POS stands for Point of Sale. These computerized systems are the lifeblood of many restaurants and exist to make life easier for both staff and business owners. They can be programed to track inventory, customer orders, reservations, dining room layouts, employee hours, and payments. Plus, many of these machines are customizable, meaning that you’d be able to ensure that you’re getting exactly what you need for your restaurant.
Even with these benefits, many restaurant owners are still relying on old-fashioned cash registers and analog systems to run their business. If this sounds like you, consider the following benefits as you explore upgrading to a POS for your restaurant.
1. Improved Efficiency
One of the biggest barriers to efficiency in a restaurant is having disjointed processes. It’s ideal to have all of the most vital aspects of your business working together seamlessly in order to save staff and leadership time, stress, and ensure that everything is being properly managed.
With most POS systems, employee activity is tracked alongside customer activity, making it easier than ever to get a clear idea of customer behavior and staff your restaurant accordingly. With a POS, you can stop guessing when it comes to employee staffing. These systems help make sure you’re adequately covered during your busiest hours and not wasting money on staff at your slowest.
POS systems also improve efficiency when it comes to the customer experience. In order to keep your guests happy, you want to make their time at your restaurant painless, and that includes the checkout process. When it comes time for your guests to pay – whether you require them to visit the register or stay at their table – a good POS system makes the process quick and easy. Simply pull up their table from within the system and apply payment – it’s that simple! Many systems also have the ability to split checks, which is often a popular request from restaurant-goers.
2. Increased Revenue
In addition to improvements in restaurant efficiency, many POS systems have features that help restaurant owners increase their revenue. Offering online ordering can be a huge revenue source in today’s modern market, and the right POS system can help make that happen for your business. Online ordering means nothing if those orders aren’t being properly input into your system and communicated with the kitchen, so if online ordering is on the horizon for your restaurant, make sure you’re looking for a POS provider that can help make that happen.
Loyalty programs and gift cards are two more ways restaurants can try to increase their revenue. Digitizing these programs in a POS system can have a huge impact on their efficacy and improve the customer experience for your guests. Gone are the days of hole-punched loyalty cards and paper gift certificates. Your guests want quick, modern ways to engage with your restaurant, so bringing these vital programs online with your POS system not only meets that need, but makes life easier for your staff as well.
3. Decreased Crisis-Mode
Any restaurant owner knows that a crisis can arise at any moment. Although some may be unavoidable, POS systems help drastically reduce the risk of a mid-dinner service meltdown. Not only are POS systems physically durable and often last decades, POS software is constantly being improved and upgraded. An important thing to consider while choosing the right one for your restaurant is their customer service availability. Being able to pick up the phone and quickly receive help is vital for a busy restaurant.
POS systems also help reduce inventory issues – meaning that you’re less likely to 86 items when a computer is tracking their availability. The worst feeling as a restaurant owner is disappointing your guests, so make sure all of their favorites are always in stock by relying on the help of a POS system to track inventory.
POS Systems and Payment Processing
Payment processing is a vital part of any POS system, but many restaurant owners don’t realize that the merchant services account that is bundled with their POS isn’t always the best option. Bundled services might sound appealing from a convenience perspective, but when it comes to payments, you want to make sure your provider is an absolute expert in their field. POS companies are amazing at restaurant management software and hardware, but payment processing requires an entirely different set of skills.
While doing your research, make sure that the payment processing provider you decide to partner with integrates seamlessly with your POS system. By opting for an integration instead of a bundled service, you increase your chances of saving money and having a better support experience. At the end of the day, you want to ensure your payments are fast, reliable, secure, and affordable. A dedicated payments expert can make sure you have it all.
What’s your favorite POS feature? Let us know on twitter @diningalliance @fattmerchant!
Julia Olson is the Content Strategist for Fattmerchant, a payment technology company offering businesses affordable subscription-style pricing, data analytics technology, and dedicated customer support. Fattmerchant is the leader in creating a painless payment processing experience for all merchants, making is simple so that you can focus on what matters most – growing your business. Follow them on Facebook and Twitter @fattmerchant.
