What to look for when buying an EPoS System

Navigating the world of electronic point of sale (EPoS) systems for your business can often be challenging in deciding what’s best for your operations, and it helps to know what to look out for — and avoid — before you start.

Why do I need an EPoS System?

EPoS systems provide a powerful way to organise and run your retail, hospitality or leisure business, handling anything from till transactions to management of stock and even updating your website. That’s if you choose the right one, a system that can be configured to the way you do things. An inferior, and inflexible, epos system can harm your business by creating negative impressions.

Choose a long term partner…

First off, you need to select a firm that will be your IT partner who will work with you in matters concerning software updates and problems as they arise, including with hardware. You don’t want a quick sale of an EPoS system and that’s it, you’re left on your own to not only figure it all out but fix issues when they happen. Therefore, properly assess the EPoS firm before you buy, and see what long-term services and solutions they provide. You don’t want to be let down, with your business suffering, if your system goes down and there’s no one to help. Here at North West Business Machines we provide extensive after care and epos system support tailored to your needs.

Make sure your EPoS System can be customised

When you’ve chosen your EPoS partner, discuss how to customise their systems to your needs. What do you want EPoS to do for you? Perhaps it’s to more efficiently manage your stock levels, to see how much individual salespeople are ringing through on the till, or maybe you want to reduce customer wait times by making transactions faster. All this and more can be worked into your EPoS system.

Ask for a demonstration

After that’s done, ask your EPoS partner for a demonstration of a system that fits your requirements. This has the advantage of not only letting you see what can be done, but it keeps the salesperson focused on your needs instead of theirs, which primarily is selling systems and pointing out all manner of features that may be irrelevant to your business.

Make sure the software operating the epos system is simple to understand, and use, and that the hardware is a fit. If the software is overly complex and difficult to understand, it’s not going to work, for you or your employees. It will only create difficulties and trouble that will trip up your business. The software must be user-friendly.

In terms of costs, apart from initial purchase and possible set-up charges, ensure you ask about any additional ones, such as fees for updates and servicing.

If you need anymore information on buying an EPoS system, or you want to talk to an established firm with over 45 years of experience supplying EPoS systems to businesses across the country then give us a call on 01254 881177 – we’ll be happy to help.

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