Are you dreaming of launching a profitable clothing store? If so, investing in a point-of-sale (POS) system is a must, not a plus. But the real question here is which one is the best POS system for retail clothing store.
Well, that’s not an easy question, is it? The truth is there are dozens of POS systems out there, but not all of them are suitable for clothing retail purposes.
But don’t worry! After testing all the ins and outs of several POS systems, we’ve compiled a list of the best POS system for clothing store just for you.
Contents
- 1. A glance at the best POS system for retail clothing store
- 2. Better understanding of POS system in retail clothing
- 3. Honest reviews of the 6 best POS system for retail clothing store
- 3.1. Shopify POS: best for omnichannel retail stores
- 3.2. Magestore POS: best for Magento integration
- 3.3. ConnectPOS: best for loyalty programs
- 3.4. Lightspeed Retail: best for inventory management
- 3.5. Epos Now: best for growing clothing stores
- 3.6. Square POS: best free POS system for apparel retailers
- 4. Proven tips to choose the best POS system for your clothing store
- 5. Conclusion
- 6. FAQs
1. A glance at the best POS system for retail clothing store
Name | Best for | Pricing | Key features | Learn more |
Shopify POS | Omnichannel retail businesses looking for seamless integration of online and offline sales channels | From $39/month to use POS Lite. POS Pro costs $89/month per location | – Seamless integration with online channel – Advanced inventory management – Various payment methods | Learn more |
Magestore POS | Clothing stores doing eCommerce with Magento integration | From $15/month. One-time payment is available for the advanced POS system. | – Real-time sync with Magento – Extensive integration – Loyalty programs | Learn more |
Connect POS | Clothing retailers that need great loyalty programs and CRM features | Two custom pricing options: Professional and Enterprise. | – Advanced loyalty and reward features – AI facial recognition – Multiple variants and bundles | Learn more |
Lightspeed Retail | Clothing stores needing robust inventory management and multi-store management capabilities | From $89 to $269/month per location and one cash register. | – Advanced inventory management – Automated re-ordering – Great multi-location support | Learn more |
Epos Now | Growing clothing stores | A package of necessary hardware and software from $349/year. | – Customizable product variants – Mobile POS capabilities – Seamless eCommerce integration | Learn more |
Square POS | Clothing brands that are looking for a free option | Free plan available. Paid plans from $29 to $89 per month. | – Integrated payment processing – Employee management – Integrated gift card program | Learn more |
2. Better understanding of POS system in retail clothing
You might think that a POS system for clothing retailers is a cash register. Well, that isn’t wrong. However, a point-of-sale (POS) system is much more than that.
It’s a combination of POS software and hardware (card reader, barcode scanner, etc.) that enables you to process your customers’ payment and manage your inventory efficiently.
To help you have a better understanding of a POS system’s importance in retailing, here’s a comparison of how you process sales with and without a POS:
With a POS system ✅ | Without a POS system ❌ |
Step 1: You scan the item barcode Step 2: The system automatically updates inventory across your online & offline channels Step 3: You use a card reader to process payment quickly with multiple options Step 4: The printer automatically print the receipt Step 5: Afterward, you can access sales data and customer insights | Step 1: You manually enter item details into spreadsheets Step 2: You have to manually update your inventory for your online and offline stores Step 3: You will manually enter payment details into a separate payment terminal or cash register Step 4: You write a receipt Step 5: You compile sales data with Google Sheets |
Clearly, without a POS system, you’re very likely to suffer from spending hours after hours doing manual entry and fixing human errors. Hence, investing in a POS system is necessary, especially if you’re also doing online selling or your store is on the growth.
A functional POS system will enable you to manage both channels effortlessly with automatic customer & inventory update, data synchronization across the system, etc.
When choosing a POS system in the apparel industry, prioritize the providers that have the following features:
🔸 Size and color management: Real apparel POS will allow you to manage multiple SKUs for different sizes and colors of the same item, ensuring precise inventory tracking and easy reordering.
🔸 Flexible promotions and discounts: Options to easily create and manage various promotions, discounts, and bundle offers tailored to the clothing retail sector.
🔸 Advanced payment processing: Make sure that the system supports various payment methods including credit/debit cards, mobile payments, etc.
🔸 Real-time inventory tracking: A POS system should have real-time inventory tracking capabilities so you can stay on top of your stock levels effortlessly.
🔸 Loyalty and CRM features: Look for loyalty and CRM features to help you increase customer retention with loyalty rewards and VIP membership programs
3. Honest reviews of the 6 best POS system for retail clothing store
After you have a better understanding of POS systems and their importance for retailing, let’s examine a list of the best point of sale system for clothing store we hand-picked for you!
📝 Disclaimer: Though the eComStart team uses the latest information from reliable sources, the pricing information of POS providers is subject to change and might differ depending on your business’s location. Therefore, please use it for reference purposes only.
3.1. Shopify POS: best for omnichannel retail stores
Shopify POS would be the first best POS system for clothing boutique we’d love to introduce to you in this list. Thanks to its seamless integration with Shopify and other social commerce channels, Shopify provides you with fantastic omnichannel capabilities.
Particularly, you can manage both online and offline sales in one centralized dashboard and sync data between two channels to track your inventory in real time. Not to mention that Shopify POS inherits Shopify’s powerful built-in marketing functionalities like email, advertisement tools, etc. allowing you to effectively promote your business.
🔸 Main features:
- Seamless integration with online channel: Shopify POS seamlessly integrates your online and in-store sales, allowing you to manage all sales from a single platform efficiently. For instance, if a customer buys something online, they can easily return or exchange it in-store.
- Advanced inventory management: With product variants and SKU tracking, Shopify POS helps you manage complex inventories and keeps track of your clothing items’ different sizes, colors, and styles in real time.
- Various payment methods: Shopify partners with over 100 payment gateways. This means you can flexibly process your customers payments how you see fit.
- Detailed customer profiles: Shopify POS empowers you to keep rich customer profiles like purchase history, spending volume, birthday, etc. so you can better retain your shoppers and keep them coming back for more
🔸 Pricing:
Shopify POS has 2 versions: Shopify POS Lite, which comes free when you subscribe to one of Shopify’s pricing plans (which starts from $39 – $399/month). To get more robust POS features, you can upgrade to Shopify POS Pro at $89/month per location.
For payment processing, Shopify’s in-person payment processing would depend on the pricing plan you choose (the higher the plan, the lower the fee). But from what we know, it starts at 2.4%.
🔎 Want to see how Shopify POS stacks up against other POS solutions? Here are a few articles you might find interesting:
3.2. Magestore POS: best for Magento integration
If you are running an online clothing line with Magento and plan to expand to the offline channel, we can’t think of any better name than Magestore POS. Yup, if Shopify POS is recommended for Shopify stores, Magestore POS is the optimal choice for Magento stores.
As one of the best POS system for clothing retail, Magestore provides you with an all-in-one POS solution for your brick-and-mortar clothing shop. Thanks to Magestore POS’s comprehensive integration with Magento, you can run advanced promotions and discounts for your shoppers based on cart rule, catalog rules, and more.
🔸 Main features:
- Real-time sync with Magento: As we mentioned, with Magestore POS, your fashion POS system is deeply connected to the Magento backend to sync your data seamlessly into a unified dashboard
- Extensive integration: Magestore’s apparel POS can integrate with tons of platforms, tools, and channels like eCommerce platforms, ERP system, payment processors, shipment carriers, accounting software, CRM, etc. This means you can centralize all your data points across multiple channels in one place and extend your POS’s functionalities to your needs.
- Loyalty programs: Magestore POS comes with built-in loyalty program features to help you boost brand loyalty, customer retention, and LTV with promotion programs like reward points or gift cards.
- Insightful stock reports: The POS is capable of identifying how long items have sat in your store so you can know which ones are your best-sellers, which are slow-moving products and act on it.
🔸 Pricing:
Magestore offers flexible pricing options for fashion stores of all shapes and sizes. For Magestore POS for Shopify, the POS software fee costs you $15/month with a 30-day free trial. For Magestore POS Simple for Magento, you’re expected to pay a subscription fee at $69/month, with a 7-day free trial.
Plus, Magestore POS also provides you with the advanced Magento POS through a one-time payment if you’re a well-established clothing retailer with sophisticated needs.
3.3. ConnectPOS: best for loyalty programs
Next up, we have ConnectPOS, one among the best POS system for small boutique popular for its extensive loyalty functionalities and feature-rich nature.
With the innovative facial recognition, efficient inventory management, product bundling, and dozens of handy features for the fashion sector, we believe ConnectPOS won’t let you down.
🔸 Main features:
- Advanced loyalty and reward features: ConnectPOS gives your shoppers personalized recommendations based on their preferences and historical shopping data, incentivizing your customers to shop more.
- AI facial recognition: ConnectPOS leverages powerful AI facial recognition technology to secure your customer identification. This means the system can enroll your customers in loyalty programs and record their loyalty point history automatically.
- Multiple variants and bundles: The POS system lets you sort items by brand, size, color, or material. The best part is you can even bundle separate clothing items to sell as combos with unique SKUs.
- Self-checkout within clothing POS: With the self-service app, your in-store customers can quickly finalize their purchases with barcode scans without having to wait in a long queue.
🔸 Pricing:
Previously, ConnectPOS had 3 plans, which started from $39 – $89/month. However, as of writing this article, it seems that they now only have two custom pricing: Professional and Enterprise. Hence, we advise you to contact their sales rep if you’re interested in this POS system.
3.4. Lightspeed Retail: best for inventory management
Do you have a large product catalog that sells in multiple locations? If so, Lightspeed Retail is the best POS system for retail clothing store you should definitely consider.
Lightspeed Retail POS is top-notch when it comes to streaming tasks like inventory management, automated reordering, customer profiles, enabling you to have granular control over how your clothing store should work.
🔸 Main features:
- Advanced inventory management: Lightspeed Retail allows stores with diverse clothing lines to track from the smallest details of their clothing items like sizes, colors, and even custom product attributes.
- Automated re-ordering: Thanks to Lightspeed B2B functionalities, you can connect with thousands of products coming from big names in the fashion brands and set stock points to automatically order merchandise when your stock runs low.
- Great multi-location support: With Lightspeed’s awesome multi-location support, you can easily transfer stock between store units, compare store performance, and keep consistent inventory levels throughout all your retail stores.
- Rich customer profile: Lightspeed Retail captures your customer’s data after each checkout and equips you with robust customer relationship management tools to help you drive more repeat sales.
🔸 Pricing:
At its core, Lightspeed Retail has three main pricing plans built for different business needs. The basic plan costs you $89/month per location and one cash register. For more advanced POS features, Lightspeed Standard and Advanced each costs you $149 and $269/month per location and one cash register.
And for larger businesses with custom needs, you can opt for Lightspeed Retail’s custom enterprise plan.
3.5. Epos Now: best for growing clothing stores
Up next, we’d like to talk about Epos Now, one of the best pos system for small clothing boutique on the growth. Epos Now’s POS system is highly customizable, making it an excellent choice for large apparel businesses with more complex needs.
For instance, Epos Now allows boutiques to tailor their inventory management to track stock levels, manage suppliers, and automate reordering processes seamlessly. Additionally, Epos Now supports integration with various e-commerce platforms like Shopify and BigCommerce, ensuring that both in-store and online sales are synchronized for a unified view of the business.
🔸 Main features:
- Customizable product variants: Epos Now allows stores to manage different product variants such as sizes, colors, and styles so you can track and sell multiple variations of the same item efficiently.
- Mobile POS capabilities: Epos Now offers mobile POS solutions that enable sales associates to assist customers on the shop floor, check stock availability, and complete transactions without being tied to a fixed checkout counter
- Seamless eCommerce integration: For boutique owners searching for the best POS system for small clothing boutiques, Epos Now integrates smoothly with major eCommerce platforms like Shopify and BigCommerce, letting you manage your store seamlessly in one place.
- Customer loyalty programs: The system offers built-in customer loyalty programs that help clothing stores retain customers by offering rewards, discounts, and special promotions.
🔸 Pricing:
As we’ve researched, Epos Now offers their POS solution as a package of necessary hardware and software from $349/year.
3.6. Square POS: best free POS system for apparel retailers
And last but not least, Square POS is another name we’d love to mention. If you have little budget and want to test out the water first, Square POS is the best POS system for clothing store free we’d suggest.
Even with its free plan, Square POS gives you an adequate number of POS features to get started, such as payment processing, inventory management, or sales reporting. After you’ve finished the testing and want to unlock more features like marketing, loyalty, or gift cards, you can instantly upgrade to their Plus plan.
🔸 Main features:
- Integrated payment processing: Square POS supports various payment methods, including credit cards, mobile payments, and gift cards. This flexibility ensures customers can pay using their preferred method, enhancing their shopping experience and reducing checkout times.
- Employee management: Square POS includes tools for managing employee shifts, tracking performance, and assigning roles.
- Integrated gift card program: Square POS supports an integrated gift card program, allowing clothing stores to sell and accept gift cards both in-store and online.
- Customizable loyalty programs: Square POS includes built-in loyalty program features that enable clothing stores to reward repeat customers with points, discounts, or exclusive offers.
🔸 Pricing:
Square’s basic plan is often regarded as the best POS system for clothing store free, as it covers most essential features for small businesses. For those requiring more advanced capabilities, Square offers paid plans ranging from $29 to $89 per month per location, tailored to different business needs. Payment processing fees are clear and simple, starting at 2.6% + 10 cents per in-person transaction.
>> Relevant reading: best POS system for small business
4. Proven tips to choose the best POS system for your clothing store
Choosing the best POS for clothing store is tough work and quite challenging, but as long as you take our tips in mind, you should be doing fine:
🔸 Consider popular options first: Popular systems like Shopify POS, Magestore POS, or Lightspeed Retail are popular for a reason. They offer comprehensive features, reliable support, and regular updates, making them safe choices for clothing retailers.
🔸 Evaluate inventory management capabilities: Clothing retail stores need POS systems that can handle advanced inventory management. Hence, look for features that track different product variants (sizes, colors, styles), set low-stock alerts, and automate reordering.
🔸 Check integration options: Ensure the POS system integrates seamlessly with your eCommerce platform, accounting software, and any other important marketing tools you can’t live without.
🔸 Consider the POS’s scalability: Ensure the POS system can grow with your business. Whether you plan to expand to multiple locations or increase your online presence, the system should be scalable to accommodate your future needs.
🔸 Look for fashion-specific analytics: Choose a POS system that provides detailed analytics specific to clothing retail, such as sales by size, color, and style.
5. Conclusion
That’s it! We’ve just walked you through a list of the best POS system for retail clothing store of all time. eComStart hopes you’ve found the point-of-sale system that fits your demand and budget by now.
Don’t forget to check out eComStart.io to get all the resources you need to prepare your business for future success.
6. FAQs
These are the key features you should look for in a POS system for clothing stores:
1. Size and color management
2. Flexible promotions and discounts
3. Advanced payment processing
4. Real-time inventory tracking
5. Loyalty and CRM features
A functional POS system will automatically update your stock level for each SKU after you successfully process payments, refund, etc.
Yes, a POS system can handle sales of a clothing store. However, the level of promotions you can configure for your POS depends on the providers you choose.
For instance, if you choose Magestore POS, you can set promotions on the cart rule or catalog rule thanks to the POS’s integration with Magento.
A POS system manages size and color variants for clothing by allowing you to create and track multiple attributes for each product.
A POS system can integrate with your clothing store’s eCommerce platform if the POS system you choose supports eCommerce integration. A few POS systems that support eCommerce integration are Shopify POS, Magestore POS, Square Retail, and Lightspeed Retail.