6 best POS systems for cafes and coffee shops in the UK

When it comes to point of sale (POS) systems, it pays to choose one that’s made for food-and-drink when you run a café. General POS systems may not have the specialised features essential for coffee shops, but hospitality EPOS will.

That said, a small café does not always require all the larger-scale operations of a big restaurant, so the complexity of the software also matters. For some, a simpler till system can be more efficient since there’s less to deal with, but a single café POS system to manage all daily operations including staff management and ingredient tracking can really save you time and money in the long run.

We have sifted through the UK options and give our take on the six best POS systems for cafés.

Primarily built for restaurants, TouchBistro is an EPOS that also works perfectly for cafés. The interface is easy to grasp upon first use, and it has lots of features to manage any type of food-and-drink business. It only works on iPad, not Android devices or computers. You can pay for the software annually, biannually, quarterly or monthly, but you have to commit to 12 months as a minimum.

Photo: TouchBistro

You can use TouchBistro either in landscape or portrait mode on the iPad.

The features are wide-ranging, including functions to help you sell more. It also has essentials like table plans, customer tabs, advanced split bills, food menus with modifiers, tipping and staff accounts with custom permissions. You can save customer details in a library and accept gift cards, but customer loyalty features don’t go much beyond this unless you subscribe to a loyalty plan through TouchBistro (price depending on how advanced you want it).

Friendly 24/7 customer support is included in the price, either though telephone, emailing or directly through the app. The ease of use in the app is excellent, as it shows explanations next to settings so you understand what every little function does without having to look it up online.

TouchBistro is a hybrid EPOS system, meaning it can run both via your local server and in the cloud. With just one iPad till, it will work if the internet is down, then upload sales and changes in the cloud when WiFi is back. A café with multiple iPad tills will need a server to keep iPads synced up, which TouchBistro can provide. With the internet working, the software will run smoothly regardless of how many tills you have.

As for card terminals, TouchBistro can integrate with iZettle, PayPal Here or Square. These are all mobile card readers, so if you’re looking for a solution with a traditional card machine by Verifone or Ingenico, you will have to use the terminals independently.

Payment integration: iZettle, Square, PayPal Here

Can you try before you buy? Yes, TouchBistro offer a 7-day free trial without registration, and a further 21 days’ continuation of the free trial if you create an account.

Nobly is another very user-friendly EPOS system for coffee shops. The software is built for iPad and is speedy and intuitive to navigate. Although cloud-based, it also works offline, making it a reliable system for busy cafés where the internet may be temperamental. You can pay monthly or annually per iPad used, the latter costing £20 less per month. There is no contract or minimum subscription required.

Photo: Nobly

Tableside orders are managed via a simple table plan in the app.

The Nobly app doesn’t have as many features as, say, TouchBistro, so it may not suit a big restaurant, but for most cafés, it fits the bill perfectly. For example, you get inventory and ingredient tracking, detailed analytics and customer loyalty features (which often costs extra in other software). Tableside order functions are a bit limited compared to pricier EPOS systems, but the simpler layout is an advantage for busy tills that need to process orders quickly.

The London-based customer support is available round the clock so you can phone or email any time for help. Some users have reported slow responses in some cases and lack of help during setup, but overall, the service is friendly and helpful. Given the simple interface, it takes very little time to train new staff on the till.

The system can be integrated with iZettle Reader and SumUp Air as well as card machines by Paymentsense and Barclaycard.

Payment integration: iZettle, SumUp, Paymentsense, Barclaycard, Verifone

Can you try before you buy? Yes, you can get a 14-day free trial without commitment, or book a free 15-minute demo of the software.

The Australian EPOS Kounta is the most advanced system on this list that also works on Windows computers, Macs and Android tablets. Many of the best cloud-based POS systems only work on iOS, but Kounta works on all major operating systems. The software is intuitive, scalable, with options to adapt the system as your business grows.

Image: Kounta

The Kounta interface is easy on the eye, with intuitive navigation.

The tiered subscriptions are not the easiest to get your head around. For a start, the prices are in Australian Dollars even for UK users, but do not be put off by it – the plans start at quite affordable rates.

The cheapest paid plan, called Sell, is recommended for espresso bars and pop-ups. This includes separate staff accounts, product variants and modifiers, offline mode, tipping, some inventory features and other features you’d need to manage a simple checkout. The next plan up, Manage, is recommended for cafés. It has additional features to manage staff, tables, orders, time sheets and price lists. The higher plan, Extend, is mostly just useful for full-service restaurants.

As for analytics and reporting, these come at an extra cost. If you just want to view sales trends and export reports to Excel or PDF, the cheapest Kounta Insights plan called View is sufficient. If you want to create recurring stock orders and perform other advanced inventory functions, you also pay for the Purchase Basic module, but most coffee shops can probably do with the free Purchase Lite. The system can integrate with many additional tools including accounting and other reporting platforms.

Customer support is available 24/7, and many businesses report that the support team is helpful and efficient.

Kounta can be integrated with card readers by PayPal Here and SumUp. Low-volume coffee shops would benefit with the SumUp Air integration, since it has a low transaction fee compared with similar terminals.

Payment integration: SumUp, PayPal Here

Can you try before you buy? Yes, the Lite plan, which allows up to 10 transactions a day, is free to use for as long as you need it.

Lightspeed Restaurant is a full-fledged restaurant POS system, but the breadth of features make it very good for cafés wanting all shop floor and management operations covered by one system. It is relatively user-friendly, but setting up the products and staff permissions can take longer than other POS systems because there are more settings and fewer in-app explanations for what each function refers to exactly. However, once you get the hang of it, the system will prove easy – clearly built for fast-paced businesses at any scale.

Lightspeed Restaurant is not just for restaurants – it looks very professional in a café/bar.

The features go way beyond just the basics. For instance, the table plan with open orders have the more amount of settings and functions we’ve seen in a hospitality app, and the list of all the different type of staff permissions is long. Enter recipes ingredients in any units, track inventory levels, split bills in any way you need, customise the product menu in lots of different ways and set timed promotions. It also allows you to send orders to the kitchen or bar, accept takeaways, delivery orders and table reservations.

Lightspeed Restaurant can work offline, but only if you purchase Lightspeed’s own Liteserver, which we have seen can cost around £500. If the internet is poor at your location, it will be crucial to have this, as the system would struggle without it offline.

Customer service is included in the plans 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You get free onboarding to help you set up the software and get your questions answered. There is no minimum contract, and you can choose to pay the subscription monthly, although annual plans are available for a lower price. The final pricing depends to on your needs, as Lightspeed will be offering you add-ons such as extra loyalty features and hardware packages.

The Lightspeed Restaurant EPOS integrates with Verifone VX680 and VX820 terminals as well as iZettle Reader for card payments.

Payment integration: iZettle, Verifone

Can you try before you buy? Yes, there’s a free 14-day trial without obligation.

iZettle Pro is an easy-to use EPOS system built for small hospitality businesses. It works on iPad only, although an accompanying phone app can track sales anywhere. You pay per iPad till and there’s no contract, so you can cancel any time. The features are not as extensive as, say, Lightspeed Restaurant, but it covers the essentials with a few extras that pricier POS systems don’t always have.

Photo: Mobile Transaction

iZettle Pro with iZettle Reader at The Grapes, London.

For example, the app has a table plan with order tracking, ingredient and vendor management, and product variants and options to tailor the drinks and food menu. Of the “extra” things that other similarly priced POS systems don’t usually have, you have training mode for teaching staff to use the software, and advanced sales analytics and reports that can be customised. Loyalty features are included too, with an option to purchase loyalty key tags for customers.

iZettle integrates with Xero for accounting and Planday for advanced employee management tools.

The app works offline on individual iPads, but only syncs with other iPad tills when the internet is back on. For coffee shops with just one till, the offline capabilities makes it well worth the money compared to several other till apps that struggle to perform offline.

Customer support is included and can be reached by phone, email, chat and directly through the app 7 days a week, between 8am and 8pm Monday to Friday and between 9am and 5pm on Saturdays and Sundays.

In terms of card machines, there’s not much choice – iZettle Pro only integrates with iZettle Reader. However, the transaction rate is lower for iZettle Pro users compared to regular iZettle users: only 1.25% per card payment through the terminal connected to iZettle Pro.

Payment integration: iZettle

Can you try before you buy? Yes, you can get a free 7-day trial without committing to anything.

Square is a good place to start for many small businesses, as the Point of Sale app give you many free features that also apply to cafés. After creating a Square account online, you can use the free Point of Sale app on iPad or Android without subscribing to anything, but there is now also a Square for Restaurants POS system for £69 + VAT a month per location (no commitment required). This works on iPad only, but you can set up as many tills as you like with the monthly £69 subscription as long as it is the same location – i.e. good value for those with several tills.

Photo: Square

Although built for restaurants, Square for Restaurants is miles better for cafés than the free Point of Sale app.

Some of the features are advanced tipping and service charge options, table plan with orders attached, food menus and items with variants, employee management, courses sent to the kitchen timed according to your preferences, and gift cards. Square for Restaurants does not have ingredient tracking, but you can set individual stock levels which automatically hide the product when out of stock.

Other advanced features in almost any area can be added through available integrations like MarketMan for food inventory management, Deliverect for food deliveries, and TapMango for advanced customer loyalty functions.

Square for Restaurants works with Square Reader for card payments, for 1.75% per card transaction. While Square Terminal can sync with the system for tableside payments, it has not got access to all the Square for Restaurants features available on iPad.

If the WiFi or network connection goes, you can still accept cash payments and use certain features on iPad. You get 24/7 customer support on the Square for Restaurants subscription.

As for card payments, Square Reader is a low-cost card reader with an attractive card rate. Transactions are automatically settled in your bank account the next working day, or within minutes for an extra 1% transaction fee.

Payment integration: Square

Can you try before you buy? Yes, get a 30-day free trial. You can also try the always-free Square Point of Sale app indefinitely, as it has no monthly fees.