Retail POS Features Checklist: Must-Have vs Nice-to-Have

Feature lists on vendor sites all look the same: dozens of ticks, few differences. The trouble is that a long list does not tell you which features you will use every day and which will sit idle. This retail POS features checklist is organized by how much each area matters for most stores, so you can mark your own must-haves, ignore the noise and compare vendors on the things that decide whether the system works for you.

How to use this list

Copy the sections below into a spreadsheet. For each line, mark it Must, Nice or Skip for your store. Then score each vendor as Yes, Partly or No, and ask them to show you the Must items live rather than describe them. Anything marked Must that a vendor cannot demonstrate is a warning sign. Our decision worksheet adds weights and a scoring method.

Core selling: nearly everyone needs these

• Fast search and barcode scanning at checkout.
• Cash, card, gift card, store credit and split payments in one sale.
• Returns and exchanges, with or without a receipt, and a clear policy trail.
• Discounts and price overrides, limited by role.
• Printed and emailed receipts.
• Cash drawer open, close and count, with variances recorded.
• Sales tax that applies automatically. See our sales tax setup guide.
• Individual staff logins and permissions. See roles and permissions.

Inventory: where systems really differ

• Stock tracked per item and per location, with a history of every movement.
• Variants for size, color and other options.
• Purchase orders and receiving, with cost tracking.
• Reorder points so you buy before you run out.
• Transfers between locations, including goods in transit.
• Barcode and label printing, and a sensible SKU scheme. See SKUs and barcodes.
• Serial number tracking for items such as jewelry or electronics, if relevant.
• Units of measure, if you sell by length, weight or volume.

If you sell a few dozen simple products, you can mark most of these Skip. If you carry thousands of items or more than one store, most become Must. Look for this section first when you compare, because inventory is the hardest thing to bolt on later.

Payments and hardware

• Integrated card payments with a supported card reader, so amounts are not typed twice.
• The ability to bring your own payment processor, or at least clear rates.
• Support for the scanners, printers and cash drawers you already own. See the hardware checklist.
• Works on the devices you want: browser, tablet or desktop.
• Offline selling, if your internet is unreliable. Ask exactly which app does it. See offline mode.

Customers and selling more

• Customer profiles with purchase history.
• Loyalty programs and gift cards. See loyalty program ideas.
• Customer accounts with credit terms, quotes and contract pricing, if you sell to trade buyers.
• Email or text messages to customers, with consent handled correctly.
• An online store and marketplace channels that share your catalog and stock.

Reporting and control

• Sales by day, item, category, staff member and location.
• Best and worst sellers, and margin by item.
• Stock on hand and stock value reports.
• A scheduled summary sent to the owner.
• Exports of your data, so reports and records are never locked in.
• A way to hand figures to your bookkeeper, whether by export or a sync to accounting software.

Multi-store and team features

• A roll-up report across stores, with per-store filtering.
• Per-location access, so staff see only their own store.
• Reporting lines for managers and regional leads.
• Central catalog with local stock and local settings.

These matter from store two onward. Our guide to multi-store POS systems goes into detail.

Features by store type

The same checklist weighs differently depending on what you sell. A boutique cares most about variants and returns. A hardware or supply store cares about units of measure, contract pricing and purchase orders. A grocery or convenience shop cares about speed, scanning and tax rules. A liquor store needs age checks and case-break handling. A jewelry shop needs serial numbers and repair tracking. Mark the items that match your category as Must, and be skeptical of a vendor that claims to be the best at all of them. Our posts on the best POS for each store type show the typical needs in more detail.

Scoring vendors fairly

Give every Must item a score of Yes, Partly or No based on what you saw, not what you read. Count a Must item that costs extra as Partly until you know the price. Add up the Musts first, and only use the Nice items to break ties. Then compare total monthly cost for your real setup: your stores, users, channels and add-ons. A system that scores slightly lower but costs far less and is easier to leave may be the better buy. Write down your scores and the reasons, so you can explain the decision later to a partner or an accountant.

Nice-to-haves that rarely decide a purchase

• Fancy dashboards you will open twice.
• Dozens of integrations when you need only one or two.
• Marketing automation, if you already use a separate tool you like.
• Custom branding on every screen.

Not useless, but not worth paying more for unless you have a clear plan to use them.

Red flags in vendor answers

• A feature that exists but only in a higher tier you were not told about.
• An answer that a feature is available through an integration, without naming it or its cost.
• A refusal to show a feature live with your sample data.
• Vague answers about exporting your data or ending the contract.

Revisit the list every year

Your needs change as the business grows. A shop that did not need transfers last year may open a second location this year, and a store that sold only in person may add an online channel. Review your Must list annually, check that your system still covers it, and note anything you pay for but never use. A short yearly review keeps you from outgrowing your software without noticing, and gives you a clear reason to renegotiate or move when the fit slips.

Questions the checklist cannot answer

• How fast is it on a busy Saturday with several staff?
• How easy is it to train a new hire?
• What does support look like, and what are the hours?
• What does it cost in total, and what is the exit process?

Only a trial and a reference call can answer these, so use both.

How Retailer OS maps to the list

Retailer OS covers the selling, inventory, multi-store and reporting areas above in one system, and sends a daily sales journal to QuickBooks Online rather than keeping the books itself. Card payments run on your own Stripe account with Stripe Terminal readers. Offline selling works in the desktop app only, not on iPad or the web. The online store ($99.99 a month, once per account), Amazon and eBay ($99.99 a month each) and Messaging & AI plans (from $39.99 a month) are optional add-ons. The core price is $99.99 per store plus $9.99 per user seat a month, from $109.98, with a 14-day free trial and no card needed, and no setup or cancellation fee.

Use the checklist to compare us honestly with Square, Shopify, Clover, Lightspeed and others. Our buyer’s guide explains how to shortlist, and the retail POS system overview shows how the pieces fit. When you have your marked-up list, request a demo and ask us to show every Must item with your own products.