Lost After Quickbooks POS Discontinued? 5 Top Alternatives

As of October 3rd, 2023, Quickbooks POS is no more.

Has panic set in? Like many small businesses, your liquor store relied on Quickbooks to handle your daily operations, from age verification to inventory management. Now, you’re scrambling to find an alternative solution.

The good news? There are various robust point of sale (POS) solutions you can turn to to keep your store running smoothly. From general solutions to industry-specific systems, you can find a suitable — if not better — POS solution for your store.

This article highlights the top five solutions, including features, pricing, and customer reviews for each. Let’s help you find the best fit for your business.

Why Was Quickbooks POS Discontinued?

If you’re reeling from the discontinuation of Quickbooks POS, you’re not alone. This tool was a trusted operational companion for many small business owners, and you might wonder why it was discontinued. 

The world of technology is ever-evolving, and Intuit, the company behind Quickbooks, saw an opportunity to streamline and modernize its services. This led to the discontinuation of Quickbooks POS in favor of some of their other, more comprehensive solutions. The context is all well and good, but it doesn’t help you now. You need to know how to find the right alternative, and what you need to do to make the switch. 

Remember that not all Quickbooks POS alternatives are created equal. Your liquor store's unique needs should guide your decision when searching for the right replacement. Look for a system that offers robust inventory management features, integrates seamlessly with your existing processes, and provides excellent customer support. A flexible and user-friendly solution should be at the top of your list.

You might have heard about Intuit's partnership with Shopify for migrating Quickbooks POS users. While this may seem like a convenient option, evaluating whether it's the best fit for your liquor store is essential. Shopify is a well-known e-commerce platform, but it might not cater to all the unique needs of liquor stores. It's crucial to consider your specific requirements and thoroughly research if this solution is the best fit for your business.

Related Read: 7 Reasons You Need an E-Commerce Liquor Store

Switching your POS provider can be a daunting prospect, but it's not impossible. The actual process will depend on your chosen solution and the support they provide for migration. Most importantly, carefully plan the transition to minimize disruption to your store’s operations.

Key Features Liquor Stores Need in a POS System

Before we dive into our list of top alternatives to Quickbooks POS, let’s take a closer look at the features you should look for when choosing your next point of sale solution:

• Age Verification: Liquor stores are legally obligated to ensure they don’t sell alcohol to minors. Age verification is a non-negotiable feature. Your POS system should prompt your employees to verify the customer's age before completing the sale, or even include features allowing you to scan IDs for automated verification. This simple yet crucial feature ensures you stay compliant with the law.
• Inventory Management: Liquor stores often carry a vast and diverse inventory, from wine and spirits to beer. An efficient inventory management feature is essential for tracking stock levels, reordering products, and preventing overstock or understock situations. 
• Case Break: Liquor stores often buy liquor by the case but sell individual bottles. A case break feature allows you to track the sale of individual bottles, while maintaining accurate stock levels of cases. This feature simplifies operations and ensures that your inventory counts are always up to date.

Related Read: What's the Best Liquor Inventory System? 5 Best Solutions

• Centralized Database: A centralized database is the backbone of your POS system. It stores product information, pricing, and customer data in one place. This feature ensures consistency across your store, making updating and managing information easy — without doing double the work.
• Employee Management: Employee management features allow you to set user permissions, track sales, and monitor employee performance. You can also allow staff to use this tool to clock in and out, making time management and payroll a more streamlined process.
• Reporting and Analytics: Robust reporting and analytics tools help you understand sales trends, customer behavior, and inventory performance. This information empowers you to make informed decisions, fine-tune your product selection, and optimize your pricing strategies.
• Customer Loyalty: Building a loyal customer base is key to the success of your liquor store. Customer loyalty features in your POS system can help you track and reward your most loyal patrons. These features also allow you to run targeted promotions and marketing campaigns to keep customers coming back.

With these features in mind, let’s now look at our list of the top POS solutions for liquor store owners migrating away from Quickbooks POS.

Bottle POS

Bottle POS is a holistic liquor store management solution, offering automation, AI-driven insights, and vital features to elevate your business decisions. Our centralized database streamlines inventory management, even for liquor stores with an extensive range of products.

Features:

• Automated invoicing
• Dual pricing options to encourage cash payments
• Case break inventory management
• Advanced security features for loss prevention
• 24/7 mobile inventory management
• Built-in customer loyalty programs

Pricing: You can get a custom quote using our transparent build and price tool. 

According to one customer:

“Having a POS system that’s specific to liquor stores is unbelievably helpful. Bottle POS helps eliminate challenges on the inventory side. It saves me a ton of time having to fix invoices. Having everything imported into the system is amazing, much easier. The benefit of being able to provide dual pricing has saved us 4-5 thousand dollars a month on credit card fees.” - Dave Crisafulli, Charlie’s II

POS Nation

POS Nation is a reliable point of sale provider known for its extensive track record of serving liquor and wine shops, along with general retail and grocery stores. Their product lineup includes tailor-made solutions created to address the unique demands of your liquor store, equipping you with the tools you need to succeed.

Features:

• Mix and match bottle pricing
• Mobile payments and contactless pay
• Case break inventory management
• Robust sales reporting
• Age verification

Pricing: POS Nation offers multiple pricing packages starting at $149 per month.

One customer says:
“I have enjoyed using POS Nation. With each fix or call to the tech team, I learn the system more and more. The POS Nation employees have been wonderful, and the hardware has held up well for the time we have had it.” - POS Nation Customer

KORONA POS

KORONA POS provides versatile point of sale solutions tailored to a wide range of businesses, including retail stores, event spaces, amusement parks, quick-service restaurants, and many others. Their system is built to deliver rapid checkout speeds, transparent pricing, and a comprehensive set of robust features to meet the unique needs of each industry they serve.

Features:

• Customer loyalty program
• Case breaks 
• Mix and match capabilities
• Inventory tracking with handheld devices
• Employee management features 

Pricing: KORONA POS Core starts at $59 per month.

One customer says:

“Very user friendly. You can customize the interface to conform to your business needs. Customer Service is in the United States, always accessible, and always awesome. We love that we can fit it to our scale of business and grow with it.” - KORONA Customer

Square for Retail

Square offers an all-in-one POS system designed for breweries, wine shops, and liquor stores. Their solution is tailored to the specific needs of each industry, including handling purchase orders, inventory management, vendors, keg management, and customer checkout, offering a range of features to enhance the customer experience and business operations.

Features:

• Automated purchase orders
• Buy online, pick up in-store (BOPIS)
• Custom membership programs for customers

Pricing: Square’s Plus package starts at $60 per month per location, plus payment processing fees. 

According to one customer:

“Square is seamless and they thought of everything. I can handle my appointments and checkout from there. Instead of having different accounts, I can track loyalty rewards and email campaigns.” - Square Customer

NRS Plus

NRS is a trusted provider of customizable POS systems tailored for independent retailers in the USA. Their solution offers comprehensive checkout features and services. With over 25,000 NRS POS systems in use across the U.S., NRS has the experience necessary to assist liquor stores like yours.

Features:

• Thermal receipt printer
• Barcode scanning features
• Customer-facing displays
• Mobile pay options

Pricing: NRS’s Pro plan starts at $29.95 per month. 

One customer says:

“Sturdy, easy to use and does everything my small business needs. Kudos to the company, shipping was super fast, the packaging was excellent.” - NRS Plus Customer

Key Factors To Consider When Choosing a POS System

When selecting the right  POS system for your liquor store, you must consider a few essential factors. 

Start with your hardware needs, choosing the right equipment that suits your store layout and your register space. Evaluate inventory management requirements, ensuring the system offers features like case break capabilities and age verification. 

Related Read: 6 Liquor Store Ideas for Customer Satisfaction

Be mindful of your budget and prioritize essential features for a good return on investment. Don’t forget to consider payment processing costs, including transaction fees, when setting your budget! You will also want to opt for a user-friendly system to streamline operations and minimize staff training time. 

Lastly, consider compatibility with other software and apps your store uses for seamless integration, ensuring an efficient workflow. These factors will guide you in choosing the ideal POS system for your liquor store.

Quickbooks POS Discontinued: No Need To Panic

The news of the Quickbooks POS discontinuation might have initially sent you into a slight panic, but this post should set you up for success by giving you a list of inventory-specific alternatives that will be better for your liquor store. 

You can streamline your liquor store operations like never before with the right POS system. Imagine having more time and energy to focus on what matters — providing exceptional customer service and growing your sales. That's what the right POS system can do for you.

Bottle POS is a simple-to-use, all-in-one point of sale solution that can help you take your liquor store to new heights. With incredible features like case break inventory management, age verification, robust reporting, and built-in customer loyalty programs, you can optimize operations and give customers incredible service. 

Ready to see Bottle POS in action? Want to discover how it can revolutionize your liquor store operations? Request a software demo today to see what Bottle POS can do for you and your store.