What POS system is best for a small retailer?

Quickbooks is simple and integrated and you'll find lots of people who know how to use it. You'll find better stuff out there (one of my last companies made the coolest POS system I've seen before or since)...but ...
...that's the one I'd sign up for (assuming I'm not a restaurant, in which case Squirrel is still really neat).

If you're a multi-store specialty retailer, check out Teamwork Retail http://www.teamworkretailusa.com/. Versatile iPad front end and sophisticated back end. The website has some videos that are worth checking out.

I love these questions and answers.

There is no "best" system!

There is the "best" system for you, the individual company that meets your needs based on an exacting analysis using a best practice approach.

Is it a horizontal marketed product? Maybe. But it also may be a vertical. How would you know unless you did a needs matrix and then your research?

I agree Quickbooks is inexpensive and easy to use. The Square Register that works with the iPad is also a compelling option - https://squareup.com/register

Here are some other systems you can check out - http://blog.softwareadvice.com/articles/retail/point-of-sale-systems-for-small-business-5-affordable-solutions-1052411/

If you are price conscious and only want to pay the lowest rate, then the "Square" is a great option when price sensitive for Certain Merchants in Certain Industries.

If you operate a small retail business and your transactions are small dollar amounts; the Flat Fee from “Square” is a smart choice , compared to banks/processors that are assessing: interchange, authorizations fees, settlement fees, per items fees, discount rate, basis points, dues and assessments etc, etc.

However, if you need report reconciliation or detailed inventory reports then certain POS software may be needed. If you are a new business or small retailer, I would not incur the cost of pricey retail POS register systems just yet.

I find Quick Books to be expensive, although the convenience of getting payment immediately is sometimes worth the extra cost, however, in a retail environment that is never your problem. Do your due diligence

www.IMGaudit.com

Hi, everybody!
I can recommend only http://smile-pos.com/ny - Point of sale systems NY, which work all around the USA!! These guys provided me very good system, it works cool, without errors and the like...Try to contact them and find out what you need and how quickly they can supply it...
I hope this was useful for somebody:))

The best POS systems are affordable and easy to use, and do more than just process sales and accept payments, as they include time-saving features that help you analyze your sales data and manage your inventory, staff, and customers. Some of the options are Vend, Bindo, TouchBistro.

One of the best POS for a small retailer is https://www.vendhq.com/.

Vend is intuitive and reasonably priced. It's extremely easy to use and integrates well with both Xero and Quickbooks Online. Vend is starting to harness the power of AI to produce top-notch analytics to empower small business owners to make better decisions.

The software comes with the ability to run promotions and a native loyalty system. The native E-commerce capabilities exist but are limited, however, the software integrates easily with Shopify to add that capability.

Small businesses are generally better off using a paid POS software like Vend, versus a model like Square that is based off charging higher credit card fees to pay for the software. That can easily become a very expensive model, versus using an integrated credit card processor.

Today, smartphones, cloud computing, and RFID technology enable even the smallest businesses to become point-of-sale (POS) wizards. The best billing PoS software combine payment processing, inventory and customer management, payroll and accounting, and other services into powerful POS hardware and software packages.

I am currently a Firm Manager who specializes in Operations and IT. I have been working with POS Integrations for a very long time. Things to consider, Quickbooks POS is great for an inexpensive solution. It does everything ok nothing really well. Their inventory system and integration to their own software are not the most reliable.

My suggestions are that if all you are looking for is a simple quickstart, you can go with one of these generic software (even though QB has industry versions). If you would like to have all of the correct reports, tracking, and features you should always go with industry-specific software and make sure that some level of customization is part of your Service Level Contract. Do not use cloud-based POS systems. Always make sure your client has access to their data (backup is fine).

Discuss what their procedures are and use that as a way to see what they need, do they want to live inventory for true COG of Food? Do they want the software to have loyalty programs, are there vendor programs they need to integrate with, do they serve alcohol and do they want it inventoried etc.

This may be too much info but we have found it to be very helpful to the client and to our firm.