Is Clover’s POS system the lucky ticket your business needs? Read our review to find out…

Pros

Stylish hardware to impress customers
Large app store to give you more flexibility
Easy to set up and user-friendly
Scan to order

Cons

Costs can quickly add up
Online reviews say the ecommerce integration could be more seamless

Clover’s a big name in the POS industry. Contrary to the name, though, this isn’t down to luck – it offers attractive hardware that’s easy to set up and software that’s simple to use, making it a top choice for small businesses. Clover is an all-in-one solutions, combining payment, finance, and inventory tools in one system.

This review will tell you more than that, though. We’ve carried out extensive research into Clover’s POS system, critiquing its features, ease of use, and value for money, while looking at its latest real-life customer reviews.

Once you’re finished reading, you’ll know exactly whether Clover’s the right choice for your business.

What are Clover’s Features and Benefits?

Clover’s POS system offers a wide range of features designed to help your business take payments more easily. From our research findings, we selected the following as our favourite features:

✓ Easy to Set Up and Use

Clover claims it’s one of the most user-friendly POS systems out there, and we find it hard to disagree. The hardware and software package is essentially ready out of the box, offering an optional preloaded menu to help you get started immediately, if you wish. The system itself is intuitive, taking a mere 15 to 20 minutes to get to grips with.

✓ Integrations and Add-Ons for Flexibility

One of our favourite things about the Clover POS system is its extensive app market. You can choose to install additional tools that your business needs, ranging from invoicing software and gift cards to inventory management and Shopify integration. Most apps are free, but some do charge monthly subscription costs.

✓ Send Custom Promotions to Attract Customers

When examining POS systems, we always look to see if there are CRM (customer relationship management) features available. The Clover POS system allows you to send customized promotions, rewards programs, ‘we want you back’ emails, and much more. These tools are vital for attracting repeat customers and keeping your profit margins healthy.

✓ Accept a Variety of Payment Methods to Boost Sales

Clover’s POS system accepts digital wallets such as Google Pay, Apple Pay and Samsung Pay, as well as chip and pin and swipe payments from all major credit cards. It also takes checks and cash. The Clover Go app and card reader make it easy for you to take payments on the go, too.

✓ Scan to Order

A unique contactless feature is the ability for your customers to look through the menu, order and pay the bill, all from their mobile phones, giving your customers an easy way to order with convenience and flexibility. This option also means you can serve customers quicker with less staff. Digital QR code menus give you the option to update your menu on the spot, ensuring your customers always have access to the most accurate and up to date menu. This feature can be used without any additional fees and is easy to set up and use.

How Much Does a Clover POS System Cost?

Clover’s pricing can seem a little confusing, especially when compared to the best POS systems in Canada that offer simple pricing options.

With Clover, there are numerous software plans ranging across different industries, plus hardware packages and credit card costs to consider, as well as additional app fees. Don’t worry, though – we’ve broken down Clover’s fees into three separate tables to give you a clearer picture of Clover’s pricing.

Software Pricing

Plan	Cost	Best for	What you’ll get
Essentials	$9.95/month	Retail businesses processing less than $50,000/year	Virtual terminal for online payments Send paperless receipts Accept on-screen signatures and tips Shifts management Access to 200+ apps Track sales with item-level reporting
Register	$39.95/month	Retail businesses processing more than $50,000/year	Everything in Essentials, plus: Process exchanges Automatic mailing lists Customer feedback Custom loyalty programs Add gratuity to checks Manage tables
Table-Service Restaurant	$69.95/month	Full-service restaurants	Floor Plans app Orders app Split checks Revenue reports Happy Hour features
Counter-Service Restaurant	$39.95/month	Quick-service restaurants	Everything in Register plan, plus: Orders, Tips, Shifts, and Discount apps Revenue reports Service charge for large parties Split checks
No Hardware	$9.95/month	Purely online businesses	Virtual terminal with invoicing 3.5% + $0.10 credit card processing fees
Clover Payments	Free to install	Businesses that only need payment processing	In-person payment processing (contactless and traditional) Integrate with barcode scanners Send paperless receipts Sales reports

Hardware Costs

Hardware package	Cost	What you’ll get
Clover Flex	$499 ($350 if bought with Clover Station)	Handheld POS system Built-in receipt printer and scanner
Clover Mini	$749	Built-in receipt printer and scanner Basic inventory management
Clover Station Solo	$1,349	Cash drawer Receipt printer Floor management Custom orders
Clover Station Duo	$1,649	Customer-facing display Cash drawer Receipt printer Clover’s fastest POS system

Credit Card Fees

Credit card fees	Software plans
2.6% + $0.10	Payments, Essentials
2.3% + $0.10	Register, Table Service, Counter Service
3.5% + $0.10	No Hardware

As you can see, POS system costs can vary depending on what you need. However, you can find an exact price for your business quickly and easily by answering a few quick questions and comparing pricing quotes with our free quote-matching tool. Based on your answers, we’ll match your business with trusted POS companies who’ll contact you with clear pricing information and no-obligation quotes.

Is Clover’s POS System Right for My Business?

Here, we’ll ask Clover-related questions or pose different scenarios to help you decide whether this system is right for your business.

“I need to get my POS system up and running quickly”

Clover prides itself on its speedy setup, with most users able to get trained up and ready to go within 20 minutes. We also found the software intuitive and easy to use. Moving around the app store and accessing features is straightforward, too.

“I want simple pricing options to help me organize my overheads”

Unlike its software, Clover’s pricing options are difficult to navigate. You’ll need to pay for the Clover hardware, software and apps, and card processing, the prices of which all differ depending on the number of features you need and the type of business you run. Other POS suppliers, such as Square POS, offer much clearer pricing plans.

“Does Clover offer restaurant-specific features?”

Yes. It has two restaurant-specific software plans (Table Service and Counter Service) that come with a plateful of culinary features. For instance, you can split checks, apply service charges to large parties, run reports per revenue center (e.g. outdoor terrace vs bar), and gain access to a wide range of apps to help you run your restaurant more efficiently.

What Do Clover Customer Reviews Say?

To understand how Clover performs in real life, we searched online for the latest customer reviews on Clover’s POS system. The comments were mainly positive, with some reviews complaining about the system’s ecommerce integrations:

“I have just started using this software and I love it. I visited a store and the owner introduced me to this software to gain reward points after I’d finished shopping to get exclusive content.”

Jalonda, Clover POS customer

“The ecommerce integration does not work. The Magento integration is for Magento 1M, which was made obsolete in June 2018 and is no longer supported.”

Graham, Clover POS customer

“ Clover was extremely easy to set up, and easy to use. The user interface is beautiful, and customers really enjoy how sleek and clean it looks.”

Savannah, Clover POS customer

How We Reviewed Clover POS

The Expert Market team tested and assessed 20 different POS systems to bring you this list. We spend around 160 hours researching POS platforms, and over 20 hours testing them. During that time, we used our learnings to evaluate how each POS system fared in six categories that are important to businesses, broken down into up to 12 subcategories, in order to get an impartial ranking.

Here’s what we looked at:

POS software: The breadth of features included in the POS software, and how valuable they are to the average business, including inventory management, menu/product creation, customer engagement tools, and table management.
Hardware/equipment: The variety of equipment available to purchase or rent, with special importance given to key items, such as physical terminals, customer displays, and accessories.
Ease-of-use: How easy each system is to use, based on feedback from several average users who were assigned basic tasks to complete on each system, such as menu/item creation, accessing reports, or applying a discount.
Help and support: How effective and reachable the customer support teams are, with bonus points given to POS systems with help centers and training modes.
Costs: The price of the system, how it compares to competitors, and whether it's good value for money.
User experience: Whether everyday users know and like the system, whether they’d recommend it, and what they say about it in online reviews.

The score of each of these areas was combined to create an overall score for each of the different types of POS systems.

Expert Verdict

The Clover POS system is quite good. It’s easy to use and easy on the eye, but the pricing options are complicated and the ecommerce integration could be way simpler.

There are alternative POS systems that are equally easy to use but offer stronger ecommerce features, such as Square or Lightspeed Retail.

Unsure about Clover? Well, don’t forget we can help you find POS system companies that best suit your needs. Simply answer a few quick questions on our free comparison tool and we’ll do the rest.

You’ll then hear from our hand-selected, trusted POS companies who’ll offer more information and no-obligation quotes for you to compare. Our service is quick, easy, and free.