Best POS Systems UK: Top 10 for 2023

The best POS systems help you manage your stock, track sales, surge pricing, offer discounts, and monitor employee performance – all at the press of a button. POS tools can even streamline the omnichannel experience your company offers and improve your customers’ shopping experience.

We’ve scoured the internet for the best POS system for UK businesses, comparing user-friendliness, features, support, prices, and more, and identified that Lightspeed is the best UK POS tool. Keep reading to find out how providers like Toast and TouchBistro compare!

10 Best UK POS Systems for 2023

If you’re interested in using POS but cannot find the right provider, we’re here to help. In its search for the best POS system for UK businesses, our team of experts has analyzed numerous solutions.

You can find the rundown of the ten best UK POS systems and their strongest points below. Take a look at the options:

1. Lightspeed — Best POS system for UK businesses overall. Check out the demo video for a full overview!
2. Toast — Top POS restaurant system
3. TouchBistro — Great POS system with a guest-centric approach
4. Square — Fantastic retail POS software in the UK
5. Shopify — Number one POS system for eCommerce businesses
6. AirPOS — Outstanding POS software for small business organizations
7. ePOS — Perfect POS provider for mid-to large-size businesses
8. Vend — Best UK POS System for scaling businesses
9. Zettle — POS system with great payment tools
10. TakePayments Plus — POS software with the best card readers

Compare POS Quotes for Your Business

Wondering what service will suit you best but don’t have the time to review every provider summary? Use the questionnaire below to compare quotes on the best POS systems:

Top POS Systems for UK Businesses

Our top 10 best UK POS systems list wouldn’t be complete if we didn’t explain the reasoning behind our choices. To that end, we’ve reviewed each of these solutions in a separate section below.

The reviews break down their distinguishing characteristics, special features, prices, and pros and cons. Go through each section, find the traits that your business can benefit from, and compare the results. That should help you find the perfect POS software for your needs. 

1. LightSpeed — Best POS System for UK Businesses Overall

Lightspeed is a Canada-based POS system founded in 2005. It’s a cloud-based solution originally created as a POS restaurant system. However, it has since acquired a popular eCommerce platform — ShopKeep — and significantly expanded its offer.

Today, Lightspeed services numerous restaurants and retail and eCommerce businesses around the world. This provider boasts many features that will help your restaurant run smoothly.

Nevertheless, its floor management and tableside ordering features stand out from the bunch. The former includes an easy-to-use interface with a drag-and-drop system that will help you arrange your floor plan and menu in seconds.

The latter allows your staff to take orders and send them to the kitchen digitally. It even offers several ways to pay the bill — namely, your customers can split or merge their expenses. eCommerce and retail companies can benefit from a myriad of Lightspeed’s tools, too.

The platform has customizable templates, allows customers to create wishlists and make appointments online, and offers reports on the health of your business. It also has several types of payment solutions, provides gift cards and discounts, and includes a generous customer loyalty program.

Lightspeed is pretty robust, which can seem overwhelming. However, its set-up process includes a step-by-step guide. Plus, the platform has helpful customer support available 24/7 via phone. They’re easy to reach even during weekend hours. 

2. Toast — Best POS System for Restaurants

Toast is another popular POS cloud-based platform on the UK business scene. It has been designed specifically for restaurants. However, it’ll also fit bakeries, cafes, nightclubs, and similar businesses.

It is a POS software suitable for a variety of business types and sizes. Its feature set covers front- and back-end operations, sales, and guest-facing technology. Your customers will be able to use:

• Online ordering
• Delivery
• Contactless payments
• E-gift cards
• Bar tabs tracking
• Recipes catalog

And more. Your staff will benefit from tableside ordering, payment processing, reposting and analytics, integrations, automated standardised gratuities, and so on.

Finally, your management team will find recruitment and automated payroll features, employee scheduling, labour reporting, and other similar tools extremely helpful. On top of all these features, two more factors have prompted us to rank Toast as the best restaurant POS system.

Namely, the platform has an in-depth onboarding and training process that will guide you through the use of the app. It also offers three customer support channels — phone, email, and chat — available round the clock.

3. TouchBistro — Best POS System for UK Businesses With a Guest-Centric Approach

TouchBistro is a well-known Toronto-based company that’s been around since 2010. It ranks third on our top 10 list, but it’s the runner-up best POS system for restaurants you can find online. TouchBistro owes its high ranking to its customer-oriented features.

As you may have guessed from its name, TouchBistro was created with food-serving businesses in mind. It has both self-serving and tableside ordering tools. Your customers can order and pay online, request deliveries, receive notifications, and cancel orders.

They can also review their orders, leave feedback, and receive loyalty rewards. However, they’re not the only ones who’ll directly benefit from this POS software. TouchBistro will make everyone’s job much easier, too.

It can help you arrange restaurant floors, make and transfer reservations, assign employees to tables or sections, and track their hours and performances.

TouchBistro has tools and features that fit various business sizes, so you can use it regardless of whether you own a food truck or a restaurant chain. It boasts a simple set-up process and an easy-to-navigate app you can use on all Apple devices.

The company also offers several hardware solutions, which add another layer of support to your business. It has self-serve kiosks, kitchen display systems, a digital menu board, and more.

4. Square — Best Retail POS System in the UK

Square is among the POS software companies with the longest track record on our top 10 list. Its expanding service coverage has allowed it to become number one among all POS retail systems in the UK.

This POS solution’s features will do wonders for your retail business. It will allow you to use checkout links, an online store builder, customisable invoices and gift cards, a marketing suite, inventory management tools, and more.

The system even includes social media selling features on platforms like Instagram and TikTok. Square was one of the first POS companies to start working with mobile payments. Its hardware plugs into mobile phones and tablets, facilitating card transactions.

The app is compatible with both Apple and Android devices, so it caters to a larger pool of users. You won’t have trouble setting it up or working on it. Your staff can even use it in offline mode.

One of the best parts of this POS provider’s offer is its free plan. It covers many useful functions, and it’s a great start for any business with a tight budget.

5. Shopify — Best UK POS System for eCommerce Businesses

Shopify is one of the simplest POS solutions on our list. Nevertheless, it’s all you’ll ever need to manage your eCommerce business. It provides a plethora of virtual features and guarantees an excellent customer shopping experience.

Shopify offers several plans. Its basic version is one of the best POS for small business organizations in the eCommerce industry. It comes with an online store builder, staff accounts, order creation tools, unlimited stock, sales channels, discount codes, and 24/7 customer support. 

However, with a few more features and add-ons, Shopify will cover the needs of larger businesses, too. Its advanced plans feature additional tools like analytics and staff tracking. Plus, its offer includes hardware like card readers, iPad stands, or retail kit items.

This company offers a simple app that’s compatible with both iOS and Android devices. Getting started shouldn’t be hard since there’s a vast knowledge base in case you get stuck. Users can also count on friendly customer support agents available 24/7 via chat.

6. AirPOS — Best POS System for Small Business Organisations

AirPOS is a dark horse in the POS software industry. It’s a much less-known brand on the UK business scene than the previous providers. However, it’s among the top POS software for small business organisations, so we had to include it in our top 10.

AirPOS is completely cloud-based and compatible with multiple devices, so you can use it anywhere as long as you have an internet connection. The process of setting it up and using it is quite straightforward, too.

You or your staff won’t have to waste time or money going through training, which is always good news. 

You can make the most of AirPOS if you take advantage of its integrations. The system offers seamless transactions, thanks to the payment services like Zettle and SumUP.

Solutions like Zero and Tide are in charge of accounting, and its Pro plan even offers direct access to one of the best retail POS systems — Shopify. AirPOS’s pricing plans are one of the main reasons we’ve named it the best POS system for small business organisations.

You don’t have to worry about fixed contracts or hidden fees when you sign up with this provider — all you have to do is pay the monthly rate. New users can even test the system for 14 days free of charge.

7. ePOS — Best UK POS System for Mid- to Large-Size Businesses

ePOS is a Singapore-based company that services users in 60 different industries, including Singapore government agencies. It’s been on the market for more than a decade and has enough features to fit mid to large-size businesses.

This provider offers a wide range of tools your staff and customers will appreciate. It includes handy inventory management features that can help you keep track of stock and sales. It can customize labels, manage pricing and discounts, and log stock transfers in real-time. 

The system can even use previous sales trends and inventory data to suggest and automate reorders for you. ePOS also has features that’ll help you establish a better relationship with your customers.

It can record their past purchases, make notes of their shopping habits, and filter all this data based on the criteria you choose. You can leverage it to personalise your service and reward loyal customers.

The system also supports multiple integrations that’ll keep data in sync and up-to-date across multiple locations. It will also allow you to build your online stores and manage them from a single portal.

8. Vend — Best UK POS System for Scaling Businesses

Vend is another less-known yet high-quality POS software available in the UK market. It’ll work for a variety of companies, but it’s most suitable for growing brick-and-mortar retail businesses.

It is a cloud-based retail POS software with fantastic features. It allows you to customise your catalogue, adding an unlimited number of products and syncing data across multiple channels and locations.

It also offers great inventory management tools. You can use Vend to track items in stock, adjust stock levels, complete orders, and handle inventory counts.

Vend is a very flexible app when it comes to compatibility. It works like a charm on a variety of devices, including Windows and Mac computers. You and your employees will likely be able to use it on the devices you already own.

Nevertheless, if you’d like to use other equipment, Vend also offers a list of recommendations on its website.

Due to its retailer-geared design, Vend might not be the best restaurant POS system. However, seeing that Lightspeed — the number one POS solution on our top 10 list — has recently acquired it, Vend’s offer of services might expand in the future.

9. Zettle — Best POS System for UK Businesses With Great Payment Tools

Zettle is a company with more than a decade to its name. It has recently joined forces with another well-known brand — PayPal. This rebrand has significantly expanded Zettle’s offer of services. This POS solution now boasts some of the best payment processing tools you can find.

Being a part of PayPal, Zettle is now available to all its users. If you have a PayPal account, you can use the same credentials to register with Zettle in minutes.

The app will let you process payments regardless of where you are and what time it is. You can use cash, cards, and even Apple and Google Pay seamlessly.

Convenient payment processing is not the only feature Zettle boasts. Its users will get to organise products, monitor sales, keep track of stock, oversee employees’ performance, generate reports, and so on.

Zettle’s ease of use is the cherry on top. In fact, if you are looking for simplicity, this system is among the best POS software for UK businesses. Its user-friendly interface is easy to navigate, and its dashboards keep all your work in one place.

Still, the app offers video tutorials and has customer support in case you need any help.

10. TakePayments Plus — POS Software With the Best Card Readers

TakePayments Plus is a small UK-based company that specialises in offering payment solutions to businesses. It has managed to stay on the market for 30 years, thanks to a range of features.

Still, it’s part of our best POS systems for UK businesses mainly because of its card reader offer. So, if you’re looking for a company that has a good POS system and top-tier hardware, you’re in luck.

TakePayments Plus has three types of card readers on offer. You can choose between classic countertop devices, portable Bluetooth machines, and mobile phone apps.

They all come from a well-known French brand and are easy to set up, regardless of your prior experience with this equipment.

Besides card readers, TakePayments Plus has a few other cards up its sleeve. Its ePOS systems allow users to manage stock levels and taxes and services, control and record payments, get product and sales reports, and more. 

The provider also has tools that can help you oversee your staff and manage your relationship with customers. For instance, it can track your employee’s schedules, assign commissions, and create and manage customer appointments or reservations.

Best UK POS Software — Compared

To help you compare details like pricing and card rates, we’ve compiled a head-to-head comparison table below:

What is a POS System?

If you’re new to this technology, you’re probably wondering what POS systems are and how they work. The answer is simple. POS is an abbreviation for a point-of-sale system.

It stands for a mix of software and hardware components necessary for financial transactions in a store, restaurant, or similar business. The first POSs included only the cash register. Nevertheless, with the advancement of technology, these systems have evolved significantly.

Today, POS systems do more than just accept and process payments from customers. The best UK POS systems help businesses manage stock, track sales, monitor staff, generate reports, and more.

Since most of these operations depend on electronic devices and applications, POSs are also referred to as ePOSs.

How Does POS Software Work?

Modern POS systems work similarly to old-fashioned cash registers. Their main purpose is to calculate the price of a product and services together with the sales tax, accept the payment, and process it.

However, they also cover a few additional functions that help businesses handle their day-to-day sales. As mentioned earlier, they consist of hardware and software elements. Hardware typically  includes a card reader, receipt printer, cash drawer, screen, and barcode scanner.

Some providers also offer label printers and self-ordering kiosks. Software is the program that links and syncs all this equipment. It can be on-premises or cloud-based. Most solutions on our best POS system for UK businesses list are examples of the latter.

On-premises system is software that works solely from the terminal where it’s been installed. It’s suitable for small businesses because it offers a limited number of features. Cloud-based solutions are much more popular.

They collect information from several terminals, sync it, and allow staff to access it from multiple locations and devices. 

How Much Do POS Systems Cost?

Prices of POS systems differ between providers. Most of them offer several pricing plans to cater to different business types and sizes. Plans usually include a contract and require you to pay a monthly fee.

They may also come with additional costs like transactional fees (usually paid per transaction in percentage). Providers that offer hardware typically allow you to pay for this equipment upfront. Nevertheless, these rules are not set in stone.

Some POS systems charge users by taking fees from customer transactions. Others allow you to rent hardware for a monthly rate, too. The best UK POS systems offer free plans. These plans allow you to use the systems free of charge forever, but they have a limited number of features.

They might be good for small businesses or companies with tight budgets. We should also mention that the best POS system for UK businesses and a few of its competitors on our list offer a free trial.

Free trials are limited testing periods that allow new users to try a POS system’s services for free before they decide whether to commit. They’re a great way to find out what platform suits your business the most.

Benefits of Having UK POS Software

POS systems’ main features, advantages, and benefits are numerous. These tools are designed to help you and your staff manage your business and daily tasks more efficiently and effectively.

POS apps also improve your customers’ experience in your store, restaurant, or online shop, thus making them more likely to return. 

The best UK POS systems offer an array of features and tools to help you achieve these goals. The following paragraphs will list the most important ones and discuss them in more detail for your convenience. 

Managing Staff

Modern POS systems can help you assign tasks to staff, schedule their shifts, and track their performance. This way, you’ll be able to organise your team more effectively and save energy and time along the way.

POS will also allow you to keep records of your employees progress and reward their efforts or help those who need more training. The system can give your staff insight into their progress and motivate them to work towards their career objectives.

Streamlining Your Business

POS software will help you save time and minimise mistakes. The best POS systems for UK businesses have analytics and reporting tools. These features create regular reports on your sales, revenue, performance, product and service range, customer behaviour, and more.

This way, you will get a clear overview of your sales, finances, and inventory status. Plus, they can show you what you can expect in the following months based on the current data. 

Thanks to POS systems, you can track your business’ development without doing the research yourself. The information you receive can be invaluable, as it will allow you to make changes in due time, open new sales channels, and develop better strategies for the future.

Improving Customer Relationships

POS systems have built-in marketing features and offer integrations with well-known marketing apps. These tools can help you create detailed marketing campaigns and reach specific customer groups.

They can write personalised SMS messages, emails, and social media posts and promote particular products or services. Some systems also offer loyalty programme features.

They come in all shapes and forms but are generally made to be user-friendly and appealing to patrons. You can add customers to these programmes and allow them to earn rewards over time. Moreover, you can offer various gift cards and discount codes. 

Your POS system can also elicit feedback from customers through emails, messages, or in-store surveys. The feedback can help you learn what your business is lacking, keep you on top of new trends, and help you increase your profits.

Enhancing Your Payment System

POS will introduce flexibility into the payment system your business is using. It’ll allow your customers to use a range of different payment methods — from cash to e-wallets. The system can ask whether they’d like to split the bill or receive their receipt by email.

It can even keep a record of their preferred payment method and automatically offer it the next time this specific customer shops. In addition, POS software can save your customers time by eliminating waiting in lines.

Clients can buy products online and have them delivered to their homes. They can also pay while on the sales floor through mobile applications, or they can use self-service kiosks to make orders and transactions on their own.

Many POS systems also offer customer-facing displays or double screens. These tools allow customers to see their receipts and follow transactions. They can also promote products and services and display important messages.

mPOS and Tablet POS Systems

POS systems have gone through many changes over the years. They’ve expanded their offer of services and modified the ways they function. These changes have resulted in mPOS and tablet POS systems.

mPOSs or mobile point-of-sale systems are a combination of POS software and a wireless device that functions as a cash register. Because they are mobile, they can be carried wherever you go. 

As a result, they represent some of the best POS software for small business organisations without a fixed location, like food trucks or pop-up shops. They’re quite simple to get a hang of and easy to operate.

Tablet POS systems are similar to mPOSs, except for the fact that they work on Android tablets and iPads. They also offer bigger displays, which are more convenient for customers and your staff.

You can keep tablet POSs fixed in one place or carry them with you as you serve customers. This feature makes them suitable for restaurants or cafes.

How to Choose a UK POS Provider

Choosing a POS system for your business can be a daunting task. You should look through as many providers on the market as possible and test the best ones. All aspects of your POS system are important, but there are a few you should focus on.

We’ve listed them and explained their importance below.

Set-up and Ease-of-Use

Some of the first characteristics we consider when testing POS systems are their set-up processes and user-friendliness. 

The former should be simple, easy, and quick. You don’t want to spend hours trying to set up and install a system. In addition, you shouldn’t be forced to hire someone to do it for you. 

The latter is equally important. You and your staff will rely on this software every day, so it should be easy to grasp. It should make you more efficient, not slow you down.

Features

Modern POS systems come with scores of tools and features. Many of them support numerous integrations, too. 

Having that many options is great, but it can also feel overwhelming. So, it’s important that you choose a system that suits your needs perfectly. You can check out our reviews to learn about the features the best POS software for UK businesses offer.

Select the ones that you find the most useful and compare the providers to see which one has the traits your business needs.

Support

Customer support comes third on our list of important aspects you should think about when choosing your POS system. 

It’s nice to have someone to lean on for help when using new technology. So, you should make sure the POS you’re planning to use has an easy-to-reach and friendly customer support team.

Look at the selection of support channels and the time frames when the agents are available. You can also ask them a question or two in advance to check their response time and helpfulness.

Pricing

The last but not least POS aspect we’ll consider is the price. 

As we’ve mentioned before, POS systems usually offer several pricing plans. All of them cover a different number of services and come at different monthly rates. Most of them impose transactional fees, some charge for their hardware, and others offer free plans.

You can compare several providers to see which one has all the features you need at the most affordable price. Feel free to use our table above to help you with this task.

FAQs