What’s the Best POS System for Smoke Shops? 5 Options To Check Out

Are you still using a manual cash register or a basic spreadsheet to manage your smoke shop's sales and inventory? Do you find it challenging to keep up with the latest trends, regulations, and customer expectations? 

If you’ve answered yes to any of these questions, it might be time to consider upgrading to a smoke shop point of sale (POS) system. But a new system can be a significant investment, and with so many options available, choosing the best POS system for your smoke shop can feel overwhelming. 

As a specialty POS provider, we have firsthand experience working with smoke shops and know what features you need — and which ones you don’t. And while we’d love to tell everyone that our POS system is a perfect fit, that wouldn’t be the case.

That’s why we’ve put together this resource to help you choose for yourself. In this article, we’ll break down:

• What differentiates a smoke shop POS from general retail systems
• Must-have smoke shop POS features
• Top smoke shop POS providers based on different business needs

Let’s dive in.

What Is a Smoke Shop POS System?

Despite the fairly generic-sounding name, a point of sale system does much more than simply handle payments. 

A retail POS system also includes features for tracking inventory, printing labels, managing suppliers, handling employee payroll, analyzing sales, and other essential business functions.

However, unlike a POS system built for a general retailer, a smoke shop POS system also includes industry-specific features that help smoke shops overcome unique inventory challenges, such as labeling cigars, tracking identical products from different manufacturers, and maintaining compliance with tobacco laws and regulations.

Why Should Smoke Shops Upgrade Their POS System?

There are many reasons to implement a smoke shop POS system. Here are some of the common reasons we’ve heard from our customers for why they chose to invest in a new system for their smoke shop:

• Too much manual labor: For stores that still manually write out invoices and track inventory by hand, a POS system can save significant time, which frees up resources for product planning and customer service.
• Dropped by providers: Some customers apply for a more general retail solution and even get approved, only to be dropped months later because they are considered too “high risk.” Working with specialty systems ensures this nightmare scenario doesn’t happen to you.
• Current system lacks features: Store owners who’ve been in business a while or are taking over a shop often find that the features on their system aren’t flexible enough to let them manage their store the way they want.
• Legal risks: Systems without adequate age verification tools, employee permissions, high-risk payment processing, and sales tracking increase a smoke shop’s compliance risk.
• Want to improve customer experience: To stand out from competitors, many smoke shop owners need features that can improve the customer experience, like customizable loyalty tiers, easy item lookup, and more. 

When trying to determine the best POS system for your smoke shop, start by identifying your current frustrations and goals. Write out a list of the daily tasks that take you the most time, what your ideal day looks like, along with your long-term goals.

Defining your goals will lead to productive conversations with POS providers and ensure you find a system that’s the right fit for your needs.

8 Must-Have Features for Smoke Shop POS Systems

Before we dive into some top POS providers, it’s important to give a quick overview of the must-have features that smoke shop owners need from a POS system.

1. Inventory management: Update inventory levels whenever you make a sale or receive an invoice. Track items by the carton, pack, or individual unit, or create custom SKUs for product bundles or to reduce duplicates in the system.
2. Streamlined reordering: Keep your supplier information in one place, set automated low stock alerts, and receive against invoices for smoother purchase orders and stock updates.
3. Age-verification: Integrate directly with ID scanners to validate customer ID in seconds.
4. Reports: Identify bestsellers, spot seasonal trends, understand inventory churn, and export data for tobacco scan data promotions. 
5. High-risk payment processing: Sell items considered high-risk (tobacco, CBD, vapes, etc) and process credit cards and contactless payments in-store and online with high-risk payment processing.
6. Customer loyalty: Encourage repeat visits by letting customers earn points on purchases, or customize a tiered membership program for smoking rooms or cigar lounges.
7. Label printing: Print labels for individual units (e.g., individual cigars) so you can quickly ring up customers and simplify inventory tracking.
8. Security and access controls: Ensure only the right people have access to the right systems to avoid theft and fraud.

While this isn’t a comprehensive list of smoke shop POS features, any system you consider should include these at a minimum. 

5 Best POS Systems for Smoke Shops

While more popular general retail systems may not be a good fit for your smoke shop, the good news is you still have a lot of options.

Here are five smoke shop POS systems to consider based on the size of your business, specialty areas, and more.

5. Lightspeed POS

Lightspeed offers a POS solution designed to help shops manage inventory, operations, employees, and more. Based in Canada, they specialize in retail, restaurants, hospitality, and golf course operations. 

Best for: Large-scale smoke shop operations and chains.

Key features for smoke shops:

• Integration with BlueCheck for advanced ID scanning and verification.
• Robust product and supplier catalog to manage reorders and compare pricing.
• Partial inventory count capabilities to minimize shrinkage.
• Advanced multi-location reporting and management to compare store performance and move inventory between locations.
• Powerful multichannel e-commerce tools, including built-in SEO tools. 

Pricing

Lightspeed’s Core plan, which includes essential features like customer loyalty and inventory reports, starts at $149/month per register.

4. KORONA POS

KORONA POS is another general retail system that also caters to high-risk industries, such as smoke shops and dispensaries. 

Best for: Dispensaries or smoke shops looking for advanced customer marketing tools

Key features for smoke shops:

• Support for marijuana and THC sales in states where it’s legal.
• Integration with ID scanners for simplified age verification and mandatory age verification prompts.
• Automated inventory reorder tools to prevent stockouts of popular products.
• Advanced customer relationship management (CRM) tools for viewing customer purchase history and offering personalized discounts.

Pricing

KORONA POS’ retail plan starts at $69/month with optional paid module packages for advanced inventory management, sales reports, franchise features, and more.

3. National Retail Solutions (NRS)

NRS supports a wide range of retail operations in the US and offers customers access to simple, all-in-one hardware and software packages. 

Best for: Smoke shops looking for a simple, all-in-one POS package.

Key features for smoke shops:

• Scale integrations for loose-leaf tobacco.
• ID verification features, including the ability to automatically turn it off for customers who don’t purchase any tobacco products.
• Easy-to-use reporting systems to evaluate store performance and manage expenses.
• Connections to other NRS-affiliated businesses through their BOSS Club Coupon Program.

Pricing

NRS’ Pro plan starts at $54.95 a month or $34.95 a month if you use their in-house payment processor. They also offer discounts for new businesses and for those who pay yearly. 

2. Shift4

With highly customizable systems and mobile POS solutions, Shift4 offers a sleek option for smoke shops with attached smoking rooms or lounges. 

Best for: Smoke shops with in-store smoking areas that also serve food and drink.

Key features for smoke shops:

• Automated stock alerts, purchase order generation, and multichannel inventory synchronization. 
• Marketing tools and loyalty features to drive more sales and customer retention.
• Ability to take orders and process payments via QR code.
• Customizable dashboards and reports to drill down on data and view business performance.

Pricing

Shift4’s base plan starts at $29 per month for each station, plus additional a la carte feature options, such as customer loyalty.

1. Cigars POS

Cigars POS is the only point of sale solution on this list specifically designed for cigar and smoke shops. 

We understand that smoke shops have complex inventories and must comply with unique laws and regulations. Our solution is designed to offer you all the features you need for your smoke shop without unnecessary functionality that clutters your interface. 

Best for: Tobacco and smoke shops, and cigar lounges

Key features for smoke shops:

• Built-in age verification, including ID scanning support and prompts for certain employees.
• Ability to add unique tags to products for easy item lookup and custom reporting.
• Custom label printing for bespoke product bundles, individual cigars, and sale items.
• Simplified scan data reporting to track discounts from manufacturers.
• Auto ranking to instantly identify bestsellers and slow-moving inventory, along with in-depth reporting and analytics tools.
• Flexible customer loyalty for points-based loyalty programs or membership tiers.
• 24/7 technical support.

Pricing 

We work closely with businesses to build systems based on their hardware and software needs and goals. Create the perfect solution for your store using our transparent build and price tool.

Your Search for the Best Smoke Shop POS System Is Over

Choosing the best POS system for your smoke shop can be overwhelming, especially if you’re unsure whether your technology provider fully understands the industry.

That’s why we’ve chosen to work exclusively with tobacco shops, vape stores, and cigar lounges. Our solution includes all the specialized features a tobacco retailer needs at an affordable price point, and is backed up by industry experts.

Talk with our smoke shop experts today to see how Cigars POS can improve operations at your smoke shop.