GoDaddy is best known as a domain name provider, but it provides many other complementary services for online businesses, including the Godaddy point-of-sale (POS) system (opens in new tab). The company’s point-of-sale devices let businesses accept payments from customers with ease.
GoDaddy made its foray into point-of-sale systems (opens in new tab) in 2021 when it released a mobile card reader and a Smart Terminal. These systems made it easy for GoDaddy’s existing business customers to operate online and offline. It came with competitive fees, which has helped make it popular.
The Smart Terminal is the best option for physical store owners while the Card Reader is ideal for businesses operating on the go. You’re free to purchase any of these devices and use them.
We tested GoDaddy’s POS systems to provide an unbiased review that’ll help you decide if GoDaddy’s POS systems are a good one to adopt.
GoDaddy POS: Plans and pricing
The GoDaddy Card Reader has a suggested retail price of $99.99 and the Smart Terminal has a suggested retail price of $499.99. However, GoDaddy sometimes offers heavy discounts that bring down the price of the Card Reader to as little as $49.99 and the Smart Terminal to $249.99 (note that these discounts may not always apply).
Every device comes with a 1-year limited warranty and a 30-day money-back guarantee if you change your mind. GoDaddy’s POS systems work exclusively with the company’s own payment processing system (GoDaddy Payments), which takes a 2.3% cut on every transaction and no fixed fee, unlike other rival payment gateways.
While GoDaddy Payments has a competitive fee, we think it’ll be better if the company’s POS devices worked with other payment gateways, as companies may not want to be locked within one company’s ecosystem for processing all their payments.
GoDaddy POS: Features
Smart Terminal
As the name suggests, this is a modern and sleek payment terminal for physical retailers. It has dual screens; one for the customer and the order for the retailer. You can customize the side that the buyer will see to showcase your brand and product promotions. This is an all-in-one terminal that includes a payment processor, printer, and scanner, so you do not need additional hardware to receive payments for your store.
Card Reader
The Card Reader is a much smaller payment processing hardware. It has a 3-in-1 swipe, chip, and tap function to accept payments and works seamlessly with the GoDaddy mobile app. You will get a docking station that makes the device easy to handle. It has a battery life that lasts a whole day, so you do not need to worry about missing a sale as long as you fully charge it before the business day kicks off.
This smaller point-of-sale solution is ideal for businesses that move on the go, e.g., farmer’s markets.
GoDaddy Payments
GoDaddy Payments is the exclusive payment gateway that the point-of-sale terminals mentioned above work with. This gateway allows you to accept most credit or debit cards for payments. Customers just need to swipe or insert their cards and provide their PINs to authorize a payment. This gateway also allows Tap to Pay on iPhone. The transaction fee is a flat 2.3% and nothing else for in-person payments.
Setting up GoDaddy Payments is noticeably quick and easy, and you can receive your money in as little as one business day. Note that some types of businesses are not allowed to use this gateway, such as firearms retailers, gambling services, Hemp and CBD products retailers, etc.
Website and E-Commerce
GoDaddy is best known for its website and domain hosting services. A good thing about using GoDaddy’s point-of-sale systems is that you also get access to its e-commerce website-building tools.
You can set up an online store with ease and accept money from customers using GoDaddy Payments. You’ll have access to over 100 templates that you can customize to make your store look professional. You can also connect your store and sell through third-party platforms like Instagram, Facebook, eBay, Amazon, and the Google Merchant Center. Likewise, you can connect your store to various social media platforms for advertising and to boost visibility.
In short, adopting GoDaddy’s POS system gives you access to a broad range of tools to set up a full-fledged retail operation.
GoDaddy POS: Interface and use
GoDaddy’s point-of-sale software is famous for its relative ease of use. It is a cloud-based platform that’s easy to set up and deploy. The Smart Terminal offers an intuitive interface to process customer payments. The card reader works with the GoDaddy mobile app, which also offers a user-friendly interface.
If you wish, you can integrate your point-of-sale hardware with third-party accessories, e.g., accounting software to help you track and record sales. You can also adopt GoDaddy’s complementary features such as appointment booking and website building.
GoDaddy POS: Support
GoDaddy offers customer support through live chat, telephone, and email. You can always head to the Contact Us page and choose Chat Now. If live chat is unavailable, then you can look for the appropriate support numbers to call in the Call Us section; the exact one depends on your region. Similarly, you can send a message to one of GoDaddy’s support email addresses and wait for a response within 24 hours.
GoDaddy POS: The competition
There’s no shortage of point-of-sale systems out there rivaling GoDaddy’s. Two good examples are Stripe Reader and Shopify POS (opens in new tab). The Stripe Reader works similarly to the GoDaddy Card Reader; it is compact, has strong battery life, and accepts both chip, swipe, and tap payments. It is a more intuitive system but comes with higher fees of 2.7% + 5¢ per transaction.
The Shopify POS is another intuitive point-of-sale system. But, unlike GoDaddy’s, it requires a recurring monthly subscription fee of between $1 and $399 in addition to transaction fees of between 2.4% and 2.7%.
GoDaddy POS: Final verdict
Many people complain about GoDaddy’s domain name services but these complaints hardly extend to the company’s point-of-sale systems. GoDaddy has put a lot of effort into its point-of-sale products to please customers with competitive features and fees. It is a POS system that we can recommend for every eligible business.
