Top 10 POS problems and solutions for European businesses

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A reliable and efficient POS system is essential for European businesses. However, many merchants face common challenges when purchasing and using POS machines, such as difficult troubleshooting, limited payment options, and complex refund processes. These issues can significantly impact operational efficiency.

This article highlights the top 10 POS problems European businesses encounter and provides practical solutions, while also explaining how Silkpay provides merchants with the most cost-effective POS machines and payment solutions.

1.Complex device setup

Setting up a POS machine often requires deep and professional technical knowledge, which can make the initial setup take a long time.

Solution:

Choose a provider that offers setup support. 

Silkpay provides a POS terminal that’s ready to use right out of the box, with all the setup handled for you.

2.Employee training issues

For new POS terminals, employees may need some time to get fully comfortable with them. Without proper guidance, this can affect daily work efficiency and increase training costs.

Solution:

Go with a provider that provides ways that help employees adapt to the new POS machine.

Silkpay offers user-friendly and easy-to-use POS terminals, along with detailed instructions, documentation guides, and video tutorials. Thus, your staff can get up to speed quickly while you save training time and keep costs low.

3.Inability to process online payments

Many traditional POS terminals cannot support online payments, which can slow down order processing and even cause missed business opportunities, which in turn hurts customer experience and overall sales performance.

Solution:

Select a POS terminal that supports online payments too. 

Silkpay’s PAX A920 Pro POS solution supports PayByLink for remote payments. Right from the POS machine, merchants can just send payment links via SMS, email, or social media and customers can easily click the link to pay. This allows merchants to manage online payments using just a POS machine.

4.Difficult POS troubleshooting

When a POS machine malfunctions, it usually requires professional technicians to diagnose and repair it. For merchants lacking technical support, this can lead to prolonged device downtime and cause potential losses.

Solution:

Use a high-quality POS machine and partner with a POS provider that offers timely technical support.

Silkpay provides guidance for common POS issues, and when you encounter problems that you cannot resolve on your own, our technical team will promptly perform troubleshooting services to ensure quick resolution, so your business can continue operating without disruption.

5.Limited payment options

Many merchants’ POS machines support only a narrow range of payment methods, which makes it difficult to meet diverse business needs. 

This is particularly challenging in tourist cities, where visitors from different countries all have their own preferred way to pay. If a store offers only one or two options, it is easy to lose customers.

Solution:

Accept all payment methods that are trendy and necessary from the customer’s point of view.

In recent years, more European merchants have chosen Silkpay’s payment solution. With a single PAX A920 Pro POS, you can accept a wide variety of mainstream payment methods such as Visa, Mastercard, Google Pay, Apple Pay and Samsung Pay. It also supports more than 20 major Asian wallets through Alipay+, along with WeChat Pay. 

This means that one POS device can meet the payment preferences of billions of customers from all over the world. Asian tourists, in particular, rely heavily on their own mobile wallets when traveling and shopping in Europe. 

By using Silkpay’s solution, you not only create a better experience for your customers but also capture this powerful source of spending to help your business grow.

6.Challenges in multi-store management

Many merchants, in the early stages of their business, often choose a POS terminal and merchant backend that only meets their most basic needs. However, as the business grows, with more locations opening and a more diverse customer base, the original merchant backend often struggles to handle more complex operational demands.

Solution:

Adopt an all-in-one merchant dashboard that can grow with your business.

With Silkpay’s merchant backoffice, you can easily manage transactions across multiple stores and add new locations whenever needed. 

When you open a new store, all you need is to contact our team to order a POS terminal for that location. You can easily monitor and manage sales across all your stores on a centralized platform, handle refunds autonomously, and send payment links to your customers.

7.Complex refund process

Many POS machines have complicated refund procedures. They often require multiple steps such as entering the original transaction details, verifying the payment method, waiting for customer confirmation, and printing several receipts. 

This process is not only time-consuming but also prone to errors, creating inconvenience for both staff and customers.

Solution：

Using a POS machine with a simplified refund process can greatly improve efficiency.

Silkpay’s POS terminals simplify refunds. It requires only a few simple steps and no tedious information entry. The process is convenient for both merchants and customers.

8.No QR code payment support

Many POS machines don’t support QR code payment methods, which prevents a large number of Asian customers from using popular mobile payment methods such as WeChat Pay and Alipay+. 

For customers who are accustomed to scanning codes to pay, this limitation significantly reduces the shopping experience.

Solution：

Silkpay’s PAX A920 Pro supports 2 methods of QR code scanning: 

• The merchant scans the customer’s QR code: In this case, the customer shows the merchant their payment QR code to scan.

• The customer scans the merchant's QR code：In this case, the merchant generates a payment QR code from the POS machine and shows it to the customer. Then, the customer scans it to make the payment.

Learn the difference between the 2 QR code scanning methods in our tutorial.

9.Lack of mobile POS support

Many POS machines rely on fixed countertop devices and cannot process payments on the go. This limitation prevents merchants from offering a convenient checkout experience in settings like restaurants and cafés, where table side payment is needed. 

Customers must queue at the cashier, which slows down service and diminishes the overall experience.

Solution：

Upgrading to a wireless POS terminal enables staff to complete transactions anywhere. Silkpay’s wireless POS machine enables merchants to provide flexible service for any type of business.

10.High POS hardware costs

POS hardware can be a big investment for small and medium-sized businesses. For startups, it is crucial to access multiple payment methods at the lowest possible cost.

Solution：

Silkpay provides a variety of payment solutions tailored to your budget. 

At Silkpay, merchants can choose to rent POS terminals or convert their iOS and Android smartphones into mobile POS devices to reduce hardware costs. 

Conclusion

Pick the right POS provider and avoid common headaches such as tricky refunds, limited payment options, or lack of mobile payment. This allows businesses to manage transactions more efficiently, meet customer needs, and expand growth opportunities. 

Silkpay offers flexible, user-friendly, and cost-effective POS solutions that help merchants stand out in a competitive market, providing a smoother payment experience and higher-quality service.

About the author: Silkpay

Based in Paris, Silkpay provides omnichannel and secure payment solutions to help physical stores and e-commerce in Europe and the Americas accept more than 30 of the world's most popular payment methods: Visa, Mastercard, CB, UnionPay, Alipay+, WeChat Pay as well as Asia-Pacific’s major e-wallets.

Silkpay is a winner of the LVMH Innovation Award. The company was also selected as a finalist for the "Money 20/20" Best Startup and in the "MPE Berlin” Startup Awards. Silkpay also won the "Best Fintech" awards from Capgemini and BPCE.

Silkpay helps merchants deliver the smoothest payment experience to their customers. We are a talented and international team driven by a single goal: to improve the customer experience and make payments simple and secure.