One of the most complicated, and potentially expensive, choices that you will make for your new retail business are in the area of software. The array of options is dazzling and can be confusing. You can get software which will manage your stock, your website if you have one and look after your accounting.

An EPoS system or electronic point of sale is the most convenient system to use for retail. Barcodes make inventory control much easier by making physical counts manageable, especially if you have a lot of stock. You can combine the benefits of a cash register till with those of retail technology with an EPoS system. Although the investment for this system is big, it does make a huge difference to the efficiency of your business.

The following features are what you can use if you choose not to implement EPoS into your business.

A database for inventory management and spreadsheets for accounting are the two main functions. If you use something like Excel to do your spreadsheets ion then it will be a huge drag on your time. And if you have not done spreadsheets before I would not leave it to starting up your business to learn.

That is why all-in-one packages are better. There are already packages available that are aimed at the retail market. Choosing a package that does almost as much as an EPoS system will mean you pay more. Be honest and think about how many customers will visit you on a weekly basis. For businesses which sell large expensive items that only a few get sold every week, they can afford to use a small package that consists of one machine. The sale itself can be rung up on a cash register till. Then you can record the sale on your computer once the customer leaves.

You will need more software if you sell many different items. A simple till will not record the details of each sale as they happen so you need a more advanced accounting system. However this still will not take credit card sales or track staff actions.