When setting up a business, many entrepreneurs wonder, ‘What is a shop till system’ or ‘How does the shop till system work’. It’s natural because that day has long gone when calculating sales was based on pen and paper. Modern businesses require smart sales using smart methods, that is when a shop till system comes to the rescue.
In this guide, we will focus on the definition, functions, pros, and cons of the shop till system. So, let’s get started.
What is a shop till system UK?
A till indicates many things – a cash register, the removable cash drawer in the cash register, or the contents of a cash register. A shop till is the cash register in a shop where customers pay for things and the cashier collects it. The process of sales happens systematically, therefore it is called the shop till system.
Traditional shop till system includes a cash register with buttons and a pop-out drawer. One has to press the buttons manually to open the drawer, put the collected payment inside it, and give back changes to the customer.
As the world advances, the button-based cash register has evolved into a POS (Point Of Sale) system. Nowadays, along with ringing up sales, a POS system also monitors, manages, and plans business activities.
Modern POS systems are electronic, so they are also known as EPOS. Be it online stores, hospitals, restaurants, transportation, or retail shops, a POS or EPOS system is used everywhere.
What parts does a shop till system include?
Modern shop till systems include POS software and some other equipment.
POS software calculates the due amount and monitors sales and inventory. It requires other integrations (accounting software, ERP, e-commerce, etc) to level up the business.
Without the hardware, the POS software won’t be able to process and record the sales. A POS hardware generally includes –
- A device where the software will run. It can be a smartphone, tablet, laptop, desktop computer, or a designed device provided by the POS manufacturer.
- A cash drawer. It is for people who prefer cash payment to card or app payment.
- Barcode scanner. It scans the product barcode to add it automatically to the software.
- Card reader. For shoppers with credit cards, this machine reads their card to process the payment.
- Receipt printer. After completing the transaction, this tool automatically prints a receipt for the shopper.
However, not all equipment is used in all types of business. For example, restaurants don’t need a barcode scanner because cooked food has no barcode. Likewise, in cafes, customers can directly order food from the counter.
How to set up a shop till system?
If you want to set up a till system for your shop, follow these steps.
- Decide what type of business you will open and which till system you will go for. A till system for healthcare won’t be as same as the till for retail stores. For an already existing business, choose the best POS that will match the business activities.
- Install the POS software on your touchscreen device. Download a cloud-based POS software, connect it to the internet, and enter your account credentials there. If is not cloud-based, then it should be already installed on the server. Just fill in the credentials.
- Connect the POS hardware to your device. Most POS hardware has Bluetooth and wifi features, so connecting them will be easy. If not, you may have to connect the hardware cables to the device.
- Set up the business inventory by entering product details. For limited section inventory, enter product details manually. However, you can do this in bulk for larger inventories.
- Create user accounts for each of your employees. Additionally, set up a common password to log in to the system.
- Add payment methods to the system. To attract a large number of shoppers, you can add a wide variety of payment methods, including cash, credit cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay, Paypal, and even cryptocurrencies.
- Connect add-ons to the POS software and hardware. These add-ons will help to manage sales data, inventory data, customer data, and employee data in a more organized way. Accounting software, analytics reporting, CRM (customer relationship management) software, payroll, etc are the common add-ons that you should use.
How does the shop till system work?
The shop till system starts working from the moment a customer brings his chosen product to the sales floor. It does more than processing purchases, in the front office and the back office also.
Here are the steps of a POS system’s functionality at the front desk.
- Takes records of the items being purchased. A customer brings his chosen products from the shelf to the checkout counter. The cashier scans the barcode of each product to record them in the machine. If there is no barcode scanner, the cashier can manually input the details by typing. Once the software records the product name and quantity, it proceeds to sum up the total.
- Counts the due. The software calculates the product price including VAT and other applicable costs. Some till software has the option of tipping.
- Collects payment. By clicking a certain button, the cashier collects payment from the customer. Here the customer can choose the payment method – cash, card, or app. If it is cash, the cashier uses the cash drawer. For card payment, the customer has to swipe, tap, or dip his card in the card reader. The cashier asks the customer to scan the QR code if the customer wants to pay via the app.
- Creates receipt. After the payment from the customer, the cashier creates or prints the receipt of the purchase. It can be physical (printed paper) or digital (sent to the customer’s email).
- Offers rewards. This optional step is mostly seen in the retail shop till system. The cashier rewards loyalty points to the shopper by asking for the shopper’s personal details. This step commonly happens before printing the receipt.
Other than processing sales, the shop till system also…
- Updates the inventory. Each time customers purchase, the shop till system records and updates the product quantity. Besides, it informs the cashier or seller to refill the inventory when necessary.
- Organizes revenue data. When connected to accounting software, the POS software organizes the data of daily sales, transactions, returns, refunds, discounts, rewards, etc.
- Updates and maintains buyers’ data. The POS system records buyers’ names, contact details, purchase history, how many loyalty points they got, if they purchased one-time or repeatedly, got a refund, etc.
What are the pros of the shop till system?
- It makes transactions faster and helps to sell a lot of things in a limited time.
- The built-in data and analytics provide a clear picture of the business performance.
- With a few tappings on the screen, adding, counting, ordering, and receiving products becomes efficient.
- Not only for the shop employees but also for the shoppers POS software is intuitive.
- Some POS systems can manage customers seamlessly – by collecting customers’ personal details, making orders as per their demands, maintaining repeat customers, etc.
- It makes tracking sales easy across multiple devices.
- Overall data of the business becomes available 24/7 anywhere.
- The POS system keeps the data secured with a password system.
- It allows the cashier to deal with returns, refunds, rewards, store credits, coupons, discounts, etc automatically.
- Some till systems help to manage teammates by monitoring their performance and work hours.
- Some POS systems provide customer support options to contact shoppers directly.
If your business need epos system integration contact us to set up your Epos as soon as possible with many benefits.
What are the cons of the shop till system?
A POS or EPOS system can take a toll on its user’s money. How? Let’s take a look.
Without pouring a big chunk of money, getting a high-end till is impossible. Moreover, the POS software costs too much. Besides, if the whole machine or a part of it gets damaged, fixing can be crazy expensive. No need to mention the hassle of setting the whole system up again after fixing it.
Additionally, the internet can add up risks to the POS machine. Since it requires the internet to operate, there is a high chance of malware attacks and security violations. The unavailability of the internet will hamper sales too.
Summing up
Let’s sum up what we’ve learned till now.
What is a shop till system? It’s a hub for collecting payments and managing business activities. How does the shop till system work? It rings up sales, updates the inventory, manages data, and monitors business performance step by step with dedicated software and hardware.
Before purchasing a shop till system, it is a must to calculate the business type and needs. Moreover, the user must set up additional settings properly to avoid issues during sales periods. With all steps cleared, a POS system will bring out the best for a business.
