Training Staff on Your POS System

It’s important to minimise this problem where possible, and in many cases, better training can help. The National Retail Federation estimates shrink nationwide as accounting for $122 billion in 2022, of which 27% can be attributed to process and manual error. This means that, for all the work you do optimizing your prices, trying to find new customers, keep existing ones, and reducing wastage across your business, you still have a slice of your profits slipping away due to avoidable errors and process issues.

We know that POS systems can get complicated, especially to those who haven’t used them before. That’s why we’re looking at how to get POS system training spot on and cut out those issues at checkout. 

We’ll cover:

• Why training matters

• Different training needs by industry

• Role-based training

• Essential skills for all staff

• Creating training materials

• Measuring the effect of training

• Tips for top training

There’s a lot to go through, but when we’re done, you’ll know exactly what you need to get every member of your team trained the right way on your point of sale system. Let’s get started.

Why training matters

Poor POS training has an observable cost for your business. When staff aren’t confident using your systems, transactions take longer, mistakes more frequent, and customers experience difficulty ordering and checking out. This is particularly noticeable in high pressure environments like high-volume retail and the hospitality industry. In fact, 73% of restaurant operators say staff adaptation to technology is their biggest operational challenge. 

The other side of this is that with a little work, POS training delivers excellent returns. Businesses with proper POS training have achieved a 56% reduction in checkout times. When well-trained staff fly through sales they don’t need the support of managers as often and are free to focus on customers instead of spending the entire sale staring at a screen.

Good training isn’t just about avoiding mistakes; it’s about unlocking efficiency, protecting profits, and creating smoother experiences for both staff and customers at the most critical moment: the checkout.

Different training needs by industry

Every business relies heavily on its POS system, but it’s important to adapt your approach to your sector. Effective training is specific to its context, and prepares people for the everyday and as well as the scenarios that come up in unusual circumstances.

Retail focus

• Speed and scanning efficiency. Retail staff scan hundreds and thousands of products. That means streamlining barcode scanning and being able to look up items at top speed shaves a lot of time off sales and reduces the wait time of every customer.

• Inventory checks during sales. Retail staff should know how to check on stock availability, and answer questions during sales. This means product and site layout knowledge, but also knowing how to check a product is in stock. Customers can then get quick resolutions to queries and the business doesn’t oversell or miss out on any sales.

• Peak period handling. Teaching staff to stay accurate and efficient during peak periods, and how to avoid hold-ups (with POS features like layaways and tabs for when a basket needs to be held), can make life a lot easier and avoid losing speed or reliability in difficult circumstances.

Restaurant focus

• Order modifications. From ingredient or item swaps to special requests, order adjustments are a constant in hospitality. Training staff to do so quickly and easily gives guests confidence in the restaurant and ensures your kitchen team can deliver on the request without wastage.

• Table management and transfers. Sometimes tables merge, or a party moves to another spot, or the number of covers changes on an order which causes issues if your team doesn’t know how to change the POS system to reflect that. A well-trained team can adapt without losing track of orders.

• Split checks. Splitting the bill by item or by cover can be complicated for the customers, so a server that makes it simpler gets noticed! Training staff to handle any bill seamlessly ensures customers leave happy, and it speeds up table turnover too!

• Kitchen communication (86’d items, rush orders). POS systems are the key point of comms between front and back of house. Staff need to know how to flag unavailable items, mark priority orders, and respond to kitchen updates to keep service running smoothly.

• Allergy alerts. Allergy management is essential for customer safety and business security. Training ensures alerts are entered clearly and consistently, reducing risks and building trust with customers who rely on accurate information from your team.

General business needs

• Core POS skills for all staff. Anyone could find themselves at your checkout in odd moments, which means knowing the basics of processing sales is always useful. Plus, POS skills are one of the first steps of cross-training across your team.

• Adaptable training frameworks. Training shouldn’t just focus on POS features and how to use a POS system. They should orient your team around the flows of the business, the processes and procedures. This means that when the POS changes a little, staff are ready to adapt.

 Role-Based Training Framework

Not every team member needs to know everything. Role-based POS training ensures each person has exactly the skills and access they need to do their job well, without introducing unnecessary complexity or risk. The result is faster onboarding, fewer errors, and clearer accountability across your team.

Here’s an example framework for a typical business, showing what frontline employees need compared with a supervisor and a manager:

The Complete POS training process

POS training isn’t something you do once and can then forget about. You need a structured progression that adapts to the experience and ability of each staff member, with clear phases carried out over an extended period of time. Below is a tried and tested six-phase framework, with a default timeline that balances speed with retention.

Pre-training setup (user accounts, materials, training mode)

Before you can start training, there are steps you as a manager or business need to take to have everything ready. This includes creating a user account, adding the permissions required, and being ready with a training mode the staff can use.

This phase usually takes place before day 1 or before the member of staff comes in so they can jump straight in and get started.

System introduction (30 minute demo)

Introducing the staff member to the system means walking them through the key pages of the POS. Trainers should cover key workflows like processing a sale and navigating menus, how to correct simple, common mistakes, and how to handle taking a payment.

This session, which fits neatly into day 1, gives staff a mental map of the system before they touch it themselves. It reduces anxiety, sets context, and helps trainees understand how different actions connect in real-world scenarios. That way, when they come back to train, they’re not seeing the system for the first time.

Hands-on practice with training mode (2–3 hours)

Once the basics of your sales process is clear, new staff can move onto hands-on practice in a training environment. Here they can run mock sales and learn the way you want your checkout to work, with processes for each scenario tried out, and seeing how the staff is ready to adapt in difficult situations, making sure they know how the POS can help.

During this part, you should hope to see confidence start to build. Mistakes become learning moments, without the risks, allowing staff to develop muscle memory and familiarity at their own pace.

Shadowing experienced staff (2–4 hours)

When the foundations are in place, trainees can start shadowing team members during live service. This allows them to see how the POS is used under real conditions, including peak periods and customer interactions.

This might be the next day, allowing some time for the initial information to sink in. Whenever it happens, shadowing helps bridge the gap between theory and reality. Staff learn common shortcuts, best practices, and how to stay calm and efficient when things get busy.

Supervised practice (4–8 hours)

In this phase, trainees begin operating the POS themselves but keep a supervisor nearby to guide, correct, and step in if needed. This could involve running a till during quieter periods or handling specific transaction types.

Also part of Days 2–3, supervised practice builds independence while maintaining a safety net. Staff gain confidence knowing support is available, while managers can spot gaps in knowledge early.

Independent operation (ongoing)

Once staff are comfortable, they move into independent operation. Training doesn’t stop here. Ongoing feedback, refreshers, and updates ensure skills stay sharp as the system evolves.

From Week 1 onwards, this phase empowers staff to take ownership of their role. Confident, well-trained employees work faster, make fewer errors, and deliver smoother customer experiences at the point of sale!

Essential Skills Every Staff Member Needs

There’s a lot to cover with training, which is why we’ve whipped up a checklist you can run through. This list includes training every staff member should receive, regardless of their role and your industry. Running through this checklist during onboarding, and revisiting it during refreshers, helps ensure consistency, confidence, and compliance at the point of sale.

✓ Processing payments (cash, card, splits)

Cashier training should prepare people to confidently process all standard payment types, including cash, debit and credit cards, payments from phones and watches, gift card processes, and splitting payments across multiple methods. Training should also cover how to handle less common methods such as cheques (so staff know if they’re accepted), including verification steps and any other store policies around payments.

Equally important is knowing what to do when a payment fails or a customer can’t pay, whether that means retrying a method, suspending the sale, involving a supervisor, or following clear procedures for abandoned transactions. This reduces hold-ups when payments go wrong.

✓ Returns and refunds

Staff must understand when and how returns or refunds can be processed. A smooth returns process helps the business retain customers after a difficult experience, but it’s also key for legal compliance. Staff need to know the difference between refunds to original payment methods, gift card refunds, and exchanges. They also need to know how to handle partial returns and spot potential fraudsters.

✓ Applying discounts correctly

Team members should know which discounts they’re allowed to apply, how to apply them accurately in the POS, and when supervisor approval is required. This includes promotional offers, loyalty discounts, staff discounts, and manual price adjustments.

Proper training ensures promotions are applied consistently, and prevents hold-ups at checkout.

✓ Basic troubleshooting

Every staff member should be able to handle common POS issues without panic. This includes how to remedy frozen screens, scanner issues, incorrect item entries, payment failures, replacing receipt paper, and knowing when to escalate problems to a supervisor.

Basic troubleshooting training keeps queues moving, reduces downtime, and helps staff stay calm and professional under pressure.

✓ Customer data handling

Staff must understand how to collect, view, and update customer data responsibly, whether that’s email addresses, loyalty accounts, or order history. Training should emphasize the importance of privacy, consent, and security, including when not to enter or share information.

Getting this right protects customer trust, ensures compliance, and prevents costly data handling mistakes.

Common POS training mistakes (and how to avoid them)

• Rushing through training. It’s easy to see new staff get a few sales right and consider them ready to go, but repetition is how they remember the information you need them to learn. Structure training and invest your time in the people you rely on to run your business and see that time returned to you in the reliable work they go on to do day in, day out!

• No hands-on practice before live transactions. Throwing new staff into the deep end so they learn to swim can be tempting, but the stress involved can be unpleasant for them and for the customers. Instead, simulate sales first so they have some confidence and their first real transactions don’t feel completely unfamiliar.

• Training everyone the same way. While some of your training should overlap, and you want to standardise your process, both people and roles are different, with different requirements. Observe your trainees and see where they need more or less time, and emphasize parts of training that they’ll rely on more in their role.

• Not addressing technology resistance. Not all staff feel the same way about technology. Those who don’t like learning POS systems may slow down your operation. Be prepared to have conversations about these concerns and provide extra support where necessary.

• No written reference materials. Relying solely on memory can lead to more mistakes (Repetition ingrains bad habits the same as good). Provide your team with guides and instructions they can refer to when needed.

• Training once and done. Staff forget, systems change, and so do your customers. Training should therefore be an ongoing process, a conversation, and a constant evolution after the initial onboarding.

• Not practicing edge cases/problems. The mundane is always easy to prepare for, but every now and then, extraordinary situations arise. It’s important to know how to act when strange transactions come up. Include common edge cases in training so staff know how to resolve problems confidently, no matter how unique they are.

• Ignoring customer service integration. POS training can get mechanical if you remove it from a social context. Ensure you train staff to be empathetic and engaged with customers, as well as efficient!

Creating Effective Training Materials

Strong training materials help ensure the lessons learned during onboarding stay in mind, providing support alongside your instructions, and acting as a reference long after the onboarding process concludes. So what materials should your business offer staff to help them in their work?

Quick reference guides and cheat sheets should focus on the tasks staff perform most often, such as processing payments, issuing refunds, or handling common errors. These materials work best when they’re short, visual, and easy to access. That way, they can even be checked and skimmed during service. You can leave them near the POS or on a back counter. A good cheat sheet acts as a safety net, allowing staff to resolve issues quickly without breaking the flow of customer interactions.

Meanwhile, video tutorials are ideal for demonstrating workflows that are easier to show than explain. Short, task-focused videos help staff revisit specific actions when they can’t quite recall how something is done. Videos are especially useful for refresher training, new feature rollouts, and onboarding staff who learn better by watching (which is common).

Standard operating procedures (SOPs) provide clear, authoritative guidance for important tasks that must be handled consistently, such as refunds, discounts, or data handling. SOPs ensure everyone follows the same steps, reducing errors and compliance risks while giving staff clarity on what’s expected in less common situations.

Training checklists, unlike the others, exist to help you as much as your team. Referring to a checklist helps managers track progress and ensure no critical skills are missed. If you’d like a basic one, we looked at one earlier in this blog!

Measuring training effectiveness

Training only delivers value if it translates into better performance on the floor, but that can be hard to measure. Tracking the right signals helps you understand what’s working, where staff are struggling, and how to continuously improve your POS training over time.

• Metrics you can track. Key metrics include transaction error rates, refund frequency, and the number of supervisor interventions required to see if that training translates into independence at work. You can also track numbers and values of sales staff processes to see how they compare to other staff members, and average wait or sales time if you have a way of quantifying it.

• Feedback methods. Direct feedback from staff is invaluable for identifying gaps in training materials or system usability, and seeing how they’re settling in. Quick check-ins, surveys, and informal post-shift conversations help surface confusion early, while customer feedback can highlight friction points at checkout that training may need to address.

• Continuous improvement. Training should evolve alongside your business and POS system. Regularly reviewing metrics, updating materials, and incorporating real-world issues into future training ensures your programme stays relevant, effective, and aligned with day-to-day operations.

Top tips for training success

• Train before you need them on the floor. Rushing staff into live service before they’re ready creates stress and mistakes. Building in training time before peak shifts ensures team members have a chance to build up their confidence steadily, as setbacks can take longer to recover from.

• Use a buddy system. Pairing new starters with experienced staff creates a safe space for questions and learning through observation. It also reinforces best practices across the team and helps new hires integrate faster.

• Practice during slow periods. Quieter moments are ideal for hands-on practice, edge-case scenarios, and refreshers. This allows staff to learn without pressure while keeping service quality high.

• Gamify when possible. Turning training into friendly competitions or challenges increases engagement and retention. Whether it’s speed drills in training mode or rewards for mastering key skills, gamification makes learning more memorable and motivating.

POS train now for a pay-off tomorrow

With everything we’ve covered today, you might be worried about the amount of work you need to put in to train your team. However, it’s no different to any other task that you take care of now so things are easier to manage in the future, like installing a better sink in your kitchen, adjusting the layout of your store to fit more shelves, or anything else you know will pay-off.

The reality is that once you’ve trained your team properly, they will help your business run self-sufficiently, without you being called in to help, paying the time you’ve invested back tenfold. Plus, POS providers like Epos Now know how important this training is, and have resources you can use to help train your team. If you have an Epos Now POS system, go to the support section in your back office for all the training materials you could need to teach your team to be real pros of your POS!