What happens when the internet drops?
Every branch loses its connection sometimes, usually at a busy hour. Ask the vendor to pull the network cable in the middle of a sale during the demo. Watch whether the till keeps selling, printing and taking payments, and what happens to those sales when the cable goes back in. A slide about reliability tells you nothing; the cable tells you everything.
Where does our data live, and can we take it with us?
Some systems keep your sales, stock and customers on the vendor's servers; others run on a server in your own building. Both can work. What matters is that you know which, that you can get a full copy of your data in a format you can open, and that the contract says so.
Does it work in Arabic from end to end?
Check the screens, the receipt, the kitchen ticket, the reports and the message your customer receives by SMS or WhatsApp. A system that shows Arabic on screen but prints it as boxes, or reverses the numbers on a receipt, will cost you more in complaints than it saved you at purchase.
Which of our hardware can we keep?
Terminals, printers, cash drawers and scales can often be reused. Ask for a list of what the system supports, and ask the vendor to check your models before you buy anything new.
Who installs it, moves our data and trains our staff?
Installation, bringing across your items, prices and customers, and training are where most projects go wrong. Ask who does each of them, whether they come on site, and whether training happens in the language your staff use, on your own menu or product list.
What does support look like at ten at night?
Ask when support answers, in which languages, through which channels, and how quickly for a problem that stops a branch from trading. Ask whether an engineer can connect to your system remotely, and whether someone can come on site when that is not enough.
What will it cost after the first year?
Licences, support contracts, updates, new branches and replacement hardware all add up. Ask for the cost of the second and third years, not only the price of the first, and for what happens to your data if you leave.
Put the questions to us too
These are the questions we would want any client to ask us. Book a demo and ask them; pulling the cable is allowed.