Pets play a big role in our lives. It’s evident by how much we pamper them.
The average pet owner in the U.S. spends 10% of their income on their furry friend — this may not sound like a lot, but it equates to over $167 billion each year!
Running a pet store involves juggling a lot of responsibilities, from managing inventory to handling customer relationships. One tool that can make a huge difference in streamlining these tasks is a point of sale (POS) system for pet stores.
But why is a POS system so important, and which providers should you consider? Let's dive in!
Why You Need a POS for Pet Stores
A POS system is more than just a cash register — it’s the heart of your pet store’s operations. It integrates various aspects of your business into a single, cohesive platform, making it easier to manage day-to-day activities. Here’s how a POS system can transform your pet store.
1. Efficient Inventory Management
Managing stock levels can be a draining, time-consuming task, especially in a pet store where inventory ranges from pet food to toys to grooming supplies. A POS system allows you to keep track of your inventory in real time. It helps you monitor stock levels, receive alerts when items are running low, and automate reordering processes.
2. Streamlined Sales Processing
A POS system simplifies the checkout process, making transactions faster and more efficient. It supports various payment methods, including credit cards, debit cards, and mobile payments. This flexibility not only improves the customer experience, but speeds up your sales process, reducing wait times and boosting customer satisfaction.
3. Enhanced Customer Relationship Management
Understanding your customers is key to providing excellent service. A POS system with customer relationship management (CRM) capabilities can track customer purchases, preferences, and contact information. This data helps you offer personalized promotions, loyalty rewards, and tailored recommendations, fostering a stronger connection with your customers and encouraging repeat business.
4. Detailed Reporting and Analytics
Having access to detailed reports and analytics is crucial for making informed business decisions. A POS system provides insights into sales trends, inventory turnover, and customer behavior. These reports help you identify which products are performing well, adjust pricing strategies, and plan inventory purchases more effectively.
5. Integration With E-Commerce
If you sell products online, integrating your POS system with your e-commerce platform is essential. This integration ensures that your online and in-store inventories are synced, preventing overselling and ensuring a smooth shopping experience for customers whether they’re buying in store or online.
6 Top POS Providers for Pet Stores
Now that you know why a POS system is so important, let’s explore some of the best POS providers for your pet store. These systems offer a range of features to help you manage your store efficiently and effectively.
1. Lightspeed
Lightspeed Retail is a powerful POS solution known for its inventory management and customer relationship features. It’s particularly useful for pet stores due to its ability to handle complex inventory, including pet food, accessories, and grooming products. With Lightspeed, you can also integrate with various e-commerce platforms, making it easy to manage both online and in-store sales.
Top features include:
- 24/7 customer support: Avoid frustrating FAQs that never seem to answer your question. Lightspeed has dedicated 24/7 service so you get help whenever you need it.
- Omnichannel management: Connect inventory across all platforms, whether it’s brick-and-mortar or an e-commerce site.
- Detailed analytics: Get as granular as you need with detailed analytics. Use the detailed reporting to get the big picture or the small details of how your business is performing. This can help you decide what to include in purchase orders, make better pricing decisions, forecast revenue and more.
Pricing: Lightspeed offers a free trial. After the trial, it’s $89/month for their basic subscription. If you need more features or manage multiple stores, expect to pay a few hundred bucks per month.
2. eTailPet
eTailPet is a unique all-in-one point of sale solution designed specifically for pet stores. Whether you’re a lone wolf with one retail location or a budding entrepreneur with franchising dreams, eTailPet can be scaled and customized to fit your needs — making it easy to grow your business.
Inventory management is what you’d expect from any POS for pet stores, but eTailPet has so much more to make managing a pet store easier and more lucrative. It also has a website builder with integrations to manage e-commerce, a catalog of over 160,000 pet supplies, and a comprehensive loyalty program for you and your pet.
Top features include:
- Website builder: Become your own web developer with eTailPet’s easy-to-use website builder. Integrate other software like QuickBooks or ApplePay for the smoothest checkout possible.
- Automated marketing tools: Reach more customers and keep them in your funnel with automated marketing tools. eTailPet automatically prompts customers to leave reviews via email, SMS or QR code. Optimized listings increase your searchability on platforms like Google and Yelp, while our social media management tool expands your reach.
- Loyalty program: The Astro loyalty program ensures you and your pet get rewards on every purchase.
- Extensive product catalog: eTailPet has 160,000+ pet products preloaded into its catalog from the largest vendors. Stay up to date with product offerings or explore new products to add to your next purchase order.
- Vendor credit module: When you receive damaged items from your purchase order, eTailPet automatically creates a vendor credit request saving you time and frustration.
Pricing: Schedule a free demo and contact for pricing.
Related Read: Pet Shop Products List: 10 Essential Items To Sell
3. Square
Square for Retail provides a straightforward and intuitive POS system. It’s great for managing sales, tracking inventory, and generating detailed reports. With its seamless integration with Square’s payment processing, you can offer a smooth and secure checkout experience for your customers.
Top features include:
- Brand recognition: Square is a recognizable name, making it an easy choice for those who feel more comfortable with a name they’re familiar with.
- Hardware solutions: They may be known for their plug-and-play smartphone card reader, but they offer other robust POS hardware to go along with their software.
- Employee management: Don’t just keep track of customers, but your staff, too. Create schedules and track time in one system.
Pricing: It’s completely free if you’re just starting out. Do you need more advanced features? The price jumps to $89/month, or you can contact for custom pricing if you need more bespoke capabilities.
4. Clover
Clover offers a customizable POS system with a range of features, including inventory management, customer insights, and employee management tools. Clover’s various hardware options ensure you can find a solution that fits your pet store’s needs, whether you’re looking for a countertop system or a mobile POS.
Top features include:
- Clover rapid deposit: Instead of waiting for weekly deposits, instantly cash out money from credit card sales when you need it most.
- Virtual terminal: Do you need to issue a refund or make a sale outside of business hours? No problem. Login to your Clover account and turn your mobile device or computer into a payment processor in a pinch.
- Clover Capital: Get funding your store directly from Clover. Avoid lengthy application processing times associated with traditional lenders and pay off any loan directly from future credit card sales.
Pricing: Their basic plan starts at just $69/month. However, be aware of high upfront costs for hardware that could cost you $799 for a basic card reader to well over $2,300 for more comprehensive hardware tools.
5. Revel Systems
Revel Systems provides a comprehensive POS solution with advanced inventory and customer management tools. It’s ideal for larger pet stores that need a system capable of handling high transaction volumes and complex reporting. Revel’s detailed analytics help you make data-driven decisions to enhance your store’s performance.
Top features include:
- Always-on mode: Never miss a sale. Accept payments even when your internet connection goes down with the “always-on” feature.
- Customer display system: Gain access to hardware that features a customer-facing screen so they can watch as you ring up their purchase. It offers complete transparency in pricing and can prompt customers to add a tip at the end of the transaction.
- Tiered loyalty program: Split your customers into segments to offer more personalized perks.
Pricing: Contact for pricing.
6. Shopify
Shopify POS is perfect for pet stores looking to integrate their physical and online sales channels. It offers seamless inventory management and sales tracking, with the added benefit of Shopify’s e-commerce capabilities. This integration allows you to manage your online store and physical location from a single platform.
Top features include:
- Commission management: Give staff their kudos. Attribute sales to certain employees to ensure they receive recognition and commission.
- Omnichannel selling: Send customers emails to purchase products they were scoping out in store, but ultimately didn’t purchase. Manage in-store orders that have yet to be shipped or manage e-commerce accounts on almost any platform.
- Inventory insights: Get notifications of which products aren’t popular so you can liquidate them and add more interesting options for your pet to your next purchase order.
Pricing: Start your monthly subscription for just $1. After that, plans range from $29/month up to $2,300/month based on the complexity of your pet store and the number of locations.
Related Read: 10 Pet Retail Management Tips To Boost Sales
Choose the Best POS for Pet Stores
Having the right POS system can make all the difference. With the diverse range of options available, it's important to select a system that aligns with your pet store's needs for today and the future.
From managing inventory and streamlining sales to enhancing customer relationships and integrating with e-commerce, a top-notch POS for pet stores simplifies operations and elevates your customer experience.
For a POS solution designed specifically for pet lovers, consider eTailPet. Take the time to explore our success stories and testimonials to guarantee you’re picking the best, eTailPet.
Want to experience eTailPet’s features firsthand? Schedule your free demo today to discover how it can help you manage your pet store and support your four-legged customers.