5 Best POS Systems For Your Food Truck
By Sam Nguyen
If you want to enhance your food truck operations and provide better customer service, it’s worth considering investing in a POS system. In this article, we will explore some of the most popular solutions available for you to consider.
Key Takeaways
- Shopify POS works best for small food truck businesses seeking a seamless payment solution on the go while effectively integrating their online store with in-person customers.
- Square POS is ideal for food truck owners who want to set up their businesses quickly on a limited budget.
- Toast provides various resources tailored to assist food truck start-ups in running offline business for the first time.
- TouchBistro is perfect for independent food service businesses looking for a flexible, easy-to-manage POS system running on iOS devices.
- Clover POS is suitable for growing companies looking for a wide range of features that meet the needs of food trucks and the restaurant industry.
Why Do You Need A POS For Your Food Truck?
We recommend POS systems for food trucks for a lot of reasons. One of the most important ones is that a POS system can significantly benefit a food truck by enabling seamless digital payment processing and efficient management of sales, inventory, and employee hours. Many POS systems offer additional features such as employee scheduling, tip pool management, invoicing, and online ordering.
Given the narrow profit margins in the food truck industry, avoiding the cost of a POS system may be tempting. However, based on our experience, implementing a POS system for your food truck can save you both time and money while boosting sales.
5 Best POS Systems For Food Trucks
After careful analysis on various popular POS systems, we have compiled a list of the top POS systems that offer the best features and pricing to meet the specific needs of food trucks:
Shopify POS
Shopify is one of the world’s most popular platforms. It specializes in helping companies sell various products and services online and in person. With a range of in-built tools, Shopify POS will help you run your food truck efficiently.
Pros and cons
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
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Pricing
Software cost
Shopify POS offers 2 versions:
- Shopify POS Lite: Free with every Shopify Plan.
- Shopify POS Pro: $89/month/location with access to a range of advanced tools for managing your food service business.
To use Shopify POS, you need to subscribe to a Shopify plan with prices ranging from $5 to over $2,000 a month.
For food truck merchants, we recommend choosing the lowest-cost plan, Shopify Starter, with a monthly fee of $5. This cost-effective plan allows you to leverage the benefits of Shopify POS while keeping your expenses to a minimum.
Hardware cost
- $0 for using mobile POS or Tap to pay for iPhone.
- From $39 for a contactless card reader to $219 for a hardware kit with an iPad stand and a card reader.
Payment processing fees
| Shopify plan | Transaction fees | Credit card fees | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Use Shopify Payments | Do not use Shopify Payments | ||
| Starter | 5% | 5% | 2.7% |
| Basic | Free | 2% | 2.7% |
| Standard | 1% | 2.5% | |
| Advanced | 0.5% | 2.4% | |
Notable features
- Free POS: Shopify POS Lite provides merchants with everything they need to run a physical selling location, and it comes with no additional cost.
- Online presence: You can quickly establish your digital storefront and attract customers to your food truck from online channels.
- Mobile POS: The Shopify POS app supports Android and iOS devices, enabling merchants to convert their mobile phones into fully functional point-of-sale systems to accept payments while on the move effortlessly.
- Multiple payment options: Shopify POS supports various payment methods and has its own Shopify Payments with free transaction fees, ensuring a seamless and secure transaction process.
- Ease of use: Shopify is extremely easy to use, and you can customize the smart grid to your preferences and convenience.
- App Integration: Shopify merchants can expand and enhance their store functionality by integrating over 8,000 apps available on the Shopify App Store.
- Inventory management: Tracking your inventory is simple with Shopify, thanks to a range of built-in tools for shop management. You can even have demand forecasting and in-depth analysis if you opt for Shopify POS Pro.
- Customer support: Shopify POS comes with excellent support. You can contact and get your issues solved via email, 24/7 live chat, or even phone calls.
- First-party hardware: You can conveniently purchase all the necessary POS hardware for your food truck from the Shopify Hardware Store. These products are fully compatible with Shopify POS and are covered by warranty and return policy. There’s also an option to rent point-of-sale hardware via Shopify’s hardware rental program to avoid upfront costs.
Who is it best for?
Shopify POS is suitable for food truck businesses of all sizes, especially for smaller companies hoping to make the most of their online store and offline customers. Its versatility and adaptability perfectly align with the dynamic nature of mobile food operations. With a wide array of robust features and seamless integration capabilities, Shopify POS can help business leaders quickly set up a thriving food truck company, streamlining operations and enhancing overall efficiency.
Square For Restaurant POS
Square’s POS system has gained significant popularity among food trucks. With its all-in-one restaurant POS system, Square equips food truck owners with everything necessary to manage and operate their businesses effectively.
Pros and cons
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
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Pricing
Software cost
Square offers 3 subscription tiers for its restaurant POS:
- Free: $0
- Plus: $60/month for one countertop POS device per location (+$40/month per added countertop; +$50/month per location using Mobile POS).
- Premium: Custom pricing
Add-on:
- Square Kitchen Display System: $20/month/device.
- Loyalty Program Subscription: $45/month
- Email Marketing: from $15 to $40/month
- Text Marketing: $20 to $135/month
Hardware cost
- $0 for Square magstripe-only card reader ($10 for each additional), or if using Tap to Pay for iPhone, Tap to Pay on Android on your own devices.
- $49 for Square Reader contactless and chip card reader.
- $299 for Square Terminal - a handheld touch-screen order and payment device with an integrated receipt printer.
Payment processing fees
| Fee | Payment Type |
|---|---|
| 2.6% + 10¢ |
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| 2.9% + 30¢ |
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| 3.5% + 15¢ |
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Notable features
- Free POS: The free POS option is available with the baseline Square for Restaurants subscription, which is typically sufficient for the needs of most food trucks.
- Food Truck Pub integration: Square offers food truck owners a free mobile and web management order app.
- Orders: Square enables you to provide QR codes at the table, allowing diners to self-order without the need to flag down a server.
- Flexible payments: Square serves as your payment processor with its POS system. You can accept credit and debit cards, cash, checks, and gift cards even in offline mode.
- KDS: Kitchen Display System powers up your food truck by tracking prep times, routing orders to their correct stations, and enabling custom ticket timers for maximum efficiency. Customization: You can customize your menus from anywhere at any time. The Square Dashboard allows you to manage your back-office operations in one place, with tools for inventory, managing customer profiles, and viewing sales data.
- Email Marketing and Text Marketing: You can easily collect customer contact information and send email or text promotions to capture their attention.
- Integrations: Integrate with Google, Facebook, and Instagram to add ordering buttons so diners can place orders wherever they’re browsing. Analytics: Real-time analytics and sales reporting allow you to track sales, inventory, and kitchen prep time with just a few taps.
Who is it best for?
Square for Restaurant POS is an excellent option for food truck businesses with limited budgets, as it offers a free plan. Square’s hardware and features are specifically designed to meet the unique needs of food trucks, making it a natural fit for these mobile operations. With Square, food truck owners can efficiently manage their operations, process transactions, and provide a seamless customer experience.
Toast
Toast has established itself as one of the top restaurant solutions in the market and has earned the trust of thousands of food truck owners.
Pros and cons
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
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Pricing
Software cost
Toast has 5 monthly subscription plans:
- Quick Start Bundle/Pay-as-you-go: $0
- Core: $69
- Restaurant Basics Package: $110 (+ $4/employee/month)
- Growth: $165
- Custom Pricing: Custom Quote Needed
Hardware cost
For the Pay-as-you-go plan: $0. The payment processing fee covers all costs.
For the Standard plan: Pay for hardware upfront and pay monthly for software.
- Handheld kit: $627
- Countertop kit: $875
- Guest Self-Service: $1007 (+$30/month for kiosk subscription if you choose this hardware kit).
Add-on
For the Pay-as-you-go plan:
- Digital Ordering & Marketing Suite (Online ordering, Email Marketing, Gift card, Loyalty): +0.40% per transaction
For the Standard plan:
- Digital ordering: $75/month
- Email Marketing: $75/month
- Gift Cards: $50/month
- Loyalty: $50/month
One-time Installation fees
- $0 for self-installation
- $250 for professional remote installation
Payment processing fees
For the Pay-as-you-go plan: 2.99% + $0.15/ transaction (+0.40% with Marketing tools)
If you pay for the hardware upfront:
- Visa/MasterCard/Discover (Swipe, Dip, Tap): 2.49% + $0.15
- Visa/Mastercard/Discover (Keyed): 3.50% + $0.15
- American Express Processing Rate (Swipe, Dip, Tap): 3.29% + $0.15
- American Express Processing Rate (Keyed): 3.89% + $0.15
Notable features
- Restaurant-grade hardware: Toast provides hardware that is built to withstand restaurant and food truck environments, including dust, steam, spills, drops, and high temperatures.
- Marketing and loyalty: Toast offers add-on modules for loyalty and marketing, allowing you to customize email messages and implement a traditional loyalty points program, even with the free plan.
- Inventory by xtraChef: Toast integrates with xtraChef, a comprehensive inventory software that enables real-time tracking of recipes, vendor management, food cost tracking, and seamless synchronization with your accounts payable system. It also includes scan-to-enter invoice management and a smartphone app for taking physical inventory counts.
- Dynamic handheld terminals: Toast’s handheld terminals can process various types of payments (swiped, dipped, or tapped), particularly suitable for food trucks to accept payments on the go. They also alert your staff when orders are ready.
- Tableside Ordering and Checkouts: You can efficiently take orders and process payments directly at the table, providing your customers with a seamless and convenient experience.
- Online Ordering and Delivery: Toast allows customers to place orders online and track their delivery status in real-time, which is especially beneficial for businesses that offer delivery services but do not have their drivers. However, online ordering is not available with the free plan.
- Comprehensive reporting: Toast offers extensive reporting capabilities, enabling you to monitor sales, labor expenditures, and inventory levels in real-time. You can gain valuable insights into your business’s performance.
- Easy menu updates: Merchants can quickly and easily make changes to your menu, which is ideal for those needing to update their offerings seasonally or daily. The software also simplifies the tracking of prices and ingredients, helping merchants effectively manage their costs.
Who is it best for?
If you are getting started with the food truck business, Toast’s Pay-as-you-go plan will be a good choice with no upfront costs and the ability to add more tools as you grow.
TouchBistro
Built just for restaurants, TouchBistro’s point of sale is fast, reliable, and easy to use, and it comes with all of the features food truck merchants need to increase sales, delight guests, and save both time and money.
Pros and cons
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
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Pricing
Software cost
TouchBistro subscription plan is quote-based, which starts at $69/month with flexible plans for every type of restaurant.
Add-on
- Online ordering: $50/month
- Loyalty: $99/month
- Marketing: $99/month
- Gift card: $25/month
- Reservation: $299/month
Hardware cost
Quote-based pricing is used for packages that may include hardware such as cash drawers, receipt printers, kitchen display systems for food trucks, and customer-facing displays.
Payment processing fees
Quote-based pricing through TouchBistro Payments powered by Chase or payment partners like Square, TSYS and Worldpay. Square’s fee for payments processed through TouchBistro is 2.6% + 10¢.
Notable features
- Flexible hardware: TouchBistro allows you to easily configure iPads as POS terminals, KDS screens, or handheld order and payment devices. Some configurations may come with additional monthly fees. Please check with TouchBistro for detailed pricing information.
- Customer support: TouchBistro provides 24/7/365 customer support to assist you with any inquiries or issues related to their products.
- Menu management: Creating menus with TouchBistro is a breeze. You can conveniently build and cost menus from anywhere. Additionally, TouchBistro offers color-coded menu items that will entice customers to choose options that will lead to an upsell on their meals.
- Extensive reporting: TouchBistro offers comprehensive reporting capabilities, allowing business owners to track various important metrics. From monitoring back-office performance KPIs to analyzing credit card payments over time, you can gain valuable insights into your business operations.
- Staff management: The system includes built-in features to manage your staff efficiently. You can easily track employee activity and monitor hours and performance.
- Ordering: You can take and place orders directly at the table, reducing wait times and streamlining service. This feature is particularly beneficial for quick-service restaurants with long lines like food trucks.
Who is it best for?
TouchBistro is suitable for merchants looking for a flexible and easy to manage point-of-sale system. It is particularly well-suited for independent food service businesses that require multiple POS terminals and busy establishments like counter-service restaurants, coffee shops, and breweries.
Clover POS
Clover is a point-of-sale system adaptable to many businesses, including food trucks. In addition to selling your food or drinks, you can get different hardware and software for processing credit card transactions and other payments.
Pros and cons
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
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Pricing
Software cost
Clover POS offer 3 plans for you to choose from:
- Starter: $54.95/month if paid in full with hardware included. $100 if paid monthly.
- Standard: $54.95/month if paid in full with hardware included. $140 if paid monthly.
- Advanced: $69.90/month if paid in full with hardware included. $190 if paid monthly.
Hardware cost
- Starter: $799 mini 8” touch screen POS with a built‑in receipt printer
- Standard: $1799 Station Duo ( 14” merchant-facing POS with 7” customer screen)
- Advanced: $2398 station Duo and Flex (Handheld POS)
- Additional cash drawer: $69
- Additional kitchen printer: $359
Payment processing cost
- Card-present transactions: 2.3% + 10¢
- Keyed‑in transactions: 3.5% + 10¢
Notable features
- Menus: You can easily create menu items, add them to specific categories, and even mark color codes to enhance order accuracy and organization. Payment methods: The system supports various payment types, including Swipe, dip, or tap cards, mobile wallets (like Apple Pay, Google Pay), PayPal and Venmo, cash or check, and keyed-in payments (on device or Clover app), provides the option to preset tip amounts, ensuring a smooth and convenient checkout process for both merchants and your customers.
- Team performance: Using the POS system, you can efficiently handle your team’s schedules and timesheets.
- Analytics: Clover POS provides robust analytics features, allowing you to track sales and access valuable insights from any computer or mobile device. You can filter reports to identify your busiest times and determine your best-selling items.
- Ordering: You can take advantage of convenient features such as QR-code ordering and order types designed explicitly for pick-up and delivery.
Who is it best for?
Clover is ideal if you’re a growing business service-based food company. If you’re looking for a compact solution for your food truck, Clover could be just the convenient service you’ve been searching for.
How We Tested The Best POS Systems For Food Trucks
We conducted a comprehensive evaluation of the top POS systems for food trucks, taking into account factors such as ease of setup, user-friendly interface, quality of customer support, availability of documentation, range of features, performance, and pricing plans. We also considered factors such as customizable hardware options, compatibility with iOS and Android devices, offline connectivity, and transaction fees.
How To Choose The Best POS For Your Food Truck Business
Here are some questions you should ask yourself so you can decide which POS system works best for your food truck:
Does it accept multiple payment method?
Ensure that the POS system can accept multiple payment methods such as debit cards, credit cards, cash, gift cards, refunds, split group payments, tipping, and online ordering. Food truck POS systems need to be prepared for any type of transaction.
Is it mobile?
By nature, food truck POS systems need to be set up for payment flexibility. Since food trucks have limited space, choosing a POS system with mobile capabilities is essential. Mobile POS systems that can be used across phones, tablets, and desktop devices will be particularly helpful. Ensure that the provided POS hardware fits comfortably in your food truck.
Will it help in inventory management?
Choose a POS provider with helpful inventory features to give your food truck a competitive edge. Look for a POS system that offers inventory management features. Alerts for low product levels and notifications for stock rotation are essential in hospitality POS software.
Does it have customer management features?
A quality POS system should have customer management features. Building relationships with regular customers is important for word-of-mouth marketing and increased sales. Look for a POS system that summarizes customer spending behavior in reports and allows you to implement customer loyalty schemes to reward regular customers and encourage repeat orders.
What customer support does it offer?
Check if the POS provider offers reliable customer support in your time zone. Look for online training guides, account management, and additional support options like website live chat or in-app support.
Will it work offline?
Food trucks often operate in areas in areas with unreliable or weak internet connections, so the ability to process transactions offline or when the connection is weak is crucial.
To Wrap Up
The list above highlights the top POS systems for food trucks. If you are looking to expand your business rapidly and efficiently, investing in Shopify POS can offer numerous benefits. As Shopify is recognized as the leading eCommerce platform globally, integrating it with a compatible Shopify POS system can provide seamless functionality and enhanced growth opportunities for your food truck business.
