Offline mode is not one feature. Order entry, printing, kitchen screens, card payments and syncing each work or fail on their own. Ask a vendor about each one by name, and ask what happens to orders when the connection returns. A yes to offline mode alone tells you very little.
Five things people mean by offline
When someone says a POS has offline mode, they might mean any of five things. Ask about each separately.
Order entry. Can staff keep adding items and sending orders from the terminal or handheld? This is the most common meaning, and the easiest to deliver. The device stores the order and sends it later.
Printing. Can tickets still print at the kitchen? A printer on the local network can receive a ticket without the internet, but only if something in the building routes it there. If the POS sends tickets through the cloud, the printer goes quiet.
Kitchen screens. The same applies. If screens read from the cloud, they go blank. A local hub can keep them going.
Cards. Approving a card usually needs a connection to the processor. Some systems store a limited number of offline transactions and risk a decline later. Others do not. You need to ask, and you need the answer in writing.
Syncing. When the internet returns, do the held orders arrive once, in order, without duplicates? This is where problems hide.
The duplicate problem
A device may resend an order if the connection flickers. A system that gives each order a unique ID when it is created can recognize a repeat and keep only one. A system without that can double tickets or double sales. Ask how the vendor prevents duplicates and to see it demonstrated.
What Zorveta One says today
Offline order entry on the POS and handhelds keeps taking orders, and the store hub keeps kitchen screens and printing running. Each order has a unique ID, so a resend is kept once. Ask in the demo how cards behave in an outage for your setup. See the offline mode page and no-duplicate sync.
Questions to ask any vendor
- What exactly keeps working with no internet: entry, print, screens, cards?
- Where is the order stored while offline, and for how long?
- How are duplicates prevented after reconnect?
- What happens to cards?
- Can you show me by unplugging the router?
- What does staff see so they know it is offline?
Run the test at your own restaurant before you sign, on a quiet afternoon.