Find the best retail POS system for your store before you commit.
A free, customizable Retail POS Comparison Tool to research, evaluate, and compare point of sale systems side by side in one Excel spreadsheet.
What’s inside?
A structured overview of essential hardware specs, software features, setup requirements, customer support availability, pricing models, and more — everything you need to make a confident retail POS decision
A checklist of more than 100 features to evaluate when comparing retail POS systems, from inventory management, gift cards, and loyalty programs to barcode scanners, scales, and customer-facing displays
Service and onboarding options, including training, onsite installation, remote setup, self-install, and data migration — so you can assess the full cost and effort of switching POS providers or launching a new system from scratch
Compare retail POS systems with one organized checklist
Researching retail point of sale systems can get overwhelming fast. Vendor PDFs pile up in your inbox, notes get scattered across spreadsheets, and it's hard to make apples-to-apples comparisons when every sales rep frames features differently.
This free comparison tool gives you a single source of truth: one workbook where you can track and compare up to five retail POS providers simultaneously. Every feature is standardized with a simple Yes/No format, so tradeoffs are immediately clear.
We've already filled out the Toast column to save you time. Use it as your baseline while you evaluate competitors.
How do I use this to choose the best retail POS system?
Open the Excel workbook and add your shortlisted POS vendors across the columns. For each feature row — payment processing, offline mode, inventory tracking, employee management, reporting, integrations, and more — mark Yes or No for each provider.
Don't need a certain feature? Delete the row. Need to add something specific to your store type (pharmacy, apparel, specialty food)? There are blank rows ready for you.
One important consideration: if you're opening a new retail store, prioritize POS platforms built to scale. The best retail POS system connects every part of your store with an all-in-one platform that brings more convenience, more variety, and more delightful customer experiences.
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After downloading the free Retail POS Comparison Tool, be sure to check out the other useful resources below.
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