As the vaping industry continues to grow, so does the need for effective and efficient vape point of sale (POS) systems. An industry-specific POS system is a must-have for small business owners looking to open their own vape shops. It streamlines inventory management, speeds up checkout, and facilitates smooth business operations.
But finding one is easier said than done. Many popular POS systems won’t work with tobacco or vape shops. Others lack features that can drastically simplify your day-to-day operations.
In this blog, we'll explore the features that a vape POS system must have to successfully manage your smoke shop, then we’ll provide recommendations for vape shop POS providers.
Let’s get started.
You know better than most that running a vape store isn’t the same as running a grocery store or convenience shop. Similarly, many systems that are built for general retail come with unneeded extras or flat out don’t have the features you need to manage your store efficiently.
Here are the seven essential features a vape POS system should have (at a minimum) to reduce your costs and keep customers happy.
Vape shops have unique inventory challenges. They have to keep track of a rapidly changing selection of vape products, including e-liquids, mods, coils, and accessories.
The vape shop inventory management tools on your POS system can help streamline inventory tracking in several ways:
An industry-specific solution makes managing inventory simpler while also giving you more visibility into store performance.
Related Read: Building a Smoke Shop Products List: 6 Staples and Trending Items
The responsibility for avoiding underage vape sales falls squarely on your shoulders, but verifying customers’ ages by hand can slow checkout down to a crawl — especially when things get hectic. But missing an underage or fake ID can result in fines, a loss of your tobacco retail license, or worse.
The easier it is to verify a customers’ ID, the less likely you are to make a mistake. Many vape POS systems (like Cigars POS) come with built-in age verification features, including automated pop-ups and integration with ID scanners.
These features ensure your store stays in compliance with state and federal regulations. ID scanning can also improve the checkout experience, as validating an ID via barcode takes only seconds.
One of the main reasons opening a vape shop is so risky is because there’s a lot of competition on the market. As a vape store owner, you need to find ways to keep customers coming back.
Launching a customer loyalty program is a highly effective method for small businesses to boost customer retention and keep customers engaged.
At their most basic, a loyalty program allows customers to earn points the more they spend in exchange for giving you their contact information. However, vape shop POS systems let you take it even further, allowing you to create customer profiles, track purchase history, and offer personalized discounts and promotions.
This helps you target your marketing efforts effectively and encourages customer loyalty — remember, the best customer is a return customer!
With all of your inventory tracking, vendor information, and sales data in one place, a POS system can also provide a treasure trove of actionable insights that you can use to make better business decisions.
The reporting and analytics features on your POS system let you easily:
These insights help you make better strategic decisions, such as adjusting inventory levels, pricing, and promotions, ultimately driving business growth.
If your state allows it, online vape sales are an excellent way to connect with new customers and give your existing customers a convenient option to browse your selection. The one catch? You need a compatible e-commerce solution to do it.
Industry-specific POS solutions should support seamless integrations with e-commerce platforms. This allows you to track inventory and process sales for in-store and online purchases in the same system.
It also allows you to track customer profiles, loyalty, and other specific information across sales channels, preventing discrepancies and facilitating a smooth, multichannel retail experience.
If you don’t currently operate a webstore but are interested in expanding online, many vape POS systems offer a baked-in, customizable e-commerce solution so you can quickly and easily set up your own online store.
Related Read: E-Commerce vs. Brick-and-Mortar Tobacco Shop: Which One Suits Your Business Needs?
Businesses that sell tobacco, smokeless tobacco, CBD, alcohol, and other age-restricted products are considered “high risk.” This not only limits the number of POS providers that will work with you, but also requires you to use a high-risk merchant account to process card and contactless payments.
Look for vape POS systems that work with high-risk payment processors or do high-risk processing in house. This ensures that you can offer convenient, modern payments and reduce your risk in the event of chargebacks or fraud.
Last but not least, a vape POS system should have an intuitive, user-friendly interface, making it easy for staff to navigate. After all, the last thing you want with a new vape POS system is a giant learning curve.
Modern POS systems let you quickly navigate to often-used features, search your inventory, make inventory updates, and more from either the terminal or a connected mobile device.
Additionally, reliable 24/7 technical support and training resources are crucial to ensure any issues are addressed promptly, minimizing disruptions to your vape shop operations.
Now that you understand which features you need in a vape shop POS system, it’s time to figure which one is the right fit for you. While we’d love to say that our solution is a great fit for everyone, that’s not always the case.
Here are some top picks, including some of their strengths and standout features.
KORONA POS is tailored towards multiple types of retail, including alcohol, cigar, and vape sales. They’re also one of the only vendors on this list that supports THC sales, making them a good fit for dispensaries.
Standout features:
Pricing: KORONA POS’ retail plan starts at $69/month.
FTx POS caters primarily to high-risk industries like tobacco retailers and clubs, as well as other retail segments like pet and clothing shops.
Standout features:
Pricing: FTX’s Core plan starts at $79/month.
Lightspeed is a global retail POS provider, supporting businesses in over 160,000 locations worldwide. With support for high-risk businesses as well as robust multilevel features, Lightspeed is a great fit for rapidly growing vape shop franchises.
Standout features:
Pricing: Lightspeed’s basic plan starts at $89/month — but features like customer loyalty and multilocation support are only included at their Core plan or above, which starts at $149/month.
Cigars POS is our comprehensive, industry-specific tool for vape shops, smoke shops, and cigar lounges. Since we only work with tobacco retailers, we’ve designed our solution to make vape shops run more efficiently, stay compliant, and keep customers happy.
Standout features:
Pricing: We offer custom pricing based on your business size, hardware needs, and more. Try out our transparent build and price tool to learn more.
A feature-rich vape POS system is essential for streamlining vape lounge management and ensuring success in this competitive market.
By choosing a system with industry-specific inventory management, age verification, customer loyalty, comprehensive reporting and analytics, seamless e-commerce integration, and high-risk payment processing, you can effectively manage your vape shop and provide an exceptional customer experience.
So, are you ready to ensure access to the tools and resources you need to thrive in the vape business? Schedule a free demo with our team at Cigars POS to get started today!