Point-of-sale software in the DRC: selling even without a network
MerchantHQ is point-of-sale and stock management software built in Kinshasa, for shops in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It works without Internet, rings up sales in Congolese francs and dollars, and backs up the shop to a cloud account.
What the till does, concretely
- Ringing up sales: basket, quantity, discount, change, printed receipt. Each sale is assigned to a seller.
- Tracking stock: stock drops on its own with each sale, with an alert when a product falls below its threshold. The question “how much do I have left?” has an immediate answer.
- Tracking credit: who owes what, since when, and how much remains. Slates stop getting lost between two notebooks.
- Steering the day: the day's takings, best-selling products, margins, and a view of the month without adding up pages by hand.
Why it is built for the DRC
Three constraints decide everything in the field: power, network, and dual currency. The app is built around those three, not adapted after the fact.
- The network drops: the till does not stop. Sales are recorded on the tablet and the backup goes out when the connection returns.
- The power drops: an Android tablet lasts several hours on its battery. Selling continues.
- Two currencies: the Congolese franc and the dollar coexist in the same day, sometimes in the same hour.
- French first: interface in French, English, Lingala and Swahili.
What it changes in the day
A notebook says everything except what matters: it cannot say what was sold yesterday, what is left on the shelf, or how much the shop actually earned this month. These four questions decide whether the business moves forward or stalls.
The till answers them without anyone having to add anything up in the evening.
Traders' questions
Does the software work when there is no Internet?
Yes. The till, stock and customers work entirely offline on the tablet. Sales are recorded locally and the backup goes to the cloud account as soon as a connection returns, with no action needed.
Can I ring up sales in Congolese francs and dollars?
Yes. The shop has a main currency and a second currency, with the conversion rate applied at entry. Prices stay recorded in the shop's currency, whichever is used at the counter.
What hardware do I need to start?
An Android tablet is enough. No specialised till is needed: the app runs on an ordinary shop tablet, with or without a receipt printer.
What happens if the tablet breaks down or is stolen?
The data is backed up to the cloud account. On a new tablet, you find your shop again by signing in: catalogue, customers, sales history and stock are restored.
How many tablets can be used?
As many as needed: the number of tablets is not limited by the plan. Each tablet connects to the same account and shares the shop; replaced devices take up no space.
How do payment and support work?
The subscription is activated over WhatsApp, with the team, without a bank card. Support is also handled over WhatsApp, from Kinshasa.
Go further
- Point-of-sale software, in general — checkout, stock, customers and staff.
- Running your till without Internet — organising a day of selling when the network drops.
- Tablet point of sale: which hardware to choose — tablet, battery, receipt printing.
- Tracking customer credit — stop losing your slates.
- Pricing — from $15/month, activation over WhatsApp.
- What does an offline till change? — what “offline” means, and the real cost of free.
- The standardised invoice in the DRC — what the DGI reform imposes on shops.
Try it on your tablet
Create an account, install the app and ring up a first sale. Subscription activation is done over WhatsApp, with the team.