When the doors open on Black Friday / Small Business Saturday, the energy on the sales floor is unmistakable. Shelves are stocked, shoppers are eager, and every minute counts toward making this your most successful weekend of the year. For retailers running NCR Counterpoint, even the most robust retail setup benefits from a thorough tune-up before lines start wrapping around your display tables.
The last thing anyone wants during a holiday surge is an unexpected surprise like a loose printer cable, an uncalibrated scanner, or hitting an active license limit right when checkout lines begin to form.
Proactive preparation turns peak holiday pressure into a smooth, profitable shopping experience. Here is your operational checklist to ensure your Counterpoint system, hardware, and team are fully prepared for the holiday rush.
Conduct a Complete Hardware Run-Through
Don’t wait until Thanksgiving week to find out a secondary drawer won’t pop or an auxiliary scanner has an intermittent connection. Run a comprehensive test on every station you plan to operate, especially those you only pull out on your busiest days:
- Perform a Test Transaction on all Backup Terminals: Log into Counterpoint on every terminal, laptop, and mobile device and verify each workstation authenticates smoothly, connects to your database without sync errors, and isn’t hung up on pending background updates or station-registration prompts before your first customer steps up.
- Inspect Cables and Connections: Check every USB, Ethernet, and power connection on your terminals, touchscreens, and credit card payment terminals. Dust out fan vents and secure any loose cabling that might be kicked or unplugged during a busy shift.
- Test Receipt Printers and Cash Drawers: Print test receipts to verify print head clarity. Open cash drawers through the POS software interface (not just with a physical key) to confirm the drawer kick-out triggers reliably.
- Calibrate Barcode Scanners: Test scanners against your actual inventory tags—especially smaller barcodes, jewelry tags, or glossy labels that can sometimes challenge an older scan head.
- Verify Payment Terminals: Run a (small) test credit card transaction on each register, then void it to confirm functionality before the day.
Evaluate Station Capacity and Temporary Lanes
If your store averages three active lanes on a normal weekend, determine whether those three registers can comfortably handle your peak holiday foot traffic.
- Add Secondary Checkout Stations: If you have workstations in a back office or inventory room, consider temporarily using them for auxiliary register stations during peak hours. Contact your RCS Account Manager or Tech Support team today if you need assistance with setup
- License Headcount: If you plan to power up extra terminals or deploy mobile units, check your current license count. If you need temporary seasonal licenses or want to permanently expand your register capacity, purchasing or reactivating those now prevents unexpected user lockouts. Contact your RCS Account Manager today to avoid any lead time delays.
Audit Consumables and Essential Supplies
The most preventable disruptions during peak shopping periods come from running out of basic everyday supplies:
- Price Tags and Barcode Labels: Have you tagged all incoming seasonal stock? Check your stock of label rolls, jewelry tags, hang tags, and butterfly labels so you don’t run out when needing to restock items after a rush.
- Receipt Paper: Ensure every register has a fresh roll loaded, along with a multi-pack stored directly under the counter.
- Gift Cards and Sleeves: Black Friday kicks off peak gift card sales. Ensure your branded gift cards are encoded, tested, and staged with plenty at each checkout point.
Stage and Pre-Test Your Promotions
Counterpoint’s pricing engine is exceptionally versatile, but complex promotional rules (e.g., “Buy 2, get 50% off select apparel, excluding clearance”) should always be tested before you go live:
- Configure Rules Early: Set effective start/end dates and times for your promotional codes, mix-and-match groupings, and tiered discounts well in advance. If you need assistance, reach out to your RCS Account Manager today to explore consulting options.
- Ring Up Test Tickets: Process mock transactions on a dedicated training register. Verify that discounts apply accurately, exclusions hold firm, loyalty points calculate properly, and receipts clearly show promotional savings.
- Void Test Data: Void and clean up test transactions so your sales reporting and inventory levels stay accurate.
Prepare for System Interruptions Just in Case
A fast, reliable POS still needs redundancies to ensure you’re able to keep lines moving even when offline:
- Test Offline Ticket Entry: Internet interruptions happen, especially during winter storms. Perform test credit card and cash transactions in Offline Ticket Entry to ensure your team knows how to keep ringing up sales and safely capture payments without pause, even if your local network or internet connection temporarily drops. Be sure to have a secondary method for capturing payment on hand, and remember to void all test transactions the same day! To discuss secondary payment methods, please contact your RCS Account Manager or payments processor today.
Refresh Floor Staff Training
Holiday seasonal hires and returning team members alike will appreciate a quick operational refresher:
- Ensure Everyone Has Access: Set up user accounts with the appropriate permissions in advance, and perform tests to confirm everyone has the required access levels.
- Everyday Shortcuts and Returns: Review key functions like lookups, gift receipt generation, gift card redemptions, and smooth returns and exchanges.
- Clear Internal Escalation: Establish a designated floor lead or manager so cashiers know exactly who to call for quick approvals or hardware checks without pausing customer service.
Prepare Early for a Stress-Free Weekend
Black Friday presents an incredible sales opportunity, and taking time to audit your retail setup now means you can walk onto the sales floor confident, prepared, and focused on your customers.
If you ran through this checklist and noticed you might need:
- Additional Counterpoint station licenses
- Point-of-sale registers, auxiliary hardware, barcode scanners, or payment terminals
- Consumables such as receipt paper and custom tags
- Assistance configuring complex holiday promotions
Reach out to your RCS Account Manager or the RCS Support Team today.
As a reminder, our support hours do change during the holiday season. Emergency support will still be available after closing and on closed days.
Wednesday 11/25 – 8:00 am – 6:00 pm EST
Thursday 11/26 (Thanksgiving Day) – CLOSED
Friday 11/27 – normal business hours resume
Thursday 12/24 (Christmas Eve) – 8:00 am -6:00 pm EST
Friday 12/25 (Christmas) – CLOSED
Thursday 12/31 (New Year’s Eve) – 8:00 am – 6:00 pm EST
Friday 1/1/27 (New Year’s Day) – CLOSED
