What is an EPOS system and how can it benefit your business?

If you’ve got a thriving eCommerce business, you might be wondering if it’s time to try out an in-store location. But where do you start?

EPOS systems make it possible to sell in-store and online using one simple, streamlined system. It also completely modernises your processes and gives you a better overview of daily operations. There’s no need to juggle in-store and online transactions when an EPOS system allows you to run both side-by-side on the same central system.

Mobile point-of-sale transactions boast a 40.2% year-on-year growth rate, showing that businesses are recognising the benefits of mobile methods like EPOS systems have for business growth. Regardless of your business’s sector or size, an EPOS system can help you grow and develop even further.

What is EPOS?

EPOS stands for ‘Electronic Point Of Sale’. It’s effectively a touchscreen website. Think of the iPads used by servers in restaurants or the touchscreens at fast-food restaurants like McDonald’s. 

They’re a combination of hardware and software. The hardware is the central device you choose. You can also add any peripherals you like. These might be barcode scanners, receipt printers, a cash drawer, or chip and PIN machines. Then you’ve got the software that allows you to use this specific device as your central point of business. You can store all data relating to business operations on the device itself. Or, if you want the data to be accessible from multiple devices, you can store it in the cloud.

An EPOS system uses APIs. These are software intermediaries that connect any front-end device you choose to your back-end system. This means you can use the same system that runs your website for an EPOS system.

The power of EPOS allows you to completely customise your software depending on the nature of your business and its individual requirements. Much like how you can build a website to perfectly suit your business, you can develop an EPOS system that matches.

Some key benefits of EPOS include:

• Speeding up processes like accounting, stock management, and sales performance
• Creating transactional data and using it to create reports on sales and products.
• Integrating different devices for use as POS
• User-friendliness
• Offering easy synchronicity between in-store and online shops
• Allowing you to select who in your business can see what and set controls to limit access
• Offering a secure management system that can be completely cloud-based
• Taking away a lot of manual processes

Now let’s look at how an EPOS system might help specific aspects of your business operation. 

Stock and inventory

One of the main complications of running both an online and in-store business is keeping on top of inventory. If you have stock going to different places, it can be difficult to know exactly what you’ve got and make sure you allocate stock to the right branch of your business.

An EPOS system produces up-to-date inventory data across both in-person and online stores. You only have to manage one inventory but can see exactly what’s available across multiple branches of your business. You can ensure you always have accurate stock levels and aren’t left with missing or lost product. 

Using a built-in inventory management system, you can even allocate stock for in-store and online separately. This way, there’s no risk of selling stock in-store that’s meant for online orders.

Product performance

An EPOS system provides sales information for both in-person and online transactions. This means you get a full overview of what’s performing well and what’s proving not so popular. You can use this data to make sure you’re never left with no stock of popular items. 

And by seeing what’s underperforming, you know what items to put into a promotion or which to stop stocking altogether.

Accounting

An EPOS system allows you to see all your business’s transactions instantly. You can set up automated reports to provide updates however frequently you want. It also provides the means to manage payroll and staff performance with ease. An EPOS system brings all the data you need to make the best business decisions right to your fingertips.

To summarise, an EPOS system provides you with a complete overview of your business. Combining an eCommerce and in-person store doesn’t have to be complicated or messy. An EPOS system allows you to run both from one central point.

At Shopit, not only can we build and run your eCommerce website, but we can run your in-store till system as well. Our platform gives you everything you’d need to run your business online and in-store seamlessly. Find out more here.