What would I do to make my EPOS System work for me?
A large part of my job is to help clients to get the most out of their EPOS systems. My experience is that most of the problems they are encountering can be traced back to the original set up.
The four areas that go on to cause the biggest issues within a retailer are:
- Department Structure
- Time Periods
- Customer Rewards Scheme
- Stock control
I have elaborated my experiences below, along with a solution to each one.
These are the four things I’d focus on when setting up a new EPOS system with a client. This is important in order to maximise the benefit to them of investing in an EPOS system.
This article refers to a new system setup. However, you can adopt it onto your system at any time – though it requires a little more effort retrospectively…..
Department Structure:
Set up your departments as customers see them, not as you do internally.
I see many product hierarchies (department structures) that can be misleading to a customer.
A common classification is that Tomatoes are a fruit (botanically). But a Customer would expect to see them merchandised in Salad, not fruit.
I have seen Tomatoes coded as a fruit in a department structure

So products should be coded as a customer would expect – customers aren’t always right, but if you want them to buy from you, they need to understand what’s where in your shop.
So are your Tomatoes a Fruit or a Salad Item?
The other common approach is to group a department based on the business’s reporting needs. Whilst there is nothing wrong per se with this approach, it can hide customer purchasing trends. A client used to code their sausage rolls (sold off the deli counter) as a Butchery item. Why? – because the butcher made it.
They don’t group like that any more! Because this mix of Butchery and Deli products was concealing an issue with Butchery sales. The issue was small, but significant. They were blind to it until I’d done some digging to get a more “pure” read on the Butchery counter.
The solution to their reporting needs was to use all the fields available to them (and You) in the product hierarchy on their system. There are many fields that you can populate to give you different slices through the data.
We re-coded the sausage rolls as a Deli product (based on where it was sold from), but set the supplier as “Butchery”. This way they got a report on the total Butchery counter performance (a report on “Butchery” department). And then to see how the Butchery wages are being covered (by the products they produced), they now simply simply run a “Butchery” supplier report (which includes everything produced / supplied by the Butchery inc the Sausage rolls)
Time Periods:
Keep It SimpleS (KISS)
Surely a calendar month is simple – No? Let’s have a look….

January doesn’t have the same number of days as February. That’s OK if you are looking at January, year on year.
But the differences in days contained in any month make any linear view on performance (Jan – Feb – Mar) difficult to compare – it’s Apples with pears.
Even year on year there are limitations. If the last day of a month fell on a Saturday this year, it will fall on a Thursday last year (if there’s a leap year), or a Friday if not.
So it’s possible, to be in a position whereby you are comparing a period with five Saturdays’ trade to a period containing four – baking in differences that will skew your view.
So what’s the simplest approach?
There are 52 weeks in the year. This means there are thirteen, equal four week periods in a given year. The International standard of week numbering starts on the first Monday in a calendar year. So “week 1” in any year covers the first Monday to Sunday of that year – irrespective of the year, so no date dodging is required, you are always seeing the same period relative to the start of the year. OK there are one (or two) extra days that are not covered – but these will usually be at the very start or end of a given year, when most Farm Shops are closed (or at least less busy).
So by moving to 13 consistent and equal periods, each period starts on a Monday and are not affected by leap years etc Bank Holidays will also align to weeks (and therefore periods). So all periods can be compared year on year, or linearly. This is particularly useful when trying to compare regular metrics, such as wages, as each period covers an equal period
Now that’s more simple isn’t it.
Rewards Scheme
Loyalty Schemes are Pointless!
Don’t set up a “loyalty” scheme giving your customers points. I’m not saying you don’t want loyal customers. What I’m saying is that no matter what your EPOS supplier tells you, a points scheme won’t make your customers any more loyal. Why?
- Do you know how “loyal” they were before you gave them a card? No.
- By it’s nature, a points scheme is generally only attractive to your top spending customers. These are likely to be your more loyal customers anyway. But they are also quite a small subset of your total customer base
- A points scheme does not drive increased spend – Fact
- Customers hold their points (creating a large accrual on your P&L sheet) and if they do spend them, they spend them at Christmas (when you least want them redeemed…)

Every retailer I know that has a points only scheme is bemoaning it – As are their customers……
Instead, I’d set up a rewards scheme. A rewards scheme actively encourages / entices customers to spend differently. If they do, they get a reward. Points have been replaced by rewards in High Street Retailers and now customers are expecting rewards everywhere they shop – including with you.
Every retailer I have switched from Points to Rewards has seen an uplift in cardholder revenue and scheme members – i.e. more people, spending more (happily)………now that’s what we all want.
To find out more, read our view on Loyalty Here
Stock Control
Do I know how much stock I have vs what I need for this week?
For some Farm Shops, the prospect of undertaking a stock count is daunting – “I’ll have to close the shop to count everything”, so it doesn’t happen. The issue is that it has become a massive job because they’ve never done one. Had they started as the system was installed, it would be more manageable now.
The functionality built into a good EPOS system should make a stock count a simple process, particularly if you start stocktaking from day 1. The benefits to an accurate stock count are many, but the key ones are listed below:
- Take the guesswork out of ordering – your system should tell you how much you need to order to keep the shelves full between orders – no lost sales through out of stocks and a shorter, more accurate ordering process.
- How much wastage do you have – wastage eats into profits, and if you’re not measuring it, nothing changes.
- Track supplier returns – is a supplier frequently providing you damaged products? You’ll only know accurately if you are tracking goods in vs goods sold.

So I’d encourage every retailer to run stock takes from day 1. If you’re later than that in your EPOS journey then start small (with a (sub) department stock take) and work out/ round the shop from there – you don’t need to eat the elephant all at once….
Summary:
I hope that, if nothing else, these thoughts confirm that you are happy with your current EPOS system set up. But if you’ve got here and you’re not happy, then I hope the article gives you some areas to help you improve your business processes.
Time spent now on properly setting up (or re-setting) your EPOS system will reap time and revenue dividends in the future.
If you have any thoughts or would like some help, please reach out.
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