TMCnet News

Unified Commerce Becomes the New POS Battleground in 2026
[July 16, 2026]

Unified Commerce Becomes the New POS Battleground in 2026


TSG (The Strawhecker Group), a globally recognized analytics, intelligence, and solutions-focused firm in the payments industry, worked with payments companies to compile the industry's most comprehensive resource on point-of-sale (POS) providers. The 2026 Directory of POS Providers, sponsored by Stripe, features more than 225 companies and 6,800+ data points covering key metrics such as geographic reach, market size, payment processing affiliations, POS hosting models, and, new this year, Unified versus Omnichannel Commerce presentment.

The most notable shift in the POS industry over the past year has been the deliberate marketing of Unified Commerce experiences. As omnichannel becomes table stakes, providers are racing to centralize multi-channel and value-added services into a single, seamless back-end. This year's Directory was expanded to capture that movement, alongside the continued rise of SoftPOS and cloud-based deployment.

The data reveals several standout insights among POS providers. Read additional commentary.

  • Unified Commerce is the new differentiator: 24% of providers now present a Unified Commerce experience, while 35% market Omnichannel Commerce and 17% offer a combination of both.
  • SoftPOS is surging: Providers offering SoftPOS jumped from 16% to 24% in a single year, signaling an accelerating shift beyond traditional card-present deployments.
  • Cloud dominates: 79% of providers offer at least one product with a cloud-based hosting model, while only 3% still market on-premise deployment.
  • All-in-one and unattended solutions expand: 39% of providers market comprehensive hardware/software platforms, and 38% offer unattended or kiosk solutions.
  • Flexibility is a selling point: 54% market surcharging support (up from 50%), and 35% support both surcharging and cash discounting (up from 30%). 11% of providers with identified processing affiliations market their platforms as processor-agnostic.
  • Retail and Restaurant lead: 46% of providers named Retail and 42% named Restaurant as key verticals, the most cited areas of focus in the report.
  • A global market of specialists: 65% of listed providers have 200 or fewer employees, and only 29% serve clients exclusively in the U.S., underscoring the increasingly global nature of the POS industry.

"Omnichannel used to be the goal. Now it's the baseline," said Mike Strawhecker, President & CEO of TSG. "The providers pulling ahead are the ones unifying commerce into a single, seamless experience for the merchant. This year's Directory shows an industry moving fast toward that vision, with SoftPOS and cloud adoption reshaping how, and where, businesses accept payments."

The Directory of POS Providers, sponsored by Stripe, is exclusive to eReports subscribers. From new entrants to established global entities, eReports provide immediate ROI to inform strategic decisions throughout the payments industry. For more information, please contact us online or call 1-833-690-1301. For media inquiries, please email [email protected].


About TSG

TSG (The Strawhecker Group) is a globally recognized analytics and consulting firm that supports the entire payments ecosystem, serving over 1,000 clients from Fortune 500 leaders to more than a dozen of the world's most valuable brands. Trusted by industry leaders, TSG's strategic services, market intelligence, and analytics merge to empower clients with actionable and accessible information. Please visit www.tsgpayments.com.


[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]