Using a complete EPOS system comes with lots of benefits, not least of all because you get heaps of functionality to support your business decision-making and growth. But first, it’s important to be clear about what a complete EPOS system is.
A complete EPOS system is business management software used by many industries such as retail, hospitality, trade counters and cash and carry businesses. Unlike a simple POS system which only allows you to perform transactions at the point of sale, a complete EPOS system allows businesses to transact with customers and usually involves some link or connection to other software such as stock control or accounts software integration for much better insights into stock movement and sales and powerful financial reporting.
Some Of Our Favourite Features of A Complete EPOS System
Manage Sales – EPOS
EPOS puts the power back in your hands, with real-time information available to you right when you need it. A good complete EPOS system will make the lives of your teams much, much easier. It should have features like continuous updated stock information and updateable menus which can be tailored to suit your business. It should allow you to toggle between various prices if you sell to trade and retail.
You should look for a system that can be tailored to fit your business, not one your business has to work around. It should allow you to easily upsell, with intelligent prompts and easily apply discounts and special offers. And very importantly, it must allow you to report so you can make informed business decisions.
Cash In – Accounts
A complete EPOS system will always integrate with your chosen accounts software to help you balance the books accurately. A proper accounts integration will ensure that your front of house EPOS system is shared with your back office accounts consistently. This will mean that you’ll always be working with the latest, accurate financials. It will make for much easier forecasting, trend-spotting and cash allocation.
Stock Up – Stock Control
An effective EPOS system will have proper stock control, which will allow you to manage stock levels, orders and deliveries across multiple locations. An intelligent stock control functionality within your complete EPOS system not only gives you complete visibility of your stock levels at the point of sale, but also updates in real-time to show you when you need to reorder goods to meet customer demand. It will mean never missing a sales opportunity again.
Deliver More – Shipmate Integration
A complete EPOS should always have proper courier integration. That means your business processes are connected from start to finish. KCPOS is a great example of a complete EPOS system with effective courier capabilities that connect your sales process.
Without the use of a retail EPOS system, you’re likely heavily increasing the amount of manual, error-prone processes for your teams and missing out on opportunities because you don’t have valuable insights into your data through reporting. With the Shipmate partnership, you can take advantage of a multi-carrier platform that works with all of the UK’s couriers to help you despatch your orders quickly and effectively.
You can set up every parcel type that your business requires and identify what delivery service is best suited to the orders requirements. Plus, has an easy to view dashboard in KCPOS stock control, which shows you every order status.
Link eCommerce – Online Sales
If you sell from an online platform, make sure when choosing the complete EPOS system for you, you’re choosing one that powers your eCommerce platform and doesn’t inhibit sales. The software should connect your online sales from your website, Amazon or eBay to in-store stock and reporting.
If it works effectively, it will automatically record every online sale in your accounts solution as it happens and adjust on-screen stock levels when sales are made through online platforms or any deliveries are received. That way, you can trust that your pricing and stock is always up-to-date with onscreen prices and stock levels.
Then, it should synchronise your data and reports to online and in-branch sales so that you can see an overview of your business or branch-by-branch performance.
Full Insight – Reporting
With the right complete EPOS system, you’ll be able to confidently and accurately report on all areas of your business, giving you valuable insight. It should eliminate the need for manual intervention to bring data together from multiple systems and have the ability to integrate your EPOS and your finances so you can make critical business decisions based on the reality of current position.
In summary, the difference between a complete EPOS system and a simple POS system is that it’s connected full circle. It means businesses like yours can streamline processes such as cashing up, stock management and reporting. By reducing the amount of human interaction in the process of reporting, you are reducing the chance of human error too. And, if your transactions and sales are reported directly into your accounts software you can see exactly where your balance sheet sits.