Epos systems for the food and drink industry

If you’re looking to buy an Epos system for the food and drink industry, there are several key features to consider that can affect your decision.

With the growing independent food and drink industry in the UK, the focus for Epos systems is shifting towards a more dynamic, mobile service over a static terminal.

Tablet-based ordering systems have become very popular, with customers sending their orders straight to kitchens from highly visual menus.

This increases efficiency and eliminates errors, and customisable interfaces are popular choices for restaurants looking to hammer home their brand.

Popular providers are for example:

• Zettle Go
• SumUp POS
• Square POS
• PayPal POS
• Epos Now

Best POS systems

Working offline

If you’re planning to work on the go, you might want to consider being able to work offline, as this helps with pop-ups who regularly visit sites with intermittent WiFi.

Even full till systems and receipt printers now have either scaled down, portable alternatives, offering their interfaces on iPads and Android tablets.

Tax compliance

All the main Epos systems are compliant with the new UK government regulations, known as Making Tax Digital.

After 1st April 2019, all VAT returns must be submitted digitally. Bearing this in mind, a cloud-based option will smooth the path to immediate compliance without much of a transition headache. These also tend to be easy to use.

Costs

Costs vary amongst the different Epos systems. You can pick up a basic cloud-based system for a little over £20 a month, but for full terminal setups, Epos systems can cost up to £50 a month, or over £1000 for a one-off service. Obviously, this increases with the amount of terminals you need. But in the main, portability has improved and the possibility for customer interaction is greatly streamlining payment in busy food and drink environments, and this will only improve as the technology develops.

You may also like:

• Epos Systems for the retail industry
• Epos Systems for the hospitality industry

Top image: Jacob Lund | Shutterstock