Restaurants are a unique business. Preparing interesting and delicious menu items which keep customers coming back is a hard enough task, but then you throw in the training necessary to educate your employees on the service etiquette you expect across the board, and then you still have to consider the best point-of-sale technology and choose between the hundreds of options available to you… it’s enough to discourage even the most ambitious restaurant entrepreneur or franchise owner!
While we can’t design the menu or train employees for you, we can offer some valuable bits of information about restaurant POS technology which can save you time and money in your restaurant. Point-of-sale technology has to do with everything in the restaurant business, from the moment your customers order drinks or an appetizer, to the time they pay for their meal. However, it can also help you on the back side of the restaurant business.
Here are the major areas which can benefit from POS technology in your restaurant:
Order taking – An effective order-taking system can prevent human error and ensure your customers’ orders are correct from the table to the kitchen. Making sure orders are entered correctly is the first step in getting the right items to the table.
Inventory – A powerful restaurant POS tool will help you keep up with your inventory in real-time. When an order is placed, your system will deduct those items from inventory so you don’t have to process inventory manually.
Report building – Reports are the life’s blood of your restaurant. Having reports which are quick and easy to generate will allow you to see the direction your profits are going in. You can also determine your busiest times, your best sellers, and your profits for any given time period.
Marketing – In our current market, an online presence is a must. Your restaurant POS technology should allow you to access social media, advertise specials, and communicate with your current customers via email or text message.
When you are looking for restaurant POS technology which will improve your business, make sure you choose a product with the following characteristics:
Strong technical support – The technology you choose is only as good as its tech support. When your system goes down, you need to be confident you can connect with someone on the phone and receive help immediately, rather than having to wait for a time more convenient for them.
Speed – One of the key features of a successful POS system, speed, will matter when your staff is inputting orders which have to be read and prepared by your bar or kitchen. The last thing they want to do is stand around waiting for items to load.
Easy to use – Don’t overlook this important characteristic. A system which is intuitive and simple to navigate will save you and your staff from the inevitable frustration which comes from working with a system that’s hard to use.
All these factors will come into play when you are looking for a restaurant POS technology system, so weigh them carefully before making your decision!
