The Retail POS Rollout Checklist

A retail POS rollout has no partial credit. The lane sells or it doesn't. This checklist condenses what we validate across programs like Reddy Express (673 stores, 19 weeks) and Luxottica (600 stores) into 25 items across four phases.

Phase 1: Before you commit a schedule

1. Site audits complete for every store: counter dimensions, power, cabling, network, back-office space.
2. Trading calendar mapped: freeze periods, peak weeks, local events that close the window.
3. Legal-for-trade scope identified: any lane that weighs product needs NMI verification planned into the install, not discovered after it.
4. Pilot stores selected across formats: flagship, small, oldest building.
5. Rollback defined: old kit stays installable until the new lane passes.
6. Store comms drafted: managers know the what, when and who of their night.

Phase 2: Staging

7. Terminals imaged with the production build, per store.
8. Peripherals paired and tested against the terminal they ship with.
9. Kits packed per store with labelled cabling, mounts and consumables.
10. Serials logged to each site in the asset system before dispatch.
11. EFTPOS devices injected/configured per acquirer requirements.
12. Spares allocated per wave, positioned regionally.

Phase 3: Install night

13. Delivery confirmed on site before the crew travels.
14. Photos of the existing lane before touching anything.
15. Install to playbook: mount, cable-dress, label.
16. End-to-end transaction test: scan, weigh, tender, print, settle.
17. NMI verification completed and documented where applicable.
18. Back-office and network checks: failover, printing, reporting.
19. Old kit removed, serialised and packed for return.
20. Evidence pack submitted: photos, test results, exceptions.
21. Rollback executed without hesitation if pass criteria fail.

Phase 4: The mornings after

22. Hypercare line live from first trade, staffed by people who know the rollout.
23. Day-one check-in call to every store cut over the night before.
24. Exception list worked daily, not weekly.
25. Wave review before the next wave releases: timings, faults, playbook updates.

The two items that save programs

If a rollout can only get two things right, choose items 1 and 7: audit every store, and stage every terminal. Nearly every disaster story we're asked to rescue skipped one of them. The full method behind this checklist lives in our POS installation service and retail deployment guide.

Rolling out lanes this year? Speak to an expert.