A point of sale has to work at the busiest moment of your day, with a queue in front of it. Before you choose one, check four things: what happens when the internet drops, whether stock stays in step with the warehouse, whether it suits how you serve, and whether the reports answer your questions. Features come after those.
Offline: ask what happens when the connection fails
Internet at a counter is never perfect. Ask the supplier plainly: if the connection drops, can we still sell, print a receipt and take payment? What happens to those sales when the connection returns?
Do not accept a general answer. Ask to see it done: unplug the router during a trial and ring up a few sales. Also ask what cannot be done offline, such as looking up a customer or checking stock at another outlet. Knowing the limits is more useful than hearing there are none.
Stock sync: the counter and the warehouse should agree
A sale at the counter should reduce stock. If it does not, the shop and the warehouse soon tell different stories, and you find out an item is gone when a customer asks for it.
Check:
- does each sale reduce the right stock, at the right outlet
- can you get low-stock warnings
- can you stop a sale of something you do not have, if you want that
- do returns put stock back properly
If you have several outlets, ask whether they can share products and prices while keeping their own stock.
Tables and kitchen: only if you serve food
A retail till and a restaurant till are different tools. A restaurant needs tables, orders added to as guests order more, split bills, and a way for the kitchen to know what to make. Ask to see a table opened, added to, moved and paid.
A shop needs the opposite: speed, barcodes, quick returns and clear screens. Be honest about which you are. A system tuned to one is clumsy for the other.
Receipts, labels and devices
Check that it works with the printers and scanners you already have, and that receipts carry your name and details. If you print price labels or barcodes, ask whether the same system does it. Bring your own devices to the trial and test them at the real counter.
Staff controls
Think about who is standing at the till. Can you hide cost prices from cashiers? Can you limit who gives discounts or refunds? Can you see who sold what? Loyalty points and discount rules should be quick to apply, because a slow discount is one that gets skipped.
Reports: decide your questions first
Write down what you want to know each day: sales by hour, by product, by cashier, by outlet; what is running low; what the day’s takings were against what is in the drawer. Then check that the system answers each one without exporting to a spreadsheet.
Check also how a day closes. Ask to see a closing run, and how a difference between the drawer and the record is shown.
Back office: where the sale goes next
Sales should flow into inventory and accounting without retyping. Ask your accountant what they need to see from a day’s sales, and check that the trial gives it.
A short trial checklist
- Sell with the connection off, then back on.
- Sell an item that is nearly out of stock.
- Do a return and an exchange.
- For restaurants, open, add to, split and pay a table.
- Close the day and read the reports.
Where Teapot Techies fits
We set up and customise Odoo point of sale for retailers and restaurants, connected to stock and accounts, with receipt and label printing, loyalty, discounts and stock controls. Tell us what devices you use and we will confirm what works. See point of sale on Odoo or Odoo implementation.