Pharmacy POS Software That Dispenses the Right Batch First
A pharmacy point of sale system is a till with extra rules attached. It has to know which batch each medicine came from, when that batch expires, who is allowed to dispense it, and what the Prescription Only Medicines rules permit. A general retail POS can sell a box of medicine. It cannot tell you whether the box on the shelf is the one that expires in nine days.
What a pharmacy POS must do that a retail POS does not
A chemist is a regulated business with perishable stock. Six requirements separate pharmacy software from ordinary retail software.
Batch-level tracking
Every stock unit carries a batch number and an expiry date, so a recall or an expiry query can be answered by batch rather than by product name.
FEFO dispensing
First-Expiry-First-Out logic makes the system push the earliest expiring batch to the counter first, instead of letting staff pick whichever box is nearest.
60-day expiry quarantine
Batches inside sixty days of expiry are pulled out of sellable stock and flagged, so the loss is a decision you make rather than a write-off you discover.
PPB and POM controls
Prescription Only Medicines are gated in the software, and dispensing is recorded against the prescription rather than treated as a normal sale.
Fractional dispensing
Split a pack, dispense a partial quantity and record a generic substitution without breaking the batch record behind it.
Split payments
Part M-Pesa and part cash on one transaction, which is how a lot of counter trade actually happens.
Three ways chemists run their stock
The column that matters is the one that describes what happens to a batch that is about to expire.
| Capability | General retail POS | Cloud POS with a pharmacy mode | WIK POS Pharmacy Edition |
|---|---|---|---|
| Batch numbers and expiry dates | Not recorded | Sometimes, at product level only | Yes, at batch level |
| FEFO dispensing | No | Depends on the vendor | Yes, enforced at the counter |
| Expiry quarantine | No | Rarely | Yes, automatic 60-day quarantine alerts |
| POM capture and gating | No | Limited | Yes |
| Dispensing without internet | Only if locally installed | Usually no | Yes, offline on local SQLite |
| Multi-terminal counters | Varies | Varies | Yes |
| M-Pesa | Varies | Varies | STK push at the counter |
| KRA eTIMS invoices | Varies | Usually yes | Yes, with offline queue and 48-hour deadline alerts |
| Runs on | Varies | Browser | Windows |
| Price | Varies | Usually a monthly subscription | KES 30,000 perpetual or KES 2,000 / month |
FEFO during a real transaction
The point of the rule is that it has to survive a busy counter, not a demo.
- The pharmacist searches the product. The system shows every batch on the shelf with its expiry date, not just a total quantity.
- The system pre-selects the batch. The earliest expiring batch is chosen automatically, so picking correctly is the default rather than a discipline.
- POM items are checked. If the item is Prescription Only, the software requires the prescription details before the sale can proceed.
- The batch record is written. Quantity, batch number and the staff member who dispensed are stored together, so the trail survives a stock-take.
- Expiring batches surface on their own. Sixty days before a batch expires it is quarantined out of sellable stock and flagged, which is when there is still time to act on it.
What happens when the network drops
WIK POS Pharmacy runs on a local SQLite database, so dispensing continues during an internet outage. Sales tax invoices are queued locally and submitted to the KRA Virtual Sales Control Unit when the connection returns, with alerts if a submission approaches its 48-hour deadline. M-Pesa STK push obviously needs connectivity; during an outage the counter falls back to cash or a manual M-Pesa reference.
What it costs
One price, no per-terminal metering, and a free download to evaluate before you commit.
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Licence | KES 30,000 one-time perpetual, or KES 2,000 per month |
| Trial | Free desktop download |
| Operating system | Windows |
| Included | PPB-compliant dispensing, batch tracking, POM gating, FEFO with 60-day quarantine alerts, fractional dispensing, generic substitution, split payments, multi-terminal setups, M-Pesa STK push, KRA eTIMS integration with 48-hour submission deadline alerts |
| Support | Nairobi-based engineering team |
Who this edition suits
And who it does not, because a tool sold to the wrong business is a refund waiting to happen.
Suits
Chemists and pharmacies holding perishable prescription stock, especially those running more than one counter and those who have written off expired medicine more than once.
Does not suit
A general retailer that happens to sell a few over-the-counter items will be better served by WIK POS Premium, which is built for retail and supermarkets. It also will not suit a pharmacy that is entirely Mac or Linux based, since the Pharmacy edition is Windows only.
Pharmacy POS FAQ
Questions we get from chemists evaluating pharmacy software in Kenya.
Have a specific requirement?
Talk directly with our engineering team in Nairobi for custom scoping or live demos.
What is a pharmacy POS system?
What is FEFO and why does it matter for a chemist?
Does WIK POS Pharmacy work without internet?
How does the system handle Prescription Only Medicines?
How much does pharmacy POS software cost in Kenya?
Does it produce KRA eTIMS invoices?
Running a chemist and losing stock to expiry?
We will walk you through a live WIK POS Pharmacy demo using your own product list, so you can see the FEFO and quarantine behaviour on real items rather than sample data.