Retailers of all shapes and sizes are under mounting pressure to modernize the in-store experience. As digital payments become the norm and customer journeys grow ever more complex, legacy point of sale (POS) systems struggle to keep up.
Last year, 23% of all consumer purchases and peer-to-peer payments were made remotely, a share that has increased yearly since 2021.
This shift highlights a critical challenge. Legacy POS systems often create friction at checkout, limit fulfillment flexibility, and leave associates without the data they need to serve customers effectively. Stores need modern POS software that can bridge physical and digital commerce, empower associates with real-time data, and adapt quickly to changing market conditions.
The seven retail POS systems featured in this article are doing just that by playing a key role in helping retailers reimagine how consumers experience their stores and building infrastructure designed for long-term agility.
1. Manhattan Active® Point of Sale: Unified Commerce at Enterprise Scale
Manhattan Active Point of Sale is widely recognized as one of the most advanced POS systems for enterprise retail, with both Forrester and IDC categorizing Manhattan as a Leader in separate Point of Sale evaluations. Unlike legacy solutions, it is purpose-built to unify online and in-store selling, service, and fulfillment across thousands of stores and digital channels.
Its cloud-native microservices architecture provides real-time enterprise inventory visibility, powering fast and accurate checkout, endless aisle selling, and flexible fulfillment from any location. Associates benefit from intuitive, mobile-first workflows that surface customer history, preferences, and order options at the point of interaction, helping deliver a seamless shopping experience.
Manhattan’s continuous innovation model, with new releases every 90 days, ensures retailers always have the latest capabilities without disruptive upgrades. Fully integrated with the Manhattan Active Omni platform, the POS becomes more than just a checkout tool: it acts as the central hub of unified commerce, enabling agility, scalability, and differentiation for global retailers competing in a rapidly changing marketplace.
With a 90-day update cycle and seamless integration into Manhattan’s broader Omni ecosystem, the Manhattan Active® point of sale system supports unified commerce across channels while staying agile even in enterprise applications.
2. GK Software POS: High-Volume Retail Meets Cloud Innovation
GK Software’s OmniPOS is a cloud-based POS solution designed for multi-format retailers. Its modular architecture supports everything from grocery stores to fuel stations and drug stores, and real-time orchestration of processes across devices and locations keeps store operations consistent.
OmniPOS integrates with GK Software’s CLOUD4RETAIL, enabling data flows and services like mobile customer assistants and AI-enabled dynamic pricing.
It’s a great fit for retailers looking to manage multiple business models on a single system.
3. POSaBIT: AI-Enhanced POS for Highly Regulated Retail
POSaBIT specializes in POS systems for highly regulated industries like cannabis, where compliance and traceability are essential. Its platform integrates ID verification, purchase limits, and tax reporting directly into the checkout flow.
POSaBIT is an AI-powered POS, able to deliver both business insights and customer behavior analytics. This makes it not just a compliance tool but a strategic asset for retailers navigating complex regulatory environments.
4. Oliver POS: Open Architecture for Flexible Retail
Oliver POS is ideal for online-first brands looking to expand into physical retail. It’s built on WordPress, an open-source foundation typically used to power websites that allows for deep customization.
And even with that modular build, plug-and-play features allow retailers to deploy Oliver POS quickly and seamlessly.
As POS systems continue to evolve, Oliver POS represents a shift toward more customization and tech stacks that can be manipulated at the enterprise level, while features like cloud printing, mobile checkout, and WooCommerce integration allow retailers to unify their online and in-store operations.
5. KWI POS: CRM-Led Selling for High-End Brands
KWI’s POS platform is built for fashion and luxury brands that have to deliver high-touch customer expectations.
Its standout feature is CRM-led selling, giving associates access to customer histories, preferences, and wish lists in real time to enable a bespoke in-store experience that drives loyalty.
The KWI POS also has checkout and omnichannel fulfillment, along with real-time inventory features that enhance the in-store experience. As retail becomes more experience-heavy to compete with online shopping, KWI is helping to lead the way.
6. Toast POS: Restaurant Retail that Runs on Data
Toast has built a POS for the food service industry that combines order management with guest engagement and staff optimization. Its latest innovation, ToastIQ, uses AI to suggest upsells, streamline workflows, and personalize restaurant service based on guest loyalty profiles.
With ToastIQ and other features like digital chits and offline mode, Toast is helping to shape vertically tailored POS innovation that caters to modern restaurant and hospitality needs.
7. Salesfloor POS: Where Clienteling Meets Commerce
Salesfloor POS has made the customer experience its core focus. It blends customer engagement online and in-person, allowing associates to sell remotely via video chat, give personalized recommendations, and schedule appointments, all from a unified interface.
With Salesfloor POS, associates become revenue drivers beyond their own store thanks to tools that track customer interactions across channels, which help to build relationships over time and provides a glimpse into a future where the POS is key to personalized shopping experiences.
POS as the Strategic Hub for Retail’s Future
As online shopping grows more seamless, the in-store experience must do more than just process transactions — it must act as a bridge across channels, data, and customer journeys. Modern POS systems are becoming the central nervous system of unified commerce, shaping not just checkout, but inventory visibility, fulfillment, and personalized service. Among the solutions leading this evolution, Manhattan Active® Point of Sale stands out as the benchmark for enterprise retail. Its cloud-native, microservices design, continuous innovation cycle, and integration with the broader Manhattan Active® Omni platform make it uniquely capable of powering large-scale unified commerce. For retailers facing the complexity of multi-store, multi-channel operations, it delivers both agility and stability — turning the POS from a transactional endpoint into a strategic asset for long-term growth.