All businesses want to save money and time while simultaneously increasing productivity and driving sales.
As a way to handle the increasing demand of larger numbers of customers and products, EPOS systems are becoming commonplace for most retailers.
But what is an EPOS system, and how does it actually work?
What is an EPOS system?
EPOS is an acronym for Electronic Point of Sale. At its most basic, it can be thought of as an electronic system used by retailers to handle customer sales. Some say it's a till, others a computer system or software solution, the truth is an EPOS system is all of these combined.
There are many benefits that an electronic point of sale system has to offer businesses. They're quick, accurate, easy to use, and they can handle a large volume of sales without sacrificing payment security or accuracy.
A point of sale system consists of both hardware and software, let's take a look at the different types of POS hardware and EPOS software available:-
POS hardware
• POS terminal: An all-in-one terminal that includes a touch screen display and PC
• Cash box: A secure cash drawer, that replaces the till
• Thermal printer: Used to print receipts
• Card reader: Used to read the customer's credit/debit card
• Display: A touchscreen display used for interacting with the system
• PC: A mini PC used for storing data
EPOS software
• Cloud EPOS software: Inventory and customer data are hosted in the cloud and accessed through local devices.
• Local EPOS software: Inventory and customer data are stored locally on servers managed in house.
The POS hardware is used to interact with the software and take payment from the customer. While the epos software will enable you to log sales, take payments, make refunds and exchanges, apply discounts and promotions, sell and take gift vouchers, inventory management and stock tracking.
How does an ePOS system help?
A good EPOS system will make the day-to-day running of your retail business easy, by simplifying your daily processes, increasing transaction speeds and by improving the quality and accuracy of your service.
It will also allow you to gain important insight into almost every aspect of your business, providing you with business intelligence so that you can make smart business decisions about what's selling, what's not, when and how.
How does an EPOS system work?
As mentioned above, an EPOS system is essentially a number of different hardware, software and peripherals that are connected to facilitate a transaction. Common elements include point of sale software, a cash register or Till, CHIP and PIN readers, barcode reader and receipt printers.
EPOS systems can be used for both physical retailers and eCommerce platforms with equal effectiveness. An EPOS system, such as ShopTill-e, can be customised with individual branding and designs before being integrated into a website to handle online sales.
A good EPOS system can help you manage your staff easily, providing them with their own individual logins, multiple user accounts can be set up, with different access rights, enabling you to keep track.
What can EPOS systems do?
An EPOS system is configurable to the needs of the business owner. An EPOS system should be able to synchronise the handling of customer transactions with stock management into one seamless process.
Every time an item is bought, the EPOS logs it and re-calibrates stock numbers accordingly. When the stock falls under a certain threshold the system will provide a notification that the product in question is in short supply.
Ultimately an EPOS system is whatever a retailer wants it to be. It can handle simple transactions or it can be a part of a comprehensive integrated management system. EPOS systems allow for much faster and more accurate transactions and staff are able to handle a larger volume of sales, in a more efficient manner.
Making the right choice
A professionally designed EPOS system is essential to facilitate continued brand growth and at ShopTill-e.com we understand that finding the right EPOS system is essential to supporting your business and its growth.
With ShopTill-e.com, not only will it help you efficiently process orders, track stock, manage customers and more, across all your sales channels, but you will also get our years of experience in working with retailers who sell both in-store and online, to offer you the best possible advice.
We're not here to sell you extras as everything already comes as standard! View the ePOS system features page to see for yourself. We're here to help and support you on your retail journey.
For an EPOS system that's reliable, fast and accurate, as well as providing great support, try ShopTill-e epos in your shop today.
Multichannel selling
Not only is implementing the right epos system critical for retailers in 2022, ShopTill-e's cutting-edge all-in-one retail system can also provide a fully featured ecommerce platform for easy, efficient multichannel selling.
The complete multi-channel selling platform also enables you to make sales on popular internet marketplaces, such as Amazon, eBay, Wayfair and Etsy, as well as listing products on Instagram and Facebook.
Get in touch today and take advantage of the 14 day free trial or book your demo and get a personalised tour of ShopTill-e to find out how it can help your retail business.
