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What It Is

Zero POS is an ERP + POS system built for the pharmacy sector in Ecuador and Peru. It is not positioned as generic checkout software; instead, it focuses on pharmaceutical retail inventory, invoicing, tax compliance, and store operations. According to its website, it is already used by more than 800 pharmacies in Ecuador and Peru, with an emphasis on meeting SRI and SUNAT electronic invoicing requirements.

Core Features and Integrations

Its core modules include electronic invoicing, pharmaceutical inventory logistics, purchasing, batches, expiry dates, returns, storage locations, product catalog management, multi-store management, inter-store transfers, automatic replenishment, accounting and tax, and real-time reporting. Reports cover sales, profit, expiring products, most profitable pharmacies, inventory minimums and maximums, turnover, best-selling products, ARCSA monthly April reports, and more, making it highly tailored to pharmacy operations.

The system also integrates electronic top-ups, payments for more than 400 services, Banco del Pichincha’s Pago de Una, the PagoPlux payment gateway, and PayPhone. In terms of deployment, it uses a hybrid desktop and web model, highlighting the speed of the desktop client and the mobility of the web version. It also supports a “airplane mode” for continued sales during internet outages, with synchronization to the Amazon cloud every minute.

Pricing and Target Users

Pricing is relatively transparent: the free plan is $0/month, Android-only, and suitable for small businesses; Inicial costs $35.94/month and is aimed at merchants that do not need full accounting; Contable costs $50/month and adds accounts receivable and payable, accounting reports, bank reconciliation, collections, and automatic ATS generation. Pricing for chain/pharmaceutical distributor packages is available on request, and includes private Amazon AWS cloud space. Overall, it is better suited to independent pharmacies, pharmacy chains, and pharmaceutical distributors in Ecuador and Peru.

Pros and Cons

Its strengths are its deep vertical capabilities, covering drug batches, expiry dates, tax filing, multi-store operations, and offline checkout, which makes it friendly to stores with unstable internet connections. The free plan also lowers the barrier to trying it. The drawbacks are that its security and compliance information is fairly high-level, only stating that data is securely stored in the cloud. Details on its permission system, APIs, developer support, SLA, and implementation services are not disclosed, making it difficult to assess its governance capabilities for larger enterprises.

Access from China and Alternatives

Access from China is unknown. Since its core compliance features revolve around SRI, SUNAT, ARCSA, and the Latin American payments ecosystem, pharmacies in China may face adaptation issues related to tax-control systems, medical insurance, drug regulation, payments, and local invoicing. Chinese users would be better off first evaluating local pharmacy ERP/POS systems, inventory and sales management tools, or alternatives with established local ecosystems such as Kingdee, Yonyou, and GuanjiaPo.