The 5 Best POS Systems for Bakeries

In our quest to help your bakery business rise to its fullest potential, we’ve kneaded together a list to help you find the best POS system for bakeries.

A good POS system keeps a sharp eye on your inventory, helps manage your diligent bakers and servers, and even offers insights to create a menu that keeps customers coming back for more.

Just as yeast is essential to a well-risen loaf of bread, choosing a robust point of sale system is crucial to streamline your bakery’s business operations.

1. KORONA POS: Best For Bakeries With Less Complex Food Menu

Key Features

• Simple orders and modifiers: Customers at bakeries often have specific requests or changes to their orders. A bakery’s POS system needs to make it simple to input these special orders and ensure smooth communication among all staff members. With KORONA POS, you can reduce order errors, minimize stress, and satisfy loyal customers.

• Native loyalty points system: Having loyal customers is incredibly rewarding and vital for the success of a bakery. To build and maintain a strong customer base, bakeries must consistently deliver a passion for the products and service, high-quality baked goods, and exceptional customer service. However, a CRM is also important for this. KORONA POS provides a built-in loyalty points system that rewards regular customers, making them even happier. 

• Combining products and offering discounted prices: Many bakeries provide special deals on product combinations, and KORONA POS can simplify this process for you. KORONA POS bakery’s point of sale system allows users to effortlessly create product bundles, adjust prices automatically, apply discounts, and ensure accurate inventory management.

• No fees for using gift cards: Gift cards benefit bakery owners by boosting sales, attracting new customers, and fostering loyalty. However, using gift cards often leads to financial burdens due to fees imposed by most point of sale systems. KORONA POS offers a solution to this problem. Unlike other POS systems that require you to use their gift card module and charge fees for each gift card used, KORONA POS integrates its gift card module into the solution. This integration comes at no additional cost as it is included in your subscription, meaning you can use these gift cards without any expenses.

• Fast bakery POS transactions: KORONA POS offers the fastest checkout speed among all available point of sale solutions. By providing swift transactions, you can ensure customer satisfaction with shorter lines during your morning or lunch rushes. A speedy bakery POS system also saves you time and brings long-term benefits to your business. KORONA POS offers an unlimited free trial version; you can use the system free of charge for up to 30 transactions per day, free of charge, for as long as you like. The free trial version includes all basic functions, with the exception of integrated payments.

• Time tracking and payroll assistance: Typically, not all employees in your bakery are paid via salaries; many are paid hourly. KORONA POS allows cashiers to clock in and out of the system. The software then provides a summary report of hours worked, which store owners can use to import into their payroll system to pay cashiers the correct amount. KORONA POS software simplifies employee scheduling, tracking working hours, and helping bakery owners prepare their pay slips.

• Flexing payments processing: KORONA POS is not a payment processor. However, it offers the possibility of integrating any processor of your choice. This allows you to negotiate the best rates and gives you greater flexibility in your choices. KORONA POS facilitates checkout by enabling contactless smart card payments, self-checkout kiosks, and more.

Pros

• Excellent customer support
• Table management
• Multiple order printers
• Modifiers
• KORONA Menu
• Graphical table layouts
• Item transfers & check-splitting
• Unlimited free trial

Cons

• Steep learning curve
• Might not be the best option for mom-and-pop shops
• Lacks a kitchen display system (KDS).
• Less-than-ideal fit for bakeries that operate with a larger food menu and a separate kitchen

Pricing

The pricing of KORONA POS is divided into three main plans: KORONA Core, KORONA Advanced, and Adds-On.

• The Core plan starts at $59 per month. It provides access to essential features such as basic inventory management, reporting, etc.

• The Advanced plan is available for those requiring more advanced functionalities at $69 monthly. It includes all the features of the Core plan and offers additional capabilities tailored to meet the needs of growing businesses.

• Adds-On starts at $10 to $50, depending on your needs. For Bakeries, KORONA POS provides an Add-on called KORONA Food that offers server management, table management, courses, multiple order printers, modifiers, etc, for $10 per terminal.

2. Toast: Best For Integration Delivery Services

Key Features

Restaurant self-ordering kiosks: Toast kiosks reduce waiting times and give customers control over their dining experience, freeing up staff for other tasks. This feature allows customers to order independently and personalize their meals as they wish. Orders are sent directly from the self-service kiosks to the line.

Kitchen display system: Toast has a special feature called a Kitchen Display System (KDS). This tool helps smooth out the process of running your bakery by linking your front-of-house and back-of-house operations for bakeries that offer a full-service dining experience. It’s also smart enough to send orders directly to the correct station, letting you know when food is ready. This is helpful for bakeries with many different items on their menus.

Online ordering: This feature allows bakeries to take and handle orders from the Internet, which can turn new customers into regular ones without any extra fees for online orders. Toast even lets your customers order through Google and provides its own delivery services. Plus, you can change the fonts, colors, and images to match your brand, letting your customers know they’re ordering from their favorite restaurant.

Third-party delivery integrations: Toast’s third-party delivery manages the delivery tablets and order entry. Orders are transmitted directly to the kitchen. This feature solves the chaos of missing, delayed, or incorrect orders.

Pros

• Diverse integration with delivery services
• Self wondering kiosk
• Payroll and team management
• Kitchen display system

Cons

• Lack of efficient customer support solutions
• Limited suitability for complicated menus
• Poor quality of hardware

Pricing

• Quick start bundle: Free for the first month, then $0/month (limited features)
• Core: $69/month
• Growth: $165/month
• Custom plan: Determined upon consultation, gives you a customized hardware bundle setup, digital ordering, and delivery tools
• Payment processing fees: 2.49%-3.69% per transaction, depending on whether you purchase hardware upfront or pay monthly

3. Lightspeed Restaurant: Best For Kitchen Display System

Key Features

Easy customization: This system is particularly beneficial for bakery businesses that have busy lines. One of its standout features is the ability to customize it according to specific needs. For instance, it provides speed order screens that simplify the ordering and payment process by combining both functions on a single screen, making it more efficient for cashiers.

Kitchen display system (KDS): The kitchen display system for bakeries includes a display that tracks how long it takes to complete any given order. The orders are also color-coded, making it simple to see which ones are currently being prepared and which ones are ready to be served. This feature helps to streamline your bakery operations and reduce waste, minimizes mistakes, produces production data, and keeps order management efficient.

Online ordering: Lightspeed has a feature known as Lightspeed Order Anywhere, which accepts online orders like Toast. It allows you to adapt to your customers’ new habits and meet them online. You can offer a contactless ordering option for eat-in or takeaway meals.

Lightspeed delivery: With Lightspeed Delivery, you can take your menu on the road, synchronize it with leading food delivery apps, and grow your business with easy-to-implement delivery integration. The feature lets you receive orders from UberEats, Skip The Dishes, or DoorDash directly at your point of sale. It lets you consolidate online orders on a single screen. 

Pros

• Great reporting features
• Floor plans
• Pre-auth bar mode
• Contactless ordering

Cons

Using Lightspeed Restaurant may come with some drawbacks:

• Higher-priced subscription for inventory
• Limited employee management functions
• Restricted scheduling
• Poor customer service experience
• Payment processing

Pricing

Lightspeed Restaurant offers several different pricing options:

• Starter: This plan is priced at $69/month. It is a basic package with essential features to keep your restaurant running smoothly.
• Essentials: The Essentials plan costs $189/month. It offers a comprehensive set of features designed to meet the needs of most restaurants.
• Premium: The Premium plan is priced at $399. It includes advanced features and functionalities to support larger or more complex restaurant establishments.
• Enterprise: The Enterprise plan is available by requesting a custom quote. It offers a high level of customization and tailored software and hardware solutions to meet the unique requirements of your bakery.
• For the Starter and Essentials plans, Lightspeed Restaurant charges a payment processing of 2.6% of the transaction amount plus an additional 10 cents per transaction. Opting for a third-party payment processor results in Lightspeed increasing your monthly rates.

4. Touchbistro: Best For Loyalty Programs Features

Key Features

• Online Ordering: TouchBistro’s online ordering solution helps you reach locals by selling food and related products through your website and the TouchBistro Dine discovery platform. With no commission fees, you keep 100% of the profits.

• Reservations: TouchBistro makes it easy to accept reservations, manage capacity, and give every customer top-notch engagement and treatment with TouchBistro Reservations – the comprehensive reservations and customer management platform. 

• Various payment methods: Whether you wish to accept cash or cards, Touchbistro provides bakery owners with the latest trends in the most popular payment methods, both on the premises and online.

• Loyalty: Touchbistro POS offers loyalty programs by registering with whatever type of program you choose. Online order integration allows customers to earn and redeem rewards for every online or in-store order. 

Pricing

TouchBistro offers various pricing plans tailored to your specific needs. The basic plan begins at a cost of $69 per month. However, you can enhance your plan with various premium features, each carrying an additional charge.

For instance, if you want to add online ordering for your bakery, this will increase your monthly fee by $50. If you’d like to offer gift cards, you can do so for an additional $25 monthly. The reservation feature adds $229 to your monthly bill. And finally, if you want to reward your customers with a loyalty program, this feature is available for an extra $99 monthly.

In essence, you can build your own custom plan by adding features to the base plan, and each feature you add will change the total monthly price.

Pros

• Great mobile POS features
• Great loyalty programs features
• Touchscreen kitchen ticket management

Cons

Customer reviews indicate several cons of using Touchbistro:

• Unsatisfactory customer service experiences
• Difficulty in canceling contracts
• Lack of support for multi-units
• Lack of timely notifications and short response windows

How To Choose the Best POS Systems for Bakeries

Here are some key factors to consider when selecting the best POS system for your bakery:

• Industry-specific features: Look for a POS system designed specifically for bakeries or food service businesses. It should offer features like ingredient-level inventory tracking, recipe management, allergen tracking, and the ability to handle complex orders and customizations.

• Inventory management: An efficient inventory management system is crucial for bakeries to track ingredients, monitor stock levels, and avoid waste. Look for a POS system that integrates with your inventory management processes and provides real-time updates on stock levels.

• Reporting and analytics: A good POS system should offer comprehensive reporting and analytics capabilities. This will help you analyze sales data, identify best-selling products, track employee performance, and make data-driven decisions to improve your business.

• Customer management: Consider a POS system that allows you to create customer profiles, track purchase history, and offer loyalty programs or special promotions. This can help you build stronger relationships with your customers and encourage repeat business.

• Integration capabilities: Ensure that the POS system can integrate with other software or tools you use, such as accounting software, online ordering platforms, or customer relationship management (CRM) systems.

• Mobility and offline functionality: If you plan to offer mobile ordering or sell at farmers’ markets or events, look for a POS system that supports mobile devices and can operate offline in case of internet connectivity issues.

• Payment processing: Consider the payment processing options offered by the POS system, including support for various payment methods (cash, credit/debit cards, mobile payments, etc.) and the associated transaction fees.

• Customer support and training: Evaluate the customer support and training resources provided by the POS vendor. Reliable support and comprehensive training can help ensure a smooth implementation and ongoing efficient use of the system.

Best POS systems for Bakeries: Wrapping Up

The selection of the best point of sale system for bakeries depends greatly on the specific needs and constraints of the business.

• While KORONA POS boasts numerous useful features, its lack of a Kitchen Display System (KDS) makes it less suitable for bakeries with a separate kitchen.
• Toast, on the other hand, offers KDS and online ordering options, but its simplicity may limit its effectiveness for more complex menus, and its customer support could be improved.
• Lightspeed Restaurant, with its customizable interface, online ordering, and KDS, is another strong option; however, the relatively poor customer service, limited employee management capabilities, and higher-priced inventory subscriptions could be potential drawbacks. 
• Touchbistro Point of Sale stands out with its varied payment options and loyalty programs, but the difficulty in canceling contracts and lack of support for multiple units could be significant cons for some businesses.

KORONA goes beyond just processing transactions, offering features like table management for cafes, customizable courses to categorize your baked goods, and multiple order printers to ensure efficiency during peak hours. With modifiers, you can easily accommodate special requests, while the KORONA Menu allows for clear product presentation. Visualize your bakery’s layout with graphical table layouts, and facilitate group dining with item transfers and check-splitting. Click below to get started with KORONA POS.