Most retailers ask a lot of questions when they are choosing a new EPOS system.
Does it display live stock?
Can it handle integrated card payments?
Will it work across multiple branches?
Can it produce the reports we need?
How much will it cost?
Whilst these are all entirely sensible (and appropriate) questions, retailers often miss something that unlocks the value of nearly everything else.
THE FORGOTTEN QUESTION
“Will my team actually use it properly when the shop is busy, customers are waiting, and the manager is unavailable?”
That question is important because stock control, reporting, payments, discounts, refunds, staff productivity, and customer service all depend on what happens during everyday till operations.
A system can look impressive in a demonstration and still fall down in day-to-day use. If staff avoid parts of it, misunderstand it, or only use the most basic functions, the business never gets the full value from the investment.
A demo is rarely like busy Saturday trading
A software demonstration is usually calm. Someone who knows the system well shows you the cleanest route through a sale. Products are easy to find. The internet works. The payment goes through. The report appears. Nothing awkward or out of the ordinary tends to happen.
Retail, however, is not always so straightforward.
TILL FLOW
One basket. Several ways the sale can miss the details.
A good EPOS solution needs to help staff process sales properly without putting everything through a miscellaneous button during busy spells or leaving corrections until later in the day.
Scanning the items
Jars, pots, grocery lines, clothing, and local supplier products should be registered against the correct product and department.
Selling weighed item properly
Loose apples, cheese, or meat from the counter need the right product, weight, and price, not a rough substitute.
Finding fresh items without a barcode
A bakery loaf, prepared meal, or counter product should be easy to find by name, quick key, or category.
Answering a customer’s question
If they ask whether there is more stock in the chiller, another size of hamper, or a clothing item still available, staff need a clear route to check.
Applying the right offer and take payment
Seasonal promotions, vouchers, customer accounts or integrated card payments should complete without breaking the transaction flow.
⭐ Objective: Leave the business with actionable insights
Stock, counter sales, departments, branch reporting and margin all need to reflect what actually happened in the basket.
Staff time is too valuable for awkward software
Retailers are already operating under pressure. Staffing, wage costs and productivity are not abstract management issues; they are daily trading realities.
That does not mean this article is really about employment costs. It is about the practical consequence: when teams are stretched, systems need to be clearer.
£5bn
The British Retail Consortium reported a £5bn rise in retail employment costs in 2025.
One of the real impacts is that retailers have less patience for systems that slow staff down, create uncertainty, or require constant manager support.
Workarounds are usually a 'red flag'
Staff do not usually set out to use an EPOS system badly. Most workarounds are created because someone is trying to serve the customer quickly, and the correct route feels too slow, too hidden, or too uncertain.
1. The item exists, but staff cannot find it under the name they use
Product search is often the first area where the adoption of a new EPOS system is tested. In a farm shop, for example, the same item might be known by a supplier name, a short counter name, a label name or a more formal back-office product name. A bakery loaf, prepared meal, hamper line or local chutney may be obvious to the team on the shop floor, but harder to find if the product file is not organised around how people actually sell.
When that happens, staff have a choice to make while the customer is waiting. They may use a miscellaneous button, choose the nearest match, write a note for later or ask a manager. The sale goes through, but stock, department sales, supplier reporting and margin all become less reliable.
2. Scale labels and till records do not line up
Weighed products are normally handled through counter scales. The scale weighs the item, prints the label and produces a barcode that carries the price, weight or product information needed at the till.
Problems arise when the scale, label, and EPOS are not aligned. A product code may not match. A price change may have been updated on the scale but not in the till. A barcode format may not be recognised properly. A member of staff may choose the wrong PLU at the counter, meaning the label scans, but the sale is not recorded against the product the business expected.
Operators are not guessing the weight… The issue is that the sale loses product detail at the point where the label meets the till. Counter performance, stock movement, and margin become harder to read later.
3. Refunds, discounts and vouchers need approval, but the flow is unclear
Some actions quite rightly need more control. Refunds, voids, discounts, vouchers and customer-account adjustments can affect cash control, margin and reporting.
The problem is not the existence of permissions. The problem is when staff do not know what they can do, when they need approval, or how that approval should happen at the till.
That uncertainty creates two different kinds of friction. Staff either stop the sale and call a manager for something that could have been guided by the system, or they find an informal workaround to keep the customer moving. Good EPOS design should make the approval route obvious and proportionate.
4. Card payments sit outside the EPOS transaction flow
Payment is another point where staff (and customer) confidence can break down. If the till and card terminal are not connected, the amount may need to be entered twice: once in the EPOS and once on the payment device.
That extra step is easy to underestimate. A mistyped amount, a payment taken in the wrong mode, a refund handled separately, or a card transaction that does not match the sale can all create avoidable work at close-down or reconciliation.
Integrated payments not only make the customer experience smoother. They also reduce the amount of manual checking staff have to do after the customer has left.
Workarounds may save a few seconds at the till, but they often cost the business clarity later.
The right route has to feel quicker than the shortcut
Good EPOS design is not only about looking modern. It is about reducing the number of times when staff have to guess, remember a hidden rule, or interrupt someone else.
Search that reflects the shop-floor
Staff should be able to find products by the names, suppliers, categories and descriptions they actually use.
Quick keys arranged around the counter
Common fresh food, bakery, deli and seasonal items should be easy to reach without scrolling through a long catalogue.
Scale labels that scan correctly
Product codes, barcode formats, prices and departments need to stay aligned between the scales and EPOS.
Guided routes for exceptions
Refunds, voids, discounts, and vouchers should make the next step clear, including when approval is needed.
Integrated payments
The sale amount should pass to the card terminal without staff re-entering it or reconciling avoidable mismatches later.
Floor layout to match reality
Tables laid out on a plan to reflect how the restaurant or café looks in real life. No more assigning orders to the wrong table or customer.
Training is a process, not a handover call
Training is another important consideration, but it should not have to compensate for a system that is hard to follow. Team adoption starts before go-live and continues once staff are using the system with real customers.
Before
Use real examples
Build training around the way the business trades: weighed goods, counter items, vouchers, refunds, stock checks, and payments.
During Go-live
Support awkward moments
Staff need confidence with exceptions, not only the easiest route through a sale.
After
Watch the workarounds
Misc buttons, handwritten notes and repeated manager calls show where the system or training may need refining.
Permissions should create confidence, not bottlenecks
Not every member of staff needs access to every function. The point is to give people enough freedom to do their job properly, while keeping higher-risk actions clear and controlled.
Assistant
Sales, product search, payments and simple stock checks.
Supervisor
Refunds, voids, discounts and sensitive actions when needed.
Manager
Reporting, purchasing, stock adjustments and wider setup.
That is not a case of mistrust. It is simply practical control. It means staff know what they can handle, supervisors know when to step in, and managers are not dragged into every minor exception.
Before you choose: Ask to see the awkward bits
A demo should not only show the cleanest route through the software. It should show what happens when the sale is more difficult, because that is where staff confidence is won or lost.
Show me how a new starter finds a product when there is no barcode.
Can they find the right loaf, counter item or local supplier product without using a miscellaneous button?
Show me a weighed counter sale.
Does the process protect the product, price, weight and department detail?
Show me a refund, discount and voucher.
Are approvals clear, or does the team need to remember who is allowed to do what?
Show me what reporting the manager sees later.
The till experience should support the reporting the business relies on.
Show me how staff check availability for a customer.
Stock and branch information should be available without leaving the customer waiting.
Show me how staff practise before go-live.
Training should reflect the way the business actually trades, not only the software menu.
The real test is what happens when staff are on their own
Retailers often think about EPOS in terms of features, integrations, and reports.
While those things are important, of course, the system’s real value is created when staff use it: when a product is scanned, searched, refunded, discounted, transferred, checked, counted, ordered, or paid for.
If those interactions are clear, the business benefits. Stock is more accurate. Reports are more trustworthy. Managers are interrupted less. Customers are served more confidently. Training becomes easier to maintain.
If those things are confusing, people find workarounds. The data is much poorer, and the system becomes something staff begin to tolerate rather than trust.
STOREFRONT
Built for the everyday moments behind the till
Storefront™ is built for retailers and hospitality businesses that need more than a basic till.
The details differ by sector, but the principle is the same: staff should be able to complete the sale properly without fighting the system.
Farm shops and food halls
Counters, weighed items, prepared products, fresh food, and café service.
Garden centres
Seasonal stock, bulky items, plant areas, giftware, café sales and displays.
Department stores
Brands, departments, variants, customer orders, gift cards and branch stock.
Hospitality teams
Tables, tabs, kitchen printing, modifiers, service charge and Pay-at-Table.
If you would like more information about Storefront™, we’d be happy to show you a different approach to retail systems.
Simply click the button below, and we’ll get in touch to find out more about your current challenges and arrange a demo.
