How to choose a POS system in Egypt: a 10-point checklist

What should a POS system in Egypt get right?

Most POS systems ring up a sale. The differences show up later: on the first Arabic receipt, the first day the internet drops, the first stock count, the second branch, and the first letter from the Tax Authority. Ask every vendor the same ten questions, ask to see each answer working, and write down what you see.

We make PointLit, so the right-hand column below is our own answer. Where PointLit does not do something yet, it says so.

1. Does it price in Egyptian pounds with 14% VAT?

Ask to see a receipt and a day report with VAT at 14%, once with VAT included in the shelf price and once added at the till. Check that a refund gives back exactly the tax that was charged.

PointLit: yes. Each business works in one base currency, the Egyptian pound for a shop in Egypt, and VAT comes from Tax rules: 14%, included in the price or added on top. One rate applies to the whole sale, so products that are exempt or taxed at another rate cannot carry their own rate yet. Bills keep the tax they were charged, and the Z report breaks each shift down by tax rate. The POS for Egypt page covers the details.

2. Does it print Arabic receipts on your printer?

Many receipt printers cannot draw Arabic letters when they are sent raw printer commands, and print question marks instead. Do not accept a screenshot: ask for a receipt printed on the printer you will use.

PointLit: the whole app works in Arabic, right to left. From version 0.8.0 the PointLit Windows app prints the whole receipt as one picture on a receipt printer installed in Windows, so Arabic, your logo and the barcode print as they look on screen. A printer connected to a serial port still prints Arabic as question marks, so choose a printer with a Windows driver. In a web browser, Arabic receipts print through the print dialog.

3. What happens when the internet drops?

Ask what keeps working, how many sales the till can hold, what waits for the connection, and what the cashier sees.

PointLit: if the line drops during a shift, the till keeps ringing cash and card sales, holds up to 200 of them on that till, and sends them oldest first when the connection returns, each with its own key so none is recorded twice. On a till or browser that has already opened your business online since the last PointLit update, the register can also open with no internet. Customers and loyalty, on-account sales, refunds and voids, and opening or closing a shift wait for the connection. The page on selling offline lists every case.

4. Can staff count stock blind?

A count is only honest if the person counting cannot see what the system expects. Ask how a count is entered, how the differences are posted, and whether the stock history can be edited.

PointLit: stock counts can be blind, hiding the system quantity while figures are entered, and they are on every plan, including the Free plan. Differences are posted as count adjustments, and every stock movement is a line in a ledger that cannot be edited or deleted.

5. Can it run several branches as one business?

Ask whether a second branch is part of the same business or a second system, how stock moves between branches, and whether prices can differ by branch.

PointLit: each branch is a location with its own stock, tills and shifts. Transfers leave one branch when sent and arrive only when received, price lists can differ by store or city, and each staff member's Locations setting limits where they can sell and see stock. Chain includes 3 branches and takes more for a monthly price each; the Free plan and Counter are for one shop.

6. Does it issue the ETA e-receipt?

If the Egyptian Tax Authority requires your business to issue e-receipts, ask whether the POS issues them in production today, whether it is registered with the Authority, and how receipts are queued when the line drops.

PointLit: no, not yet. PointLit does not issue ETA e-receipts or e-invoices, and it is not registered with the Authority as a POS solution. Support is planned. If your business must issue e-receipts now, use a solution that does it today. Our ETA e-receipt explainer sets out what the system is and what to ask any vendor.

7. Does it work with your hardware?

Ask which printers, drawers, scanners and scales the vendor has tested, by make and model, and buy hardware after you choose the software.

PointLit: 58 mm and 80 mm thermal receipt printers and a cash drawer that opens through the printer, through the PointLit Windows app on Windows 10 or later; keyboard-style barcode scanners with no setup; TSPL, ZPL and ESC/POS label printers; and a scale that is connected to the Windows app and tested from its settings, while the cashier types the weight as the quantity. Testing on physical devices is still going on, so send the make and model to support@pointlit.com before you buy.

8. Who supports you, and how?

Ask who answers, through which channel, in which language, in which hours, and how quickly.

PointLit: help by email at support@pointlit.com, in Arabic or English, plus a help centre in both languages. The support each plan includes is listed on the pricing page; on the Free plan it is the help centre and email, answered within 2 working days.

9. Can you get your data out, and in?

Your sales and stock history belong to you. Ask how to export it, in which formats, on which plan, and how to bring your products in when you start.

PointLit: every report can be printed or saved as a PDF on every plan. Counter, Chain and Enterprise add Excel and CSV files of any report and report emails on a schedule, and a developer can read your data through the partner API. PointLit cannot import products from a file yet, and there is no single export of the whole business; for a full copy, write to support.

10. Are the prices published?

Ask for the full price before you start: every plan, the price for each extra branch, how you pay, what happens when you stop paying, and whether the price can change.

PointLit: the prices are on the pricing page, read from the live price list, in Egyptian pounds with VAT included for shops in Egypt. Paid plans are paid up front for a month, 3 months, 6 months or a year through InstaPay, Vodafone Cash or a bank transfer. A new price applies from your next renewal, with at least 30 days' notice; payments are not refunded. If you stop paying, the business moves to the Free plan and nothing is deleted.

How do you test a POS before you commit?

1. Shortlist two or three systems that answer the ten points well enough for your shop.
2. Use each one's trial on a quiet day: add twenty real products, print their labels and ring real sales.
3. Print an Arabic receipt on your own printer, and open the cash drawer from the till.
4. Unplug the router during a sale and see what the till does.
5. Close a shift with a blind count and read the Z report.
6. Count a shelf, export a report, and ask support one question in Arabic.