An ePOS (electronic point of sale) system combines your till, card payments, stock control, and reporting in one place. The right one depends less on the headline rate and more on how it fits your floor, your team, and the tools you already use. We help you compare suitable providers - from Lightspeed, Epos Now, and Square to Shopify POS, Zettle, and ICRTouch - with a clearer view of total cost, integration, contract terms, and day-to-day fit.
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Most ePOS setups fall into one of three shapes. The right one depends on the size of your floor, what you sell, and whether the till needs to plug into other systems.
A single device combining the till screen, card reader, and receipt printer. Quick to set up and easy for staff to learn.
A tablet running ePOS software, paired with a separate card reader, cash drawer, and printer. Modular and easier to customise as you grow.
A central system running across several tills, kitchen displays, handhelds, or sites. Built for hospitality, larger retail, and multi-site operators.
Different businesses need different things from an ePOS system. Floor layout, stock complexity, and how customers order all shape the right setup more than the headline transaction rate.
Independent stores, salons, off-licences, and convenience shops. Stock control, barcode scanning, and quick checkout matter most. Most retailers do well on a tablet-based or all-in-one ePOS - the choice usually comes down to whether you need deep stock features or just speed at the till.
Hospitality venues taking orders at tables, behind the bar, or at a counter. Look for table mapping, modifiers, kitchen printer or screen support, split bills, and tab handling. A multi-terminal setup starts to earn its place once you have more than one ordering station.
Businesses with several locations, a busy back office, or a growing online ordering channel. Centralised reporting, stock visibility across sites, and integrations with accounting and online ordering matter as much as the till itself.
The total cost of an ePOS system isn't just the headline transaction rate. Expect to pay across four areas.
Headline rates are easy to advertise. Total cost depends on the number of tills, your monthly volume, the modules you actually use, and how the software and payments contracts are structured. We help you compare on total commercial fit, not just the rate.
A good ePOS system does more than ring through a sale. The right one fits how your team actually works, integrates cleanly with payments, and doesn't lock you into one provider for longer than the software stays useful.
Some ePOS systems bundle the acquirer; others let you bring your own. Bundles can be simpler at sign-up but limit competition on transaction rates later. Check what you're committing to on each layer before you sign.
Accounting software, online ordering, delivery aggregators, loyalty, and stock control. The right ePOS plugs into the tools you already use rather than forcing your team into a separate workflow.
Daily takings, stock movement, staff sales, and - where relevant - consolidated reporting across sites. This quietly decides whether the system saves admin time or adds to it.
When the till freezes during the lunch rush, response time matters more than rate. Check support hours, replacement timelines, and whether there's a named account contact rather than a shared queue.
The right setup depends on your floor layout, transaction volume, and whether you need the till to do more than take payments.
| Setup | Often suits | Watch out for | Merchant Advice view |
|---|---|---|---|
| All-in-one ePOS terminal | Small retail, takeaways, and traders upgrading from a standalone card reader. | Bundled acquirer that limits payment provider choice. Limited reporting depth - check before signing. | A practical first route when speed and simplicity beat feature depth. |
| Tablet-based ePOS | Independent retail, cafes, salons, hair and beauty. | Software licence cost per till. Hardware reliability varies - check warranty terms before committing. | Usually the best balance of cost, flexibility, and feature depth for single-site businesses. |
| Multi-terminal ePOS | Restaurants, larger retail, and multi-site operators. | Longer contracts, harder to migrate, and higher monthly fees - especially per-till software licensing. | Earns its place when ePOS is central to the operation rather than a glorified till. |
Going direct means you only see one route - and ePOS quotes often combine hardware, software, and payments in a way that makes them hard to compare. We put suitable providers side-by-side so you can judge fit, total cost, and contract terms before a single sales process narrows it for you.
We're not tied to one ePOS brand or acquirer. We recommend the setup that fits your business - not the one that pays us best.
We help you push back on the first offer - on transaction rates, software licences, contract length, hardware costs, and minimum monthly fees.
Already on a contract? We help you check exit fees, data export, hardware return obligations, and parallel-running so switching doesn't interrupt trade.
Been declined, had an account closed, or trade in a sector providers review more closely - late-night hospitality, high-ticket retail, or chargeback-prone categories? We work with specialist acquirers who underwrite properly.
Tell us about your business, the volume going through the till, and what's bothering you about your current setup. We'll come back with two or three suitable providers and a plain-English view of total cost, software licences, and contract terms.