Clover POS Review 2021: Features, Pricing, Ease of Use

There are always many things to do to open a restaurant or a store such as receiving orders, charging, managing products, handling feedback from customers, etc. To handle all of these jobs requires you to have to be a person with very strong multi-task skills or you need external help. But hiring more people will cost you a lot of money, and the job may not be effective. Therefore, the POS machine was born as a savior for this problem.

Today I will show you one of the most popular POS devices that is Clover POS. This is a system that can help you reduce your workload, assign tasks clearly. From there, you can reduce unnecessary expenses. In addition, this system also provides devices to help you manage your business anytime, anywhere.

In this article, I will review the details of Clover POS: Features, Price, Ease of Use.

What is the Clover POS system?

According to the company’s introduction: “Clover POS is an integrated point-of-sale (POS) system with custom hardware designed for several types of retailers. This POS system is available in both web-based and server-based deployment versions and offers countertop hardware options, a mobile POS option, contactless payments, plus more.”

With the Clover POS system’s favor, enterprises can manage payment processing, sales, inventory management, and more. Clover POS can replace obsolete machines and processes related to cash registers, paper receipt printers, label printers, barcode scanners, and others. The system supports payment by PIN and credit card swipes, Apple Pay transactions, and other types of contactless payments. In addition, Clover integrates the program with QuickBooks to manage supplier maintenance and purchase orders.

The hardware components include the Clover counter, Clover card reader, Mini Clover station, Clover mobile payment processor. Clover Application Market offers a wide range of solutions, including gift card branding, marketing advertising, detailed analysis, online store integration, and more.

With the Clover POS’s control panel, businesses can visualize key data metrics in real-time. Other features include order tracking, menu editing, and data reporting.

First impressions show that Clover POS seems like an ideal POS solution. It is flexible and feature-rich. However, the handling process and customer service problems are not thoughtful, causing Clover to receive less positive feedback. Besides, the price of Clover POS is not cheap and often requires some expensive initial hardware. We can see that Clover POS provides very few gaps between the software and practical features. So is Clover POS worth trying? We will find out in the next section.

Clover POS features review

To consider a new product, especially a technology product, the first thing we care about is its features. Clover is very adaptable and can be customized with many applications, so it is difficult to discuss features in general. Let’s look at some of the most popular features available and usable for any business type.

Basic Features:

User Interface

Clover’s interface is quite simple. It is like a typical smartphone or computer screen, with many applications. When you select a specific application, the screen displays a status bar to let you know which application is currently launched. There is also a content area for the app’s main functions, a navigation bar that includes a lock function, a barcode scanner, home icon, and icon to back to recent apps.

App Market

Clover owns an app market that includes all the basic applications that run for all Clover POS devices to be personalized to your needs. Originally a technology company, Clover provided applications specifically for retailers and restaurants. These applications can be used for all jobs, from registration to voice authorization, tabs, refunds, discounts, employee management, and inventory management. Clover also integrates many third-party applications to provide gift cards, software for loyal customers, integration of e-commerce, the ability to clock employees in and out, etc.

Orders

You can easily add items to a new order through the installed application. You can also add orders by searching for product items, menus, or navigating the interface and scrolling down to find what you are looking for. When needed, staff can create custom items for an order. In foodservice settings, custom orders must be sent manually to a printer in the kitchen. After selecting an item, it may be associated with an existing modifier or add custom modifiers. Any discount can be applied via the application you have installed, although it can add/delete items, create new items, use discounts, etc., depending on the license level of employees. However, sometimes a manager must intervene and enter pin code before taking action.

Employees/Permission

Employees can be added to Clover accounts at any time and described by their names (which appear on customer receipts), roles, contact information, and login pins. The best way to manage employee rights is to give each employee a role. You may want some people to have the right to access sensitive information while restricting others to basic subscription functions. The different roles you create automatically come with varying levels of access to the POS, so assigning roles to employees immediately allows administrators to enable or disable the batch in bulk rights for their employees by segment.

Advanced Features:

Inventory

Clover has updated its inventory features. Items can be described with variations and options and sorted into categories or labeled for faster access. Foodservice industry people can make modifications to each item. You can create new items without or without variants and sell them at fixed or variable prices or per unit price.

Reports

Clover comes with a series of basic but solid reports. The Clover app provides reasonable reporting tools, including By Payments reports, to show you a summary of the completed transactions that were made in a given time. There are also reports on net payment statistics, cash reports, card payments, employee statistics and activities, discounts, taxes, orders, etc. All reports can be sorted by date and time and filtered for specific requests. Once generated, the reports can be exported or printed for further analysis.

Customer Management

Clover allows you to collect customer information at the time of sale. You can then search for customers by name and date, or look up customers’ order history.

Gift cards

It can be said that Clover is one of the foremost companies when it comes to custom gift cards. Both digital and physical cards can be designed with your company’s brand. It’s easy for customers to access and use their cards on mobile devices, and all cards are digitally monitored. This eliminates cluttered bills or hard cards. Clover also has a report system that allows you to track and analyze all gift card sales.

Loyalty

You can customize your program and enable customers to accumulate loyalty benefits in a variety of ways. Clover will enable you to store easily and look up customer information and track their spending habits. You can send promotions in real-time via message or email campaigns. You can receive feedback directly from customers. Another interesting feature is that, with a mobile app, you can find other Clover businesses and track the reward points.

Virtual Terminal

Regardless of Clover POS’s hardware option, you can accept payments without hardware using your virtual terminal. To access your virtual terminal, simply login to the Web Console from any internet-enabled device. You can then securely accept all credit and debit card payments, send digital receipts, and collect contact information for CRM purposes. Remember, these transactions will be charged at a lockout rate, instead of a direct personal rate but with no additional monthly fees.

Financing

Clover offers its customers cash advances from merchants, where they advance your cash in exchange for a percentage of daily credit and debit card sales. With Clover MCA, you can receive your money within about two or three business days. Payments are deducted daily from your MasterCard and Visa credit card deposit. Clover says its merchants can repay your sales at the rate of your sales. Pay more when your sales go up, less when they are low. To use this system, your business must be operating for at least 6 months and have processed at least $ 1,000 Visa and Mastercard transactions.

Rapid Deposit

Clover POS also offers a feature called Quick Deposit. With Quick Deposit, you’ll have access to funds generated by sales transactions within minutes. However, you will have to pay 1% fee each time you use Quick Deposit. To start using Quick Deposit, simply link your debit card and request Quick Deposit from your Clover panel.

Clover POS pricing review

Clover has a relatively different sales approach from other POS systems. It can be purchased from thousands of banks, business providers and various commercial service providers. So each place also has swipe fees and hardware costs vary. However, I will review the price you will pay if you buy directly from Clover. According to the notice on Clover’s website, there are 4 main packages as follows:

• Register Lite Plan: Using for businesses with card sales of less than $50,000 a year

$9.95 per month for first device; $9.95 per additional device

2.7% + $0.10 for direct transactions

3.5% + $0.10 for locked transactions

• Register Plan: Using for businesses with a higher number of card sales

$39.95 per month for first device; $9.95/month for each additional device

2.3% + $0.10 for direct deals

3.5% + $0.10 for locked transactions

• Table Service Restaurant Plan: Using for full-service restaurants

$69.95 per month for first device; $9.95 per month for each additional device

2.3% + $0.10 for direct deals

3.5% + $0.10 for locked transactions

• Counter Service Restaurant Plan: Using for quick-serve restaurants (available with Mini & Station Pro only)

$39.95 per month for first device; $9.95 per month for each additional device

2.5% + $0.10 for direct deals

3.5% + $0.10 for locked transactions

Besides, a special feature of Clover POS is that you will have to buy Clover hardware devices. Clover hardware products are priced as follows: Clover Go ($69), Clover Flex ($499), Clover Mini ($749), Clover Station ($1,349 or $1,399), Clover Station Pro ($1,649)

Clover POS hardware solutions review

Clover Go

This is a mobile device that can sync with all other Clover products. It can work on iOS or Android devices and allows you to make various types of payments on the go. It provides a panoramic view of the transaction and is completely customizable. Clover Go can be used with the Register Lite Plan or Register Plan, but Clover Go itself cannot take advantage of all the features available with the Register Plan.

Clover Flex

This product accepts multiple payment methods and comes with Quick Deposit, which helps you receive cash quickly. Clover Flex is an all-in-one POS system that you can operate from the palm of your hand, has advanced inventory, loyalty programs, and custom options. It can also be used as an add-on to the Station or Clover setting.

Clover Mini

Clover Mini was created to run your entire business. Mini has a simple interface and diverse solvency. It comes with advanced inventory handling features, a range of excellent staff reports and management, and other features. Mini is used for any type of business, from retail to QSR, to full-service restaurants.

Clover Station

Clover Station is to run larger businesses, including full-service restaurants. Clover Station comes with a high-resolution screen, receipt printer, cash drawer, and simple and beautiful interface. You can easily build restaurant floor plans and take mobile orders, not to mention a large number of auxiliary features to help you maintain your business with high efficiency.

Clover Station Pro

Clover Station Pro is the latest hardware of Clover. The main difference between Station and Station Pro is that the Station Pro has additional screens for customers, apparently a reduced version of the Mini. The screen opposite the seller is also slightly different from the Station monitor and receipt printer advertised as high speed. With Clover Station Pro, you can choose either Access Restaurant Services or Register Plan for any business.

Clover POS customer support review

Clover POS provides a self-help help center with instructions, FAQs, troubleshooting tips, and support third-party applications. Clover is also on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and has GitHub accounts.

An underrated aspect of a POS provider is their support. With Clover, you’ll get 24/7 phone support as long as you’re in the United States. This has a huge impact on your POS system that can affect your entire business operation. Customers can also email requests for less urgent issues. On their website, Clover has a dedicated Help Center where you can access instructions and instructions on how to use the different products and services of Clover. There is also a FAQ page, a blog, and a developer support page.

For merchants who need help setting up their POS systems, Clover offers a partnership with CompuCom. CompuCom is a full support and installation service provider that will provide on-site installation and training services on your POS and Clover Application Market.

Final review of Clover POS

Now that we’ve learned about Clover from both the hardware side and the software side, let’s talk about the final review of using a Clover POS system for your business.

Ease of use

Clover is user-friendly, which is a huge factor in its popularity. Machine delivered to almost ready for use. You only need to assemble a few extra pieces that are especially useful.

Besides, employees will be able to understand everything they need to know about Clover after 15-20 minutes of basic training. Most applications are self-explanatory and clearly labeled. The highlight about a truly all-in-one POS solution like Clover is that all the hardware works together naturally.

Clover POS has one of the most visually appealing interfaces you’ll find, and the system navigation can be mastered in minutes. Depending on the function you want, there are various applications on the screen that you can open with the touch of a finger.

Pros

All-in-One Solution

Except for Clover Go, all other Clover POS hardware offers an all-in-one solution. You can process contactless payments, scan barcodes or print receipts using Clover’s system.

Price

Clover’s payment processing rate is quite high when compared to competitors. The exchange rate of 2.7% + $0.10 on the Clover Lite pack is nearly identical to PayPal and Stripe. For most businesses, you’ll need to spend up to $1,000 to get yourself a complete POS hardware set.

Hardware

Clover Station and Clover Mini are considered to be among the best tools on the POS market and widely used for various business purposes. Regardless of whether you run a restaurant, retail, or service business, Clover POS has a hardware option.

In addition, Clover POS also has other advantages such as easy to set up, a large market app with many useful applications, a beautiful interface, and user attraction.

Cons

No Free Hardware Options

A major flaw of Clover POS is that they do not offer any free hardware options. This means that, in addition to the payment processing fee, your business will also have to pay a fee for a POS POS hardware, regardless of how simple your payment processing needs are.

First Data

If you choose to use the Clover POS system, you will have to get acquainted with First Data. Now, the reviews about First Data vary widely, but it’s not uncommon to hear customers complaining about hidden fees, arbitrary account holdings, and early termination fees.

Transparency Issues

Another issue raised many times with Clover is transparency. Clover has many agents, and most agents are working on commissions. This means that similar business owners may receive different terms, depending on the agency they work with. So you should do some in-depth research about the agency you work with to make sure you’re not trapped.

Moreover, Clover POS also has some disadvantages: the inability to separate POS from the payment process and upfront costs.

Who should use Clover POS?

Clover is most suitable for small to mid-sized businesses in retail or restaurant establishments. Restaurants with a large number of online customers should have a POS system like Clover, which can handle online orders and manage deliveries.

Conclusion

Clover POS may be ideal for any type of business but it is especially suitable for large businesses with more complex needs. You can start with a basic package. Then build that package through the Clover API to achieve the exact system your business requires. Hopefully, the above Reviews on Clover POS have helped you have an accurate view of this POS system and help you choose the POS system that is right for your business.