How to choose a POS system for your small business

Start at the counter: the register must keep up

The register is where your team spends the day, so judge it first. Picture your busiest hour and check that each of these works without extra steps.

• Speed: scanning, searching by name and taking payment in a few taps, with keyboard shortcuts for those who use them.
• Barcodes: works with a scanner and, ideally, a phone camera; scanning the same item again adds to the quantity.
• Discounts with control: each discount records a reason, and larger ones need a manager's approval without anyone sharing a password.
• Payments as customers pay: cash, card, a split between them, and sales on account for regular customers.
• Shifts and cash count: open a shift with starting cash, close it with a counted drawer, and see any difference clearly.

Stock, customers and team that match how you work

A sale should update everything behind it. Check what happens after the receipt, not only at the counter.

• Stock per branch: separate quantities for each shop or warehouse, transfers between them, stock counts, and a history of every movement.
• Low-stock alerts and purchase orders to suppliers, so reordering starts from the system.
• Customers: a profile with purchases and any balance they owe, so sales on account stay clear.
• Loyalty: points earned on purchases and used only when the customer chooses, with rules you set.
• Team roles: an owner sees everything, a manager sees their branch, a cashier sees their register and their own sales.

Reports you will actually read

Ask to see the reports with sample data before you decide. The useful ones answer everyday questions in a minute: what sold today, in which branch, by which cashier and paid how; how each drawer closed; which discounts and refunds were given. Check that you can export them, for example to a spreadsheet, so your accountant can use them too.

Devices, internet and languages

• Devices: does it run on the phones, tablets or computers you already have, or does it need its own hardware?
• Scanners and printers: which models work, and how do receipts print? Test one device before buying several.
• Card payments: does it connect to your card terminal, or does the cashier record the card payment by hand?
• Internet: does it need a constant connection? If yes, plan a backup such as a mobile hotspot; if it works offline, ask how and when sales sync.
• Languages: can each person use the app in their own language, and are receipts and customer pages in the language your customers read?

Try it with your own kind of business first

1. Open a demo set up for a business like yours — a shop, café, grocery, salon or wholesaler — rather than a generic one.
2. Add a handful of your own products, including your fastest sellers and anything with a barcode.
3. Ring up your most common sales: a quick cash sale, a discount, a split payment, a refund.
4. Run a test day: open a shift, sell, close it and count the drawer, then read that day's reports.
5. Let a cashier and a manager try it with their own logins and tell you what slowed them down.

Questions to ask about price and contract

• What exactly is included, and what costs extra: more registers, branches, users or modules?
• Is the price monthly or yearly, and what happens to it when you add a branch?
• Is there a minimum term, and how do you cancel?
• Do you need to buy specific hardware from them?
• Can you export your products, customers and sales if you leave?

Questions owners ask