6 Best Retail CRM Software for 2023

In our independent editorial review of retail CRM solutions, learn about the top options along with their primary use cases.

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A retail CRM is a software that supports customer-facing B2C sales, which tend to involve frequent repeat transactions. The best retail CRMs include a point-of-sale (POS) system and inventory management tools that analyze customers’ shopping patterns and purchase history. We evaluated the top retail CRMs that help ecommerce and brick-and-mortar stores reduce costs and satisfy customers while selling faster and smarter.

Here are the top six retail CRM software:

  • Square POS: Best overall retail CRM for pricing and features (free starting price)
  • Zoho CRM for Retail: Best retail CRM software for customization (15-day free trial)
  • Salesforce for Retail: Best software for reporting and analytics (30-day free trial)
  • Freshsales: Best retail CRM software for contact management (free starting price)
  • Bitrix24: Best CRM software for managing online retail stores (free starting price)
  • Lightspeed: Best CRM for customer acquisition and retention (14-day free trial)

All of the retail CRMs evaluated are good options and scored highly in one category or another. However, overall, we found that Square POS offers the best value for those seeking a retail CRM, scoring the highest for core features and ease of use, and tying for pricing. Check out how each fared across six categories below, including primary use cases, summary of features, and pricing plans. To see how we evaluated each retail software, jump down to our explanation.

Note: All per-user prices are with a one-year commitment unless noted.

Square POS: Best Overall Retail CRM

Offers a free and user-friendly POS system with ecommerce features for growing retail stores.

Price Range: Free to $60+ per location, per month + processing fees (30-day free trial)

Overall Rating star-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-full Cost star-fullstar-fullstar-full star-full Core Features star-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-full Ease of Use star-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-full Customer Support star-fullstar-full star-fullstar-full Customization star-fullstar-fullstar-full star-full Integrations star-full star-fullstar-fullstar-full

Pros:

  • Free POS & ecommerce tools
  • Easy to use & set up
  • Robust mobile app

Cons:

  • Limited customer support
  • Payments require processing fees
  • Inventory tools need upgrade

Square POS is a free point-of-sale software with ecommerce functions that cater to different types of businesses, such as brick and mortar and online retail stores. Set up your business without monthly contracts or SaaS fees, and pay only processing fees when your customer makes a purchase. You can manage your inventory and payment transactions without an additional cost and upgrade to a higher tier to manage multiple store locations or accounts.

While Square POS provides a good mix of price, features, and ease of use for retailers, its customer support isn’t the best. If you’re looking for a retail CRM that offers great user support, try Freshsales, which won in this category.

Square POS Pricing

  • Square POS App: Free
  • Setup & Installation: Free
  • Monthly Software Fee: Free
  • Square for Retail Plus: $60 per location, per month
  • Square for Retail Premium: Contact for quote
  • Flat-Rate Transaction Fee: 2.6% + 10 cents per transaction
  • Free Trial: 30 days

Square POS Key Features

  • Free POS App: Use your software for free and only pay when you take a payment.
  • Inventory Management: Create purchase orders and manage your stocks in one place.
  • Flexible Payment System: Accept in-store, online, and over-the-phone payments.
  • Location Management: Supervise multiple retail stores right from your dashboard.

Square POS Retail CRM

Visit Square POS

Zoho CRM for Retail: Best for Customization

Creates a personalized shopping experience for customers to increase your retail store’s ROI.

Price Range: Contact for quote (15-day free trial)

Overall Rating star-fullstar-fullstar-full star-full Cost star-fullstar-fullstar-full star-full Core Features star-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-full Ease of Use star-fullstar-fullstar-full star-full Customer Support star-fullstar-full star-fullstar-full Customization star-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-full Integrations star-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-full

Pros:

  • Seamless integration
  • Omnichannel capability
  • Robust customizations

Cons:

  • No proprietary POS software
  • Zoho Inventory is a separate product
  • Effective only for ecommerce

Zoho CRM for Retail is a highly-customizable CRM platform which lets you build a personalized shopping experience for your customers. Create a comprehensive product catalog for your online store, organize them into categories, and set up pricing rules using custom fields and modules. Then, establish reorder points for your products by setting the minimum stock level at which you want to replenish to ensure timely restocking and avoid shortage or surplus.

Zoho CRM for Retail provides top-notch customization features and is one of our best CRMs for ecommerce, but it needs to integrate with a separate point-of-sale system. If having built-in POS software is important to you, look into Square POS, which offers this feature for free.

Zoho CRM for Retail Pricing

  • Contact for Quote: Call sales for pricing
  • Free Trial: 15 days

Zoho CRM for Retail Key Features

  • Omnichannel Capabilities: Manage call analytics and view click rates on one platform.
  • Custom Retail Apps: Digitize retail processes for your store with no-code Zoho Creator.
  • Targeted Campaigns: Segment and notify the right customers of special offers.
  • Built-in AI: Increase your sales with predictive sales tools and intelligent automation.

Zoho CRM for Retail Retail CRM

 

Visit Zoho CRM for Retail

Salesforce for Retail: Best for Reporting & Analytics

Helps retailers tailor marketing campaigns and loyalty programs through data-driven insights.

Price Range: $50 to $300+ per user, per month (30-day free trial)

Overall Rating star-fullstar-fullstar-full star-full Cost star-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-full Core Features star-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-full Ease of Use star-fullstar-fullstar-full star-full Customer Support star-fullstar-fullstar-full star-full Customization star-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-full Integrations star-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-full

Pros:

  • Robust order management tools
  • Wealth of free retail integrations
  • In-depth reporting & analytics

Cons:

  • Complicated interface
  • Might be pricey for small retailers
  • Steep learning curve

Salesforce for Retail is a sales-forward CRM with built-in reporting and analytics that provides insights into customer behavior and purchasing history. Access data-powered reports for your performance each quarter or season and see your online sales, email marketing revenue, and more in one visual dashboard. You can also monitor your post-sale activities by segmenting your reports among factors like order fulfillment, returns, and customer interaction.

Although Salesforce has excellent reporting capabilities, customizing it can be overwhelming. If you’re someone who needs a retail software with a simpler interface, try Square POS, which won in this category and also offers great sales analytics tools.

Salesforce for Retail Pricing

  • Consumer Goods Cloud for Retail Contractor: $50 per user, per month
  • Consumer Goods Cloud for Retail Merchandiser: $75 per user, per month
  • Consumer Goods Cloud for Retail Field Sales: $150+ per user, per month
  • Consumer Goods Cloud for Retail Strategic Sales: $300+ per user, per month
  • Free Trial: 30 days
  • Access to Salesforce AppExchange

Salesforce for Retail Key Features

  • Personalized Shopper Solution: Use data insights and AI to attract new customers.
  • Omnichannel Retail: Engage customers via multiple sales and media channels at once.
  • Customer Loyalty Solutions: Create data-driven rewards programs for your patrons.
  • Workflow Automation: Set up sales and support processes for your retail operations.

Salesforce for Retail Retail CRM

Visit Salesforce for Retail

Freshsales: Best for Contact Management

Unifies customer data from multiple sales, marketing, and service platforms of your retail store.

Price Range: Free to $69 per user, per month (21-day free trial)

Overall Rating star-fullstar-fullstar-full star-full Cost star-fullstar-fullstar-full star-full Core Features star-fullstar-fullstar-full star-full Ease of Use star-fullstar-fullstar-full star-full Customer Support star-fullstar-fullstar-full star-full Customization star-fullstar-fullstar-full star-full Integrations star-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-full

Pros:

  • Excellent user support
  • Robust contact management
  • Intuitive interface

Cons:

  • Ecommerce could be improved
  • Marketing automations need upgrade
  • Limited bulk emails

Freshsales is a top-rated CRM that offers robust contact management for retailers to consolidate and track customer information in a centralized hub for your sales, service, and marketing operations. You can identify your loyal customers and create personalized campaigns or rewards programs based on the data you’ve gathered. Get a holistic view of your contacts’ open deals, meeting notes, and more using Kanban views in your dashboard.

While Freshsales is a great option for contact management, it lacks robust ecommerce functions. If you’re looking for retail software with comprehensive ecommerce functions, look into Zoho CRM for Retail.

Freshsales Pricing

  • Free Version: Supports up to 3 users
  • Growth: $15 per user, per month
  • Pro: $39 per user, per month
  • Enterprise: $69 per, user per month
  • Free Trial: 21 days
  • Integration with Freshworks’ free marketing and service platform tiers
  • Access to Freshworks Marketplace

Freshsales Key Features

  • Omnichannel Engagement: Connect with your customers across multiple channels.
  • Kanban View: Visualize and access your customer data on colorful kanban boards.
  • Auto-Profile Enrichment: Access customer info through their social media accounts.
  • Contact Scoring: Identify loyal customers and personalize reward programs for them.

Freshsales Retail CRM

Visit Freshsales

Bitrix24: Best for Online Retail Stores

Helps you build an online store from scratch and integrate with your social media channels.

Price Range: Free to $199 per month (30-day free trial)

Overall Rating star-fullstar-fullstar-full star-full Cost star-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-full Core Features star-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-full Ease of Use star-fullstar-full star-fullstar-full Customer Support star-fullstar-full star-fullstar-full Customization star-fullstar-fullstar-full star-full Integrations star-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-full

Pros:

  • Multiple payment methods
  • Sell without a full-fledged estore
  • Use major payment apps

Cons:

  • Not great for inventory
  • Limited ecommerce capabilities
  • Lacks POS integration

Bitrix24 is a general-purpose CRM with an online store platform that you can build for free. Sync social media channels with your online store so customers can browse through your products on Instagram or Facebook. If you don’t want to build a separate website for your business, you can process purchases and payments directly from Bitrix24’s online store platform. Upgrade to paid versions if you need advanced features like sales intelligence or marketing automation.

While Bitrix24 offers a good option for retailers to build their online store without cost, it lacks POS integration. iIf you need a retail CRM with a built-in POS system, try Square POS.

Bitrix24 Pricing

  • Free Version: Supports unlimited users
  • Basic: $49 per user, per month for 5 users
  • Standard: $99 per user, per month for 50 users
  • Professional: $199 per user, per month for 100 users
  • Free Trial: 30 days
  • Access to Bitrix24.Market

Bitrix24 Key Features

  • Ecommerce CRM: Receive and process payments directly without needing a website.
  • Payment System: Set up different payment methods that customers can choose from.
  • Order Management: Track your customers’ purchases and payments automatically.
  • Online Store Builder: Create your online retail store and integrate it with social media.

Bitrix24 Retail CRM

Visit Bitrix24

Lightspeed: Best to Acquire & Retain Patrons

Helps retail businesses scale by attracting new customers and retaining old ones.

Price Range: $69 to $199+ per register, per month (14-day free trial)

Overall Rating star-fullstar-fullstar-full star-full Cost star-fullstar-full star-fullstar-full Core Features star-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-full Ease of Use star-fullstar-full star-fullstar-full Customer Support star-fullstar-fullstar-full star-full Customization star-fullstar-fullstar-full star-full Integrations star-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-full

Pros:

  • Free, personalized onboarding
  • Impressive ecommerce functionality
  • Targeted rewards program

Cons:

  • Only the Pro tier has analytics
  • Pricey for small businesses
  • Food service add-ons cost extra

Lightspeed is a well-integrated POS system for growing a retail business. It provides powerful analytics that help retailers understand customer behavior, enabling them to offer incentives that will appeal to them. Lightspeed retailers can create rewards and tiered loyalty programs to attract and retain these customers, which makes it best for retailers seeking a smart POS system to increase sales and customer acquisition and ultimately grow their business.

Lightspeed has robust ecommerce features, but upgrades or add-ons might be pricey for small retailers. If you’re someone who needs retail software with comprehensive but affordable POS and ecommerce tools, try Square POS, which offers a good mix of pricing and features.

Lightspeed Pricing

  • Lean: $69 per register
  • Standard: $119 per register
  • Advanced: $199 per register
  • Enterprise: Contact for quote
  • Free Trial: 14 days

Lightspeed Key Features

  • Retail POS System: Manage your inventory, suppliers, and stores on one platform.
  • Inventory Management: Monitor stock levels in real-time across multiple locations.
  • Robust Analytics: Get insights from customer data and industry-leading retailers.
  • Advanced Ecommerce: Integrate your POS solution and omnichannel loyalty system.

Lightspeed Retail CRM

Visit Lightspeed

Top 4 Retail CRM Features

The best options for retail software include these functions:

Point-of-Sale (POS)

Inventory Management

Register Function

Loyalty Programs

Secure in-store and online payments for your products or services, and process your sales transactions in one integrated system.

Optimize retail operations by monitoring stock levels from multiple locations, managing procurement processes, and ensuring accurate inventory data is shared within your team.

Provide a convenient shopping experience to your customers by accepting various payment methods, applying discounts automatically, and generating receipts on one platform.

Create a system to reward and incentivize customers by offering exclusive discounts, promotions, point accumulation, and personalized offers based on data-driven insights.

How We Evaluated the Best Retail CRMs

To round up the top CRM software for retailers, we first defined the six weighted categories based on the factors that tend to be the most essential for users. Then, we included several subcriteria, which summed up to an overall score out of five. Finally, we determined an overall score for the retail CRMs on our list and identified a primary use case for each option.

Evaluation Criteria

A retail CRM is industry-specific software that manages touch points between a retailer and customers. Hence, we assigned the most weight to cost and core features, followed by ease of use. We also considered each option’s level of customer support, customization, and third-party app integrations to round out our evaluation.

Cost:
25%
Core Features:
25%
Ease of Use:
20%
Customer Support:
10%
Customization:
10%
Integrations:
10%

Bottom Line: Best Retail CRM Software

Retail management and POS hubs are multifaceted systems that integrate inventory management, sales, and customer relationship management. Use our list to narrow down your choices and find the right fit for your business. If you’re specifically managing an online-only store, check out our editorial review of the best ecommerce CRMs. You can also read our list of the top CRMs for salespeople if you prefer a general CRM over an industry-specific one.

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