The EPOS Bureau and EKM Launch Direct Integration for Farm Shops and Specialist Food Retailers

At The EPOS Bureau, we have always believed that technology should make your life easier, not harder. That is why we are excited to share something we have been quietly building for a while now.

We have launched The EPOS Bureau Ecommerce, our own dedicated solution for farm shops and specialist food retailers. Built around the way independent food businesses actually operate, it goes further than anything a third party platform can offer. Your till and your website, working from the same information.

What this means in practice

If you are already selling online, you will know the frustration of keeping two systems in step. Stock sells out in the shop but the website does not know. A price changes but only in one place. A product gets updated but the information online stays the same. These are the things that make selling online harder than it needs to be.

The EPOS Bureau Ecommerce addresses all of that. When something changes in your shop, your website reflects it. Stock, pricing, product information and orders, all kept consistent between your till and your online store without the manual back and forth.

Allergen and ingredient information, handled automatically

For food retailers, there is one part of this integration that deserves particular attention.

The transfer of allergen and ingredient information between your till and your online store is exclusive to The EPOS Bureau Ecommerce. No other platform we work with offers this. Update a product in your till and that information carries through to your website. No manual copying, no risk of information being missing or out of date, and full confidence that you are meeting your legal obligations online as well as in the shop.

Accurate allergen information online is not optional. It is a legal requirement. This integration makes it straightforward to get right.

Click and collect that brings people through the door

One of the concerns we hear most often from farm shop owners is that selling online will pull customers away from the shop. In our experience, the opposite is true.

EKM's built in click and collect allows customers to order online and come in to pick up. The online shop becomes a reason to visit rather than a reason not to. As Sarah Carter from The Buffalo Farm put it:

"Farm shops are probably thinking: if I sold online, that is not bringing customers here. But it actually does the opposite. It does bring people here and you can upsell when people are on site. If it's a nice day, they'll go feed the animals, then they'll stay for a coffee, then they might have lunch."

The Buffalo Farm runs a busy farm shop, butchery and café alongside a thriving online store, with The EPOS Bureau Ecommerce keeping everything connected behind the scenes.

Built to grow with your business

Whereas there are many ecommerce solutions available for your business, none work quite like this one. The EPOS Bureau Ecommerce is powered by EKM, a platform that has helped over 100,000 UK businesses sell online over the past 20 years. The difference is that this is not an off the shelf connection. It is a dedicated solution, built specifically for our customers, that will continue to evolve as your business does.

Ready to find out more?

Whether you are already selling online and finding it harder to manage than it should be, or yet to take the plunge, we would love to have a conversation.

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