Choosing a POS and back office for a convenience store: a buyer's checklist

On this page

1. Before the first demo
2. 1. Registers it works with
3. 2. Pricebook and price changes
4. 3. Fuel
5. 4. Lottery
6. 5. Invoices and purchases
7. 6. Scan data
8. 7. Reports
9. 8. Shift close and cash control
10. 9. Multi-store
11. 10. Phone app
12. 11. Users, permissions and security
13. 12. Support
14. 13. Setup and switching
15. 14. Contracts and data ownership
16. Red flags
17. The short version
18. Where Advantage fits

A convenience store runs on two systems. The register, or POS (point of sale), rings up sales at the counter. The back office is where you manage prices, close shifts, enter invoices and read your numbers. Sometimes one company provides both. Sometimes you buy a back office that connects to the register you already have.

Contracts can run for years, and switching later takes work, so choose carefully. This checklist groups the questions to ask every vendor by area. It does not recommend any product. Take it to every demo, ask each vendor the same questions in the same order, and write down the answers.

Before the first demo

Write a one-page profile of your business. It keeps each demo about your store instead of the vendor’s script. Include:

• How many stores you have, and how many registers in each.
• The register you use now, with its model and software version, if you plan to keep it.
• Whether you sell fuel, and your fuel brand if you have one.
• Whether you sell lottery, tobacco, beer and wine, food, money orders or other services.
• Your main distributors, and how each one sends invoices today.
• Manufacturer programs you are in or want to join.
• Who will use the system: owner, managers, cashiers, bookkeeper.
• What you dislike about your current setup.

One company or two

Some owners buy the register and back office from one company. Others keep the register they have and add a back office that connects to it. Each way has a cost.

• With one company, you have one contract and one support line. Changing either part later can mean changing both.
• With two, you can keep a register you like and replace only the back office. You need both companies to support the connection, so ask each one who you call when the numbers do not match.

If your fuel brand or your card processor requires a certain register, start from that register and work outward.

How to run each demo

• Ask the vendor to set up the demo around your profile, not a sample store.
• Ask to see a closed shift from a real store, with names hidden.
• Bring the person who will close shifts every day. They will notice steps an owner skips past.
• Ask for references from stores like yours, with the same register and the same fuel setup, and call them.
• Note every yes you were told but not shown, and ask for those answers in writing.

How to score the answers

Score every question the same way, so you can compare vendors on paper afterward.

Answer	What it means	Score
Shown	They showed it working in the demo, ideally on data from a store like yours	2
Said	They said it works but did not show it	1
Not yet	It does not exist today, or it is only planned	0

Buy for what the product does today. A feature promised for later is worth zero until it is running in your store.

1. Registers it works with

If you are keeping your register, ask this first. Nothing else matters if the answer is no.

• Does it work with my exact register model and software version? Can you show me a store running that combination?
• How does it connect to the register: a program on the store computer, a device at the store, or the internet?
• How often does it read sales from the register?
• What happens when the store’s internet goes down? Does the register keep selling, and do the numbers catch up afterward?
• Does anyone need to visit the store, or change the register’s settings, to set up the connection?
• If you also sell the register: who owns the hardware, what does a repair cost, and how fast can a broken register be replaced?
• Which card processors work with this register? Am I required to use one?

Watch for vague answers about your register model, or a promise to support it later.

2. Pricebook and price changes

Price changes are where the back office and the register meet. A price you change in the office that never reaches the register is worse than no change, because you believe it is done.

• Where can I change prices: on a computer, on a phone, at the register?
• How does a change reach the register, and how long does it take?
• How do I know the register accepted it? Does the system show changes the register confirmed separately from changes it only sent?
• Can I change many items at once, by department, by vendor or by a group of related items?
• Which kinds of deals reach the register: multi-buy, mix-and-match, combos, manufacturer promotions?
• Can I add new items from a distributor’s file instead of typing them?
• How does it catch duplicate barcodes and items with no department?
• Is there a history of every price change, with who made it and when?
• Can item costs update from vendor invoices?

Watch for a demo that changes a price on screen but never shows the item ringing up at a register.

3. Fuel

Skip this section if you do not sell fuel.

• Does it read fuel sales by grade from my register?
• How are tank readings recorded: by hand, from a tank monitor, or both?
• Does it record fuel deliveries and jobber invoices, and match them to each other?
• How does it calculate fuel cost: the last load, the average cost of the fuel in the tank, or something else? Can it show margin per gallon by grade?
• If my mid-grade is blended from regular and premium at the pump, how does it split those gallons between tanks?
• Does it compare book inventory with measured inventory, tank by tank?
• Can it change fuel prices at the pumps and on the price sign, or does it only record prices? Ask exactly what it updates.
• Can it alert me about low fuel or a delivery?

4. Lottery

Skip this section if you do not sell lottery.

• Are my state’s instant games and ticket barcodes already set up?
• How are packs received, activated, counted, settled and returned?
• Can cashiers count tickets at shift change by scanning?
• Does it bring in draw game sales and payouts from the register or from the lottery terminal’s reports?
• Does the shift report show lottery sales and cashes, and flag counts that do not add up?
• Can I check its numbers against my lottery’s weekly statement?

5. Invoices and purchases

• How do invoices get in: email, electronic files from distributors, file upload, or a photo or scan?
• Which of my vendors can it read electronically today? Ask for the list.
• Does an invoice file update item costs, and does it point out retail prices that now fall below my target margin?
• How are vendor credits, returns and vendor payments from the register recorded?
• Can I see purchases by vendor and by department for any date range?

Bring one real invoice from each of your main vendors to the demo, and ask them to load it while you watch.

6. Scan data

Tobacco and other manufacturers run programs that pay retailers for sharing sales data and passing on promotions. The files have strict formats and deadlines.

• Which manufacturer programs does it submit to today? Ask for the list.
• Is the data built from the register’s own transaction records?
• Who prepares and sends each file: me or the system?
• What happens when a file is rejected, and who fixes it?
• Does my register support the promotions these programs require?
• Is there an extra charge per program?

7. Reports

Ask to see reports filled with real data from a store like yours. Demo data tends to look tidy.

• What does the shift report show? Look for cash, cards, lottery, fuel, paid-outs, safe drops, and over or short, all in one place.
• Does the day report add up from the shifts?
• Can I see sales by department, top sellers and slow sellers for any date range?
• Can I see voids, refunds, no-sales and price overrides by cashier?
• Is there an income statement, and a report my accountant can use?
• Can reports be printed, and emailed on a schedule?
• Can someone change the numbers after a shift closes? If so, is every change logged with who made it and when?

8. Shift close and cash control

• Walk me through closing a shift, step by step, the way a cashier would do it.
• What gets counted, and who enters it?
• How are safe drops, loans and bank deposits recorded?
• How is over or short calculated, and can I see it by cashier?
• What stops a cashier from closing a shift with steps skipped?
• Is there a time clock, and does it connect to shifts?

9. Multi-store

Skip this if you run one store and have no plans for a second.

• Is there one login for all my stores, with a quick way to switch between them?
• Are there reports that combine all stores, and reports that compare them side by side?
• Is there one pricebook for all stores, a separate one for each, or both? Can one price change go to several stores at once?
• Can a manager see only the stores they run?
• Is pricing per store, per register or per user?

10. Phone app

• Is there an app for the phones you and your managers carry, and is it included in the price?
• What can I do on the phone: watch sales, read shift and day reports, change prices, look up an item by scanning its barcode?
• Which events can send me an alert, such as voids, price overrides, low fuel or deliveries? Can each person choose their own alerts for each store?
• Can I give a manager the app without giving them owner access?

11. Users, permissions and security

• Which roles come built in, and can I make my own?
• Can I limit a user to certain stores and certain screens?
• Is there a log of who changed what, including prices, settings and closed shifts?
• How are sign-ins protected? Ask about lockouts after failed attempts, two-factor sign-in, and alerts about unusual sign-ins.
• Where is my data stored, and how is it backed up?

12. Support

Stores run nights, weekends and holidays, and support needs to as well.

• What hours is support open, and how do I reach it: phone, email, chat, a ticket?
• Who answers: someone who can fix the problem, or someone who takes a message?
• Can support connect to my store computer remotely?
• What does on-site help cost, and who provides it?
• How do you train new staff, and what training material is there?
• What response times do you commit to in writing?

Ask references about support in particular: when they last called, what for, and how long the fix took.

13. Setup and switching

• Who does the setup, how long does it take, and what does it cost?
• What do you need from me, from my register and from my store computer?
• Can you bring over my pricebook, costs, vendors, house accounts and lottery inventory? What gets left behind?
• Will the register be down during the install, and for how long?
• Can I run the old and new back office side by side for a short time to compare numbers?
• Who is on call on the day we go live?

Pick a go-live date away from holidays, month end and your busiest days.

14. Contracts and data ownership

• How long is the contract, and does it renew automatically? How much notice do I need to give to cancel?
• What are the early termination fees?
• What can raise the price during the term?
• What costs extra: the phone app, scan data, more users, support, setup, training?
• Is payment processing bundled with the software? If I change processors, can I keep the software?
• Is the hardware bought, leased or rented, and is the lease a separate contract?
• Who owns my data? Can I export my sales, pricebook, invoices and reports at any time, in common formats, at no charge?
• If I leave, how long do you keep my data, and how do I get a full copy?

Get every answer that matters into the contract or a signed addendum. A promise in a demo is not a contract term.

Red flags

• No live demo with your register, or a demo that never shows a sale ringing up.
• No clear answer on how you will know a price change reached the register.
• Long contracts that renew automatically, with short cancellation windows.
• A fee to get your own data out.
• No references, or only references from stores very different from yours.
• “That is on the roadmap” for something you need on day one.

The short version

If you only have time for one question per area, ask these.

Area	The question that matters most
Registers	Can you show it working on my exact register?
Pricebook	How do I know a price change reached the register?
Fuel	How do you calculate the cost of the fuel in my tanks?
Lottery	Are my state’s games set up, and how are packs counted?
Invoices	Which of my vendors can you read today?
Scan data	Which programs do you submit to today?
Reports	Can I see a real shift report from a store like mine?
Multi-store	Can I see all my stores together?
Phone	What can I do and get alerts about on the phone?
Support	Who answers at 10 p.m. on a Saturday?
Setup	What gets left behind when I switch?
Contract	Can I export all my data, at no charge, at any time?

Where Advantage fits

Advantage is a back office for independent convenience stores and gas stations. It reads sales from Verifone Commander and Gilbarco Passport registers and sends item prices, new items and mix-and-match deals to the register, marking a change confirmed only when the register’s own reply proves it. Each store gets its own invoice email address. Shifts close at the store with a guided checklist, and the Day and Shift Reports for those shifts are on the web and on the iPhone and Android app, with phone alerts each person can switch on or off for each store. See what works with Advantage.