Benefits of Restaurant Pos System (Save Money, Time & Effort)
The restaurant business is very successful, especially in the US. Statistics show that Americans spend about 48% of their income at restaurants. That goes on to tell you how successful the business can be. Even with the good odds of success, your restaurant business will not be successful except it has active management. Active management includes all activities like maintaining employee performance, quality customer service, and accurate inventories. However, the problem is that keeping up with all these can be tasking, especially if you have to do it on your own. This is why you need a POS system. So, what are the benefits of a POS system in your restaurant?
The benefits of a restaurant POS system are; tracking of sales, aids in the management of the inventory system, cash flow management, and improved customer service. With a good POS system, your workers would be better at what they do, and your customers do not have to wait for too long to get their meals. A good POS system can also help you simplify bookkeeping and give you a timely and accurate report.
Our recommended POS systems: Best Restaurant POS Systems: The Ultimate Guide
Having a POS is so important in a business that its absence could mean failure for the business. In this article, we will explore the reasons why your restaurant needs one of these computerized systems. We will also take some time to consider in detail some of the benefits the system has for you and your business.
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Why do restaurants need POS systems?
A restaurant business is one of the most sensitive businesses that one can run. As a restaurant owner, your priorities border around ensuring that your food is of the highest quality. At the same time, you want to satisfy your customers when they come for their food. This means doing all that you can to ensure that your customers receive their food in the best condition and in time.
However, achieving all these is not as easy as it sounds. Restaurant owners and their staff struggle each day to ensure their customers leave satisfied. That way, they can always come back for more. This does not happen by mistake. For you to attract and retain your customers, a couple of things should be in place in your business. One of the most important of such things is a working POS system.
You will agree that the volume of transactions both cash and credit cards that happen in your restaurants daily are in high volume. Recording and keeping track of these sales by hand would only increase the time you need to attend to your customers. However, a good POS system will help you record and track all the money that comes in from your sales.
With a good POS system, all the servers in your restaurant can easily account for their sales. More importantly, they can do that without having to halt their work. The system can also help you reduce the incidence of employee theft. This is because, with a proper POS system, it would be impossible to alter checks except one has your passwords.
The system also acts as a processing system for credit card sales. This means, credit card swiping would be easier for you and your customers.
Now that you know why you need one, how does the POS system work in a restaurant?
How does a pos system work in a restaurant?
POS is an acronym that means Point of Sale. At the very basics, the term POS refers to any place where transactions are made for goods. The term is usually confused with POS systems. POS system, however, differs from POS. POS system refers to a combination of software and hardware that people use to run and manage their business. It allows businesses to perform different tasks with ease.
Restaurant owners around the world now use POS systems to monitor sales and other transactions. That is because they can easily set it up and use it. Also, the system allows them to reward their loyal customers while improving the efficiency of their staff. With a POS system, you can easily integrate all other important systems to have seamless management.
As a restaurant owner, the POS system is one of the most important technological tools. That’s because it acts as a hub that houses all of your major operations. The system handles sales transactions and the end-to-end workflow of your business. That way, your business processes are faster, easier, and more efficient.
The system typically has two components, the software, and the hardware components. The hardware component refers to physical devices needed to capture sales and payment information. This includes devices like the card reader, receipt printer, cash drawer, barcode scanner. With mobile POS systems, all these devices are combined into a tablet or mobile device.
The software component of the POS system works behind the scenes. Usually, the software captures, records, and processes payments made automatically. The software component also helps collect and store customer data that you can use later on to send alerts for reorders.
The hardware component of the POS systems acts as the front-end interface of the system. The software component, however, acts as the backend interface of the system. In many places, the software component is called the dashboard or Backoffice.
The system needed in a restaurant differs slightly from what is used in many other businesses. The system needs to send orders to the kitchen in real-time, options for tipping, and a system for table reservations.
The sales staff processes sales from the frontend whenever you have customers. Depending on what you want, you can have the backend integrated with the same application called a dashboard. Alternatively, you can have it on a separate application or an entirely new system for management and analytics.
It does not matter what type of POS system you have; the hardware and the software have to work in sync. However, you have the liberty to chose how your data is stored. You either save your data locally on your systems or have them saved online in the cloud.
In the past, people preferred to have local storage. However, times are changing, and Cloud-based storage is now more popular. That’s because cloud storage does not require any infrastructure, and so it is cheaper to install. Also, when you use local storage, you will need some form of maintenance and professional support at some point. However, cloud storage can be limited if there is no internet access.
To address this issue of connectivity, some restaurants use hybrid storage systems. That is, they have an on-site server that they use just in case the internet goes down. When connectivity is restored, the data can then be sync with the cloud.
Some cloud POS systems also offer an online mode that allows the POS system to work offline when the internet is down. The system then syncs itself automatically when the internet is restored.
Read more: Best Restaurant POS Systems
Benefits of restaurant pos system
One of the most important tools in any restaurant is the POS system. With this tool, you can simplify all of your transaction operations. Beyond that, the POS system has several benefits in some significant aspects of your restaurant business. The following is a list of ways in which a POS system will benefit your restaurant business directly.
1. Timely and accurate reports whenever you need it
Reports are crucial to the growth of any business. For your business to grow, you need to understand what is going on in different parts of your business. You will need reports on employee performance, finance, and many more. These reports will help you see how your business is doing at a particular moment. It will also give you insights for improvement. That is to say; reports have to be generated frequently. More importantly, they need to be perfect so you can properly understand your business.
The problem with these reports, however, is that it takes time to generate them. Your staff will be using their productive time to generate reports when they can do something else. Also, no one is perfect. No matter how good your workers are, there is always room for human error. Sometimes spotting this error can take hours. In some cases, you might not even spot them leading to false assumptions about your business.
With a POS system, you get to reduce the time-wasting with result delivery. The system automatically records and tracks your transactions, and therefore you do not waste unnecessary time. You will also have an idea of how well each staff is using the technology to retain customers. Also, you reduce the incidence of human errors in the reports.
Read also: 25 Incredible Tips For Restaurant Organization
2. Better Customer Service
One of the major qualities of a successful restaurant is happy customers. With a POS system, you can achieve that in several ways. Firstly, a POS system will help you reduce the time needed in processing sales. With a good system, your workers would be better at what they do, and your customers do not have to wait for too long to get their meals.
Also, with a POS system, you can easily create customer profiles. The profiles will allow you to set up special reward systems to appreciate your loyal customers. It could be specialized discounts or some form of promotion. The idea is to make them feel special so that they can return.
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3. You can integrate your Restaurant POS system with other systems
One of the biggest advantages of using a POS system in your restaurant is that it integrates seamlessly with other systems. Most POS systems use the latest technology tools and platforms, so it is easy to integrate them. A good POS system will integrate perfectly with your important business software like your inventory, accounting, CRM, purchase, and many more. The advantage here is that all of your major business processes are kept in one place. As a result, you can have an overhead view of your business from a glance. That reduces the probability of you missing out on any important sections when making decisions. It also makes management easier and faster.
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4. Ease of Use
Most POS systems available today are easy to use and intuitive. That means your staff members will not have issues understanding how to use the system. It also means your transactions are going to happen at a faster rate with better efficiency.
The ease is not only enjoyed by your members of staff alone. Your customers also enjoy the ease of use. Many of these POS systems allow you to go paperless. That way, your customers can choose to receive their receipts by email instead of the regular paper-type receipt. That means they do not have to worry about trashing the receipts later. That also means you will reduce checkout time and focus more on your orders so your customers can get their food in no time.
Some of these POS systems also special at-table solutions. This means customers can pay directly to the business from their tables.
Read also: 20 Incredible Ways To Improve Restaurant Efficiency
5. There’s no room for theft
There are thieves everywhere. You could have one even in your business without having an idea. It could be an external person, and it can be an internal person. To fully understand what is going on, you need the right information. A POS system will equip you with the clear information that you need about your business.
When you prioritize reports, the POS system will get you better insights into your terminals. That way, you can tell if someone is stealing from you or not. With a POS system, the records of your transactions are transparent. That is, everyone in the business sees it. Therefore, any strange transaction can be flagged easily and investigated.
Conclusion
There are many reasons to invest in a good POS system, even beyond the 5 time, money, and effort-saving ones described above. That being said, if you are ready to really up to your restaurant’s game, I suggest that you take a look at our recommended POS systems; whether you work in a small or large restaurant, there’s something for you.
I hope that this article gave you real value that you can implement into your everyday life and benefit from it!