FAQs
The questions owners ask, answered plainly
Tradeinit in general
- What is Tradeinit?
- A hosted platform for hospitality and retail venues in the UK: QR order and pay, a waiter POS on any tablet, built-in card payments, kitchen and bar displays, printed tickets and receipts, bookings, and an owner's dashboard with an AI assistant. One supplier, one set of numbers.
- What does it cost?
- Software from £30 a month per venue. Card fees are separate and spelled out on the pricing page. No setup fee, no year-long contract.
- Do I need new hardware?
- No. Guests use their own phones, staff use any tablet, and screens run in a browser on any tablet or TV. An Epson receipt printer is optional for tickets, bills and receipts.
- Does the printer need a laptop or an app running?
- No. Epson printers collect their tickets from Tradeinit's servers themselves (Server Direct Print). Plug it in, enter the address once, and it runs on its own.
- What happens if the wifi drops?
- QR ordering pauses for guests until it returns, and nothing is charged twice. Printers catch up on their queue when they reconnect. The dashboard shows a light per printer so you notice before the chef does.
- Can I keep my card machine?
- Yes. Take the card on your own machine and record it on the POS. Guests can also pay by QR on their phone, and the POS can show a QR for a guest to pay a tab that way.
- Can the kitchen see takings?
- No. Station logins open the kitchen and bar screens and nothing else. Takings, settings and the menu stay with the owner.
- How long does setup take?
- Usually a day, done remotely: your menu (from photos of the paper one if you like), tables, hours, printers and staff PINs. We watch the first service with you.
- Who owns the data?
- You do. Orders, menu, bookings and reports belong to the venue. The AI assistant only sees your venue's data and nobody else's.
- Where is Tradeinit based?
- London. Venues anywhere in the UK are set up remotely. Tradeinit is a product of Flexibles AI Ltd.
Waiter POS
- Do I need new hardware?
- No. The POS installs on any tablet from a link. An Epson receipt printer is optional for bills, receipts and kitchen tickets.
- Can I keep my card machine?
- Yes. Take the card on your machine at the bar and record it on the POS. Guests can also pay by QR on their phone.
- What stops staff voiding items?
- Voids need a manager PIN, and each waiter signs in with their own PIN, so you can see who served each table.
- Do I need a laptop for the printer?
- No. Epson printers connect to Tradeinit's servers themselves using Server Direct Print.
- How long does setup take?
- We set it up remotely in a day, including your menu, tables and staff PINs.
Payments
- Whose account does the money go into?
- Yours. You keep your own merchant account, which is Revolut today.
- Can I keep my card machine?
- Yes. Your existing machine works alongside Tradeinit, and staff record card payments on the POS.
- What if the guest closes the browser while paying?
- A reconciliation job runs every minute. If the payment went through, the order is recorded and printed anyway.
- What happens if the wifi drops?
- QR ordering pauses for guests until it returns, and nothing is charged twice.
- What are the card fees?
- Card fees are separate from the monthly price. See pricing for the details.
QR order & pay
- Do guests need an app?
- No. The menu opens in the phone's browser from the QR code.
- Will I need to reprint the codes?
- No. Each table's code is permanent, so it can be engraved on a metal plate and left in place.
- What happens if the wifi drops?
- QR ordering pauses for guests until the connection returns, and nothing is charged twice.
- Can I still take orders from waiters?
- Yes. The waiter POS and QR orders feed the same kitchen and the same tabs.
- Where is it running today?
- Brilliant Gastro in Southall, London takes QR orders every service on Tradeinit.
- How much does it cost?
- Pricing starts at 30 pounds a month per venue, with card fees separate. See pricing for the details.
Kitchen display
- Do I need new hardware?
- No. Any tablet or TV with a browser can be the display.
- Can the kitchen see takings?
- No. Staff logins only show tickets. Takings stay in the owner's dashboard.
- Can I keep my printers?
- If they are Epson receipt printers, yes. The same order can print and show on screen.
- Do I need a laptop for the printer?
- No. Epson printers connect to Tradeinit's servers themselves using Server Direct Print.
- What if a chef bumps the wrong ticket?
- Recall it. Any bumped ticket can be brought back onto the screen.
Bookings & deposits
- Can I take deposits?
- Yes. Deposits scale with party size and are paid when the guest books.
- Where do guests book?
- On your venue's page, which you can link from your website or Instagram.
- Can guests pre-order a cake?
- Yes. You can sell extras like a cake or a bottle at booking time.
- Who owns the guest data?
- You do. Your data belongs to your venue, and guests only receive offers if they ticked the consent box.
- How much does it cost?
- Pricing starts at 30 pounds a month per venue, with card fees separate. See pricing for the details.
Stock and end of day
- Can I change a sale after it is made?
- You can correct it, not edit it. The correction records what the line really was or what VAT it counts at, with your name and reason; the original sale, receipt and payment stay as they were. That is what keeps VAT returns and bank statements reconcilable.
- Does a refund put stock back?
- A refund is money only today. Put the product back with a Returned adjustment on the Stock page, or a correction if it was never sold.
- What is the difference between an X and a Z report?
- The X report is the open period, live, as many times as you like. The Z report closes the period: the figures are frozen under a running number and the next period starts.
- Can the report be emailed to my accountant?
- Yes. Email me sends it to your login; Email the report list sends it to everyone ticked to receive reports on the Team page. Any date range works for the month end.
- Does it do ingredients for a restaurant?
- Not yet. Today it counts whole products: bottles, cans, packaged goods, anything with a barcode. Ingredients, recipes and use-by dates are a later module.
AI assistant
- Does it see my guests' details?
- No. Names and contact details are not needed to answer trading questions and are not sent.
- Is my data used to train models?
- No. The assistant is used to answer the question asked, not to train models.
- Who builds it?
- Flexibles AI Ltd, the company behind Tradeinit, so there is no third party between your numbers and the answer.
- What does it cost?
- An add-on billed by Tradeinit. Ask for the current price when you book a demo.
Restaurants
- Do I need new hardware?
- No. Any tablet or phone runs the POS and the kitchen screen. An Epson receipt printer is optional if your kitchen prefers paper tickets.
- Can I keep my card machine?
- Yes. Waiters can record card taken at the bar on your existing machine. QR payments go into your own merchant account.
- What happens if the wifi drops?
- QR ordering pauses for guests until the connection returns, and nothing is charged twice. Payments are checked on our servers before any ticket prints.
- Can the kitchen see takings?
- No. Staff logins only show tickets. Takings stay in the owner's dashboard.
- Is it running anywhere today?
- Yes. Brilliant Gastro in Southall, London runs every service on Tradeinit, with QR ordering, the waiter POS and printers in the kitchen and at the bar.
- How much does it cost?
- Pricing starts at 30 pounds a month per venue, with card fees separate. See pricing for the details.
Cafes
- Do I need new hardware?
- No. A tablet at the counter is enough. Add an Epson receipt printer if you want paper receipts or kitchen tickets.
- Do I need bookings?
- Most cafes do not, so you can leave bookings switched off. It is there if you start taking tables for brunch.
- Can I keep my card machine?
- Yes. Record card payments taken on your own machine at the counter, and take QR payments into your own merchant account.
- How long does setup take?
- We set it up remotely in a day. Photos of your paper menu are enough to import it.
- How much does it cost?
- Pricing starts at 30 pounds a month per venue, with card fees separate. See pricing for the details.
Takeaways
- Can customers order online for collection?
- Not yet. Online ordering for collection is coming, and you can register interest today.
- Do you do deliveries?
- Deliveries are on the roadmap but not live. Register interest and we will keep you posted.
- Do I need new hardware?
- No. Any tablet runs the till and any tablet or TV browser can be the kitchen screen. An Epson receipt printer is optional.
- Do I need a laptop for the printer?
- No. Epson printers connect to Tradeinit's servers themselves, so there is no laptop or app sitting in between.
- How much does it cost?
- Pricing starts at 30 pounds a month per venue, with card fees separate. See pricing for the details.
Pubs
- Can guests order drinks from the table?
- Yes. They scan the QR on the table, order and pay on their phone, and the round shows on the bar display or prints at the bar.
- Can I keep my card machine?
- Yes. Staff can record card taken on your machine at the bar. QR payments go to your own merchant account.
- What happens if the wifi drops?
- QR ordering pauses for guests until it comes back, and nothing is charged twice.
- Can bar staff see takings?
- No. Staff logins see orders and tickets only. Takings stay with the owner.
- How much does it cost?
- Pricing starts at 30 pounds a month per venue, with card fees separate. See pricing for the details.
Food trucks
- Will it work without venue wifi?
- Yes, a phone hotspot is enough. If the connection drops, QR ordering pauses until it returns and nothing is charged twice.
- Do I need a laptop for the printer?
- No. Epson printers connect to Tradeinit's servers themselves, so the printer only needs a connection.
- Can I keep my card machine?
- Yes. Record card payments taken on your own machine, and take QR payments into your own merchant account.
- What hardware do I need?
- A tablet or phone. A small Epson receipt printer is optional.
- How much does it cost?
- Pricing starts at 30 pounds a month per venue, with card fees separate. See pricing for the details.
Shops and retail
- Does it track stock?
- Yes. Tick Track stock on a product, or receive it in a delivery, and the till counts it down as it sells. Stocktakes, waste and corrections are recorded with a name and a reason, and a history shows every change.
- Can I keep my printer and cash drawer?
- Usually. An Epson receipt printer connects to Tradeinit itself; a printer plugged into a Windows till works through a small helper on the till. The drawer plugs into the printer and pops on cash sales.
- Can I take card payments on a card machine?
- Yes. The till sends the sale to the card machine and records the result itself, or the customer taps on a handheld. Cash can stay on the till too.
- Do I need new hardware?
- No. Any tablet works as the till. An Epson receipt printer is optional for paper receipts.
- Who owns my sales data?
- You do. Your data belongs to your shop.
- How much does it cost?
- Pricing starts at 30 pounds a month per venue, with card fees separate. See pricing for the details.
Something we missed?
Email hello@tradeinit.com and a real person replies within one business day.