Pain point 01
Two systems, one inventory headache.
Square for POS, Shopify for online. They sync (eventually). Until they don't. Then you oversell + apologize to a customer.
Retail
POS, inventory, and online — finally on the same data.
Walk-in shoppers, returning customers, and online buyers all share one product catalog, one inventory ledger, one loyalty account. No more "did the website get the stock update?"
The problem
What this industry actually struggles with.
Pain point 02
Loyalty that doesn't follow the customer.
Merchants pay separately for loyalty platforms that don't talk to POS, can't see online orders, and don't connect to email marketing.
Pain point 03
Returns that make the cashier sweat.
Half-paid by gift card, half by Visa, line items added to a different transaction. Most POS surfaces handle it badly. Cashiers hand-write the math.
The platform
What Commerce OS gives you for this industry.
Every feature below ships with every plan. No add-on per-vertical SKU, no separate license, no integration tax.
- POS with parked carts, returns flow, manager-PIN gating, and barcode-first scanning
- Real inventory with multi-location stock + reorder points + low-stock alerts
- Loyalty program with bonus categories, tiered rewards, time-windowed promos
- Custom fields on products, customers, and orders (Shopify-metafield-style)
- Public storefront with same-day order pickup + Stripe Checkout
- Per-cashier sales reporting + time-clock + scheduling for the back office
“We're collecting real merchant testimonials during pilot. We'd rather earn the quote than fabricate it.”
vs. the competition
How Commerce OS compares.
Industry-specific capabilities side-by-side with the category leaders. Notes describe the structure of each gap, not point-in-time pricing.
| Capability | Commerce OS | Toast | Square | Lightspeed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| POS + e-commerce on one product catalog | ✓ | ▲Restaurant-only; no real retail SKU | ▲Square Online + POS sync (separate platforms) | ✓Lightspeed eCom (separate product) |
| Custom fields on products + customers (no code) | ✓ | — | — | ▲Custom fields exist but UI is dense |
| Built-in loyalty without a Commerce OS per-active-customer fee | ✓No Commerce OS per-active-customer fee | +Toast Loyalty add-on | +Square Loyalty (per-active-user pricing) | +Lightspeed Loyalty add-on |
| Per-cashier sales reporting + time clock on POS | ✓ | ▲Restaurant-shaped reporting | ✓ | ✓ |
POS + e-commerce on one product catalog
- Commerce OS
- ✓Included
- Toast
- ▲Restaurant-only; no real retail SKU
- Square
- ▲Square Online + POS sync (separate platforms)
- Lightspeed
- ✓Lightspeed eCom (separate product)
Custom fields on products + customers (no code)
- Commerce OS
- ✓Included
- Toast
- —Not offered
- Square
- —Not offered
- Lightspeed
- ▲Custom fields exist but UI is dense
Built-in loyalty without a Commerce OS per-active-customer fee
- Commerce OS
- ✓No Commerce OS per-active-customer fee
- Toast
- +Toast Loyalty add-on
- Square
- +Square Loyalty (per-active-user pricing)
- Lightspeed
- +Lightspeed Loyalty add-on
Per-cashier sales reporting + time clock on POS
- Commerce OS
- ✓Included
- Toast
- ▲Restaurant-shaped reporting
- Square
- ✓Included
- Lightspeed
- ✓Included
Comparison reflects publicly-documented capabilities as of May 2026. Vendor pricing + add-on names change frequently — we describe the structural gap rather than dollar figures so the comparison stays honest as competitors evolve. Have a spec correction? Tell us.
One system. One ledger. One source of truth.
Talk to our team about a pilot — we'll help map your existing inventory + customer data into Commerce OS without disrupting Saturday-rush operations.