Owning a grocery store is far from an easy job. Along with putting food on your shoppers’ tables, you have to be an expert in managing inventory, providing top-notch customer service, and implementing profit-boosting strategies.
Fortunately, the right grocery store software can make these tasks easier — saving you time and giving you the tools to keep your shelves perfectly stocked, sales high, and customers happy.
In this blog, we’ll explore what grocery store software is, how to choose the right one for your business, and the top seven providers we recommend.
How To Choose the Right Grocery Store Software
Your grocery store software is the engine behind your operations. It processes payments, monitors inventory, tracks sales trends, and gives you sales-boosting promotion opportunities.
That’s why you shouldn’t settle for a solution that doesn’t perfectly meet your needs.
Let’s look at three must-follow steps for finding the right grocery store software.
1. Understand Grocery Store Software Features
First, you should understand exactly what grocery store software can do. Here are the five core functions of grocery store software:
- Integrated payment processing lets you accept payments quickly and securely.
- A customizable layout speeds up the checkout process and puts your cashiers’ most-used tools right at their fingertips.
- Real-time inventory tracking lets you see your stock levels from anywhere, at any time.
- Sales reporting and analytics provide insights into your store’s financial performance, customer shopping habits, and sales trends.
- Marketing features like promotion management, customer loyalty, and e-commerce integration help you attract and retain customers.
These features can transform your grocery store’s day-to-day operations, saving you time and eliminating error-prone manual processes.
Whether you’re losing money to spoilage or feeling bogged down by tedious manual inventory counts, we recommend making a list of your current pain points and searching for software to solve them.
2. Carefully Vet Each Provider
A comprehensive suite of features isn’t the only ingredient for great grocery store software; you also need a provider you can trust.
Here are three ways to assess a software provider’s reliability:
- Read reviews to learn how real customers feel about using the software. Pay special attention to reviews and testimonials from other grocers.
- Check whether the provider offers support. Ideally, they’ll offer 24/7 support via phone or email at no additional cost.
- Look for a provider that includes free and unlimited onboarding and training.
Choosing a well-reviewed provider that offers support during the onboarding process and beyond will help you make the most of your grocery store software.
3. See the Software in Action
Before committing to a provider, we recommend seeing your potential grocery store software in action.
The best way to tackle this step is to book a live demo. During this demo, you’ll have the chance to see the software’s features in use, get answers to your questions, and chat with an expert.
Plus, you’ll have a better understanding of whether you can trust a potential provider after interacting with one of their team members in real time.
6 Grocery Store Software Providers To Consider
You have a plan; now it’s time to start evaluating grocery store software providers! To help you get started, we’ve curated this list of the seven best options, plus their pros, cons, and pricing.
1. Best for New Grocers: Square
Starting off our list of grocery store software providers is Square. Square is a popular choice among retailers in all industries because of their user-friendly software, sleek hardware, and budget-friendly startup options.
Pros
Square's biggest appeal is its simplicity and affordability. Its software is user-friendly, so you and your employees can learn to use it in minutes.
They also offer low-cost options for new and very small businesses, helping you limit your startup costs.
Cons
Square’s simple software might not keep up with your grocery store as it grows. Their starter options don’t include features like perishable inventory tracking, employee permissions, or customer loyalty.
Pricing
Square offers a free startup option, a standard $29/month plan, and custom configurations to meet your grocery store’s needs.
2. Best for Small Budgets: National Retail Solutions (NRS)
Looking for another budget-friendly POS system? Check out National Retail Solutions (NRS).
NRS offers simple, affordable POS hardware and software that includes basic features to run your grocery store.
Pros
NRS’ software is straightforward, quick to learn, and easy to use. Their base option includes essential features and few bells and whistles — making it a great option if you’re only looking for the must-haves.
Another perk of choosing NRS is that they offer a standard, all-in-one hardware bundle that comes with a touchscreen computer, customer-facing display, and barcode scanner. You can feel confident that your checkout setup includes all the right tools.
Cons
If you need features like advanced inventory management, in-depth sales reporting, or customer loyalty in the future, you’ll have to pay additional monthly fees to access them. These fees can add up over time, making NRS just as expensive as other options on the market.
Another downside is that NRS’ customer-facing display is pre-loaded with ads for NRS’ open jobs and payment processing options. These ads likely won’t appeal to your customers, but you’ll have to pay a hefty monthly fee to turn them off.
Pricing
NRS’ pricing options range from $19.99 to $44.95/month, and you can pay extra to unlock additional features.
3. Best for Flexibility: Clover
Next on our list of grocery store POS software options is Clover. We’ve included this provider because of their flexible hardware configurations.
Whether you need a handheld credit card terminal for your brand-new grocery store or a fleet of fully-featured touchscreen POS computers, Clover has options that will grow with your business.
Pros
The biggest advantage of choosing Clover is that you can customize your hardware setup to your grocery store’s exact needs.
For example, if your customers are constantly frustrated with long lines, you can invest in a mobile POS option to use during rush hours. If you sell ready-to-eat meals or custom-butchered meats, you can use a touchscreen kiosk to let customers place orders.
Cons
Like NRS, Clover’s most affordable pricing options include only basic features like transaction processing and simple inventory counting. As your grocery store grows, you’ll need advanced features like in-depth sales reporting and weight-based sales — which come at an additional cost.
Pricing
Clover’s base pricing plans cost between $13 and $230/month, with options to add on additional features.
4. Best for Chain Grocery Stores: Lightspeed
Lightspeed is an excellent option for grocers who own a chain of stores. Lightspeed’s grocery store software is designed to help you seamlessly manage inventory, make sales, and monitor your business’ growth across multiple locations.
Pros
Lightspeed is a powerful option designed to help experienced business owners grow their stores. With Lightspeed, you can track your inventory and sales across multiple locations, make online sales, and market your grocery store.
Cons
Lightspeed offers a comprehensive suite of features — but they come at a cost. It’s one of the most expensive options on our list.
Pricing
Lightspeed’s pricing options range from $109 to $339/month.
5. Best for Automation: ECRS’ CATAPULT
ECRS is a POS provider that promises to boost retailers’ efficiency. Their grocery store software, CATAPULT, is designed to save time by automating inventory management, marketing, and sales reporting processes.
Pros
CATAPULT’s AI-powered automation can track stock levels, forecast inventory demand, send personalized promotional offers, and analyze your sales reports. These features will give you more free time to connect with customers and focus on growing your grocery store.
Cons
CATAPULT reviewers mention that the software can be tricky to set up and suffers from occasional bugs.
Pricing
ECRS doesn’t list pricing information on their website, so get in touch with their sales team for a custom quote.
6. Best iPad System: Revel Systems
Searching for powerful grocery store software that works on familiar tech? Revel Systems is a solid option.
This provider offers feature-rich software that’s designed to run on iPads.
Pros
The main appeal of iPad-based solutions like Revel Systems is that they’re convenient. Since you and your employees are probably already familiar with navigating an iPad, using the software is simple and easy.
Plus, iPads are convenient. Instead of checking your inventory or sales reports from an old-school computer, you can manage your store on the go.
Cons
Revel Systems’ software is highly customizable — which means it has a complicated setup process. That’s why we recommend it for tech-savvy business owners.
Pricing
Revel Systems offers custom pricing options, so reach out to them for a custom quote.
7. Best Overall: IT Retail
Our final (and favorite) grocery store software is IT Retail. We’re the only provider on this list to offer a solution designed by and for grocers.
Our software includes everything you need to keep your customers happy, shelves perfectly stocked, and profits high.
Pros
IT Retail includes a comprehensive list of features to help you manage and grow your grocery store, including perishable inventory management, a built-in customer loyalty program, e-commerce integration, and more.
Plus, we offer 24/7 support at no additional cost to keep your grocery store up and running even when technical issues arise.
Cons
Our grocery store software is more expensive than some free or low-cost POS solutions, but it’s designed to grow with your grocery store — whether you’re planning your grand opening or 10-year anniversary celebration.
Pricing
We offer custom pricing options to meet every grocery store’s needs and budgets. Use our build and price tool to generate an instant quote.
Start Your IT Retail Journey Today
Searching for grocery store software that checks all the right boxes? Look no further than IT Retail.
Our powerful software and industry-leading support team can help you save time, make more sales, and crush your grocery store goals.
Take IT Retail for a spin by scheduling your live, personalized demo today.
