to the most popular drinks on any given day with custom reports.
• Customer management: Create customer profiles with your own custom modifiers and build loyalty campaigns to keep your customers coming back.
• Employee management: Use built-in employee management tools to make the most of your floor plan and improve productivity.

There are various hardware options available to work with Touchbistro, whether you want a comprehensive kiosk, or a simple iPad-based solution for a smaller café environment. The team can give you a custom quote for a specific “small” or “large” venue setup.

Pricing

TouchBistro’s pricing structure is relatively easy to follow, with a monthly subscription of $69 per month for your basic POS services. However, you will need to consider various additional costs like transaction fees and hardware expenses. Contacting the team will allow you to access a more tailor-made quote based on your needs.

Who is it best for?

If you want a flexible point of sale system that works perfectly with the Apple ecosystem, you’ll appreciate TouchBistro. This solution can also be quite useful for teams who need a lot of hand-holding, as implementation specialists are available.

Best POS for Coffee Shops #7: Revel POS

Designed to be as smart and scalable as today’s businesses, Revel POS is one of the most flexible environments for sale management in the digital landscape. The solution powers a host of leading businesses with a simple, cloud-native software strategy, capable of scaling to suit businesses of any size. More than 20,000 businesses worldwide use Revel POS today.

As the leading cloud POS technology on the market, Revel is great for companies who want to take their modern customer service strategy to the next level. You can even allow your coffee shop customers to serve themselves! Features include:

• Online ordering: Let your customers order their favorite drinks in advance and pick them up when they arrive at your café to save time.
• Flexible payments: Accept a wide range of payment options to suit your target audience. You can even allow customers to split the bill between multiple people.
• Self service kiosk: If you want to offer a more contactless service, you can build your own self-service kiosk with Revel, or create a coffee drive-through
• Reporting and analytics: Revel has a comprehensive analytics environment for tracking everything from sales to inventory.
• Customizable technology: You can stay ahead of the latest developments in the hospitality space with Revel’s hardware range

Revel POS provides all the hardware you could imagine for a coffee store, including iPad stands, iPads, payment devices, printers, barcode scanners and cash drawers. There are no prices on the website, so you will need to reach out to the team to get a quote.

Pricing

Pricing for Revel starts with a transparent flat fee for processing your transactions, which you can see when you reach out to the company for a quote. There’s also a $99 monthly fee for the POS software, and an onboarding fee starting at $674, which gives you access to a professional for getting your POS service up and running.

Who is it best for?

If you want access to all the latest hardware and software solutions, Revel Systems is definitely the top choice for you. The innovative company is perfect for coffee shops on the cutting edge of the industry.

Choosing the Best POS System for Coffee Shops

From Square POS to Shopify, there’s no shortage of amazing point of sale solutions for today’s coffee shops. You can start with something simple, like a card reader and a software tool for tracking inventory and sales, and upgrade all the way to a comprehensive environment with kiosks where clients can serve themselves.

The best solution for your coffee shop needs will depend on a number of factors, including what kind of store you want to run, and how your customers tend to interact with your baristas. Remember to prioritize ease of use, budget, and functionality if you want something that’s going to evolve with your coffee brand.