Running a successful garden center or nursery requires more than just a green thumb – it demands efficient operations, seamless inventory management, and a great POS system. In this guide, we’ll explore four top garden center POS systems designed to elevate your business operations, enhance customer satisfaction, and drive profitability.
Best Garden Center POS SystemS- A Quick Look:
- POS Nation: Best overall POS system for garden centers
- RetailEdge: Best for garden center and nursery
- KORONA POS: Best for flexible payment processing
- RapidGarden: Best for large florist & landscaping businesses
1. POS Nation: Best Overall POS System for Garden Centers
POS nation overview
POS Nation is a comprehensive POS system for garden centers and nurseries. It offers efficient rental management, durable barcoding solutions, seamless inventory management, and personalized item accessibility to streamline operations and enhance customer service.
Pros
- Special tools for garden center
- Customer support
- Rental management available
Cons
- Learning curve
- Longer training time
- Long-term contracts for the cheapest plan
POS nation Pricing
Starter
$69/mo
- Reporting tools
- Mobile access
- Discounting
Growth
$99/mo
- Employee management
- Loyalty program
- Advanced discounts
Premium
$149/mo
- Multilocation transfers
- Customer reviews at POS
- SMS marketing
Founded in 2001 and based in Charlotte, POS Nation initially functioned as a reseller without a dedicated development team. Over time, they developed their own in-house solution. In 2020, they acquired CAP Retail, a POS technology company, to improve customer support and development control.
POS Nation provides solutions for a variety of retail sectors, including convenience stores, flower shops, tobacco shops, garden centers, grocery stores, and hardware stores.
Key Features
- Efficient rental management: With its robust equipment rental feature, POS Nation is an exceptional point of sale solution for retailers starting garden centers or nurseries. Effortlessly track all rental transactions, including quotes, due dates, hardware serial numbers, and service history, providing a streamlined experience for your customers.
- Durable barcoding solutions: Outdoor environments can be harsh on traditional barcodes, leading to fading and readability issues. POS Nation addresses this challenge by offering weather-resistant labels designed for outdoor plants. Say goodbye to the frustrations of faded barcodes, ensuring accurate inventory tracking and efficient operations, even in the toughest conditions.
- Seamless inventory management: Maintaining accurate inventory levels is crucial for any garden center or nursery. POS Nation simplifies this process with its streamlined inventory counting feature. Simply use the mobile handheld device to scan your items, and once synced back to the POS, the system will generate a discrepancy report highlighting any product counts that don’t match. This feature empowers you to identify and address inventory discrepancies efficiently, ensuring optimal stock levels and customer satisfaction.
- Personalized item accessibility: POS Nation recognizes that not all items in your inventory are easily scannable. To address this challenge, the system offers custom hotkeys, allowing you to quickly and easily locate non-scannable items, services, and fees that your business offers. Whether it’s a bail of pine straw, a bag of mulch, or a delivery fee, you can create personalized hotkeys for seamless access, ensuring a smooth and efficient checkout process for your customers.
Pros
- Rental management available
- Unlimited training
- Special tools for garden center
Cons
- No long-term contracts come with an expensive plan
- Very steep learning curve
Pricing
POS Nation keeps their hardware pricing pretty simple. This section will cover their contract, hardware options, and subscriptions tiers.
Contracts
POS Nation does not require long-term contracts.
Hardware
POS Nation offers a hardware bundle sold separately from their monthly subscription costs. The bundle costs $1,349 and includes a 15.6″ touchscreen display, a thermal receipt printer, a barcode scanner, a cash drawer, and a mini keyboard.
Subscription Tiers
- Starter: This plan costs $69 monthly and includes all the essentials for running a retail store. This includes reporting and mobile back-office access. Retailers also enjoy purchase order management and discounting.
- Growth: This plan costs $99 per month and includes all of the features of the Starter plan with a few additional benefits. This plan equips retailers with employee management tools and customer loyalty. It also has more advanced “mix and match” discounting and product auto-ranking.
- Premium: This plan costs $149 monthly and is built for complex multi-location businesses. It includes all of the features in the Growth plan plus mult-location product transfers, customer review generation at the POS, SMS marketing, and more.
2. RetailEdge: Best For Garden Center and Nursery
RetailEdge overview
RetailEdge is also tailored for garden centers and nurseries. It offers efficient batch billing for maintenance management, flexible pricing strategies, intelligent inventory tracking for living products, and seamless gift card integration.
Pros
- Special tools for garden center
- Customer support
- Rental management available
Cons
- Learning curve
- Longer training time
- Long-term contracts for the cheapest plan
Retail Edge Pricing
Base software
$495/mo
- Core POS functionality
- Inventory management
Additional workstations
From $225 to $450/mo
Support plans
From $5 to $45
The first iteration of RetailEdge was started in 1989 as High Meadow Business Solutions. The company is based in Rutland, Vermont, and has clients all over the United States and several countries abroad.
RetailEdge serves many retail verticals, including apparel, gift shops, sporting goods, jewelry, grocers, convenience stores, and home and garden.
Key Features
- Efficient billing management: RetailEdge offers a robust batch billing feature for maintenance management, streamlining the process of billing multiple clients simultaneously. This feature is particularly beneficial for garden centers and nurseries that provide ongoing maintenance services to their customers. With batch billing, businesses can efficiently manage invoicing, reducing the time and effort required for individual billing processes.
- Intelligent inventory tracking: RetailEdge addresses this by providing a comprehensive inventory management system tailored to handle living products that grow, die, and expire. With its advanced tracking capabilities, businesses can accurately monitor their stock, minimizing shrink and ensuring optimal inventory levels.
- Flexible pricing strategies: RetailEdge recognizes the unique requirements of garden centers and nurseries that often manage in-house and contractor landscaping jobs. The software offers discounting capabilities to accommodate this, enabling businesses to tailor pricing strategies according to their specific needs. Whether offering discounts for bulk orders, loyalty programs, or contractor rates, RetailEdge empowers businesses to maintain a competitive edge while optimizing profitability.
- Seamless gift card integration: Recognizing the importance of customer loyalty and convenience, RetailEdge seamlessly integrates with scannable, reloadable, and affordable gift cards. This feature allows garden centers and nurseries to offer customers a convenient payment option while fostering long-term relationships. Businesses benefit from gift cards by enhancing customer satisfaction and driving repeat business, solidifying their position as a preferred destination for gardening enthusiasts.
Pros
- One-time standalone fee
- Low payment processing fees
Cons
- Support requires additional fees
- Must purchase for each terminal
Pricing
- Base software: The core RetailEdge POS software starts at $495 for a one-time purchase. This includes all the basic features and functionalities.
- Additional workstations: If you need more than one user accessing the system simultaneously, you can purchase additional workstation licenses. A single client workstation costs $225, while an Island workstation (designed for standalone operation) costs $450.
- Support plans: While optional, RetailEdge offers different support plans for additional assistance. These range from a one-time $45 Gold plan to a monthly $5 Silver plan per workstation.
3. KORONA POS: Best For Flexible Payment Processing
KORONA POS overview
KORONA POS emerges as an ideal POS choice for garden centers, offering specialized features like real-time inventory tracking, barcode support, and seamless integration with eCommerce platforms. Its intuitive interface ensures swift transactions with multiple payment options, while processing-agnostic capabilities provide flexibility for businesses with narrow profit margins. The system’s employee management and supplier tracking features further improve efficiency.
Pros
- Great customer support
- Flat rate with no contracts
- Marketing and promotions
- Scalability
Cons
- Steep learning curve
- No equipment management
Korona POS Pricing
Core
$59/mo
Retail
$69/mo
Add-ons
From $10 to $45
KORONA POS is a retail technology solution developed by COMBASE USA, the American subsidiary of Germany-based COMBASE AG. Founded in 2011, COMBASE USA is headquartered in Las Vegas.
KORONA POS specializes in retail, catering to various sectors, including liquor, CBD, convenience, tobacco, liquor, books, and others. Additionally, the company offers solutions for wineries, amusement parks, QSRs, ticketed events, and multi-store franchises.
Key Features
- Garden center inventory management: KORONA POS can provide plant and product tracking. The software can track various types of plants, seeds, fertilizers, and other garden-related products. KORONA POS offers real-time monitoring of inventory levels to avoid overstocking or stockouts. It supports barcodes and scanning capabilities for quick and accurate inventory management.
- Sales and checkout: KORONA POS offers an intuitive interface for speedy customer transactions, especially during peak seasons. You can use it for the garden center as it supports multiple payment options. It accepts payment methods, including credit/debit cards, cash, and mobile payments. KORONA POS can help customize receipts with your logo, promotions, or return policies.
- Integration with eCommerce: Garden centers heavily depend on returning and loyal customers when engaging in online sales through WooCommerce. Prioritizing the enhancement of customer experience and providing incentives for guests becomes crucial. KORONA POS presents a point-based loyalty system and extensive CRM integrations to facilitate a more comprehensive approach. Additionally, KORONA POS adeptly handles sales across various channels, seamlessly bridging the gap between in-store and online transactions.
- Processing-agnostic: A standout attribute that positions KORONA POS as the premier garden center point of sale system is its processing-agnostic features. KORONA POS seamlessly integrates with any leading processing solution, offering businesses, particularly those in the garden center industry, with narrow profit margins and enhanced flexibility.
- Seamless employee management: KORONA POS efficiently monitors every cashier activity, including top-selling items, voids, comps, and promotions. Managers and owners can tailor permission levels for each specific action. Additionally, the system meticulously records all accounting details, such as hours, payroll, benefits, and more.
- Garden center supplier management: KORONA POS provides robust management capabilities tailored to garden centers and nurseries. The software lets you easily track inventory levels across multiple suppliers and create automated purchase orders. You can set reorder points and minimum stock levels to ensure you never run out of popular products. KORONA integrates seamlessly with your suppliers’ systems for efficient ordering and receiving. Detailed supplier performance reports help you analyze which vendors offer the best pricing, delivery times, and product quality.
Pros
- Unlimited free trial
- Great customer support
- Flat rate with no contracts
Cons
- Not ideal for large Landscaping businesses
- Steep learning curve
- No equipment management
Pricing
KORONA POS features a straightforward pricing model with a fixed monthly subscription fee. There are no contracts, additional fees, or cancellation penalties. Merchants who choose to pay annually are eligible for one month free.
Credit Card Processing:
All KORONA POS plans come with 0% transaction fees. The platform is credit card agnostic, allowing retailers to select the processor that best suits their needs.
Hardware:
The system is hardware agnostic and operates smoothly with most devices. Businesses can use their existing POS hardware or select from various options provided by KORONA POS.
No Extra Fees:
KORONA POS is completely transparent. It offers no long-term contracts, surcharges, signup fees, hidden fees, or cancellation fees. Your monthly subscription includes everything, including 24/7 in-house customer service.
Subscription Tiers:
KORONA POS offers three primary monthly subscription plans: Core, Retail, and Add-Ons. Retailers who pay for annual subscriptions upfront receive a 10% discount.
- Core Plan: $59 per month
The Core plan provides small businesses with essential retail store management tools. It includes reporting and analytics features for insights into sales data. Users have unlimited POS login profiles, and the dashboard can be customized to suit individual workflows.
This option also includes eCommerce integration and a native gift card program.
- Retail Plan: $69 per month
The Retail plan caters to businesses seeking a more comprehensive solution. It includes a dynamic customer relationship management database to enhance customer retention and marketing efforts. Additionally, this plan provides a supplier integration interface, facilitating communication between your inventory system and suppliers.
The Retail plan also features several inventory optimization tools, such as auto-reordering, smart barcode generation, and real-time tracking, all designed to automate and streamline stock management processes.
Add Ons ($10 to $50/mo):
- KORONA Plus ($20/month per terminal): This option includes more extensive reporting features like assortment cleanup, custom ABC analysis, and order-level optimization. Retail businesses looking for deeper insights into their sales data and product performance will benefit from this add-on.
- KORONA Integration ($45/month per token): The support team will help you integrate with any platform or application in your niche and ensure fully functional compatibility.
- KORONA Ticketing ($50/month per gate): Print unlimited tickets to museums or water parks with customized entry times and tailored access for specific exhibits.
- KORONA Franchise ($30/month per franchise): Set up royalties and centralize inventory management to cater to your organization’s desired format.
- KORONA Food ($10/month per terminal): Assign orders to tables, add items and track dining durations. Use modifiers for adding ingredients, instructions, or other necessary information to an order.
- KORONA Invoicing ($10/month per terminal): Send estimated costs of goods to a customer as a preliminary invoice before the final billing. Consolidate multiple transactions or purchases into a single invoice for payment.
Schedule a KORONA POS Demo Today
Speak with a product specialist and learn how KORONA POS can power your business needs.
4. RapidGarden: Best For Large Florist & Landscaping Businesses
RapidGarden overview
RapidGarden is another ideal garden center POS system designed specifically for large florist and landscaping businesses.
It offers rugged and mobile hardware, robust inventory management capabilities tailored to the nursery industry, tools for managing landscaping services, and flexible loyalty program options.
Pros
- Robust mobile POS capacities
- Label printing software
Cons
- Not ideal for limited-budget businesses
- No equipment management
Rapid Garden Pricing
Contact their sales team for more details.
RapidGarden POS has been providing nursery and garden center solutions since 1985. They are based in San Diego, California.
RapidGarden is one of the few solutions that is specific to the garden store industry. Within this vertical, they also offer features for landscaping services.
Key Features
- Rugged & mobile POS hardware: RapidGarden stands out as one of the best garden center POS systems due to its rugged and mobile hardware. With the ability to support customers and manage inventory anywhere within your stores, yards, greenhouses, warehouses, or grow sites, RapidGarden’s POS hardware is designed to be durable, connected, and adaptable. This flexibility allows your staff to provide seamless service and efficient operations, even in the most demanding outdoor environments. Additionally, RapidGarden’s world-class warranty and replacement program ensures that your POS hardware remains reliable and functional.
- Nursery inventory and wholesale software: RapidGarden’s garden center POS system is tailored to meet the unique needs of nurseries and garden centers with multiple grow sites or production sites. By providing tools to organize and track nursery crops and other items in production, RapidGarden streamlines your operations and helps you manage orders, fulfillment, materials (including from existing sellable stock), and labor required to support your growing activities.
- Landscaping businesses management features: For garden centers and nurseries offering landscaping, delivery, installation, recycling, design, and other services, RapidGarden’s POS system provides a comprehensive solution. With the ability to prepare estimates for customers, control and track labor, invoice customers, and handle remote payments through the point of sale system, RapidGarden simplifies the management of these additional services.
- Green Stock: RapidGarden’s comprehensive inventory management capabilities make it an excellent choice for garden centers and nurseries. With support for multiple common, botanical, and Spanish names for single items, RapidGarden ensures that your inventory is accurately tracked and easily identifiable. From bulk purchases sold in smaller increments to flats being mixed and matched, individual items combined for planters and gift baskets, and tracking slow-moving inventory/dumps/dead count, RapidGarden’s POS system streamlines your inventory processes. Furthermore, the ability to generate and print barcodes in multiple formats directly from the system or utilize manufacturer-provided barcodes enhances efficiency and accuracy in inventory management.
- Garden loyalty programs: RapidGarden recognizes the importance of customer loyalty in the garden center and nursery industry. With its robust loyalty program tools, RapidGarden enables you to create any number of garden center and nursery customer programs tailored to your specific needs. Whether you prefer a single loyalty program for all your garden center customers or separate programs targeting specific groups, RapidGarden’s POS system provides the flexibility and functionality to design and implement effective loyalty programs.
Pros
- Ideal for large landscaping businesses
- Great mobile POS capacities
- Garden center label printing software
Cons
- Not ideal for small businesses
- No rental management tools
Pricing
RapidGarden is said to be one of the most expensive point of sale software packages. The company’s price list is not published on its website. Owners of garden centers, landscaping businesses, or any other related businesses should ask for a quote.
How To Choose the Best Garden Center POS System
Choosing the best point of sale system for your garden center is crucial for streamlining operations, enhancing customer experience, and maximizing profitability. Here are some key factors to consider when selecting a garden center POS system:
- Industry-specific features: Look for a POS system designed specifically for garden centers or nurseries. It should have features like inventory management for live goods, the ability to track plants by variety, size, and condition, and integration with greenhouse environmental controls.
- Inventory management: A robust inventory management system is essential for garden centers. It should allow you to track stock levels, monitor plant health, and generate reports on best-selling and slow-moving items. Look for features like barcode scanning, stock-level alerts, and automated reordering.
- Customer management: A good POS system should have a customer management module that allows you to capture customer data, track purchase history, and offer loyalty programs or special discounts to valued customers.
- Employee management: Features like employee time tracking, task assignment, and sales commission tracking can help you manage your staff more efficiently.
- Reporting and analytics: The POS system should provide detailed reports and analytics on sales, inventory, customer behavior, and employee performance. This data can help you make informed decisions about your business.
- Integration capabilities: Consider a POS system that integrates with other software you use, such as accounting software, eCommerce platforms, or marketing tools. This can streamline your operations and reduce data entry errors.
- Hardware compatibility: Ensure the POS system is compatible with the hardware you plan to use, such as barcode scanners, receipt printers, and cash drawers.
- Scalability: As your garden center grows, your POS system should be able to accommodate increased transaction volumes, additional locations, and new features.
- Customer support: Reliable customer support is essential, especially during peak seasons or when you encounter technical issues. Consider the vendor’s reputation for support and the availability of training resources.
KORONA POS is not connected to a processor company. While taking advantage of any new processing company that offers a better rate. I get a real person to talk to in less than a minute every time I call with a question. No Contract, month to month. Can’t lose to try.
-Aaron F.
Conclusion
When it comes to selecting the best POS system for your garden center, the options explored in this guide offer robust capabilities tailored to the unique needs of the industry.
- POS Nation stands out with its efficient rental management and durable barcoding solutions.
- RetailEdge shines with its batch billing for maintenance and flexible pricing strategies.
- For larger florist and landscaping businesses, RapidGarden provides rugged mobile hardware and comprehensive inventory management tools.
For small garden centers focused on flexible payment processing options, KORONA POS garden center software emerges as a compelling choice. With its processing-agnostic capabilities and seamless integration with any leading payment processor, KORONA POS allows businesses with narrow profit margins to enjoy enhanced flexibility without being tied to a specific payment solution.
Its user-friendly interface, real-time inventory tracking, and eCommerce integration further contribute to its appeal as a well-rounded POS system for small garden centers. Click below to try KORONA POS and see if it’s the software you need for your business.
