Best Convenience Store POS Systems: 8 Must-Have Features

Are you a convenience store owner looking to set yourself up for success?

You may not realize it, but having the right point of sale system in place can make all the difference when it comes to running a convenience store business.

POS systems aren’t just about taking payments anymore; today’s best convenience store POS systems offer features that enable faster and more accurate transactions, as well as better inventory management and customer service capabilities.

What are the best POS systems for convenience stores? And which features should you look for? From inventory management to loyalty program integration, these POS features can help you grow sales in your convenience store and make your operations more efficient.

Top C-Store POS Systems Solve Problems

Running and opening a convenience store business is challenging, and that’s especially true if you’re trying to manage transactions without retail software.

Retail tools like a POS system or inventory management platform are necessities. And they help convenience store owners solve these two massive problems:

1. Theft / Shrinkage

Retail loss prevention starts with being able to identify issues as they occur.

A POS system helps you do just that. Cashier reconciliation reports, for example, show you cash drawer variances, while daily reports can include features like number of voided sales, refunds, etc. Additionally, automated inventory count sheets, lottery and cigarette inventory tools, and improved inventory accuracy help to identify issues with retail theft.

Some FTx POS features that can help prevent shrinkage and theft include:

• Expiration date tracking
• SMARTtill cash drawer tracking
• Lottery inventory management
• Cashier performance reporting

2. Inventory Issues

Convenience stores have thousands of products with low margins. The average profit margin for a convenience store is just 5%.

Common inventory problems – like out-of-stocks, spoilage, inaccurate inventory, or poor demand forecasting – can cut into these narrow margins. A convenience store inventory platform solves with features like these in FTx POS:

• Real-time inventory transactions
• Reorder automation
• Cycle count automation for high-value or fast-moving stock

Ultimately, the best convenience store POS systems solve many problems in addition to these two. However, these two can have a significant impact on a business’s bottom line.

Top C-Store POS. FTx POS is a favorite point of sale tool for corner stores and tobacco shops. We offer every tool you need to scale: Tobacco scan data, barcode scanning, loyalty programs, digital signage and more. Request a demo today!

Must-Have POS System Features for Convenience Stores

No matter the size of your business, you need an efficient way to manage finances and keep track of your sales. This is especially important as you scale and add stores or increase your store’s inventory.

Ultimately, the best POS systems for convenience stores can touch every area of the business: inventory, sales, theft prevention, timeclock and payroll, and more. Some of the best features to include are:

• Barcode scanning
• Automatic reordering
• Stock alerts
• Expiration date tracking
• Loyalty programs
• Tobacco scan data
• Age verification
• EBT support
• Lottery inventory
• Cash till management
• Multi-store
• Time clock

All of these features are available in FTx POS for convenience stores. And here’s a closer look at what these features can help you do.

Key Benefits of C-Store Point of Sale Systems

The best point of sale can help you corner store business with:

1. Easier Inventory Management

Inventory management is a must-have POS feature, no matter your industry. In fact, nearly 80% of buyers of POS platforms cite inventory management as their main motivator.

Efficient convenience store inventory management requires accurate pricing and sales data. And this is what a POS system will help you do. First, you can store product and pricing data with convenience store pricebook software. Additionally, your c-store POS system will help you with:

• Automatically generating inventory count sheets for staff
• Barcode scanning with handheld inventory scanners
• Vendor and purchase order management
• Tobacco and lottery inventory management
• Kitting and quickservice food inventory
• Low stock notifications

2. Fast Transactions

The best convenience store POS systems make it easy to process card transactions. This is important considering a convenience store might process 500+ transactions per day.

So, how can you ensure your POS system processes transactions fast?

You might use:

• Integrated convenience store credit card processing – This means your POS system is also your card processing terminal. You don’t need a third-party terminal to accept and process cards.
• Support for many tender types – You should accept a variety of tender types that are common including tap-to-pay, EBT, and Google or Apple pay.
• Barcode scanning and printing – An integrated barcode scanner makes it easy to lookup prices, ensures accurate prices and totals at checkout, and makes your transactions smoother. It’s a must-have tool.

3. Rebate Programs for Tobacco

Corner stores sell a lot of tobacco products, and any retailer that sells tobacco in volume should be applying for scan data tobacco rebates.

This allows select retailers to earn price promotions on tobacco products from manufacturers. These rebates can help c-stores offer competitive pricing, earn buydowns and incentives, and it can be a useful revenue driver.

Your POS system makes this possible. First, it allows you to capture the right reports, generate them automatically, and send them to manufacturing partners. Additionally, the POS system can be equipped with electronic age verification , which can help you maximize incentives, known as Age Validation Technology in the Altria program.

4. Cash and Card Handling Security

Convenience stores process a huge volume of card and cash transactions. Therefore, the best c-store POS systems include tools for enhancing security for these functions.

For example, if you’re using integrated credit card processing, you need a card processor that’s PCI-DSS compliant. Plus, a quality c-store POS system will include safety features like:

• Cash drop alerts
• Age verification on receipts
• Cashier activity logs
• Configurable cashier permissions

5. CRM and Loyalty Programs

Loyalty programs can be a powerful revenue driver for convenience stores. For fuel convenience stores, for example, loyalty members spend 38% more annually on average, and they visit more frequently.

When the program is “integrated” into the register, that means you can manage the program with your POS software. In addition, you can enroll customers right in the POS, asking for a name, phone number/email. For convenience stores, some of the ways to include a loyalty program include:

• Digital coffee club cards
• Frequent shopper rewards
• Specialized discounts for members
• Reward earnings based on average spend

6. Employee Management

The ability to manage employees at the register is important for growing businesses. This allows multiple stores to be monitored from a single corporate location or remotely.

Some must-have employee management features include:

• Timeclock management
• Payroll integration (e.g. can export or sync timeclock data with payroll processor)
• Schedule printing (via the receipt printer)
• Labor cost monitoring from the convenience store back office

7. Insightful Analytics Data

To increase sales, your point of sale system must have the ability to gather crucial data, expedite transactions, and ensure speedy service. Some POS data analytics reports to explore include:

• Customer Feedback – Many convenience stores and gas station POS systems ask for feedback from customers on a touch screen at the point of purchase.
• Loyalty Data – You can integrate a loyalty program so that feedback on the visit may be requested later, separate from the transaction process.
• Transaction Data – See which products are performing, test new products, identify weak performers, and use this data to better refine your product mix.
• Employee Data – You can better manage labor costs with a system that will help you identity when peak hours are, and how many hours your employees are working.

8. Accounting Integration

Top POS systems for convenience stores allow you to sync automatically with your accounting software. For example, FTx POS offers easily QuickBooks POS integrations. This imports much of your accounting data into QuickBooks to streamline accounting.

Additionalloy, you can use the data to build financial dashboards to monitor:

• Daily, weekly or monthly sales trends
• Seasonality of sales
• Customer segmentation
• Sales, category and department tracking

Managers will be better able to oversee the entire business and start making better leadership decisions as access to this data gets easier and they learn how to explore the information available through POS reporting .

Why FTx POS Is the Best Convenience Store Point of Sale Platform

An effective and versatile point of sale like FTx POS is crucial in the c-store business. We believe FTx POS is the best for corner stores, bodegas, smoke shops, and food marts. Here’s why:

• Tobacco scan data – Unlike other platforms, we don’t take a cut of your incentive rewards!
• Digital signage integration – Use digital signage in your c-store to connect and market; easily manage it through your POS.
• Advanced theft prevention – Smart cash drawer integration, cashier performance reporting, cash drop automation, and more.
• Sleek streamlined hardware – Barcode scanners, customer-facing displays, integrated cash drawers, weight stations – whatever your store’s hardware needs, we’ve got you covered.
• Inventory management – Our inventory management platform is built for stores that manage 1000s of SKUs.
• Age verification integration – Add age verification prompts, ID scans, or AVT verification at the register.

Bottom line, FTx POS is great for convenience stores. Contact us today to learn how we can help your c-store business grow.

Request a demo. Chat with a POS expert today and learn how our point of sale platform can help you drive revenue and reach your goals. Schedule a demo now!