Which cash register for your shop?
There is no best till in general: there is a till suited to a context. In a shop where the network and the power drop, seven criteria decide — and the first rules out most solutions.
The 7 deciding criteria
Check them yourself, in this order. The first criterion is a deal-breaker.
1. What happens when the Internet drops?
This is the deciding criterion. A till that depends on the network stops with it: the queue grows longer, and the day stops. Check that sales, stock and customers work locally, without a connection.
2. Does the tablet last long enough?
In a shop without a generator, battery life decides whether the day continues. An Android tablet lasts several hours on its battery, where a fixed till goes dark at the first cut.
3. Can you take payment in two currencies?
Congolese franc and dollar coexist in the same day. The software must record the price in a reference currency and convert on entry, without recalculating by hand.
4. How many tablets, and at what price?
Check the limit per plan and the real cost over a year, not just the headline price of the first month. One seat per tablet in use is enough in most shops.
5. Where does the data live, and how do you get it back?
A regular backup to a cloud account lets you recover your shop on a new tablet. Without it, a lost or broken tablet takes the catalogue and the history with it.
6. How many people can ring up sales?
One account per employee, with distinct roles, avoids the shared code and makes each sale attributable to its seller. Check the number of accounts included in the plan.
7. What support, and in what language?
Support reachable on WhatsApp, in the same city and the same language, is worth more than a form. The interface must exist in French, and ideally in Lingala and Swahili.
The main families of solutions
Each family has a use where it is the best, and a context where it blocks.
| Family | Strength | Limitation in an unstable setting |
|---|---|---|
| Fixed till with installed software | Robust, dedicated hardware, built-in receipt printer. | Shuts down with the power, barely mobile, high entry cost. |
| Cloud-based till software | Accessible anywhere, automatic updates. | Unusable without a network: sales stop with the connection. |
| Tablet app, offline | Works without network or power, backs up when the connection returns. | Depends on the tablet's battery, and on the quality of support. |
| Spreadsheet or notebook | No cost, no training. | Answers none of the four questions a shop has: sold yesterday, left in stock, who owes, earned this month. |
Where MerchantHQ stands
MerchantHQ belongs to the third family: an Android app that works without the Internet and backs up the shop to a cloud account as soon as the connection returns.
- Offline by design: sales, stock, customers and appointments work without a network.
- Two currencies: Congolese franc and dollar, with conversion on entry.
- An Android tablet is enough: no specialised hardware to buy.
- WhatsApp support: from Kinshasa, in French, Lingala or Swahili.
What it does less well: it is not a till certified for French tax obligations, and it does not replace accounting software. If your shop is in Europe, it is probably not the tool you need.
Decide in one demo
The simplest thing is to test it on your own tablet, with your products: create an account, ring up a sale, cut the Wi-Fi and check that everything keeps running.
Go further
- Tablet point of sale: the hardware — An Android tablet is enough to run a till. Here is what really matters when choosing.
- Running your till without Internet — What to prepare before you open, what keeps working during the day, and how to lose nothing when the network comes back.
- Calculating your margin and selling price — Margin and markup are not the same thing. Here is how to calculate correctly, with a worked example.