Clover Review

Pros & Cons

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Clover Overview

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As one of the largest and most well-established players in the merchant services game, Clover has been around since 2011 and now employs over 1,000 people—it’s a partner you can rely on for the long haul.

But it’s not just experience that makes Clover stand out. This feature-rich platform comes with everything you need, all in one remarkably intuitive package. Whether you’re a solo entrepreneur selling digital downloads online, a bustling café serving up cups of joe, a boutique retailer with a brick-and-mortar storefront, or anything in between, Clover has you covered.

From the basics like accepting payments and ordering hardware to more advanced features like robust analytics, inventory management, and customer engagement, it’s an all-in-one solution packed full of functionality.

Clover Plans and Pricing

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Clover offers several pricing plans to fit different types of businesses, including full-service dining, quick-service, retail stores, professional services, personal services, and home or field services. Each one comes with customized features to match how you do business.

Each type of business has three different tiers to choose from—Starter, Standard, or Advanced. The higher the tier, the better hardware and more advanced features you get.

If you prefer paying for your equipment over time, plans range from $14.95 to $310 per month.

However, you can also pay for the hardware upfront—anywhere from $599 to $4,097 depending on the hardware. On top of that, you’ll also pay an ongoing fee that ranges from $14.95 to $114.85 per month.

Alternatively, you can build your own plan. Doing so lets you choose your hardware, feature set, and accessories so you get exactly what you need.

Despite paying a monthly fee, you still have to pay relatively high transaction fees:

• In-person transactions: 2.3% to 2.6% + $0.10 per transaction
• Card-not-present transactions: 3.5% + $0.10 per transaction

Other providers, like Payarc, also charge a monthly fee but give you interchange plus rates that are significantly lower than Clover’s flat-rate fees.

One more thing to keep in mind is that depending on your agreement, you may have to pay an early termination fee if you cancel service before your contract term is up.

Payment Options

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As an all-in-one payment processing and merchant services provider, Clover offers practically every payment method under the sun. This gives you the flexibility to accept transactions however your customers want to pay.

For in-person payments, Clover supports traditional card swiping, dipping, and tapping. This covers everything from old-school magstripe cards to EMV chip cards and contactless payments, too.

But Clover goes beyond just cards—you can also accept mobile wallets like Google, Samsung, and Apple Pay, plus PayPal and Venmo for maximum convenience.

And of course, Clover allows cash and checks too.

Clover specifically shines for restaurants and quick-service businesses with specialized features like bill splitting, tip adjustments, customer tabs with pre-authorizations, and item or order-level discounts. You can even enable tableside ordering right from any Clover device.

Online payments are just as seamless with recurring subscriptions, gift cards, loyalty programs, and more.

If you regularly issue invoices, you’ll be able to easily generate them, track their status, collect payments, and set up recurring invoices with automated notifications.

The vast array of payment methods supported makes it easy to create a stellar customer payment experience, no matter how you do business and how they prefer to pay.

In most cases, Clover offers next-day funding so you get access to your money fast. However, for an extra 1% fee, you can instantly transfer up to $10,000 per request with Clover’s Rapid Deposit feature when you need funds right away.

Ecommerce Functionality

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Of all the merchant services providers we’ve evaluated, Clover offers the most complete set of ecommerce features. You have the flexibility to either integrate Clover with your existing online store or build a brand new site from scratch if you don’t yet have one.

For existing ecommerce stores, Clover makes integration seamless with plugins for platforms like Shopify, WooCommerce, and Adobe Commerce (formally Magento). There’s also a full API you can leverage to connect Clover to any storefront.

If you need to create a website, Clover’s partnership with BigCommerce is invaluable. It provides an easy way to quickly launch an online store plus sell through social media and marketplaces like Etsy and Amazon, too.

For restaurants specifically, Clover enables online ordering, reservations, curbside pickup options, and partnerships with delivery services like Uber Eats and DoorDash. Your customers can order directly from your website, Google Search and Maps.

On the other hand, service businesses can take advantage of Clover’s online booking and scheduling tools, digital invoicing, and client engagement features.

One of Clover’s biggest advantages is syncing data across all your sales channels in one dashboard. Whether you sell online, in-person, via invoices, or over the phone, you get a unified view of orders, inventory, and other vital business data—everything seamlessly works together.

Customer Support

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When it comes to customer support, Clover is there for you 24/7. Whether you need help by phone, live chat, or email, its team is ready to assist you around the clock.

For the most part, Clover’s representatives are knowledgeable about its wide range of products and willing to help you find solutions. However, with such a large company serving so many customers and offering so many services, wait times can be longer than expected.

At times, you may need to wait patiently to connect with an agent. Once you do, some reps are extremely helpful while others may leave you wanting more. The luck of the draw can mean repeating your issue before finding the perfect person to resolve it.

While Clover’s support system as a whole has room for improvement, rest assured you’ll eventually get the answers and service you need.

It just may require extra time and persistence working through its process.

Analytics

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Clover’s analytics and reporting capabilities are a step (or two) above the rest. While the dashboards may not be the prettiest you’ve seen, it offers detailed insights into your business’s vital metrics and performance markers.

You’ll be able to filter and segment every piece of data imaginable so you can break down sales by location, device, product, staff member, transaction type, time of day—you name it.

The level of customization is exceptional.

It’s incredibly simple to view dozens of other key metrics in real-time, including your

• Total sales
• Tips earned per employee
• Revenue per hour
• Top-selling items
• Discount volume
• Refunds and chargebacks
• Pending unfulfilled orders

Plus, everything syncs and updates live so your eyes are always on the pulse of your business.

Aside from the real-time dashboard, you can generate custom reports outlining trends or targeting specific points in time—you can then share them with anyone you need to. There are even pre-made tax reports to hand off to your accountant or sync directly with accounting software, making tax time easy.

Ease of Use

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Clover is remarkably easy to use despite its vast range of features and complex pricing options. In fact, many businesses choose Clover over competitors specifically for its intuitive interface and sleek hardware.

For plans without hardware, you can start processing payments right away since everything is ready right out of the box.

Even if you do need hardware, you can get going solo without contacting support if you pay for the hardware upfront. Other providers won’t let you start without a conversation, so it’s nice that you can bypass that.

Clover even overnight ships your equipment, so you’ll be up and running as fast as possible.

However, the sheer number of features and customization options can feel overwhelming—it also requires a bit of effort to get everything ironed out at the start if you want to leverage the more advanced functionality.

But once you get it set up, it’s easy to use for both your employees and customers.

Final Thoughts

If you want a premium set of unique, specialized features built for for the way you do business, Clover should be at the top of your list—it offers a ton of functionality out of the box, has the most in-depth analytics we’ve seen, and supports just about every payment method you can imagine.