Retail stores
A terminal at the till that staff learn in five minutes.
In a shop, speed at the till is everything. So the countertop terminal is wired or on Wi-Fi, has a built-in printer and takes contactless on first tap.
If you also run an online shop, both channels land in one report, no reconciling two systems at month end.
What you get
Countertop terminal
With a printer and wired or Wi-Fi connection.
Contactless
Card, phone or watch in seconds.
Per-cashier reporting
Who took what, by shift and by day.
Offline operation
Keeps taking payments through a brief outage.
Online and in-store
One report for both channels.
Refunds
Straight from the terminal or the panel.
The queue at the till is the most expensive metre in the shop
A customer who has chosen the goods and is standing in a queue is one bad moment away from putting them back. Every second at the till multiplied by the day's customers is a real number, not a feeling.
Contactless brought transaction time below five seconds for amounts under the PIN limit. The rest depends on the terminal: how fast it wakes, how fast it reads, how fast it prints. An old terminal on a slow connection eats exactly that advantage.
If you have more than one till, look at distribution too. A second terminal on the next till on a Saturday costs less than the sales lost to one queue.
One report for the shop and the website
A retailer selling both in store and online usually watches two systems and reconciles them by hand at month end. That is not just tedious but a source of errors that surface at stocktake.
On a single account, sales from the till and from the site land in one report, filterable by channel, by location and by period. Settlement is combined or split per location, as you prefer.
The practical gain shows on returns. A customer buys online and returns in store. With two separate systems that is a manual operation and a note to accounts. On one account it is a single action in the panel.
Seasonal peaks and temporary sites
A shop that also trades at a market, a fair or a temporary stand needs a terminal that starts immediately and needs no infrastructure. A compact model with a built-in SIM switches on and works, with no cable and no router.
For seasonal peaks, a temporary extra device makes more sense than a permanent one sitting idle for nine months. Terms are agreed in advance so you are not paying all year for December.
If you expect a sharp rise in turnover from a campaign or a season, say so in advance. The profile is reviewed automatically on unusual growth, and the warning saves an interruption on exactly the busiest day.
What to look at in the report besides turnover
Average transaction value by hour. It shows when the large purchases arrive and whether the staffing in those hours matches.
Share of contactless payments. A low share usually means the terminal is slow or badly placed and customers are handing over the card instead of tapping.
Declines and their reasons. An insufficient-funds decline at the till is normal. Several declines on the same card within minutes is a signal of something else.
Returns by location. A large gap between two shops is rarely chance and usually points to description, staff or layout rather than to payment.
When the internet drops on a Saturday afternoon
It happens, and there needs to be a plan, because that is not a moment for clear thinking.
The first defence is a terminal with a SIM that falls back to mobile data when Wi-Fi disappears. That covers most cases, because both rarely fail at once.
The second is knowing what does not work. Without a connection a payment cannot be authorised. A terminal that claims to have accepted an offline payment is taking a risk that ends up being yours if the card turns out to have no funds.
The third is human: the cashier needs to know what to tell the customer and whether there is an alternative. A payment link to the customer's phone runs over their mobile data and saves the sale when your connection is down. It takes thirty seconds and costs less than a lost basket.
What one till sale costs
A worked example on a 60 euro purchase, so the number is not a mystery.
| Component | Approximately | Goes to |
|---|---|---|
| Interchange, local debit card | €0.12 | The customer's bank |
| Scheme fee | €0.02 | Visa or Mastercard |
| BulPays margin | €0.47 | BulPays |
| Fixed fee | €0.05 | BulPays |
| Total | around €0.66 |
A card-present payment usually carries lower interchange than an online one, which is why the same card costs less at the till.
A quick check at the till
Stand where the customer stands at a busy hour and look.
- How many seconds one transaction takes from start to receipt
- Whether customers can see where to tap without asking
- Whether there is a second till for peak hours
- Whether the shop and the site land in one report
- Whether an online order can be returned in store
- Whether there is a fallback when the internet drops
Questions about this
Can I track several locations separately?
Yes. Each location has its own identifier in reporting, and settlement can be combined or split per site, depending on how you run the business.
What happens on a return?
The refund goes through the terminal or the panel and is offset in the next settlement. For a partial return you enter the amount; there is no need to void the whole transaction.
Does the terminal accept vouchers and loyalty cards?
It depends on the programme. Smart POS devices run Android and allow additional apps, so in most cases there is a way. Tell us which programme you use.
What does a terminal cost for a small shop?
It depends on the model and on whether you rent or buy. The transaction rate is the same whatever your volume, and the gateway fee is waived once monthly fees exceed 15 euro.
Do I need a separate account for the online shop?
No, and you are better off without one. A single account across both channels means one report, one settlement and easier cross-channel returns.
Can I put a terminal on a stand for one weekend?
Yes, by prior arrangement. The compact model with a built-in SIM needs no infrastructure at all: switch it on and it works. Short-term terms are written down in advance.
Ready to start accepting payments?
Send us an enquiry and you will get a concrete quote with calculated fees for your business, usually within one business day.