Best card machine for Grocery stores and convenience retail
Independent grocery stores, convenience retail, off-licences, ethnic-food specialists. High transaction count, low-to-mid ticket. Strong contactless share.
Our pick
Dojo Go
Acquirer: Dojo
High-volume convenience retail benefits from Dojo's same-next-day settlement (cash-float matters in low-margin grocery) and multi-network connectivity (busy counter, peak-time WiFi congestion). Above £15k monthly, Dojo blended at 1.4-1.5% beats SumUp 1.69%. Below, SumUp Solo wins on no-contract economics.
Card machines compared for Grocery stores and convenience retail
Headline rate, hardware cost, contract and form factor at a glance, from our full terminal reviews.
| Rank | Terminal | Rate | Hardware | Contract |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | Dojo Go Our pick | 1.4% to 1.9% blended | £0 with rolling monthly fee | 12 months minimum |
| #2 | SumUp Solo | 1.69% per transaction | £99 to £149 hardware | No contract |
| #3 | Square Terminal | 1.75% per transaction (UK) | £149 to £199 | No contract |
Why this trade matters
- Cashflow shape
- Steady daily cycle with end-of-week and benefit-payment-day spikes. Christmas, Eid, Diwali, Chinese New Year surges depending on customer base.
- Average transaction
- £8 to £35
- Contactless share
- ~80%
Watch outs
- Off-licence age-verification flow integration with the till.
- Stock-management for ethnic-food SKUs may require specialist POS.
- Some acquirers underwrite alcohol-licensed retail differently from non-licensed.
- Lottery and tobacco have separate compliance processes (HMRC track-and-trace) not directly relevant to card processing.
- Religious-festival surge management.
Alternatives
Compare picks
How Dojo Go stacks up
Grocery stores and convenience retail by location
Locations we cover for Grocery stores and convenience retail.
- Leicester
- Southall (Ealing)
- Wembley (Brent)
- Harrow
- Birmingham (Handsworth and Soho Road)
- Smethwick (Sandwell)
- Slough
- Coventry (Foleshill and Stoney Stanton)
- East Ham (Newham)
- Manchester (Cheetham Hill and Rusholme)
- Leeds (Harehills and Chapeltown)
- Wolverhampton (Bilston Road and Whitmore Reans)
- Tooting (Wandsworth)
- Bradford
- Forest Gate (Newham)
- Hounslow
Related on our sister sites
Need finance for your Grocery stores and convenience retail business?
Card flow is the security on which most Grocery stores and convenience retail businesses borrow. See our sister site BestBusinessLoans by sector for editorial reviews of UK lenders that fund Grocery stores and convenience retail.
Founder & Managing Director, Muswell Rose, founder and PSC of Best Business Loans Ltd
Adam is the founder and managing director of Muswell Rose and a founder of Best Business Loans Ltd, the company behind MerchantHQ. His career runs through insurance, mortgages, commercial finance and fintech lending, including payments and merchant services. He writes the MerchantHQ library.
Last reviewed: 10 May 2026