The 4 Biggest Mistakes Venues Make When Choosing Mobile EPOS Devices

Mobile POS devices promise faster service, happier staff, and better customer experiences. And when they’re done right, they absolutely deliver.

However… we see a lot of venues trip up when choosing them.

If you’re a café, bar, restaurant, pub, or multi-site operator looking at handheld POS (sometimes called mobile tills), here are the four biggest mistakes we see venues make – and how to avoid them.

1. Choosing Hardware First (Instead of the System Behind It)

This is the most common mistake by far.

Venues fall in love with a device:

• "It looks sleek"

• "it’s really cheap"

• "My mate uses one"

• "The rep said it’s industry-leading"

But a mobile POS device is just a tool.

What really matters is:

• The EPOS software behind it

• How it connects to your main till

• How it handles orders, payments, reporting, and updates

If you’ve already picked the device before mapping out how service actually runs on your floor, this might be you.

A great-looking handheld running poor software will slow you down, frustrate staff, and quietly create workarounds.

The Better approach:Start with your operational needs:

• Table service or counter service?

• Split bills? Tabs? Tips?

• Busy peak trading?

• One site now, more later?

Then choose the hardware that best supports that system.

2. Not Thinking About Wi-Fi and Connectivity

Mobile POS lives and dies by connectivity.

We regularly see venues invest in handhelds without checking:

• Wi-Fi coverage across the floor, terrace, or beer garden

• What happens if the Wi-Fi drops

• Whether the device can cope during peak service

We’ve seen venues abandon handhelds entirely after one busy weekend because orders kept failing during peak service and staff lost confidence almost immediately.

Once that trust is gone, the device stops getting used, even if the Wi-Fi later improves.

Better approach:Ask upfront:

• Does this work offline or cache orders?

• What happens if Wi-Fi drops mid-transaction?

• Has anyone actually assessed our venue layout for coverage?

Mobile POS should reduce stress, not introduce new panic points.

3. Ignoring How Staff Will Actually Use It

On paper, most mobile POS devices look great.

In reality:

• Buttons are too small

• Screens are hard to read in sunlight

• Too many taps to do simple things

• New starters struggle to learn it quickly

Ask yourself honestly: would you trust this device in the hands of a brand-new team member on a Saturday night?

If the answer’s “probably not”, adoption will always be patchy, no matter how powerful the system is.

Better approach: Put staff experience front and centre:

• Can a new team member learn it in minutes?

• Can orders be taken one-handed?

• Is it fast when the pressure is on?

The best mobile POS devices feel invisible, staff just get on with service.

4. Treating Mobile POS as a “Nice Add-On”

Many venues buy mobile POS as a short-term fix:

• "Let’s speed up table service"

• "Let’s reduce queues"

• "Let’s trial a couple of handhelds"

But six or twelve months later, the questions change:

• Can we add self-service ordering?

• What about pay at table?

• How do we see performance across sites?

• Can this support loyalty or CRM?

If your mobile POS can’t grow with you, you end up replacing it sooner than expected.

Better approach:Think one or two steps ahead:

• Will this scale with us?

• Does it plug into a wider EPOS ecosystem?

• Will it still fit when we add kiosks, QR ordering, or more sites?

Mobile POS works best when it’s part of a joined-up system, not a bolt-on.

Final Thought: Mobile POS Is a Strategy, Not a Gadget

The biggest mistake venues make isn’t choosing the wrong device.

It’s choosing without:

• Understanding their workflows

• Involving staff

• Thinking about growth

• Asking the awkward questions upfront

Even if you don’t end up changing your system, or working with us at all, understanding these mistakes early can save a lot of time, money, and frustration down the line.