What is the difference between a POS system and a retail management system?

A point of sale system records the moment of sale. A retail management system also tracks what you bought, what it cost, what is left on the shelf, who owes you money and what you actually made. UpeoRetail is the second kind.

Does UpeoRetail work without internet?

Yes. UpeoRetail keeps selling when the connection drops and uploads the sales when it returns. Offline sales must be paid in full in cash, and shops can block high-value or serial-tracked items from being sold offline.

Does UpeoRetail handle M-Pesa?

Yes. Customers pay your till or paybill as normal, and the payment is matched to the sale in UpeoRetail. Each M-Pesa code can only be used once, so the same payment cannot be attached to two sales.

Is UpeoRetail a POS system?

Yes, and more than that. UpeoRetail includes everything a point of sale system does - a till that takes cash, M-Pesa, card and bank payments, prints receipts and keeps working when the internet drops. It also handles stock, suppliers, credit customers, several branches and your actual profit, which is where most POS systems stop.

What people usually mean by a POS system

Most shopkeepers looking for a "POS system" want the thing at the counter. Something that rings up a sale, takes M-Pesa, prints a receipt and does not fall over when the connection goes.

UpeoRetail does all of that. If that is all you need, it will do it.

Where a till on its own runs out

The trouble comes a few months in, when the questions change:

Which of my stock is actually making money? A till knows what you sold, not what it cost you.
Who owes me, and for how long? A till takes payment. It does not chase a debt.
What do I need to reorder? A till does not know what is on your shelf.
Is my Thika branch doing better than my Nairobi one? A till counts one counter.
Is anything walking out of the door? A till has nothing to compare against.

These are not till questions. They are business questions, and answering them needs a system that follows the goods from the supplier to the shelf to the customer, and follows the money back.

What UpeoRetail adds

A till gives you	UpeoRetail also gives you
Sales at the counter	What each sale actually made you
A receipt	Stock that falls as you sell, across every branch
Cash and M-Pesa	Credit customers, ageing debt and collections
Today's takings	Suppliers, purchase orders and true landed cost
One counter	Branches, warehouses and transfers between them
A total	An evening Trading Report by branch and by person

So which do you need?

If you sell a few things for cash from one counter, a till is fine.

If you carry stock worth real money, buy from suppliers on terms, let some customers pay later, or run more than one shop, you will outgrow a till within a year. The cost of outgrowing it is not the software. It is the year you spent without knowing which lines made money.

Common questions