Retail as Infrastructure: How POS Tech Is Powering Smart Cities

As certain cities start to evolve into smart, connected ecosystems, retail must evolve with them. Shoppers in dense urban environments expect speed, flexibility, and personalized experiences whether they’re in a flagship store, a corner boutique, or a click-and-collect hub.

These demands place new pressures on the systems that power retail, especially the point of sale (POS).

Modern point of sale systems help retailers turn checkout counters into high-performance customer experiences and can become a key enabler of responsive, connected retail.

The 5 POS platforms in this article are helping retailers modernize for the urban environment by enabling mobile checkout, connecting to delivery infrastructure, powering store associates with data, and syncing inventory in real-time.

1. Manhattan Active Point of Sale: The Connected Core of Smart Urban Retail

Manhattan Active POS is designed for the pace and complexity of smart urban retail thanks to its unified commerce applications and modular, API-first platform, allowing it to support real-time inventory visibility, mobile selling and checkout, and seamless fulfillment across store networks.

Associates can access customer profiles, order history, and stock levels across an entire retail and fulfillment network from a single interface, helping them serve busy urban shoppers quickly and efficiently.

Manhattan Active Omni integrates RFID and AI-powered tools that support rapid inventory scanning and intelligent staff assistance, while its 90-day innovation cycle continually evolves the software.

In high-density environments where uptime, speed, and adaptability are critical, this point of sale system helps retailers stay responsive and connected.

2. Square Terminal: Mobile POS Built for Movement

Square Terminal is a compact, wireless retail POS system built for flexibility in tight, high-traffic spaces. It combines contactless payments, receipt printing, and inventory tracking in one handheld device, making it ideal for urban pop-ups, kiosks, and other small-format stores.

Its mobility is a key advantage in smarter cities as staff can check out customers anywhere in the store, reducing congestion and improving flow. With offline functionality and long battery life, Square Terminal supports uninterrupted service in locations where connectivity is still limited, like transit hubs or outdoor markets.

3. Tulip Retail POS: Personalization in Motion

Tulip’s mobile-first POS platform equips store associates with the tools they need to deliver more personalized service, no matter how fast-paced the environment may be.

The platform is designed for tablets and smartphones and provides access to customer data, appointment scheduling, and endless aisle capabilities directly on the sales floor.

Its fulfillment features are particularly relevant in a smart city context. Tulip supports ship-from-store, curbside pickup, and click-and-collect, helping retailers use their physical locations as last-mile delivery hubs.

Finally, its API-first design means that the software can easily integrate with existing systems, enabling an easier transition to an urban-ready POS.

4. Epos Now: Plug-and-Play POS for Urban Scaling

Epos Now offers a cloud-based POS system that’s easy to deploy across multiple city locations. Its intuitive interface and low-cost hardware make it easy to implement, enabling retailers expanding into or within urban environments to quickly adjust to evolving needs.

The platform supports unified commerce by connecting online and in-store operations so retailers can manage inventory, customer data, and sales from a single dashboard, enabling smoother click-and-collect and consistent service across locations.

It’s a unique combination of simplicity, practicality, and scalability for retailers operating in dense, high-volume locations with minimal backroom space.

5. Skip Checkout: Frictionless Tech for Grab-and-Go Retail

Modern consumers expect more power in their hands, and Skip Checkout delivers.

The software transforms any shopper’s smartphone into a self-service POS terminal, with customers able to scan items as they shop and then pay directly through the app.

Skip Checkout is designed for city convenience stores, transit kiosks, and other fast-service retail formats. It has also evolved into an AI-powered POS, enabling automated inventory syncing and reporting, while integrations with back-end tools help retailers manage their pricing, promotions, and inventory without friction and high efficiency.

Smarter Stores for Smarter Cities

Retail will always play a central role in urban life, but the systems that support it are evolving. As cities become more connected, retailers require tools that can adapt to tighter spaces, faster service expectations, and more complex logistics.

The point of sale is no longer just a place to complete a transaction, it is a platform for mobility, data, and service that helps stores operate more efficiently and meet customers where they are.

These five platforms show how retail technology can support the broader goals of smart cities. From mobile checkout to AI-powered backends, they offer practical ways to make stores more responsive and better integrated into the new urban environment.