General EPOS FAQ and Answers

1. What is an Electronic Point-of-Sale (EPOS) System?

An EPOS system is a computerized way to maintain your retail business. You can keep track of your sales, inventory, staff, VAT, etc., using the computerized EPOS system. The computers (or the stations) replace your existing manual tills (or cash registers) where you conduct the sales. The computers in the EPOS system are connected by a network and all sales and inventory operations are controlled from a central location (the back-office server).

Each sales station includes a screen (or the monitor) for displaying and modifying the sales details , customer display, barcode scanner, cashdrawer, and a keyboard for entering sales details. Optionally, one can add a weighing scale, credit card terminal, etc.

The back-office server is used for maintaining the EPOS system, for example, for entering product information, maintaining staff and getting sales reports.

The back-office server and the sales stations connected by the network make up a complete EPOS system.

2. What are the benefits of an EPOS system?

A computerized EPOS system is infinitely more flexible than a manual cash register. Maintenance of sales and inventory not only become easier, they will be more accurate as well. You can evaluate the performance of your business (for example, in terms of sales value, sales volume, profits, VAT, etc.) at the touch of a button. Since everything is centralized, maintaining multiple sale stations become much simpler. You do not have to program each cash station separately as in the case of old cash registers. With EPOS system it is possible to generate professional looking receipts, invoices and reports improving your business' image among customers. Very importantly, EPOS systems improve staff productivity and reduce waste and fraud.

With such flexibility and convenience, you can concentrate on your business, rather than on maintaining the cash registers!

3. Will an EPOS system be useful for a small business with one or two tills?

In a word, "YES". Because of its flexibility (as explained earlier), an EPOS system is much better than a manual cash register. This is true whether you have tens of sales stations or only one in your store.

4. Is it expensive to install and maintain an EPOS system?

The initial investment might appear to be high (Note: MaxPOS offers advanced high-quality EPOS systems at very low prices). However, the investment pays for itself by improving staff productivity and by reducing waste and fraud.

5. How much staff training is needed to familiarize with an EPOS system?

It varies by the software offered by different EPOS vendors.

Right from the beginning, MaxPOS software was designed with feedback from people who have been in the retail business for decades. MaxPOS was developed with ease of use and reliability as the two most important criteria.

With such design goals, about 30 minutes is enough to train your sales staff on MaxPOS. That is, your sales staff can operate a MaxPOS terminal and conduct sales in minutes. That cannot be said of EPOS systems from other vendors.

To train your management staff to maintain the MaxPOS system (to enter product information, maintain inventory, control staff and to obtain reports), about 3 hours of training is needed.

6. How should I select an EPOS system for use in my retail business?

Ease of use, speed, flexibility, reliability, upgradability and, of course, price should be the deciding factors.

The EPOS system should not slow down your sales process. This is especially important for small convenience stores where many customers purchase only one or two items. MaxPOS is designed to complete sales with the minimum number of keystrokes speeding up the sales process. MaxPOS is very intuitive to use, making it easier for your sales staff to learn.

Flexibility is an important concern as well. You should be able to modify different aspects of the EPOS system (for example, payment methods, returns, voids, etc.) according to your needs. MaxPOS offers such capability to the full extent. You control the system!

For growing businesses, upgradability is an important factor - When you business grows, the EPOS system has to grow with it. With MaxPOS, upgrading is a matter of plug & play.

Finally and very importantly, price is a major factor in deciding the EPOS system. We offer a highly affordable complete EPOS system with many advanced and unique features.