Offline-first
The internet goes down. Dinner service does not.
Most cloud POS systems stop the moment the line drops, right in the middle of a rush. ZaikaLab is built the other way around: the outlet works on its own, and the cloud catches up later.
The difference
Two ways to build a POS. Only one keeps billing in an outage.
Cloud-first POS
- The line drops and the screen freezes mid-order.
- Every tap waits on a round trip to a server.
- An outage at 8pm on a Saturday is an outage in your billing.
- Your data lives somewhere you cannot reach without the internet.
ZaikaLab, offline-first
- The counter keeps taking orders and printing bills, no internet needed.
- Every action is instant, because it is local.
- An outage is invisible to the floor; sync simply waits.
- The full record is on your PC, yours to keep.
See for yourself
Try it: pull the plug.
Flip the line down and watch billing carry on while only the cloud copy waits.
Everything is in sync. Flip the line down to see what a real outage does.
How it is built
Four rules the whole system follows.
These are not settings you turn on. They are how ZaikaLab is put together, top to bottom.
The counter is the source of truth
The outlet’s Windows PC owns every order, ticket and bill. Nothing has to be online for it to be true.
Captains send commands
Captain phones ask the counter to do things over the local network. They never own the order themselves.
The cloud is a copy
The outlet syncs a copy up whenever it can. The cloud reads for the owner; it never edits a transaction.
The licence is enforced offline
A signed licence on the PC keeps it running through an outage, and only goes read-only if it truly lapses.
The shape of it
The outlet runs on its own network. The cloud is downstream.
Captains and the kitchen talk to the counter over the outlet’s own network, so orders and bills never leave the building to happen. The cloud is the one leg that needs the internet, and it only ever receives a copy.
- 1
Take the order
On the POS, or on a captain’s phone at the table. It is written to the outlet at once.
- 2
Fire the kitchen
The order becomes a KOT and prints at the right station, immediately, on the local network.
- 3
Print the bill
GST computed to the paisa, a sequential invoice number, a clean printed bill.
- 4
Settle it
Cash, card, UPI or a tab. The outlet records it and the drawer reconciles at close.
- 5
Sync when online
The moment a connection is back, the outlet catches the cloud up. Nothing was waiting on it.
Your data
Offline-first is also data you own.
Your data sits on your PC
The full record lives at the outlet. The cloud copy is for reporting, and losing the internet loses you nothing.
Every change is written down
Actions go to an audit log, and synced rows are soft-deleted, so a mistake can be traced and undone.
Questions
Offline billing questions
What happens to bills made during an outage?
They are already saved on the counter PC and print normally; they sync when the line returns.
Can I lose data if the internet is down for days?
No. The full record lives at the outlet; the cloud is a copy.
Does the licence need the internet?
A signed licence on the PC keeps it running through an outage; it only goes read-only if it truly lapses.
Keep reading
See it survive an outage.
In a demo we will pull the internet and keep billing. Book one on your own menu.