Quilt Store POS System: 10 Benefits & Top Providers

Quilt stores are a unique retail business. You need tools to assemble kits, make precuts, organize classes, sell online, and manage everything in between.

Luckily, you can find all of these features in a robust point of sale (POS) system — but it’s essential to choose one tailor-made for quilt stores. A generic POS system won’t cut it. If you have to spend your time reconfiguring your off-the-shelf POS, you’re wasting precious time that can be spent on more important things, like designing new kits or helping a customer find the perfect backing.

Let’s look at the must-have features in a quilt store POS system, plus the top providers to consider.

What Is a Quilt Store POS System?

While a basic POS can handle simple transactions, quilt stores require more. You need detailed data tracking, smart reporting, and tools tailored to your inventory and customer base.

A quilt store POS system blends hardware and software to help you manage daily operations, simplify complex processes, and deliver a better customer experience. The right system gives you the insights you need to grow your business.

Modern cloud-based POS systems are designed to:

• Improve inventory management. 
• Track inventory levels in real time.
• Send personalized marketing messages.
• Sync online and in-store inventory.
• Manage loyalty and rewards programs.
• Request online reviews.
• Integrate sales and accounting reports.
• Include payment hardware and processing.

But quilt stores also need POS features tailored to their specific workflows and challenges.

10 Key Benefits of a Quilt Store POS System

Here’s how a POS system built for quilt stores helps you save time, serve customers better, and grow your shop.

1. Manage Fractional Yards and Precuts

One unique feature of fabric and quilt stores is the practice of selling precut and fractional yards. 

When you own a quilt shop, you cut and sell fat quarters, fat eighths, and custom yardage on a daily basis. This task is typically performed at the cutting table, but many shops also prepare packaged precuts by cutting bolts of fabric ahead of time. 

POS systems such as Like Sew have built-in features that make it easy for retailers to manage and bundle precuts and kits. This streamlines the process of selling premeasured fabric pieces and preassembled product bundles.

2. Streamline the Cutting Table and Checkout

Quilt stores need seamless coordination between the cutting table and checkout. 

With a solid POS system, you can start a transaction at the cutting table, hold it while the customer continues shopping, and complete it later on a desktop or mobile device. This minimizes interruptions for your staff while giving customers the freedom to keep shopping and finalize at their own pace. 

3. Register Customers for Classes

Classes play an important role in acquiring new customers and engaging them more deeply with your quilt store. 

Whether you’re teaching beginner classes or hosting advanced quilters who share equipment, you need the right tools to simplify the way you manage promotion, registration, organization, and communication.

Your POS system allows you to offer classes online, automate the registration process, and bundle workshop supplies for purchase.

Related Read: Effective Class Management Strategies for Sewing Classes in Your Store

4. Create Block-of-the-Month or Box Subscriptions 

Monthly kits — like block-of-the-month programs — are a great way to increase recurring revenue. 

These programs typically include one quilt block pattern and coordinating fabric each month, helping customers piece together a full quilt over time. Subscription boxes can also include fun extras like notions, thread, mini patterns, or seasonal fabric bundles. 

POS systems with built-in kit tools and subscriber communication features make it easy to assemble, sell, and manage these programs.

5. Simplify Ordering With Integrated Catalogs

Many modern POS platforms integrate with top-selling product catalogs from manufacturers and distributors. 

When ordering, just choose the products you want to add to your quilt store’s inventory. From there, you can easily upload product descriptions and images to your online store and purchase order.

Modern POS system providers partner with vendors to make it easy and convenient to add products to your store.

6. Automate Inventory and Reordering

It’s easy to lose track of what you have in stock, especially when you’re cutting fabric by the quarter yard and building it into kits. 

A POS system made for quilt stores tracks fractional yardage and fabric bolts as you sell, so your inventory stays accurate down to the inch. It automatically updates your stock levels with every sale, and when something’s running low, it sends you an alert or even generates a purchase order with just a few clicks.

Related Read: Quilting Inventory Management: 5 Best POS Providers

7. Deliver Targeted Marketing

Want to bring customers back more often? 

Integrated marketing tools let you track customer purchases, preferences, and behavior to create personalized campaigns. You can use this info to send emails, promos, or text messages, like letting your block-of-the-month customers know when new fabric comes in. 

Since everything’s built into your POS system, you don’t have to juggle extra tools or waste time. It’s all in one place, and it works to keep your customers engaged and coming back.

8. Offer Seamless Customer Experiences

POS systems help quilt stores serve customers quickly, which minimizes long lines and reduces wait times. Streamlined transactions contribute to higher customer satisfaction and a positive shopping experience.

Your POS system allows you to accept multiple payment methods, manage loyalty programs, track rewards, and apply discounts automatically.

9. Access Your Business Anywhere

You don’t have to be at the shop to keep it running. 

Cloud-based POS systems store your data securely and give you 24/7 access from any device. You can view sales reports, track class attendance, monitor inventory turnover, and manage marketing efforts — wherever you are. 

10. Cut Errors and Save Time

Thanks to cloud technology, you can minimize errors in daily operations by integrating key business processes. 

From integrating kit-building to payments, the system automatically calculates charges at checkout, adjusts inventory after sales or returns, and generates reports for accounting, sales, and marketing.

With fewer repetitive tasks on your plate, your team can work faster, and you can keep everything moving smoothly, even on busy days.

Top POS System Providers for Quilt Stores

With these key features in mind, let’s look at how the top five POS systems help you manage your quilt store.

POSIM

This POS system is made for small to mid-sized retailers, including general retail and quilt stores. If you’re a business seeking more than a basic POS system, POSIM might be a good fit for your needs. 

With POSIM, you can:

• Integrate POSIM POS with Shopify and select from customizable templates. 
• Create layaway orders and make incremental payments.
• Design customer promotions and email marketing campaigns.

POSIM can be customized for most clients.

Pricing: POSIM offers three plans requiring a custom quote.

Shopify

Shopify offers a flexible POS solution. It can be tailored to meet most needs and extended to support any retail business from the Shopify App Store.

With Shopify, you can:

• Choose from hundreds of add-on apps.
• Design an e-commerce website for any retail store.
• Gather information and data while managing inventory.

Shopify allows you to add features and functions to your online store.

Pricing: Shopify starts at $29 per month with a 2.6% processing fee, plus an additional 10 cent processing charge per transaction. The most advanced plan starts at $2,300 per month.

Rain POS

Rain POS focuses on unique retail businesses. Its goal is to simplify the difficulties of managing a specialty retail business. It’s tailor-made for independent retailers, including quilt and fabric shops. 

With Rain, you can: 

• Track related parts and serialized products in inventory. 
• Send text message service reminders directly from the POS system.
• Manage class registration and communication.

Rain serves the unique needs of independent retailers.

Pricing: Receive a custom quote with a demo.

Square

Square is a popular POS system used by numerous small businesses worldwide. It offers many features and options, making it highly versatile for various types of businesses. 

With Square, you can:

• Accepts almost all forms of payment.
• Check out customers at the counter or on mobile devices.
• Adapt to the particular needs of your retail business.

Square’s clean interface and easy setup make it a popular choice for newer shops or those with simple needs. 

Pricing: Square provides a no-cost POS system with processing fees ranging from 2.6%–3.5%, plus an additional 15–30 cent processing charge per transaction. Custom plans require a quote.

Like Sew

Like Sew is specifically designed to suit the unique needs of quilt and fabric stores. This quilt store POS system works with industry vendors to integrate relevant store services and data.

With Like Sew, you can:

• Integrate vendor product catalogs quickly and easily.
• Sell fractional yards and sync inventory online and in store.
• Assemble block-of-the-month kits and other quilt projects using your POS.

Like Sew is an easy-to-use, cloud-based fabric and quilt store POS solution.

Pricing: Get a custom quote for your quilt store.

Get Started With a Tailor-Made Quilt Store POS System

Once you consider the features you need, you can see the advantages of a POS system that caters to your quilt store’s requirements. Starting a new business or expanding existing processes can be challenging, and you don’t want additional risks.

Like Sew gives quilting stores the capability to streamline operations, boost sales, and simplify day-to-day tasks like inventory tracking and class management. When you choose a quilt store POS system such as Like Sew, you’re ready for success.

Schedule a demo to learn more about Like Sew today.