Guide
Selling through load-shedding and network outages
Power cuts and dropped connections are part of trading in Zimbabwe. The goal is simple: the queue keeps moving and no sale goes unrecorded.
Your outage plan
A till that works offline
Choose a POS that keeps recording sales without internet and syncs them later, instead of one that stops.
Battery-powered devices
Phones, tablets and handheld terminals keep going through a power cut; a desktop PC does not without backup.
Backup for the essentials
A small inverter or power bank for the till, router and receipt printer goes a long way.
A second connection
A mobile data bundle on a phone hotspot covers the times the main line goes down.
What about card and mobile-money payments?
Cash can be recorded offline, but card and mobile-money payments need a connection to be approved. Keep a backup data connection for payments, and tell customers early if electronic payments are down rather than at the end of their purchase.
How Revoluno handles outages
The Revoluno till keeps taking sales when the connection drops and syncs them once you are back online. It runs on Android phones, tablets and handheld terminals that carry their own battery, so a power cut does not have to stop the counter.