A retail till system is a product catalogue, a scanner, a printer and a card terminal, held together by software licensed monthly. Published tiers run from free to about 200 pounds a month per till. What separates them is stock: ordering, receiving, counting and transferring, which is usually two steps above the entry level.
Stock is what you are paying for
Every tier holds a product list. Only the paid ones manage purchase orders against reorder points, receive deliveries, run stock takes and transfer between sites. Loyverse prices advanced inventory as a monthly add-on per store rather than a tier, which is often cheaper for a shop that needs stock and nothing else.
The counter build
A screen, a receipt printer, a cash drawer, a scanner and a card terminal. EPOS Direct publishes indicative bands for a touchscreen terminal, a thermal printer and a barcode scanner, which is the fairest published check on what a bundled quote is charging for hardware. A tablet based build costs materially less than a dedicated terminal and is what most current suppliers sell.
Testing it on your own stock
Scan five of your own products including one the system has never seen, sell a mixed basket with a discount, add a line at the counter, print a shelf label and pull the network out. A supplier who does all five on your goods has thought about shops. One who demos a clean catalogue has thought about software.
Questions people ask about retail till system
How much is a retail till system in the UK?
Software tiers run from free to about 200 pounds a month per till, with stock control usually above the entry level. Hardware is a few hundred pounds for a tablet based counter on the published component bands.
Does a retail till system include stock control?
Not at the entry tier in most cases. Some suppliers price inventory as a monthly add-on instead, which can be cheaper than a full tier upgrade.
What hardware does a shop till need?
A screen, a receipt printer, a cash drawer, a barcode scanner and a card terminal. Everything beyond that is trade specific and should be justified by a task it removes.