Getting Started with Aera In-store products

This page provides a high-level overview of how to get started with Aera In-Store Payments and how the different in-store components fit together.

Aera In-Store Payments is designed for physical environments, supporting payment terminals that are either integrated with a Point-of-Sale (POS / ECR) or operated as stand-alone terminals.

This guide helps you understand the overall in-store payment journey before moving on to detailed integration documentation.

Step 1: Understand the in-store payment roles

Before starting an in-store integration, it is important to understand the key roles involved in a physical store setup.

Typical roles in an Aera in-store payment setup include:

• Merchant
  The entity operating the physical store and offering payment acceptance to customers.

• Point-of-Sale (POS / ECR)
  The cash register or store system that initiates and manages the checkout flow when using POS-integrated terminals.

• Payment terminal
  The in-store device used by the customer to complete the payment, for example by card or contactless payment.

• Payment Service Provider (PSP) / Acquirer
  Responsible for payment processing, authorization, and settlement.

• Aera platform
  Provides the infrastructure and integration layer connecting terminals, PSPs, and store systems.

Depending on your role, you may be responsible for one or more of these components.

Step 2: Choose your in-store integration model

Aera In-Store Payments supports multiple in-store integration models.

The most common models are:

• POS-integrated terminals
  The payment is initiated and controlled by the POS system, and the terminal acts as a payment peripheral.

• Stand-alone terminals
  The terminal operates independently of the POS and handles the full payment flow on its own.

Your choice of integration model affects terminal setup, store workflows, and technical integration requirements.

Step 3: Get access and align onboarding

To get started with Aera In-Store Payments, you will need to complete onboarding and gain access to the relevant environments.

This typically includes:

• Commercial agreements with Aera
• Access to test and pre-production environments
• Alignment on terminal types, configuration, and regional setup

Your Aera contact will help coordinate onboarding and ensure that the correct components are enabled for your in-store setup.

Step 4: Set up terminals and store environment

Once access is in place, the next step is to prepare the in-store environment.

This may include:

• Provisioning and configuring payment terminals
• Connecting terminals to the correct store, merchant, and configuration
• Establishing communication between POS and terminal for integrated setups

At this stage, no end-to-end payment processing is required yet. The focus is on preparing the store infrastructure.

Step 5: Connect payment processing

After terminals and store systems are set up, payment processing can be connected.

This includes:

• Routing transactions from the terminal or POS to through the payment gateway
• Handling authorization responses and transaction results
• Ensuring that success, failure, and error scenarios are correctly managed

Payment processing behavior depends on the selected payment and terminal configuration.

Step 6: Test in-store payment flows

Before going live, you should test complete in-store payment flows.

Typical test scenarios include:

• Purchase transactions
• Reversals and refunds
• Error and fallback handling
• Terminal and POS interaction (for integrated setups)

Testing ensures that the in-store payment experience works as expected for both staff and customers.