Custom EPOS system development
Most businesses should buy an off-the-shelf till. A custom EPOS is worth building when the till is the problem: when it does not know your menu, cannot price a trade account, or will not talk to the system that actually runs the business.
When a custom EPOS is the right answer
Buy a till from Square or Lightspeed if a standard till fits. It is cheaper and someone else maintains it. We will tell you that on the first call rather than take the work.
Building is right when the counter has to share one catalogue and one stock figure with an ordering app, a website and a delivery operation, and no product on the market joins those up for your trade.
- Dine-in, pickup and delivery handled on one screen
- Staff sign in by PIN, with a manager view over the day's takings
- Receipts and kitchen tickets to counter printers
- Keeps taking money when the internet drops, then syncs
The part everyone underestimates: hardware and offline
An EPOS lives or dies on the boring parts. Printing to the receipt printer that is already on the counter. Carrying on when the broadband goes down mid-service. Being usable by someone on their second shift without training.
We have built to real counter hardware, including thermal receipt printers and Epson office printers over Mopria, tested on the cheap Android tablets these businesses actually buy rather than a developer's iPad.
Your data, your server
Sales, customers and stock sit in a database you own, on a server in your name. No per-terminal licence, no monthly fee that rises when you add a till, and no export fight if you decide to leave.
Questions people ask before starting
Should I build an EPOS or buy one?+
Buy one unless a standard till genuinely does not fit. Building makes sense when the counter has to share a catalogue and stock with an ordering app, a website or a delivery operation, and no product joins those up for your trade.
Does it work if the internet goes down?+
Yes. The terminal keeps taking orders and payments while offline and syncs when the connection returns. That behaviour is designed in from the start, not added later.
Will it print to the printer I already have?+
Usually. We have worked with thermal receipt printers and with office printers over Mopria. Tell us the make and model and we will confirm before quoting rather than after.
What does a custom EPOS cost to run?+
A server and its backups, which is tens of pounds a month rather than a licence per terminal. There is no charge for adding a till.