How to choose point of sale billing software for a shop

Shop connections drop at the worst moment, usually a Saturday evening with a queue at the door, so switch the network off at one counter and keep billing. The bill should still print, stock should still reduce, and nothing should freeze or ask for a login while the network is down. Count the seconds and note every freeze.

Then reconnect and watch the sync. Bills raised offline should reach head office with their original numbers and times, with no gaps in the series and no duplicates.

Ask what happens when two counters sell the last unit of one item while offline, because the vendor needs a clear answer rather than a shrug. Also ask how many days of offline bills the counter can hold, since a power cut that outlasts the battery should not cost you the evening’s sales.

Bring your own hardware. A scanner that reads a clean barcode in a demo may stumble on a crumpled label, so scan twenty real products, including the awkward ones. Check the label printer with a roll of your own sticker stock, because cheap thermal labels peel, smudge and fade on damp shelves.

If you sell loose goods, connect the scale and sell by weight, and the price, weight and total should land on the bill untouched by any hand. Try your own barcode format.

Print on your receipt printer too and check the paper width, logo and font, because staff read that slip all day and a slow printer makes a slow queue. Time it.

A return begins at the original bill. Search by bill number or phone number, pick the line, and the system should refuse more units than were sold and refund at the price actually paid. Request a sample credit note too. It should show the original bill number.

Try the awkward cases: a return after a price change, a return on a discounted item and an exchange for a different size. Ask who may approve a return without a bill, how that gets logged, and whether the refund goes to cash, card or store credit.

Watch the stock side. A damaged item must not slip back onto the shelf as saleable stock, so check that the return screen offers a separate damaged stock location.

Set up three offers you really run, such as buy two get one, a festival discount on one brand and a member price. Bill a basket that triggers all three. The software should apply them in a clear order and print the saving, and a manager’s PIN should be needed for any manual price override at the counter.

Then close the day. The cashier counts cash by denomination, and the system compares it with cash, card and wallet sales and shows the difference. Ask who can reopen a closed day. Ask how it is logged.

A shortage should show by cashier. One total hides the problem. Review the cash sheet for a week of trial days and compare every difference with what the cashiers remember, because patterns appear fast.

With more than one outlet, view a single item’s stock in every location, then raise a transfer from one outlet to another and receive it at the far end. Stock moves only on confirmation.

Open the report a manager reads at night, with sales by item, outlet and cashier plus items running low, and check that it runs without calling a developer. Try a slow connection as well as no connection, because a half working network breaks more tools than a dead one.

End with support, and ask who answers when a counter stops at six in the evening and how soon, then put that answer in the contract.