Picking the best point-of-sale system (POS system) for your salon business is an endeavor that pays off in the long run. At its core, the right POS for salons helps you effortlessly track each transaction to accurately measure sales volume.
A system that works for your salon can cut down on wait times, automate manual tasks, and enhance the customer experience — helping you stand out amidst ever-increasing competition.
In addition, many salon POS systems offer employee management tools to help your workforce be at its most competent and maximize your return on investment (ROI).
So, how do you pick the right POS for your salon business? Just like there’s no one-size-fits-all solution to your customers’ unique beauty needs, the best salon POS system is one that caters to your business to help it thrive. Ahead, we share what you need to look out for when making your selection, plus three options to consider.
The best POS for salons have a few things in common, from the essentials to the nice-to-haves.
POS reports are a must-have as it gives you an overview of how your business is doing. Are sales on track for this month, or do you need to plan more marketing activities? Do you have enough stock to last you through this period, or is there a need to tweak your inventory management and forecasting for better accuracy?
Having such POS data at your fingertips will help you answer the above questions and more. This gives you a better idea of how to plan ahead and manage your business operations to improve your bottom line.
Targeting the modern, tech-savvy consumer means that any POS for salons with an online appointment booking function will help you stand out from the crowd. Some salon POS systems, like Square with its custom cancellation policy (more on that later), also grant you extra protection from no-shows to minimize your revenue losses.
If your budget allows, pick a POS for salons with employee management features like:
Efficient staff scheduling to ensure an employee is matched to every customer appointment for smooth running of the business operations while achieving customer satisfaction
Tracking the hours logged by your staff to record wages and overtime, while helping you decide if there’s a need to improve employee productivity to streamline costs or hire more staff
Another nice-to-have for salon POS systems is customer loyalty program software. It encourages existing customers to return, thereby lowering your customer acquisition costs.
For example, the Square Loyalty program helps increase the frequency of customer visits by as much as 26%. What’s more, recent statistics show that loyal customers spend 67% more than new clients.
Bonus: Square Loyalty effortlessly integrates with other software like KioskBuddy so you can enroll and reward your patrons on self-service kiosks.
In addition to your loyalty program, you might want to sell physical or digital gift cards for your salon. So you’ll want the right POS hardware and software to support them.
The last thing you want is a POS solution that doesn’t keep up as your salon business expands. To save you heartache and massive costs, choose a scalable POS system.
Look for a POS that has the features you need now and may need in the future and one that supports businesses of various sizes. You may be a small, family-owned hair salon now, but in the future, you might be a larger salon chain with multiple locations.
You should also consider how expandable your POS is. Does the point-of-sale easily integrate with third-party services for a more feature-rich experience?
OK, let’s dive into some of the best POS for salons that you can consider for your business needs.
Square for Beauty Salons provides multiple salon management features, such as 24/7 online booking with social media integrations and staff scheduling.
Plus, Square’s credit card payment processing makes accepting payments fast, effortless, and affordable. You can even accept mobile payments right from your station. All you have to do is download the free Square Appointments app on your Apple or Android mobile device and connect your device to Square’s card reader. The Square Reader accepts contactless payments, Apple Pay, and chip cards.
The Square Assistant (part of Square Appointments) is also a boon for salons. After all, appointment scheduling is likely one of the core aspects of your service. Doing it manually is time-consuming and leaves room for human errors like double-booked slots that can negatively impact the customer experience and, by extension, your business reputation.
With Square Assistant, an AI-enabled automated messaging tool, your patrons can now directly respond to SMS appointment reminders with the option to confirm, cancel, or change it. Automatic replies and well-coordinated bookings help to increase customer satisfaction. Square also recommends services to repeat clients for cross-selling and upselling.
Plus, as we mentioned earlier, you’ll benefit from Square’s custom cancellation policy to protect you against no-shows that would otherwise undermine your bottom line. You can choose a cut-off time for cancellations. Or decide whether customers have to add a card during booking to charge them for a cancellation fee in the event that they cancel at the last minute or don’t show up for their appointment.
Square has a monthly fee plus processing fees pricing model. You can choose between three plan tiers based on the features you need and how many locations you have. The plan tiers range from free to $69 per month. The per-transaction processing fees start at 2.6% plus $0.10.
Whether you’re running a beauty salon, a barbershop, or a spa, Lightspeed Retail POS does it all. Although Lightspeed primarily targets retail and the food and beverage industry, this cloud-based POS system checks off many boxes that any salon looks for in its point-of-sale software, such as:
Automated purchase ordering with reordering and special orders features
Easy-to-build online store that syncs online stock levels to in-store inventory in real time
Integrates with Agendrix for efficient staff scheduling
A customized rewards program (Lightspeed Loyalty) with a branded customer-facing web app
As a multi-location, all-in-one retail POS, Lightspeed is ideal for large-scale salon businesses with multiple outlets, especially if they have an online and offline presence.
The downside is that Lightspeed doesn’t have an appointment-scheduling function, which is crucial in any salon and spa POS. A workaround would be to use Lightspeed with Booxi, an appointment scheduling software for retailers. Just be mindful that you’ll have to pay an additional fee for the Booxi add-on.
Lightspeed also uses a monthly fee plus processing fees pricing model. Their three service tiers range in price from $69 per month to $199 per month, and the credit card processing fees start at 2.6% plus $0.10.
No matter if you’re a barbershop or a brow and lash parlor, you may want to look at Vagaro for your POS system, especially those working with independent contractors. On top of the usual functions (think credit card processing and sales tracking), it’s also feature-rich in the following ways:
Automated notifications via text and email as well as push notifications and in-app notifications
Text and email marketing capabilities
Calendar for tracking and scheduling appointments
Branded app to distinguish your business from other competitors in the same sphere
Online appointment booking
Advanced payroll and data analytics
Perhaps the function that stands out the most with Vagaro is its Rent and Fees feature. Here’s how it works:
The salon owner charges independent contractors or freelancers that rent their booth or equipment.
Vagaro sets up recurring payments, store contracts, and deducts commission from the booth rent.
Thanks to this automatic feature, Vagaro helps you track and receive payments on time without having to manually do it by yourself. This will likely save salon owners time and effort that could be invested elsewhere in the business.
Like Square, Vagaro also integrates with other software. For example, the QuickBooks integration allows you to automatically sync your sales and reconcile your books more efficiently.
Cost-wise, Vagaro offers different price levels — from $25 per month to $85 per month — to accommodate small businesses as well as medium to large enterprises. They also have a plethora of add-ons at varying prices. Credit card processing starts at 2.2%.
The KioskBuddy app transforms a tablet (like an iPad) into an intuitive self-service experience for salon patrons. This can help you get by with fewer front desk staff and keeps your stylists from having to jump in and help instead of focusing on more high-value-added tasks. Think: nail technicians creating exotic nail designs in a nail boutique or hair stylists mixing the perfect hue in a hair salon.
KioskBuddy integrates seamlessly with Square’s POS solutions, including loyalty programs, to provide customer self-checkout. Self-service checkout could be particularly helpful if your salon also sells products, like shampoo, nail polish, and styling tools. A self-service kiosk makes it easy for customers to stop by and quickly replenish their product supply.
KioskBuddy is easy to set up and customizable for your business’ needs and branding. All you need to get started is an iPad and any Square payment hardware like the Square Kiosk, which has a built-in credit card reader.
Countless salon POS systems are available on the market, including the ones we’ve detailed above. But here’s the thing: There is no one best POS for salons. Instead, the right salon POS software for you is the one that works for your business.
Look for a POS that has the features and third-party integrations you need, like loyalty programs and gift card support, online booking, and scheduling. You’ll also want to consider the system’s scalability.
If you want to add a self-service kiosk in your salon, KioskBuddy makes it easy. Start your 30-day free trial today.