Alcohol inventory management can give you a worse headache than a hangover. Tracking thousands of bottles, variants, and constantly changing costs and margins is dizzyingly complex.
If you’re attempting to wrangle all that data using a mishmash of paper files, old-school cash registers, and desktop accounting software, you’re leaving yourself open to shrinkage, profit loss, and even regulatory noncompliance.
Before you know it, stockouts, accounting inconsistencies, and bottle-necked reporting leave your operations floundering. But there’s a better way: liquor store back office point of sale (POS) software.
This post covers five solutions for back office POS software. For each, we’ll cover features and pricing, giving you everything you need to make the best choice for your business.
Why You Need a Back Office POS Solution
Implementing a full-featured point of sale system with strong back office capabilities should be a top priority for liquor stores. But what exactly are the key benefits of a back office POS solution?
A back office POS goes beyond just powering front end transactions to provide robust tools and insights for managing your entire business, including:
- Streamlined Operations: Your back office POS helps you automate tasks like inventory control, purchasing, employee scheduling, compliance reporting, and more in one centralized system.
- Enhanced Efficiency: The robust reporting, real-time performance dashboards, and data-driven insights these solutions offer help staff work smarter.
- Better Decision Making: You can leverage detailed sales, inventory, and other data to spot trends and optimize everything from staffing to promotions to store layout for growth.
Related Read: How To Use Your Point of Sale Analytics To Increase Profits
- Tightened Security: Security protections like role-based permissions and data encryption safeguard sensitive information while reducing fraud risk.
- Scalability & Flexibility: Cloud-based systems easily adapt as your business changes over time across multiple locations while providing the same level of insight.
With regulations and inventory management needs unique to wine, beer, and liquor retail, liquor stores require specialized POS solutions with simplified user interfaces and cloud-based access. Bearing this in mind, let's review the top back office POS options available today.
Related Read: How Much Does It Cost To Open a Liquor Store?
1. Bottle POS
Bottle POS offers an all-in-one point of sale system designed for independent liquor store owners seeking robust tools tailored to alcohol retail. Trusted by hundreds of store proprietors nationwide, Bottle POS delivers stores like yours the automation, insights, and features you need to streamline your operations and manage your back office with ease.
Some of the critical features you’ll find in Bottle POS include:
- Centralized alcohol inventory databases for easily managing thousands of bottles and SKUs
- Auto-grading reports identifying top-selling products
- Auto-invoicing and one-click receiving
- Flexible loyalty programs and marketing tools
- Anytime, anywhere cloud-based access and management via web and mobile
- Integrated ID scanning and age verification capabilities
- Custom pricing controls like case discounts and cash discounting (dual pricing)
- Security tools like recording POS transactions and connecting camera systems
- Built-in e-commerce add-ons with online ordering and delivery integrations
Additionally, Bottle POS offers all our users personalized onboarding and unlimited customer support, giving you the tools you need to manage your liquor store back office successfully now and in the future.
Pricing: Get a custom quote using our transparent build and price tool.
2. mPower Beverage
mPower Beverage offers a point of sale and back office solution built for beer, wine, and liquor retailers. This solution provides many of the tools liquor stores need to tackle industry-specific challenges around inventory, compliance, promotions, and multi-location management.
Some of the specialized features mPower Beverage users can enjoy include:
- Flexible item setup allowing granular categorization by producer, varietal, vintage, region, and more
- Intelligent ordering tools leveraging current/historical velocity metrics and par levels
- Automated ID scanning and age verification for air-tight compliance
- Customizable loyalty programs and promotional capabilities
- Cloud-based remote management access for reporting and back office needs
- Multi-store capabilities to unify purchasing, inventory, and data insights across locations
Pricing: mPower Beverage’s back end software starts at an upfront cost of $1,000, plus an additional $120 per month for a single register.
3. POS Nation
POS Nation provides an end-to-end POS solution tailored to various small retailers, including independent liquor store owners. POS Nation delivers robust back office management tools alongside top-notch hardware and payment processing with 24/7 customer support.
Some of POS Nation’s key features for liquor, beer, and wine shops include:
- Mix and match bottle promotions
- Automated purchase order creation, receiving, and invoice reconciliation
- Case, bottle, and package level tracking with automatic case break deductions
- Cloud-based unlimited product catalog
- Integrated ID checking for air-tight age verification and compliance
- Flexible payment processing accepting cards, gift cards, mobile payments, and cash
- Employee permissions controls and connectivity with security cameras to reduce fraud and shrinkage
In addition to back office software, POS Nation handles hardware procurement, programming, setup, and installation, making them a turnkey solution for liquor retailers.
Pricing: Get a custom quote online using their pricing tool.
4. Lightspeed
Lightspeed provides an adaptable cloud-based POS platform for various small business types, including independent liquor store owners. This solution combines robust inventory tools, compliance features, omnichannel sales, and reporting into a single system to help raise operational efficiency.
Some specialized Lightspeed features include:
- Selling inventory by the bottle, case, or keg with flexible measurement units
- Configurable age verification prompts during checkout
- Quick keys and advanced product search
- Integrated loyalty program management and customized promotions
- Low stock alerts and streamlined receiving
- Click & collect, enabling online order in-store pickup capabilities
Pricing: Lightspeed’s Standard package starts at $119 per month.
5. Clover
Clover offers a highly flexible and customizable cloud-based POS solution designed for small businesses ranging from retail stores to restaurants and more. Their solution may be a good fit for liquor store owners seeking robust features and secure payment processing. Clover’s modular software platform allows you to scale the solution with your business as you grow.
Some highlights in Clover’s feature list include:
- Detailed sales tracking and reporting
- Built-in loyalty programs
- Order management tools for handling deliveries, pickups, and combined orders
- Integrated marketing via SMS, email, and push notifications
- Employee permissions settings and sales performance tracking per individual
Pricing: Clover’s Standard package starts at $135 per month.
The Best Liquor Store Back Office POS for Your Store
As we've explored, there are a number of capable POS systems on the market that can meet many of the back office needs for liquor stores. However, identifying the right solution depends hugely on your specific business. No definitive “best” POS system suits every liquor store.
When evaluating the best back office POS system for your liquor store, you need to weigh factors like features, functionality, cost, and vendor experience supporting independent retailers.
If you operate a single liquor store or small regional chain, Bottle POS rises to the top. Our solution offers robust features purpose-built for liquor stores like case break inventory management, customer database, age verification, and advanced compliance reporting. Bottle POS also provides flexible payment processing, employee management tools, and integrations to scale as your business grows.
If you feel your liquor store could benefit from a back office POS solution tailored specifically to your unique needs, schedule a personalized demo of Bottle POS today.
