Epos Now is an extensive and compelling point of sale (POS) software that covers all the bases. It splits its offering into two distinct systems to cater to the operational and sales process requirements of traditional merchants and hospitality business owners. In this piece, we’ll be focusing on the latter that’s designed to support the unique needs of restaurants by offering specialized capabilities like table layouts, split bills, and a loyalty system. Epos Now lets you easily track and manage your inventory, set up customer promotions, and accept reservations, among other things. But it also has a few drawbacks, which include multi-year hardware leases, long-term service contracts, and chargeable customer support.
Epos Now Compared to the Best Restaurant POS Software
Admittedly, Epos Now isn’t as well-rounded as other restaurant POS software tools, which makes it worth trying out other options. Here are our top recommendations for the best restaurant POS software:
- Lavu facilitates fast service and accelerates ordering, resulting in happier customers. Explore discounted rates on plans with Lavu Cash Discount Program.
- Sapaad is the ultimate turnkey franchisee-specific POS solution that makes opening and managing multiple restaurants smooth and simple. Start your 14-day trial today.
- LoyVerse offers a customizable, full-fledged POS platform with an integrated CRM and a loyalty program to build a dedicated customer base. Sign up for the free software today.
Epos Now: The Good and The Bad
Just like any other software, Epos Now has both benefits and drawbacks. We’ll break them down in more detail below.
What Epos Now Is Good At
Epos Now has many things going for it that make the software a reliable restaurant POS software.
For starters, it’s an incredibly user-friendly platform that lets you manage hospitality operations and sales directly from the system. You also get access to several valuable features, including third-party integrations and reporting, to stay on top of things and deliver prompt customer service always. What’s more, Epos Now allows you to test the software in real time before making any sort of commitment.
Multiple test-drive options: No amount of research gives you a true feel of how a software works than the chance of trying it first-hand. Luckily, Epos Now offers a free demo to help you determine if it’s the right fit for your restaurant. If you’re still unsure after taking the demo, you can opt for the free trial to use it in real life.
Well-rounded hospitality features: One of the main things going for Epos Now is it’s packed with features to simplify and streamline operations in the hospitality industry. For instance, Table Management lets you create a table plan for your restaurant, allowing people to view charges and covers for each table, and Master Products help you track inventory for ingredients that go into every dish. Epos Now also integrates with third-party delivery services like Grubhub, DoorDash, and UberEats (via integration with Deliverect) keeping you on top of the online ordering and delivery. That’s not it—you can also reward loyal guests by distributing branded cards, thanks to the integrated loyalty system.
User-friendly UX: Epos Now has a sleek, straightforward interface that’s extremely simple to use. You can find and enter products using the optimized large buttons on the screen, the search bar, and the barcode scanner. Besides doing simple functions like applying discounts, even the more complicated actions like splitting orders into multiple forms of payment and spitting bills by item can be performed in a few clicks. You get a guided walkthrough on how to carry out basic operations to help you get started, regardless of the device you use. Overall, learning the ropes and training your staff in the system should be a relatively quick and painless process.
Solid reporting features: Epos Now offers a quick overview of all devices and locations and real-time reports that tell you about sales at each terminal in every store and show you various reports on products, sales, and employee performance, respectively. Thanks to a customizable dashboard, you can present all the info and features to your exact needs. Admittedly, none of these features are essential, but it’s a nice-to-have to better manage your restaurant business.
Top-notch security: Epos Now centralizes all restaurant operations in a single system, but that doesn’t mean you have to compromise security for convenience, as you can manage authorization levels to different parts of your back office. For instance, you can restrict cashiers from accessing anything but the till and allow managers to view and use inventory control features.
What Epos Now Is Lacking
Just like two sides of a coin, Epos Now also has its fair share of shortcomings, starting with a hefty price tag. This makes it infeasible for small-scale restaurants and other hospitality businesses. Other drawbacks include chargeable customer support and extra commitments to force the user into making a longer commitment.
Expensive and unclear pricing: Epos Now’s pricing is a little vague as not much info is available on its website. Reports suggest pricing starts from $39 per month, inclusive of software and hardware, plus a monthly support subscription that bumps your monthly total to $98 per month. If you want to purchase the complete package, it’ll cost you about $900 for the hardware, plus a $45 monthly price for the software. While Epos Now does offer seasonal discounts, the price point is still steeper than other POS providers.
Long commitments: Before committing to Epos Now, make sure you read the fine print. It states all users have to enter a three-year service contract, a 1-5 year hardware lease, and pay an additional $59 every month for “payments, care, and support subscriptions” (hence the $98 total monthly fee we mentioned above).
Pay-to-access customer support: Epos Now offers users diverse customer service and technical support options, including 1:1 onboarding, email support, phone support, live chat, and a ticketing system, but unlike with nearly every other platform we review here, this support is not free. Additionally, many users have voiced dissatisfaction with the customer support quality and availability, which is a huge red flag considering it’s a paid service.
Epos Now Options and Pricing
While Epos Now claims to not charge any hidden fees, the company’s pricing is confusing. We recommend contacting the sales team for a customized quote.
Here’s a complete breakdown of Epos Now’s main offerings:
Epos Now Retail POS
Epos Now offers several omnichannel selling options, multi-location inventory management, and a versatile POS solution to effectively meet your retail business’s needs. Its key features include:
- Centralized multi-site and omnichannel store management
- Real-time stock counts and drops
- Sales analytics to identify top-performing products and employees
- Ecommerce platform integration functionality
- Access to a suite of business automation apps for various business activities like bookkeeping, marketing, and payroll
Use it to easily build and manage your online presence and leverage real-time insights to stay ahead of the competition. Intelligent sales insights and innovative reporting help you make data-backed decisions.
Epos Now’s Retail solution caters to the following retail businesses:
- Barber Shop
- Liquor Store
- Electronics Store
- Convenience Store
- Gift Shop
- Vape Store
- Apparel Store
- Bike Shop
- Bookstore
- Car Wash
- Flower Shop
- Garden Center
- Golf Course
- Grocery Store
- Jewelry Store
- Nail Salon
- Pet Store
Epos Now offers a retail starter kit to help entrepreneurs build their businesses on strong foundations using its versatile retail POS hardware and software, starting at £74 or $84.
Epos Now Hospitality POS
Epos Now‘s hospitality POS system allows you to adapt and thrive, regardless of whether you’re offering on-site dining, takeaway, or delivery. It helps you get working faster and smarter by:
- Synchronizing your front and back office to boost sales and table turnover
- Having 24/7 access to data from any device
- Offering online ordering options to drive revenue
- Supporting all types of payments securely and quickly
- Increasing repeat business through CRM and promotions
Here are Epos Now’s targeted businesses:
- Delivery
- Bar
- Cafe
- Restaurant
- Quick Service
- Bakery
- Hotel
- Pizza Shop
You can also connect with major food delivery apps to create and meet demand and future proof of business with a multichannel solution.
With subscriptions starting from $99, Epos Now’s hospitality starter kit is specially designed to help you scale your business.
Epos Now Payments
Epos Now also strives to simplify payment processing for businesses.
Seamlessly integrate Payments into your POS to get everything from a single portal, managed by one provider. Use it to offer customers their preferred payment option to boost sales and accept payments at a fixed rate.
You can easily keep up with customer demand by accepting the most wanted payment options on the market, along with other benefits like:
- Chip and pin payments reduce fraud by adding another layer of security to all transactions
- Contactless payments offer customers a faster, more convenient checkout process
- Remote payments over the phone
Access to detailed payment reports makes it easier to track all the transactions at the touch of a button and a full overview of cash flow and simplified bookkeeping to eliminate human error and prevent costly mistakes.
Epos Now in Summary
Overall, Epos Now is a decent option for restaurant POS software. It offers tons of amazing features to streamline restaurant operations and sales—and, in turn, deliver excellent service to customers that ultimately help boost revenue.
However, hard-to-ignore cons like an expensive price tag and chargeable customer support make it better to try out other top-performing software like Lavu, Sapaad, and LoyVerse. Check our top picks for the best restaurant POS software to learn more.
