Off licence EPOS

An off licence EPOS system that keeps the spirits shelf counted and paying.

POS2026 gives UK off licences, wine shops and bottle shops a barcode till, regular stock checks on high-value lines, purchase records for every wholesaler and brewery, and the margin on each wine, beer and spirit you stock.

Get Started Explore features

Off licence till system
Spirits stock checks
Supplier purchases
Margins on wine and beer
Questions

A shop front with signs above the window — Barcode tills and stock control for the UK off licence.

In short

An off licence EPOS system is a barcode till with stock control built for wine, beer and spirits. POS2026 scans each bottle, reduces stock as it sells, flags low lines, records purchases from wholesalers and shows the margin on every product. Age checks stay with your staff: run Challenge 25 at the counter yourself, because POS2026 has no age-verification feature.

An off licence carries a lot of value in a small space. A single shelf of malt whisky, gin and cognac can be worth more than the rest of the shop put together, while the beer fridge and the wine racks turn over quickly at much thinner margins. Add a range full of lines that look almost identical on a screen, and stock control becomes the job that decides whether the shop makes money.

POS2026 is not a licensing tool. Your premises licence, your designated premises supervisor and your age policy are your responsibility, as they are today. What POS2026 does is make the counter quicker, the stock count honest and the margins visible. If you also sell groceries and snacks, our convenience store POS page covers that side of the shop.

Why off licences switch

Where off licence profit slips away.

Most of it comes down to the high-value shelf, the wrong bottle rung up, and margins nobody checks line by line.

Bottles that look alike

Two vintages of the same wine, a 70cl and a litre of the same gin, a four-pack and a crate of the same lager. Ring up the wrong one and both stock and margin go astray.
High-value spirits going missing

One missing bottle of malt whisky can wipe out the margin on a long run of smaller sales. Counted only at year end, losses are months old before you notice.
Margins that differ by shelf

Wine, craft beer, mainstream lager and spirits earn very different margins. Overall takings say nothing about which shelf pays the rent.
Several suppliers, shifting prices

A wine merchant, a beer wholesaler, the cash and carry and a local brewery each invoice differently, and their price changes reach every line.

A woman standing behind a cash register in a shop — Scan the bottle, take payment, keep the counter moving.

01 · Off licence till system

A barcode till that rings up the right bottle.

Add every size and format as its own product with its own barcode: the 70cl and the litre, the single can and the four-pack. Scanning then picks the right line every time, and the price, stock and margin follow it. Bottles without a barcode can be tapped from the catalogue.

POS2026 does not prompt for age or record ID checks. Challenge 25 is a staff policy you run yourself: train staff on it, display your notices and keep a refusals log if your licence or local authority expects one.

One barcode per format

Each size and pack is its own product.

Deals at the till

Apply a discount where the rules for your premises allow it.

Receipts on request

Print an invoice when a customer asks.

How POS Sales works

A shop on a street corner in London — Count the shelf that holds the most value most often.

02 · Spirits stock checks

Regular stock checks on the high-value shelf.

Put spirits and premium wines in their own categories and count them often, weekly if you can. Compare each count with the quantity in POS2026. Record breakages and genuine corrections as adjustments, and treat any unexplained gap as a reason to look closer.

Stock reports show what you hold and what has moved, so a bottle that left the shelf without a sale stands out quickly instead of at the year-end stock take.

High-value categories

Count the spirits shelf on its own.

Breakages recorded

Adjust stock with a record of what changed.

Stock reports

What you hold, what sold and what moved.

How Stock works

A man standing outside a large building — Every delivery recorded at the price you actually paid.

03 · Supplier purchases

Purchases from merchants, wholesalers and breweries.

Record each delivery as a purchase against the supplier: the wine merchant, the beer wholesaler, the cash and carry trip and the local brewery. Stock rises when it arrives, and the cost price goes on record with it.

When a supplier passes on a duty or price change, update the cost price on the lines it affects. The purchase history shows how each supplier's prices have moved, which helps when you are deciding who to buy from.

Every supplier on record

Deliveries, prices and what you owe each one.

Price history

See cost increases as they happen.

Supplier records

Contact details and full purchase history.

How Purchase works

Someone working at a laptop beside a cup of coffee — Which shelf pays the rent, in black and white.

04 · Margins on wine and beer

The margin on every wine, beer and spirit.

With a cost price and a selling price on each product, Loss/Profit shows what the shop makes once costs and expenses are taken off. Report by category to compare the wine racks with the beer fridge, then drill into the products to see which bottles carry the shelf and which just take up space.

When setting prices for a new range, the free profit margin calculator shows what each price does to your margin. Record your licence fees, card fees and rent as expenses so the profit figure is complete.

Profit after costs

Product costs and running costs included.

By category and product

Wine against beer against spirits.

How Loss/Profit works

The modules you will use

The POS2026 modules an off licence relies on.

Barcode tills at the front, stock and margins at the back.

Getting started

Set up your off licence in POS2026.

Start with the high-value and fast-moving lines, then work through the racks.

Start a free trial and set pounds sterling as your currency.
Create categories for spirits, wine, beer and cider, soft drinks and snacks.
Add products with barcode, selling price and cost price, one per size or pack.
Count the spirits shelf and enter it as opening stock.
Add your merchants, wholesalers and breweries as suppliers.
Brief staff on your Challenge 25 policy, then open the till.

Questions

Common questions.

Straight answers for shop owners, based on what POS2026 actually does.

Does POS2026 check customers' ages?

No. There is no age-verification feature and no ID prompt at the till. Run Challenge 25, or whatever policy your premises licence requires, as a staff procedure at the counter.

What is the best EPOS system for an off licence?

Look for reliable barcode scanning, strong stock control on high-value lines, supplier records and margins by product. POS2026 covers all four. If you need built-in age prompts or a loyalty scheme, you will need a different system.

Can I run multi-buy deals?

You can apply discounts at the till. Rules on alcohol pricing and promotions differ across the UK nations, so check what applies to your premises before running any deal.

Is it suitable for a wine shop?

Yes. Each wine is a product with its own barcode, cost price and stock count, and different vintages can be added as separate products so they never get mixed up.

How often should I count spirits stock?

Weekly for high-value spirits and less often for the rest of the shop is a sensible starting point. POS2026 does not set a schedule; it shows what you should hold so each count can be checked against it.

Count the shelf that matters most.

Start your free trial, scan in your spirits and see your margins by category within a week.

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