Contents
In summary
What is it?
Our opinion
In brief
Pricing
Checkout flow
POS features
Payments and hardware
Cash advances
Integrations
Service and reviews
What is Epos Now?
As a modular electronic point of sale (EPOS) system, Epos Now lets merchants pick their till equipment and software package to suit their size and type of business. The solution is available not just in the UK, but also in Ireland and many other countries.
The core of the product is the POS software, which can be purchased upfront or paid for monthly. It needs an internet connection with some features available offline.
Its Hospitality and Retail EPOS work on iPad, Android or Windows devices. If you don't have a device, Epos Now offers a sturdy PC touchscreen designed for busy checkouts alongside accessories included in the package. It was previously possible to use the till screen in computer browsers, but Epos Now has started to require that you download an app.
What about payments? The solution uses Epos Now Payments for a fixed rate per transaction, unless you integrate with an external processor.
In other words, you get the whole package with Epos Now – if you can afford it and can commit to at least a year. Is it worth it? Let's have a look at the product in detail.
Compared with other comprehensive POS systems I've tested, Epos Now is the most versatile for businesses that have both a retail section and restaurant area. It also generally has all you need – stock management, card payments and ordering functions included.
Emily Sorensen, Senior Editor at Mobile Transaction
Our opinion: good all-round POS for most setups
Epos Now is a well-rounded POS system for small-to-medium-sized startups looking for a complete system to run their stock and sales functions.
It benefits from being an "all-in-one" platform with built-in payments and hardware packages (both optional), but is easily expandable with additional software integrations or add-on apps built by Epos Now.
A newly started business might want to consider the long-term cost and contract of the packages, though. While the startup cost initially appears low, you can end up committing to several years' subscriptions, possibly with the need to add on features with separate additional costs.
| Epos Now criteria | Rating | Conclusion |
|---|---|---|
| Product | 4 | Good |
| Costs and fees | 3.7 | Passable/Good |
| Transparency and sign-up | 3.2 | Passable |
| Value-added services | 4.2 | Good |
| Service and reviews | 3.5 | Passable/Good |
| Contract | 2.7 | Bad/Passable |
| OVERALL SCORE | 3.7 | Passable/Good |
| Epos Now criteria |
Rating | Conclusion |
|---|---|---|
| Product | 4 | Good |
| Costs and fees | 3.7 | Passable/Good |
| Transparency and sign-up | 3.2 | Passable |
| Value-added services | 4.2 | Good |
| Service and reviews | 3.5 | Passable/Good |
| Contract | 2.7 | Bad/Passable |
| OVERALL SCORE | 3.7 | Passable/Good |
The customer support of the company is not great unless you subscribe to the paid service module. Other POS systems usually include full support for all subscribers.
The till software is pretty standard, but sufficiently adaptable for restaurants, retailers and specialist businesses that sell in person. It can be a bit slow and less user-friendly at times, but the amount of back office features and customisations shows that it's serious about business.
Despite the shortcomings, we've seen a real interest in Epos Now from small hospitality and mixed businesses such as pubs with accommodation or retailers with a food-and-drink section. The versatility of the EPOS, custom hardware packages and integrations seem to all help towards the success of the product.
Costs and fees
There's no fixed pricing for Epos Now, only a tailored package with upfront and monthly costs depending on your preferred features.
What we can say is there's no software plan below £50 monthly that is likely to meet all your needs. Customer support requires a £25 per month add-on on top of any EPOS plan. You are otherwise left to your own devices if issues occur or you need support.
Epos Now pricing:
| Epos Now fees | |
|---|---|
| Contract lock-in | 1 month – 3 years |
| POS software subscription | From £50 + VAT/month |
| Add-on feature modules | From £14 + VAT/month per add-on |
| Hardware bundles | From £249 + VAT Shipping from £9.99 + VAT |
| Epos Now Payments (integrated with EPOS) | Quote required |
| Epos Now Payments Lite (standalone terminal) | Visa, Mastercard, Diners Club, Discover: 1.5% per transaction Amex, JCB, UnionPay: 2.5% per transaction Card machine: £15 + VAT/month or £179 + VAT upfront |
Hardware packages normally start from £249 + VAT upfront, but they are sometimes on offer for less than £100. You can choose packages with a checkout touchscreen, cash drawer, receipt printer and accessories relevant to your industry. Just beware that the hardware offers usually come with a longer contract than if you paid full price, e.g. 2 years' lock-in instead of 1 year.
If you opt for Epos Now's own card machines and payment system, you pay different rates and terminal costs depending on your setup. A card machine integrated with your Epos Now checkout requires a quote from the company.
An independent card machine (Epos Now Payments Lite plan) costs £179 + VAT upfront or £15 + VAT monthly. Both of these options have an annual contract rolling into a monthly contract after the first year.
Card transactions on Lite cost 1.5% for Visa, Mastercard, Diners Club and Discover and 2.5% for other cards. Custom rates are available through negotiation if you accept over £10k monthly.
See also: Compare POS systems for food and drink
Checkout interface
Perhaps the most important aspect of a till is the checkout interface.
Epos Now opts for a standard screen layout with a product overview on the left and tab on the right. Products can be hierarchically organised into categories like Brunch, Mains or Soft Drinks. Each food item has room for modifiers, notes and discounts, and every tab can be allocated to a table, customer or order.
Image: Mobile Transaction
The interface has a universally understood layout, with some button text almost too small to read.
Our experience of the software
We tested the software on iPad, where it is a bit slow to load when navigating between settings and the frontend till interface. Since our first test a few years ago, the app has become quicker.
The master login screen used to have a small chat popup that felt like a nuisance (like the Epos Now website which has chronic popup offers and chats appearing on every page), but after passing this hurdle, a list of user accounts allows staff to log in with a PIN. The till screen itself is free of clutter and impromptu popups.
On a tablet, the Back Office occasionally leads you to pages where you can't return to the main account, e.g. when going to the Web Store to order accessories like barcode labels or a terminal stand. You might also have to exit the app completely and reenter to get any further, if landing on an error page.
Image: Mobile Transaction
The payment methods as shown in the Epos Now app.
Customisation options okay, but accessibility could be issue
Within the app, you can adjust a few workflow settings like whether you must select a tab or table to create a new order. Setting up the inventory library, categories, staff, table plan etc. is done in the backend Back Office account accessible through the app or in a web browser on a computer, where it may be easier to type.
Unfortunately, we could't increase the font size of important buttons in the till app. This is a major accessibility downside, since more than a few buttons and information text are written in very small fonts that people with poor vision would struggle to read.
App updates could be more frequent
Once or twice a month, Epos Now releases new app updates with software improvements and new feature launches. This is great for incremental improvements, but not for technical glitches and certain usability problems preventing some users from enjoying the system in the here-and-now.
POS features
Two main point of sale (POS) apps are presented on the website: Epos Now Retail or Hospitality.
As the names imply, features are tailored to the industries retail or food and drink, but they are not actually two different EPOS systems – they're the same general till software plus features for each industry, which may include add-on modules that increase the monthly cost.
Some packages are overtly geared towards pharmacists, car washes, takeaways and others, but when you try the software, you see they are essentially the same system with additional apps supporting your specific needs. This is very different from competing retail- and hospitality-focused EPOS systems where the whole experience of the software is designed specifically for one sector.
General features in all packages
Some of the general, included features relevant to most businesses are:
- Till screen with a grid layout showing categories and products to add to the bill
- Payment methods including cards, cash, gift vouchers and custom tenders
- Petty cash, no sale, tipping and refund functions
- Discounts and promotions
- Different VAT rates
- Multi-location management
- Pop-up alerts on the till screen
- Custom end-of-day reports
Hospitality features
The Hospitality package includes customisable table plans with seating, menus and courses, modifiers and optional add-ons like a Kitchen Display System (KDS) and a Order & Pay system for table-side ordering.
You can request a handheld smart POS terminal for taking orders on the floor, connected to the till system.
Image: Mobile Transaction
The app has a visual overview of open tabs showing table numbers and order details.
Retail features
The Retail package lets you put unlimited products into orderly categories, track inventory counts and receive stock alerts when running low.
Having worked in retail, I felt the stock functions with its many item details were completely intuitive to use. If you're dealing with many products, this would be an advantage for a team, especially for the relatively low startup cost of Epos Now.
Importing products from a spreadsheet requires an add-on, though, as would an integration with your online store if selling online.
Image: Mobile Transaction
Epos Now's Back Office, product management section.
Hardware
Whatever your package, the till system works on your preferred tablet system (not conventional computers) both online and offline – though not all features can function offline.
The PC touchscreen offered in Epos Now's hardware package is the best option for food-and-drink locations, since it is built for dirty, busy environments. It has a slot on the side for swiping staff ID cards, which can't be said of commercial tablets.
Card machines and POS equipment
Epos Now users can integrate with card machines from Paymentsense, Global Payments, Retail Merchant Services (RMS) and Worldpay.
But really, most businesses are encouraged to use Epos Now Payments through a card machine that Epos Now rents out for a minimum of £15 + VAT per month. This is similar to terminal rental costs of other merchant service providers.
You can take a pick between three terminals:
- "Link" card machine: Verifone P400 model with a physical PIN pad, linked (Ethernet or WiFi) to your till. This is 3 times faster at processing card payments than a standalone card terminal.
- "Pro" terminal: Standalone, handheld smart POS terminal (wireless via 4G or WiFi) with a large touchscreen that includes portable POS software and card payments. With a long-life battery.
- "Air" card reader: Independent, pocket-sized card machine with a touchscreen and WiFi connectivity (no 4G).
There is also a fixed rate of 1.5% for card machine transactions with a Visa, Mastercard, Diners Club and Discover card. UnionPay, American Express or JCB cards incur a higher rate.
Those with a high enough card turnover can get custom rates that work out cheaper.
Epos Now Capital a possible financing option
Users who have been accepting any card payments through the Epos Now system can apply for a cash advance between £1,000 and £1 million. Eligibility and amount offered depend on your card turnover history that has to be above £1,500 per month over the last 3 months at least.
Subject to approval, the cash advance is provided within 48 hours and repaid through an agreed percentage of your card payments accepted online, through Epos Now Payments or via another card machine integration in Epos Now. For example, 20% may be your repayment rate deducted from every card transaction on a pay-as-you-go basis.
Integrations
Not only can Epos Now adapt to many types of businesses, it also integrates with external software for tools beyond the point of sale.
This includes software for:
- Accounting (e.g. QuickBooks, Sage, Xero)
- Business management (e.g. Microsoft Dynamics, Zapier)
- Customer loyalty (e.g. LoyaltyDog, VoucherCart)
- Ecommerce (e.g. BigCommerce, Shopify)
- Food delivery (e.g. Deliverect, Mr Yum)
- Marketing (e.g. MailChimp, Facebook Shops)
- Scheduling (e.g. Appointedd Online Booking)
- Staff management (e.g. Deputy, Workforce.com)
Many of the app options are built by Epos Now, proving the platform is versatile on its own – if you don't mind downloading and possibly paying extra per app. Some users have pointed out that even features regarded as essential are not by default included in the EPOS system, so you have to download the app for it.
For example, you have to get a Bulk Import app to bulk-import inventory in a CSV spreadsheet. This app is free only during the Epos Now trial period, after which you are charged £15 per month for it.
Image: Mobile Transaction
Epos Now integrations.
There are specialised software options for industries like hotels, tanning salons and chemists, but options are not extensive so you should check with Epos Now for particular needs requiring a certain integration.
Customer service and reviews
The availability and quality of customer support at Epos Now depends a lot on whether you have the Support add-on module for £25 + VAT per month. Without it, you only get basic onboarding help and email support when required.
The Support module includes telephone support that's prioritised (compared with the free email support), unlimited training and help with onboarding, monthly new software features, and next-day faulty terminal replacement that may incur a £75 + VAT excess fee.
We've seen a mixed bag of Epos Now reviews, which usually means they're neither excellent nor terrible. Many customers have talked about a poor or messy service, lack of communication, delayed delivery of equipment and difficulties or cost of cancelling. Several people also talk about the software being slow and not intuitive to use, which we can confirm to a large extent.
There's an online Support Centre accessed through the Back Office, but it is very incomplete and hard to navigate. On iPad, the top navigation menu isn't responsive, and there was no way to go back after viewing a help page, so you just have to leave the app and start all over again to view another page.
On the whole, the help pages do not cover many issues, so you end up being forced to contact Epos Now anyway if your question isn't answered.
