Best POS for Sporting Goods

With a market size of 12.5 billion in 2023, the UK’s sporting goods market is thriving. There are more than 5000 sporting goods and outdoor equipment retailers serving this market, as well as scores of online specialists.

Most of these will use a POS system in some form to facilitate taking payments. The right POS system isn’t an just electronic cash register to receive payments, but complex software that helps manage inventory, monitor stock levels and streamline reporting. Customer satisfaction is improved, encouraging repeat sales by providing a smooth purchasing process.

However, with so many options available, how should you decide which POS system is for your business? As a payments expert, I’ve researched the top systems for sporting goods retailers.

Why do Sporting Goods Shops Need a POS System?

Sporting goods shops benefit from POS systems for several reasons, including:

• Speeds Up the Checkout Process: Enhances the efficiency of payment transactions for sports equipment purchases.
• Helps Manage Inventory: Provides real-time tracking of sportswear and equipment stock levels.
• Provides Sales Reporting: Generates valuable insights on popular products and peak shopping times.
• Supports Loyalty Programs: Facilitates reward schemes for returning sports enthusiasts.
• Manages Equipment Rentals: Simplifies the process of renting out sports gear.
• Enables Appointment Scheduling: Assists in arranging custom fittings or personal training sessions.
• Integrates with E-commerce: Links to online sales channels, essential for modern sports retail.
• Applies Customised Discounts and Promotions: Efficiently manages special offers and seasonal discounts at checkout.
• Enhances Customer Relationship Management: Stores customer data for more personalised service and marketing.

Best POS for Sporting Goods: My Verdict

All of the systems I’ve shortlisted have a lot to recommend them. However, I think these systems are best in the following situations: 

If you’re a market trader or popup shop, Square POS works really well. There’s no contract, and with a fixed charge of 1.75% per sale, you know what you’re paying every step of the way. If you’re a business turning over more than £5k per month, however, you’ll save money by entering into a contract with one YumpaPOS, Takepayments or EposNow.

YumaPOS offers the best value for money, combining a till, printer, cash drawer and payment system for an amazing £49.99 per month, with no upfront cost. Unlike other POS systems, you can also choose your payment processor, allowing you to shop for the best rates. However, with limited 3rd party integrations and retail-specific features, it’s unsuitable for larger sporting goods businesses with more complex needs. 

Takepayments is perfect for small to medium-sized businesses that prefer a simple POS system. With contracts from 30 days and funds available the next working day, it’s a great choice for businesses without a long-term commitment. However, the features are more basic than those of other systems, so it wouldn’t be the right POS for larger sports shops. 

Epos Now is highly customisable, making it ideal for medium to large sporting goods businesses that want a tailored POS solution. Although the range of features is comprehensive, it has fewer 3rd party integrations than Lightspeed, which could be a dealbreaker if you want to manage all of your business from one platform conveniently. 

Lightspeed is best suited to large or multi-location businesses that want a comprehensive, all-in-one solution. It’s got the best reporting and analytics capabilities on the market but, as a downside, does insist on you using its own payment processor, which can be more expensive. You’ll also need to track inventory to make use of this Lightspeeds functionality.

Comparison of the Best POS for Sporting Goods

The Top 7 Best POS Systems for Sporting Goods Businesses

Lightspeed Retail POS

Lightspeed’s POS for retail businesses offers functionality you just won’t get anywhere else. 

Its innovative system is designed to maximise profit and streamline your whole sales process. 

It’s no surprise that it’s used by Brompton, the UK’s largest bike manufacturer!

Essential features like inventory, staff and customer management are more advanced and innovative than other POS systems, ideal for large sporting goods businesses with more complex needs. 

Lightspeed’s Service Orders feature is better than any other system’s work management tool and is great for sports shops that offer additional services like kit customisation or repair. 

The B2B Catalogue gives you access to millions of brands and products to quickly add your stock directly into your POS system. 

Lightspeed’s e-commerce features aren’t as strong as other systems, but this can easily be improved with 3rd party integrations such as Shopify, BigCommerce, WooCommerce and Ecwid.

In terms of hardware, it can sync with most major devices, or Lightspeed can create a custom package for you. 

As you’d expect, this cutting-edge solution comes at a cost. Lightspeed POS is one of the more expensive POS systems, so it is only really suitable for large single location, or multi-location sports shops. It would also work for a single location shop with a reasonable online business.

Lightspeed POS at a Glance

• Accepted Payments: Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Maestro, Apple Pay and Google Pay
• Transaction Rate: Competitive bespoke rates based on industry and volume
• Key Features: Inventory management, supplier management, integrated payment processing, eCommerce integration, customer management, staff management, reporting
• Integrations: Mailchimp, Xero, Quickbooks, Marsello, BigCommerce, Shopify, WooCommerce and more.
• Hardware: Bespoke packages, including receipt printers, cash drawers, and payment terminals.
• Support: Webchat or call support is available 24/7 in English. There is also limited support in German, French and Dutch.

Price

YumaPOS

YumaPOS offers the best value for money of any system, combining hardware and software into one convenient package. 

For just £49.99 per month (with no upfront cost), you’ll get a till, printer, cash drawer and payment system. 

Although there are limited retail-specific features and no service management tools like Lightspeed, YumaPOS’s capabilities are ideal for small to medium-sized businesses.

Unlike other POS systems, you can choose your payment processor, which means you’ll be able to find the best transaction rates for your business. 

With a user-friendly interface, you’ll no longer worry about running out of this season’s football shirt, thanks to real-time stock updates and automated alerts for low stock levels. 

You’ll be able to create a point-based loyalty programme, run personalised promotions tailored to fixture results, and send sale reminders directly from your system through SMS messaging. 

With over 100 data insight reports, you’ll always know how your business performs and can easily predict seasonal demand. 

However, as I said before, YumaPOS’s limited features won’t be enough for larger sports stores with more complex needs. 

There are also no retail-specific 3rd party integrations to increase its capabilities, so you won’t be able to manage your whole business from a single platform. 

YumaPOS at a Glance

• Accepted Payments: Mastercard, Visa, American Express, Apply Pay and Google Pay
• Transaction Rate: Varies depending on business and transaction volume
• Key Features: Inventory management, payment processing, staff management, loyalty schemes, marketing, customer management, purchase orders and reporting
• Hardware: Available as a bundle with software, with prices starting at £49.99 per month
• Support: 24/7 technical support and ongoing training

Price

• Software and hardware bundles start at £49.99 per month, inclusive of everything.

Square for Retail POS

Square for Retail is an ideal entry-level POS system for casual sellers, market stall traders and pop-up shops.

Offering contract-free plans, it’s a great choice for businesses who don’t want to make a long-term commitment to a provider.

There’s even a free plan on which you will only pay a fixed transaction rate for each payment you process. 

The Tap to Pay on iPhone is a great feature, letting you accept payments without buying additional hardware.

Your funds will be available to transfer the next working day or access them instantly for a 1% fee per transfer. 

In terms of inventory management features, you can set low-stock alerts that automatically send purchase orders to your vendors. You can also use a barcode scanner for stock counts to reduce errors.

Notice a lot of your customers are interested in the same team? Understand them better with customer profiles that allow you to create more personalised campaigns. 

Convenient 3rd party software integrations include GoDaddy, Xero, Ecwid, WooCommerce and Wix. 

However, as the saying goes, you get what you pay for, and Square is no different.

Whilst the Free plan may look attractive, you’ll have to pay £49 per month, per location, for a Plus Plan if you want to access a better in-person transaction rate. That cost could add up if you have multiple locations. 

Square’s more advanced features, such as automatic purchase orders, item bundling and barcode label printing, are also reserved for Plus plan customers, limiting the Free plan capabilities and appeal. 

The costs will continue to increase if you decide to pay for the add-on features such as e-mail marketing and loyalty programmes, which are included as standard by most POS systems. 

With fixed transaction rates for both the Free and Plus plans, there’s no room for a better rate if you have a higher transaction volume.

Although you can get custom rates if you have an annual turnover of more than £20,000, in that situation, you’d benefit more from Lightspeed’s more premium features. 

Square POS at a Glance

• Accepted Payments: Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Maestro, Visa Electron, Vpay, Clearpay, Apple Pay, Google Pay and Samsung Pay
• Transaction Rate: Varies depending on the plan and location of the transaction. In-person transaction rates range between 1.6% and 1.75%, and online transaction rates range between 1.4% to 2.5% + 25p
• Key Features: Payment processing, eCommerce integration, inventory management, customer management, staff management, order management, supplier management, reporting, 
• Integrations: Rentrax, WooCommerce, Wix, Magento, Easyship, Xero, GoDaddy, Local Inventory on Google and more.
• Hardware: Range of options including registers, terminals and card readers. Prices from £19+ VAT
• Support: Telephone helpline available Monday to Friday between 9 am and 5 pm

Price

Epos Now Retail

Standing out for it’s highly customisable features, Epos Now’s Retail POS system is an excellent choice for medium to large sporting goods businesses.

Epos Now claims its system will reduce time spent on admin tasks by up to 10 hours per month, thanks to its staff and business management features. 

Supporting barcode management, You can categorise sports equipment by brand, size, and colour with inventory tools, whilst automated purchase orders prevent empty shelves.

Take your sports shop online with the eCommerce tools, including convenient fulfilment options such as click & collect.

You can even schedule abandoned cart notifications to encourage more transactions.

Customer profiles are updated after each purchase, whilst integrating your system with MailChimp lets you run targeted emailing campaigns when your customer’s team wins.

Reward repeat purchases by creating a loyalty programme through Loyalzoo, which is claimed to generate a revenue increase of up to 13%.

The user-friendly interface means that you can train your employees in less than 15 minutes.

Real-time analytics, including margin data, can be viewed on any device, wherever you are, thanks to the cloud-based technology, so you’ll always know how your sports shop is performing. 

Despite this fantastic range of features, there are some drawbacks to using Epos Now.

Smaller sporting goods businesses with simpler needs would be overwhelmed with the amount of features.

Epos Now Payments is said to generate up to 3 times more sales, but you must use their payment processor.

You may also incur additional charges if you integrate your system with 3rd party software, increasing your overall costs.

Epos Now POS at a Glance

• Accepted Payments: Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Apply Pay, Google Pay
• Transaction Rate: Varies depending on business type and transaction volume.
• Key Features: Inventory management, payment processing, checkouts, eCommerce, purchase orders, staff management, loyalty programmes, customer engagement, marketing and reporting  
• Integrations: Mailchimp, Loyalzoo, LoyaltyDog, Shopify, BigCommerce, WooCommerce, Wix, Hubtiger, Quickbooks, Sage and more.
• Hardware: Individual compatible hardware is available, or purchase a bundle priced from £325.
• Support: 24/7 support by telephone or live web chat between 9 am and 6 pm.

Price

Shopify

If you only sell sporting goods online and you already use Shopify to process payments, Shopify’s POS system is a convenient option. However, with a much lower average Trustpilot score of 1.2 out of 5 than other POS systems, Shopify’s customer service is in question, and would certainly not be suitable for businesses that need extra support. 

Inventory features like low stock alerts, sale item suggestions and inventory counts using a barcode scanner stop you from running out of your best-selling sporting equipment and apparel.

The Save and Retrieve Cart feature recovers abandoned shopping baskets to encourage customers to complete transactions, whilst custom email and SMS receipts re-engage them after making a purchase.  

Customer profiles are created after online purchases, and you can track everything from which discounts are performing the best to which rugby kits aren’t selling so well.. 

Marketing features include automatic syncing with Google Merchant Centre, social media integration, and email marketing. 

With a much lower average Trustpilot score of 1.2 out of 5 than other POS systems, Shopify’s customer service is in question, and would certainly not be suitable for businesses that need extra support. 

Shopify offer a range of plans, starting at £5 per month for the Starter plan, increasing to an eye-watering £344 for the Advanced plan.

Like most POS, the more you pay, the better your transaction rate is.

Whilst the Starter plan may be attractively priced, transaction rates are the highest of any retail POS system I’ve seen, standing at 5% for in-person transactions and 5% + 25p for online payments. 

To put it into context, that’s over 2.8 times more than Square’s basic account. And with Square, you wouldn’t have a monthly cost!

Although Shopify offers plans for larger businesses, it’s just can’t compete with the much more comprehensive Lightspeed POS and EposNow POS.

It’s also important to note that Basic, Shopify and Advanced plan customers will be charged an additional fee of £69 per month per POS Pro location, which could further increase your overall costs if you manage multiple stores.

Shopify POS at a Glance

• Accepted Payments: Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Apple Pay and Google Pay
• Transaction Rate: Varies depending on plan. In-person rates range between 1.5% to 5%, and online rates are 1.5% to 5% + 25p
• Key Features: Inventory management, staff management, payment, processing, purchase orders, order notes, customisable checkouts, eCommerce, customer management, marketing, reporting, 
• Integrations: Mailchimp, Post & DHL, Quickbooks, Xero and much more
• Hardware: A range of hardware, including card readers, mobile POS devices, barcode scanners and more. Prices start at £49.
• Support: 24/7 support by e-mail, telephone and live web chat

Price

Takepayments

Takepayments’s POS system, known as tPOS, is a user-friendly system ideal for small to medium-sized sporting businesses which prefer a simple yet efficient system. 

The system provides a seamless payment experience, automatically transferring transaction totals to your card reader. 

You can also record and control cash payments, simplifying end-of-the-day reconciliation for sporting goods retailers that accept both payment types.

After transactions have been approved, your funds will be available in your account the next working day, ideal if you have a more restricted cash flow,

There’s also no need to commit to the system long-term, with contracts available for 30 days.

Additional features such as inventory and staff management are basic but enough for small sports shops that don’t need all the bells and whistles that other POS systems offer. 

Although the system does have multi-location syncing, larger companies will find this system to be too limited, especially since there are no 3rd party integrations to expand it’s capabilities.

Takepayments POS at a Glance

• Accepted Payments: Visa, Mastercard, Maestro, American Express, Apply Pay, Google Pay, Samsung Pay
• Key Features: Integrated payments, cash management, inventory management, supplier management and reporting 
• Hardware: A range of hardware is available, including countertop POS systems, card readers, cash drawers, printers and barcode scanners
• Support: Telephone support is available seven days a week

Price

SumUP

SumUp offers two flexible POS plans perfect for new and small sports shops.

SumUp Point of Sale Lite is a pay-as-you-go plan with £0 monthly cost. 

Ideal for businesses who don’t accept frequent card payments, you’ll receive access to SumUp’s basic software, a 13″ full-HD touchscreen tablet with a stand and a SumUp Solo card reader for a one-time fee of £349 + VAT.

Most sports shops will find the features too basic, with the system only allowing single-order processing and sales performance monitoring. 

Receipts can be sent digitally or connect to a printer to provide paper copies. 

Payments have a clear and transparent fixed standard rate of 1.69%, which can be reduced to 0.99% if you sign up for the SumUp One membership after purchase. 

However, as the membership programme has a monthly fee of £29.99, this would mean committing to a contract. 

Like most POS systems, you won’t be able to choose your payment processor, so you can’t compare rates to find the best for your business. 

You can negotiate a better rate if you have an annual card turnover of £100,000 or more. However, in this situation, you would be better off looking at a more comprehensive solution such as Lightspeed or Epos Now. 

For a wider range of features, you can upgrade to the SumUp Point of Sale Pro, a highly portable system, suitable for market stalls and pop-up shops. 

For a monthly fee starting at £49 + VAT, you’ll abe able to access all the features included in the Lite, plus some of the more advanced tools.  

Unlike the Lite plan, the transaction rate isn’t fixed so you can negotiate a better rate depending on your annual sales volume.

Essential inventory management is included, but this is still less advanced than other providers and unsuitable for larger sporting goods businesses. 

Manage your business from anywhere with one-click reports for real-time sales, stock, customers, and staff data. 

Quickly identify bestsellers, monitor stock, and create a personalised checkout process, great for omnichannel selling.

You’ll also be able to offer customer loyalty programmes, gift cards, and vouchers to encourage repeat customers. 

Whilst you can integrate your POS system with 3rd party software such as Xero and Shopify, integrations are significantly more limited than other POS systems.

SumUp POS at a Glance

• Accepted Payments: Visa, Mastercard, Maestro, American Express, Apple Pay, Google Pay, Diners Club, Discover, Union Pay, JCB, VPay
• Transaction Rate: Depends on your plan. For Lite customers, you will pay a fixed transaction rate of 1.69%
• Key Features: Customer management, staff management, essential inventory management, eCommerce support, payment processing, loyalty schemes, reporting, 
• Integrations
• Hardware: Varies depending on plan. Additional hardware, such as printers and cash drawers, is available. 
• Support: Available six days a week for Lite customers or seven days a week for Pro customers.

Price