Key takeaways
- Compare total monthly cost: software, card processing, hardware lease and add-ons.
- Ask to see your own c-store jobs on the demo: lottery bins, ID prompt, shift close, scan-data file.
- Check what happens when you leave: data export, contract notice, hardware.
- If your staff read another language faster than English, ask to see the screen in it.
Most convenience store owners change POS only a few times in their working lives, and usually because something went wrong: the vendor raised fees, support stopped answering, or an inspector found a problem the register should have caught. This guide is the list of questions to ask on every demo, so the next system is the right one.
The short version
Choose the POS that does your counter’s real jobs at a total monthly cost you can see in writing, and that you can leave without a fight. Everything below is how to check those three things.
Price and contract
1. What is the total monthly cost for my store?
Ask for one number per store: software, every add-on you need, hardware purchase or lease, support. Then ask separately about card processing. A low software fee tied to higher processing rates can cost more than a higher software fee with your own processor.
2. Is it month to month?
If there is a contract, ask for the length, the notice period and any early termination fee in writing.
3. Who processes my cards?
Can you keep your current processor? If the POS requires its own processing, what are the rates and the term of that agreement?
4. What do I own if I leave?
Your data (products, customers, suppliers, sales), your hardware, your website and domain. Ask how you export the data and in what format.
Your c-store jobs
5. Show me an ID prompt on a tobacco item.
Watch the register stop the sale, read a licence barcode, and log the check. Ask what is stored: you want the result, not the customer’s personal data. See our Tobacco 21 carding guide.
6. Show me a lottery shift close.
Books by bin, a count at shift change, a payout from the drawer, and a daily comparison with the terminal report. See why lottery does not balance.
7. Show me a scan-data file.
Ask how multipack and loyalty discounts are recorded, and whether pack and carton units are checked. See scan data explained.
8. Does it work with my pump controller?
If you sell fuel, bring the controller make and model to the demo and ask for a plain yes or no.
9. Show me a blind count and over/short by cashier.
The drawer is where money disappears quietly. See the shift close checklist.
10. How do I receive a soda delivery against an order?
Route drivers are frequent and fast. Receiving should take a minute, with shorts and damages recorded.
People and languages
11. Can my staff use it in their language?
If the night cashier reads Urdu, Spanish, Arabic or Korean faster than English, ask to see the POS screen and a receipt in that language.
12. Who answers support, when, and in what language?
Ask for the hours in your time zone and how fast a real person replies.
Getting started and leaving
13. How do I get my products in?
You want a CSV import, ideally done for you, with a check for duplicate barcodes and missing prices. See how switching works.
14. Can I try it on my own counter first?
A free trial with your own products and scanner, and one shift run beside your old register, tells you more than any demo.
A scorecard to take to every demo
| Question | Vendor A | Vendor B | Vendor C |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total monthly cost per store (software + add-ons) | |||
| Card processing: mine or theirs? Rates? | |||
| Contract length and notice | |||
| ID prompt and log | |||
| Lottery bins and settlement | |||
| Scan-data file | |||
| Pump controller supported | |||
| Blind count, over/short by cashier | |||
| Screen in my staff’s language | |||
| Data export when I leave | |||
| Free trial on my counter |
Where we stand
We built GetConvenienceStorePOS to answer these questions plainly: prices on the page, month to month, your own processor, lottery, scan data and ID prompts built in for US stores, fuel through supported controllers (ask with your model), screens in nine languages, a free import and a 14-day trial. We also publish dated comparisons that say where other systems are strong.
Sources
- Vendor pricing pages and independent aggregators (CostBench, ERP Research), checked October 2026.
- NACS store count, December 31, 2025.
General buying guidance. Get every price and term in writing from each vendor.
The Store Desk · Retail operations editors, GetConvenienceStorePOS
The Store Desk is the team behind onboarding and support for GetConvenienceStorePOS. Every guide on this site starts from a question an owner asked us during a demo or a setup call: how to card customers, why a lottery settlement will not balance, what a scan-data file must contain, how to close a shift without an argument. We cite the rule or the source we rely on, date every article, and correct it when a rule changes. Guides are general information, not legal advice; your state licence and your manufacturer agreements are the final word.
Expertise: convenience store operations, age-restricted sales, lottery reconciliation, tobacco scan data, cash handling, POS setup
