Most café owners choose a POS system once, in a hurry, and then live with it for years. The demo looks fine, the monthly price looks fine, and the problems only show up on a busy Saturday or when the contract comes up for renewal.
This is the checklist we would use if we were buying one for a small café in the UK. It applies to any provider, including us.
Start with how your café actually sells
Before you look at a single brochure, write down how money comes in on a normal day. For most small cafés that is some mix of:
- Counter sales: coffee and cake, card and some cash.
- Table service: guests who sit down and order more than once.
- Takeaway: a queue at the counter at 8am and at lunch.
- Online or phone orders for collection or delivery.
A POS that is brilliant at one of these and awkward at the one you do most is the wrong POS. A grab-and-go coffee bar needs a fast counter till above everything. A brunch café with twelve tables needs table numbers, open bills and a way for the kitchen to see what is waiting.
Test the till, not the feature list
Every provider has a long feature list. What matters is how fast a barista can ring up "two flat whites, one oat, a croissant to take away" with a queue watching. Ask for a trial and do these on a real device:
- Ring up your ten most common orders. Count the taps. Options such as milk, size and extra shots should be one tap each, not a hunt through sub-menus.
- Take a card payment and a cash payment, and give change.
- Refund one item and see who is allowed to do it.
- Mark something sold out and check it disappears everywhere it is sold.
- Close the day: count the drawer and see whether the system tells you if you are over or short.
If any of these feels slow in a quiet trial, it will feel worse at the morning rush.
Know what the card payments really cost
Card processing is usually your largest running cost after staff and stock, and it is easy to misread. Ask each provider:
- Who processes the payments, and are you the merchant?
- What is the rate for in-person card payments, and for premium or international cards?
- Is the processing rate separate from any platform fee or commission on top?
- When does the money reach your bank?
Some POS packages tie you to their own card processing. Others let you use a card machine you already have and simply record the payment on the till. Neither is wrong, but you should know which you are signing up to.
Check the hardware before you buy any
Ask whether the software runs on equipment you already own: an iPad, an Android tablet or a laptop. Then ask about anything extra:
- Card reader: bought or rented, and from whom?
- Receipt and kitchen printers: which models are supported?
- Cash drawer: does the till open it, or does someone use a key?
- Kitchen screen: does it need its own device?
Renting hardware on a long contract can cost more over a few years than buying it outright. Bought hardware that only works with one provider makes it harder to leave.
Ask what happens when the internet drops
Many modern POS systems are cloud-based, which means updates, reports and menu changes happen everywhere at once. The trade-off is that they need a connection. Ask plainly whether the till works offline, what happens to a sale in progress if the Wi-Fi drops, and what the provider suggests as a backup. A 4G router with a backup SIM is a common answer.
Read the contract like it will go wrong
Look for the minimum term, the notice period and any early-exit charge. Then ask what you can take with you when you leave: sales history, your menu, and the contact details of customers who agreed to hear from you. A rolling monthly subscription with no setup fee is easier to walk away from than a cheaper-looking deal tied to three years.
Don't pay for modules you won't use
A small café rarely needs stock control with supplier ordering, multi-site reporting and table bookings on day one. Ask whether you can start on a smaller plan and add features later without moving to another system. If you are weighing up the jargon as well, our guide to EPOS vs till vs POS explains what each term usually means.
Where Café QR fits
Café QR is a cloud POS with QR ordering built in. It runs in a browser on a tablet, phone or laptop. The till takes cash and card, with Stripe card readers in the UK or your own card machine recorded as a card payment, and cash-up and reports show whether the drawer is over or short at close. If the internet drops, the till keeps taking cash (and your own payment types) and uploads those sales when it's back; card payments, tabs and manager approvals wait for the connection, and table QR and online ordering need one. Honest limits: it does not open a cash drawer.
The POS plan is £39 per venue per month and includes the till, waiter app, tabs, floor plan, table bookings, a self-order kiosk and cash-up, with 5 staff logins. If you only want guests to order and pay from the table, Order & Pay is £9.99. There is no setup fee, no contract and no commission on orders, and the first month is free with no card needed. See the café POS page, compare plans on pricing, or check us against other providers in our UK POS comparison.