A till system is a computerised replacement for a cash register: it holds your products and prices, records every sale, takes the card payment and reports the day. UK suppliers charge for it monthly per till, from nothing at the entry tiers to about 200 pounds a month for multi channel packages, plus the hardware it runs on.
What a digital till replaces
A cash register, a notebook, and an evening spent reconciling. The till knows the price so nobody types it twice, produces a day end report rather than a reconstruction, and can tell you what sold rather than only what was taken. For a business with staff those three are usually worth more than the licence fee within a month.
Where the money goes
Software monthly per till, hardware once, and card acceptance as a percentage. EPOS Direct publishes indicative bands for a sole trader, a single till shop and a multi lane retailer, which is a useful reality check when a supplier quotes a bundle. If a quote is far above those bands, the difference is service and financing, and it is fair to ask for it itemised.
Till rental UK offers: renting a till system against buying it
Till rental in the UK is mostly sold as a bundled subscription rather than a short term hire: the hardware comes with the software, you pay monthly and a minimum term applies. Epos Now's Android POS system page prints 399 pounds plus VAT for the hardware with 59 pounds a month on top, and Epos Now attaches its discounted bundles to a twelve month subscription. Put the monthly figure over the whole term before comparing it with buying a tablet and paying for the software alone, and ask what the hardware is worth if you leave.
When a simple register beats an electronic till system
A market stall doing cash and a card reader, a pop up, or a single operator with twenty products does not need a till system and will not use it. The test is whether you have staff, stock or more than one register. If none of those is true, a card reader and a notebook genuinely is cheaper, and the licence fee is buying nothing.
Questions people ask about till system UK
How much does a till system cost in the UK?
Software tiers run from free to about 200 pounds a month per site. Hardware is a few hundred pounds for a tablet based build, and EPOS Direct publishes indicative component and business size bands for a full counter.
Is a digital till system worth it for a small shop?
Once you have staff or stock to control, usually yes. For a single operator with a short product list, a card reader and good records will do the same job for nothing.
Does a till system include the card machine?
Frequently, and the card rate is then part of the software contract. Ask for the rate separately so you can compare it against the published shelf, which runs from 0.79% to 1.75% for in-person acceptance.
What does a POS till system cost against a plain cash till?
Three lines rather than one: software monthly per till, hardware once, and card acceptance as a percentage of what you take. A cash register has none of the monthly cost, and none of the stock, staff or day end reporting either. The comparison is only fair if you price the reporting you would otherwise do by hand.
Is a till system for cafe counters different from a shop till?
The same software, specified differently. A cafe needs modifiers, open tabs and fast repeat sales; a shop needs barcodes, stock lines and shelf labels. Both are standard on most tiers, so the question at the demo is which one the supplier makes quick rather than which one it can do at all.