Any baker knows the ingredients of a great cake, including eggs, flour, and sugar. A strong bakery also has these essential ingredients on hand and ready to go!
However, grocery items aren’t all you need to run a successful bakery. Appliances, tools, and technology also play a key role. One of the most important tools is your bakery point of sale (POS) system.
But not just any point of sale system will do. Bakeries have unique needs and challenges, and if you want your business to run smoother than a top-of-the-line stand mixer, you need a point of sale system designed for the needs of bakeries and markets.
This post covers six top options for bakery POS systems. For each, we’ll discuss the solution, its key features, and give you a price tag to budget for.
Bakery POS System: Key Features
Running a bakery comes with challenges other retailers don’t face. As a result, you need to invest in a point of sale system designed to manage the unique needs of businesses like yours. You need a specialized tool to keep your operations running smoothly and help maximize your profitability.
Related Read: Produce Inventory Management: 5 Ways to Optimize Your Grocery
Some of the challenges you may face in your bakery include:
- Inventory perishability: Baked goods have an extremely short shelf life, requiring careful stock management to minimize waste.
- Production scheduling: Balancing fresh product availability with demand forecasting is crucial for meeting customer needs while avoiding overproduction.
- Seasonal fluctuations: Bakeries must adapt to changing customer preferences, trending items, and holiday rushes throughout the year.
- Recipe consistency: Maintaining quality across different batches and bakers is critical if you want customers to trust your product quality.
- Allergen management: Ensuring proper handling of common allergens like nuts and gluten is critical for customer safety.
- Customization requests: Accommodating special orders and dietary restrictions adds complexity to production and order fulfillment (and, by extension, inventory management).
Given these challenges, a bakery-specific POS system can be a game-changer for your business. When you’re shopping for the perfect point of sale system to help you manage these challenges and more, look for these key features:
- Inventory management and ingredient tracking: Keep tabs on your stock levels, track ingredient usage, and set up automatic reorder alerts.
- Sales and order processing capabilities: Efficiently handle transactions, manage custom orders, and process different payment methods.
- Customer relationship management (CRM) features: Build customer profiles, track preferences, and implement loyalty programs to encourage repeat business.
- Reporting and analytics tools: Gain insights into sales trends, popular items, and peak business hours to make data-driven decisions.
- Integration with bakery-specific hardware: Seamlessly connect with scales, label printers, and other specialized equipment to streamline operations.
With these features in mind, let's examine six top options for bakery POS systems that can help you maximize your profits and minimize your headaches.
1. IT Retail
Best for: Bakeries in grocery stores
IT Retail offers a comprehensive point of sale system designed specifically for grocery stores, including features that work well for in-store bakeries. Our solution seamlessly integrates bakery operations with the broader grocery store management, providing a unified platform for store — and bakery — management.
Key features for bakeries:
- Inventory management: Easily track both perishable and non-perishable items with real-time inventory tracking and management features.
- Label printing: Generate custom shelf labels and product tags, which are crucial for displaying accurate pricing and ingredient information for baked goods.
- Customer loyalty programs: Implement a point-based system to reward returning customers, manage customer profiles, and create targeted promotions for members.
- Integrated scales: Seamlessly connect with bakery scales for accurate weighing and pricing of baked goods.
- Offline mode: Continue operations even during internet outages, ensuring uninterrupted sales during busy periods.
Pricing: Get a custom price for your unique needs using our transparent build and price tool.
2. POS Nation
Best for: Small to mid-size businesses
POS Nation offers a comprehensive point of sale solution tailored for a variety of small businesses, including specialty markets, grocery stores, and bakeries. Their system helps business owners take control of their operations, streamline processes, and make data-driven decisions.
Key features for bakeries:
- Inventory management: Easily track and manage a large number of SKUs, including perishable items. The system offers carton and case break inventory counts, perfect for bakeries selling individual items from larger packages.
- Scale integration: Seamlessly integrate with scanner scales, standalone scales, and deli scales to accelerate checkout for weighed items like baked goods.
- Custom promotions and coupons: Create and manage in-store promotions and custom coupons to attract customers and drive sales. The system also supports mix and match pricing for enticing deals.
- Employee management: Use the built-in time clock, set individual pay rates, and manage payroll with single-click reporting, simplifying administrative tasks.
Pricing: Get a custom quote using POS Nation’s online pricing tool.
3. Toast
Best for: Bakery restaurants and cafes
Toast offers an all-in-one POS platform specifically designed for the unique needs of cafes and bakeries. This cloud-based solution aims to simplify operations, improve customer experiences, and boost overall efficiency in fast-paced restaurant-style environments.
Key features for bakeries:
- Customizable order management: The Open View ordering system allows for quick and accurate input of complex orders, perfect for customized baked goods and specialty drinks.
- Kitchen Display System (KDS): Keeps the back of house organized with a paperless system that tracks all orders, from pastries to beverages.
- Restaurant retail: Simplifies the process of selling branded merchandise like mugs, t-shirts, or packaged goods alongside baked items.
Pricing: Toast’s Cafe/Bakery Custom Plan starts at $69/month.
4. KORONA POS
Best for: Bakery coffee shops
KORONA POS offers a cloud-based point of sale system specifically designed for bakeries and coffee shops. This scalable solution aims to streamline operations, from fast transactions to comprehensive back office management, all from a single dashboard.
Key features for bakeries:
- Product combinations and special pricing: Easily create and manage bundled products or special offers, perfect for bakery combo deals.
- Order modifications: Easily customize orders, essential for handling special requests on baked goods.
- Multi-location management: Handle operations across multiple bakery locations from a single database.
Pricing: KORONA POS’s Core package starts at $59/month.
5. Square
Best for: Solopreneurs and small bakeries
Square offers a versatile, user-friendly point of sale system that's particularly well-suited for small bakeries and coffee shops. This all-in-one solution simplifies operations, from order taking to customer management, with a sleek, easy-to-use interface.
Key features for bakeries:
- Efficient order management: Quickly create items and modifiers, allowing for easy customization of bakery orders.
- Customer engagement tools: Use the Customer Directory, Square Loyalty, and marketing tools to build and maintain a loyal customer base.
- Flexible payment options: Accept various payment methods, including tap, dip, and swipe transactions.
- Integration capabilities: Seamlessly integrate with online ordering systems, gift cards, and employee management tools like Square Staff and Square Payroll.
Pricing: Square’s Plus package starts at $29/month plus processing fees.
6. CakeBoss
Best for: Online bakeries and home-based bakery businesses
CakeBoss is a specialized bakery business management software designed specifically for home-based and small bakery operations. It combines ease of use with features tailored to the unique needs of bakers, helping them transition from hobby baking to running a profitable business.
Key features for bakeries:
- Order management: Keep track of all pending orders, reduce overbooking, and access your schedule on the go with CakeBoss Cloud.
- Recipe costing: Accurately calculate the production cost of each order, ensuring proper pricing and profitability.
- Invoicing: Generate professional invoices with your logo and email them directly to customers. Optional PayPal integration allows for online payments and credit card processing.
- Inventory and shopping lists: Create shopping lists based on your orders to ensure you always have the right supplies on hand.
Pricing: CakeBoss charges $149 for your first year of service, then $20 annually for every subsequent year.
Choosing the Best Bakery POS System for Your Business
In this post, we’ve explored six valuable POS solutions, each with unique features that can help bakeries grow their businesses. However, no single solution will be the best option for every bakery. What works perfectly for an online bakery won’t be the best fit for an in-store bakery in a grocery store.
So, how can you choose the right fit for your business?
If you’re running a bakery inside a market or grocery store, IT Retail is the best option for you. We offer the tools you need to manage your entire operation more efficiently.
Seamless inventory management that keeps track of both your long-lasting and perishable items, integrated scales for easy weighing and pricing, and reporting features that let you slice and dice your data to find new opportunities for growth.
But don't just take our word for it. We'd love to show you firsthand what our system can do!
Schedule a demo of IT Retail today to see how our solution can help you manage your in-store bakery with ease.
