Let’s be honest. It requires a little technical background
to get into how a system as complex as an EPOS system WORKs. And let’s assume
no one here knows anything about computers and technical stuff.
Therefore, maybe “How does an EPOS system work?” is not the
best question to ask. A better alternative may be how it helps with your
business or simply what is it good for. Or even what does it have to offer?
But still, if you want to know how a system works as whole,
you can start by learning how its individual components work and what value
they add to your business. So let’s start with what EPOS systems are comprised
of and then learn how some of the devices and features take the hassles out of
your business.
An EPOS systems
for restaurants usually consists of two major areas; hardware and software.
The hardware side includes various components – also known as peripherals or
devices – such as barcode scanners and touch screens and the software side has
countless features like Rota or stock management tools. However, to be frank,
only few businesses will ever need all the devices and features. That is why we
have picked only 3 most common hardware components as well as 3 software
features that have changed the game of handling businesses in retail and
hospitality industries. Now let’s see how each one works to help you advance
your business.
3 Most Common Devices You Will Need From an EPOS System
As just mentioned, there are multitude of hardware
components working in tandem with one another. However, only a handful may be
necessary for a business. These are the integral devices without which you
can’t call it an EPOS system. Below are the 3 most used devices of EPOS
systems. However, there are some devices such as barcode scanners, card
terminals and cash drawers that seem too common or may be used in one business
type and not in the others. For example a barcode scanner is essential for a
department retail store, while it is useless for a restaurant where there is no
barcode to scan. So we decided to exclude them from this article.
Receipt Printers
This device has been in use for so long that we almost
forgot how important it is. While the digital life has make the paper and
whatever it is associated with – things like printers – obsolete, the receipt
printers are still widely used. And the reason is obvious: you still need to
inform your customers of the details of their purchase. They are the payers, so
they need to know exactly what and how much they are paying or have paid for
each item, right away. So, unless a new digital idea comes around to challenge
the paper receipts, businesses still need a receipt printer.
Touch Screens
Just like printers, touch screens are essential. I mean, how
else can you input all those various data into the software?! Besides, the data
entry is just the tip of the iceberg. The bottom of the iceberg is the visual
things like floor plans (exclusive for eateries) you will see. You can’t have
that, unless you have a screen in place. In more technical terms, touch screens
are what connect you with behind the scene. That is why it’s sometimes, however
maybe mistakenly, called interface. There are lots of things going on in the
background hidden by the interface. You would have the most difficult times
working with the functionalities if it weren’t for touch screens (interfaces).
I didn’t want to get technical on this, but apparently I couldn’t help it.
Sorry for that!
Tablets
If you are in the hospitality or a huge retailer with quite
large stockrooms, you would really appreciate tablets as a part of your EPOS
system. In case of a hospitality, it will come to your attention when your wait
staff want to send the head chef a quick note, informing him or her of an order
change. Unless they use tablets to easily do so, they have to walk all the way
to the kitchen to just leave a note. Or in case of that huge retailer, you
would have to carry all the checklists and probably a calculator for a simple
stock-take. Not to mention the likely errors you are going to make.
