The Best POS for Grocerants: Top 5 Providers

Sep 27, 2023 • 3 min read

Food is a necessity of life — always has been, always will be.

But it’s how people are getting their food that’s changing — Americans are now spending just as much money (if not more) dining in restaurants as they are picking up groceries at their local markets.

So how do grocery store owners keep up with this growing trend?

Enter: the grocerant.

A grocerant is essentially a grocery-restaurant hybrid. They’re grocery stores that have a quick service restaurant located within or next to the store, and often have a separate dining area. For store owners and customers, it’s the best of both worlds.

And if you’re planning to step up your grocery game and transform your traditional market into a grocerant, you need the best-in-business tools to get you started.

Here are the top five best point of sale (POS) providers to help you get your grocerant off the ground.

Clover

Clover is an all-in-one point of sale system designed to support your online and in-store business operations, for industries ranging from general retail to full and quick service dining. 

For grocerants, Clover works well when it comes to the restaurant side of operations. Their POS system specializes in the retail, dining, personal services, and professional services industries. To support quick service dining, it offers integrations like GrubHub and Order with Google for online ordering, customizable menu items, and the ability to modify orders (like adding extra cheese!) — plus, you can send orders straight to your kitchen.

Pricing:

  • Starter: $90/month, plus transaction fees
  • Standard: $130/month, plus transaction fees
  • Advanced: $175/month, plus transaction fees 

You can also pay for any system upfront in full.

IT Retail

IT Retail is an industry-specific point of sale solution created by grocers, for grocers. 

Founded by a second-generation grocer, the IT Retail software is designed specifically for the grocery industry, with strong inventory management abilities, customer loyalty features, and e-commerce integrations, including Mercato, Freshop, and Instacart. The self-checkout feature and scale integrations produce a quick and efficient checkout experience.

For grocerants, the quick service restaurant features include customizable hotkeys and menu items, and the ability to modify orders — for free or at a specified cost.

Pricing:

  • For Markets: $99/month, plus transaction fees
  • For Supermarkets: custom quote
  • For Enterprises: custom quote

POS Nation 

POS Nation for Grocery is a turnkey point of sale system, tailor-made for groceries and markets. With inventory, employee, and marketing management features, this POS system is a solid all-in-one solution for small business owners.

To support quick service dining, POS Nation for Grocery allows you to customize hotkeys and menu items, and add modifiers to orders. You can also create customized coupons — if a customer spends $50 on groceries, you can offer a free drink at your quick service restaurant. This is a great option to support the grocery and dining sides of the grocerant equally.

Pricing:

  • Flex Monthly: $149/month, plus transaction fees
  • Freedom: $1,568 upfront, plus transaction fees 
  • Custom Build: custom quote

Revel Systems

Revel Systems is a cloud-based point of sale solution that specializes in retail and restaurants. It offers solid inventory and employee management features, sophisticated sales reporting, and can save payment information during an internet outage. They also offer 24/7 support, 365 days a year.

For full and quick service restaurants, the Revel POS can customize individual menu items with images and descriptions, and has the ability to apply modifiers to any order. If you need to update your menu, you can do so for one or multiple locations.

Pricing:

  • Starts at $99/month per terminal, plus transaction fees
  • Additional implementation fee: starts at $674

Square

Square is an all-encompassing retail POS system that can scale with your business. They support a range of industries from beauty to retail to food and beverage, with solid inventory management, e-commerce, and marketing solutions.

Square for Restaurants caters to the restaurant industry, including full and quick service restaurants, bars, and coffee shops. It integrates with e-commerce solutions that allow you to sync your own online store, and you can make menu updates across devices.

Pricing:

  • Free: transaction fees only
  • Plus: $60/month, plus $40/month for each additional terminal and transaction fees
  • Premium: custom quote, pending eligibility

Get Started With a POS System Made for Grocerants

Grocerants are the next big thing in the grocery industry, and smart business owners will take advantage of this growing trend. But in order to run a successful new business, you need the right tools, specifically suited for your industry.

To see if IT Retail is the best bet for your new grocerant, check out our POS system by scheduling a demo with one of our specialists today!