Epos Now

Epos Now POS Review

Updated as of June, 2023

My Epos Now review provides an extensive assessment of the various components and features available in this UK-based POS provider. If you’re trying to upgrade your current system, it’s critical to choose the platform that’s best suited to your restaurant. Can Epos Now help you improve your business for your staff and customers? It’s time to find out!

Overview of Epos Now

Epos Now is a UK-based point of sale provider for retail and hospitality that has grown rapidly in recent years. In fact, the company is one of the fastest-growing technology companies in the United Kingdom. At present, the company is still privately owned — it first opened its doors in 2011. With over 30,000 businesses in 109 countries, it’s safe to say that Epos Now is a popular service.

The system provides you with access to a broad range of retail and restaurant-specific features. While the company does offer a retail option, this review will examine the features available in the hospitality POS platform and restaurant management system. The company also has an extensive integration list that you can use to improve the platform via third-party applications.

Epos Now POS software is accessible on a broad range of hardware devices — you can bring your own or purchase hardware directly from the company. The various touchscreen devices available allow you and your staff to perform quick transactions. Table-side ordering and on-the-go POS features make this a great solution for quick-service restaurants.

Let’s dive into the finer details surrounding this product!

Pros vs Cons

Pricing

Epos Now claims you can purchase an entire point of sale system (with tons of hardware devices and features) directly through the company for as little as $449. So you can purchase the hardware and software upfront for $449, but it appears you will still pay $59 per month for the subscription fee for the life of your contract.

Alternatively, you can opt to pay $39 per month for the software and hardware, but you still have to pay the monthly support subscription that puts your monthly total at $98 per month.

Prices rise if you want additional stations or access to hardware systems directly through the company. Regardless, it’s great to see that Epos Now is fairly transparent about its pricing model — you don’t find this with all point of sale providers online.

But be sure to read the fine print. On their sales page, it states, “The monthly payment rate you’re offered may differ from the representative rate shown and will be based on your Company’s financial information and your personal circumstances, the loan amount and the repayment term. The lease advertised here is available over terms of between 1 to 5 years.”

Below, let’s take a closer look at the pricing information associated with Epos Now:

Epos Now Cost

Pay Upfront at $449 or $39 per month. These prices are currently discounted.

*Discounted price requires payment processing, care, and support subscription at $59 per month.

• Monthly subscription $98
• Hardware for 1 Terminal
• Software
• Unlimited menu items and variations
• All POS Features
• Software updates
• Security updates
• Unlimited users
• Access to cloud reporting
• Installation, configuration, and training

Overall, the pricing model at Epos Now is relatively affordable. But it must be said there are more affordable options on the market if you’re working with a small budget. For instance, Harbortouch offers a complete POS system with only a 1-year contract starting at only $29 per month. You can read our full Harbortouch POS review here.

If you run a large restaurant or chain and need many stations, it’s best to ask Epos Now for a custom quote — it may save you some money. An advantage of Epos Now is that you can book a free demo on their website. We always recommend demoing a product to make sure it’s the right solution for your business.

Introduction Video

Key Features

Do you want to know what Epos Now can do for your business? Then it’s a good idea to look at its core features. Below, let’s explore the different benefits you’ll receive if you decide to work with this platform.

Tableside Ordering Features

If you want to improve your restaurant’s efficiency, it’s essential to process orders as quickly as possible. Because you can use Epos Now on a tablet or phone, you’re able to take advantage of table-side ordering that sends orders directly from your customers’ tables to your kitchen. This allows your servers to input orders straight into the system without heading back to a central kiosk.

Data Reporting

In the modern era of point-of-sale systems, the back-office features are often just as important as the front-end tools. Fortunately, there are plenty of data reporting features available to Epos Now users. Due to this service’s cloud-based nature, you’ll have complete access to the back-office platform no matter where you are in the world — it’s great if you have to manage multiple locations.

At Epos Now, you’ll have access to real-time information about various components of your business. It’s a great way to track sales, inventory, staff performance, and a host of other metrics. You can log into this external management portal on your phone or via a computer.

You can also access the different components of your business remotely. You can add promotions, change menus, and control a range of other features using this offsite management system.

Deployment Type

You’ll need a local hardware device to install your Epos Now software, but the rest of the system is cloud-based. This hybrid approach helps you protect your data — it also helps you access reporting information when you’re not in your restaurant. This is certainly one feature that benefits Epos Now users.

If you’re looking for a new point of sale machine, it’s always a good idea to ensure there is a cloud-based component to the service. There are too many downsides associated with purely ‘locally installed’ services. You can find some POS deployment tips by visiting here.

Industries Served

As mentioned previously, Epos Now has a retail and hospitality format that allows its platform to be applied to a broad range of industries. For this review, we’ve been taking a look at the hospitality platform. Epos Now’s hospitality service applies to restaurants, nightclubs, bars, cafes, hotels, and several other niche hospitality businesses.

While many modern POS systems can only handle small to medium-sized establishments, I think Epos Now is actually a great platform if you run a larger restaurant. Considering the number of integrations you have at your fingertips, as well as the robust in-house features, there’s no reason you couldn’t use this platform for a large business.

Ease of Use

The platform interface is straightforward, which actually makes it extremely easy to use. While the design isn’t as sleek as some of the other competitors in the industry, there’s no doubt that you can learn how to use Epos Now exceptionally quickly. There’s also an internal guide that helps you set up the system and perform all the necessary internal actions.

Hardware

One of my favorite features at Epos Now is the amount of flexibility you have with hardware. Epos Now POS offers its own extensive hardware options, but you can also bring your own iOS or Android device to the table. It’s rare to find a point of sale platform with so many unique options.

You can also run this system on a traditional web browser, so you won’t have to worry about being restricted if you want to gain access to Epos Now. The company also provides access to a wide range of additional hardware devices, including printers, card machines, cash registers, and more.

Integrations

It’s safe to say that Epos Now offers some of the industry’s most extensive integration options. These integrations allow you to improve the platform’s capabilities drastically — it’s a quick way to upgrade your system without changing providers. Epos Now’s third-party integration options allow you to change anything from your staff management system to online ordering.

If you look at the Epos Now ‘AppStore,’ you’ll find a range of high-end integrations. MailChimp, Xero, Receipt Tracker, Zapier, and LoyaltyDog are just a few of the various add-ons and integrations available on this platform.

Payment Processing

Credit card compatibility at Epos Now is a little bit complex. The company offers you access to an integrated system, but you can also use your own provider if you’re willing to lose out on the benefits of full integration. At present, it appears the only fully integrated system you can use with Epos Now is International Bancard, Worldpay, and Evo Payments.

This doesn’t mean you can’t use your own payment processor; it just means it won’t be fully integrated. You’ll have to enter your credit card payments into the system manually. Personally, I find it annoying that there aren’t more integration options — it’s always nice to have a POS system that makes it easy to choose your own credit card processor. The good news is the options available are widely used in the POS industry.

Customer Service

If you want to take full advantage of Epos Now’s customer support team, you have to upgrade to their premium plan. Otherwise, you’ll only have access to email support — this might not be enough if you operate a busy restaurant with long opening hours. The 24/7 customer support you receive with the premium plan is probably necessary if you want to keep yourself protected against system faults.

I also took a look at some consumer watchdog groups to see what past customers thought of Epos Now. Fortunately, there are plenty of reviews available online — this means that it’s a widely used platform.

In terms of negative feedback, some customers report issues with importing menu items or products in bulk. This can make the setup process much harder. Some customers also claim that the customer support team doesn’t do a good job (though this doesn’t appear to be a universal sentiment).

Still, all point-of-sale platforms have some negative reviews. It’s also important to note that there is also plenty of positive feedback. For instance, the company has an excellent 4.5 rating out of thousands of reviews on Trustpilot. Overall, Epos Now appears to have a pretty solid reputation.

Our Verdict

Epos Now is a pervasive product — it’s safe to say that this provider covers almost all the bases for restaurants, retail, and the hospitality industry. While you don’t have too much flexibility with payment processors, virtually all the other features packed into this system are great. I love the number of integrations you can use, as well as the built-in features specifically designed for the hospitality niche.

The platform is straightforward to use, but the discounted $39 per month fee comes with a catch. You must use their payment processor and pay an additional $59 per month for service and support.

Unfortunately, this discounted price still puts the overall system on the higher end of cloud-based systems, especially considering there’s a contract involved. This means if you decide to cancel your service, there could be termination fees; however, it’s not clear with the company if that’s the case, so best to ask that question.

I like that they provide complete systems with all the hardware and software you need to get started. Plus, you can book a demo in advance to check if this is the right platform for your business!

Looking for an alternative to Epos Now? Check out Nobly POS; it’s an iPad-based POS solution from the UK at a lower price point.

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