by As a butcher, you know how much work goes into preparing a delicious steak.
Whether it’s a flavorful ribeye or a tender filet mignon, it deserves to be cut with care, packaged with precision, and seared to perfection.
Just like the right techniques bring out the best in a steak, the right point of sale (POS) system can bring out the best in your butcher shop.
In this blog, we’ll explore how a butcher shop POS can highlight your selection of the highest-quality, locally sourced meats and share our four favorite butcher shop POS system providers. Let’s get cooking!
What Is a Butcher Shop POS System?
A POS system is a critical tool for any small business. This all-in-one powerhouse processes sales transactions, keeps track of inventory, and provides insightful reports about your shop’s performance.
A butcher shop POS is a specialized version of this tool that includes features designed with perishable product sales in mind.
Your butcher shop POS should enable you to sell meats by weight, see which cuts you have in stock, and track how much of each product you sell. Here are some must-have features to look for in a butcher shop POS system:
- Sales by weight: Your butcher shop POS should make it easy to sell products by weight down to the last ounce, ensuring accurate pricing and inventory records.
- Inventory management: Your butcher shop POS should give you an accurate overview of what meats you have in stock at any given time.
- Integrated payment processing: Choosing a POS solution with integrated payment processing allows you to make sales quickly and securely online and in person.
- Online sales: Leveraging a POS system with e-commerce integration is a great way to expand your customer base and make more sales.
- Flexible fulfillment options: The right butcher shop POS system enables you to offer the widest range of options, including everything from local pickup and delivery to nationwide shipping.
- Sales-boosting features: Choosing a POS system with features like a built-in loyalty program and subscription options helps retain customers and boosts your bottom line.
Now that we’ve covered what makes a butcher shop POS so special, let’s take a look at a few of our favorite providers.
1. Brilliant POS: The Basic Butcher Shop POS Option
First on our list is Brilliant POS. Brilliant POS offers a basic, user-friendly POS solution equipped to handle the essential functions of running a small business.
A few of Brilliant POS’ key features include:
- Order management: Whether your customers order at the counter, over the phone, or online, Brilliant POS’ butcher shop POS tracks orders and sends them to a kitchen printer for prompt preparation.
- Real-time inventory tracking: Brilliant POS gives you access to an overview of your inventory at any time, from anywhere.
- E-commerce integration: If you want to make online sales, Brilliant POS allows for integration with several e-commerce platforms.
Brilliant POS is a solid option if you’re just starting your butcher shop journey or on a budget, but you’ll have to pay extra if you want access to features like sales by weight or to use an add-on e-commerce solution.
2. National Retail Solutions: The Flexible Butcher Shop POS Option
Next up is a more robust butcher shop POS option: National Retail Solutions (NRS).
NRS offers retailers in all industries the flexibility to choose which features they want most. Some of the features you might consider for your butcher shop include:
- Promotion creation: Easily create discounts to encourage your customers to purchase from your shop.
- Customer loyalty: Incentivize customers to rely on your butcher shop for all their protein needs.
- E-commerce integration: Like Brilliant POS, NRS also allows you to choose an add-on e-commerce platform and make online sales.
While NRS’ wide range of features make it a suitable option for most butcher shops, keep in mind that more features mean a higher price.
3. IT Retail: The Powerful Butcher Shop POS Option
Our next butcher shop POS pick is a solution designed for grocery stores.
IT Retail offers small business owners a powerful POS solution who want to take control of their inventory management, leverage sales-boosting tactics, and monitor their shop’s financial health.
If you’re looking to run your butcher shop like an efficient, profitable grocery store, IT Retail might be a good fit for you. Let’s explore a few of IT Retail’s helpful tools:
- Robust inventory management: Monitor your stock levels in real time, get alerts when a product is running low, and generate purchase orders on the fly.
- Scale integration: IT Retail’s integrated scales with printers make it easy to sell products like meat and cheese by their exact weight.
- E-commerce integration: IT Retail enables you to select your own e-commerce platform and manage your online and in-person sales seamlessly.
As an all-in-one platform, IT Retail allows you to access all of these features and more without having to pay additional fees. To see how much you’ll pay for IT Retail, use their build and price tool.
4. GrazeCart: The Best Butcher Shop POS Option
Our final and favorite butcher shop POS solution is GrazeCart.
GrazeCart is the only option on our list designed specifically for local farm stores and butcher shops, and it’s also the only option that includes its own e-commerce platform.
A few of GrazeCart’s most impressive features include:
- A website builder: Easily create a custom website for your butcher shop and start making online sales immediately.
- Subscription and customer loyalty: Make the most of your repeat customers by offering them convenient subscription options and enticing loyalty rewards.
- Flexible fulfillment options: Cater to your customers’ preferences by selling your goods in person, offering local pickup and delivery, and shipping your products across the country.
- Sales by weight: Make the most of your inventory and sell your products down to the last ounce.
Along with these features, GrazeCart offers inventory and sales reporting, helping you take charge of your butcher shop’s efficiency and profitability. 
Slice Into Success With the Best Butcher Shop POS Solution
We’ve covered four solid butcher shop POS options — but only one stands out among the rest.
GrazeCart offers the perfect combination of features if you’re hoping to attract more customers, make more sales, and streamline your operations.
If you’re ready to get started with the only butcher shop POS solution designed with your needs in mind, start your free two week trial of GrazeCart today!