As the world adapts to modern technology, there’s no reason for your business to lag behind. Digitizing and automating restaurant operations is one of the keys to running a successful restaurant business. One way to do that is with a restaurant POS system.
Implementing a restaurant or bar POS system will modernize your establishment and provide a pleasant customer experience from the moment the guest walks in. This is also helpful when you bring customers in through O2O methods. Using this restaurant technology will provide you with endless opportunities to better serve your customers. It helps organize staff, prepare the food, and keep everything running smoothly.
Reliable restaurant POS systems automate daily tasks, but what is a restaurant POS system? How is it different from the traditional cash register? Is it worth the investment? These points are covered in this article and it may help you achieve restaurant success.
Restaurant POS System Meaning
The restaurant POS system meaning refers to a Point of Sale system which processes transactions at a restaurant. Traditional POS systems only accept orders and generate receipts for each transaction. Modern POS systems have cloud technology and now provide innovative features such as loyalty program integration.
These days, POS systems offer different restaurant management functions. Such functions include smart reporting and analytics, loyalty program integration, inventory management, and customer relationship management.
Most point of sale systems reduce manual labor while simplifying daily operations. It’s also possible to integrate third-party applications to allow online ordering for restaurants, table reservations, and accept payments such as eWallets for contactless payments. These payments include credit card, eCheck, ACH payment, and similar restaurant payment technology.
Cloud-based POS software in restaurants works offline and online. This means that if the internet stops working, restaurant operations contingent upon the POS won’t stop. Such software will provide a quick checkout experience. You can also have a mobile point of sale system that allows you take payments on the go.
Key Takeaway: A restaurant POS system makes it easy to process customer transactions and generate each POS report that is essential for analyzing business performance.
5 Benefits of a Restaurant POS System
The restaurant industry includes customers with ever-evolving needs that follow the latest restaurant industry trends. In order to keep up with the demand, each restaurant and business owner has to innovate their operations. A point of sale system simplifies many operations and provides numerous benefits.
Here are five key benefits of a restaurant POS system:
- Reduced wait time
- Loyalty program integration
- Inventory tracking
- Error control
- Accurate business reporting
1. Reduced Wait Time
Full service restaurants have separate areas for food preparation and serving. Customer orders are placed in different areas of the restaurant, including self-ordering kiosks. These orders require proper synchronization in order to ensure that each order is received.
Having multiple servers and wait staff delivering each individual order is time-consuming and difficult. However, modern technology in restaurants, and POS systems, simplifies this process.
These systems allow for quick order processing, menu management, efficient table management, and timely food delivery. Wait times will decrease leading to an increase in customer satisfaction.
2. Loyalty Program Integration
When opening a business or opening a restaurant, establishing a loyalty program is encouraged. These programs make it easy to gain returning customers, increase clientele, and generate sales.
To properly implement a restaurant loyalty program, it’s best to have reliable POS software. The restaurant POS system will store customer information, add discounts to the bill, and monitor loyalty points. It will also allow customers to redeem their points.
When you write a business plan for your restaurant, be sure to include the kind of loyalty programs you desire to have. Such programs are ideal when opening a food truck, opening a bakery, opening a grocery store, and opening a coffee shop.
3. Inventory Tracking
Having a solid inventory management process is essential in the restaurant industry. Restaurant inventory tracking is possible through a restaurant POS system. It provides real-time data and accurate product movement information. This increases efficiency and reduces the chance of food waste and shrinkage.
Such information allows you to keep track of the reorder point of your inventory and safety stock. Most POS system features support remote inventory monitoring. This allows the restaurant manager or inventory control manager to monitor the stock levels from remote locations. You can also calculate inventory turnover.
4. Error Control
Happy customers turn into returning guests and in many cases, they will recommend your establishment to their peers. In order to run a thriving restaurant business, you need to maintain those happy customers with accurately prepared and served orders.
Human errors are common, especially in the restaurant industry. Before modern-day restaurant tech, handwritten orders were commonplace. However, it was also common to misinterpret the handwriting on the orders which would cause confusion among the kitchen, wait, and bar staff.
Restaurant POS integrations reduce these human errors and improve communication. This not only ensures happy customers but also reduces the chance of food waste and extended wait times.
5. Accurate Business Reporting
It’s essential to analyze your business’ performance. This is possible through business reporting tools such as a POS system. Such reports allow managers to monitor inventory levels, sales, credit, and top-selling items.
This information is necessary when conducting a restaurant profit and loss statement. The POS software makes report analysis faster, easier, and more accurate. It allows businesses to store more data in a digital format. That way, you have the opportunity to keep track of all important information.
Why Does a Restaurant Need to Have a POS System?
In order for a restaurant to be successful, it needs to be in a prime location, offer excellent food, and fast and efficient service. So how does a POS system fit into this and why can’t a simple cash register suffice?
Before the electronic point of sale systems, the standard cash register did the trick. They’re still ideal to use, but only for small businesses with one to three employees and little inventory. For medium to large size restaurants with more than three employees and hundreds of inventory items, a POS system is essential. The benefits of having a POS outweigh the POS hardware costs that may be associated with having one.
POS systems improve different aspects of your daily operations including ordering, checkout, and inventory management. It’s possible to automate and integrate these processes through the POS software to include other systems. These include employee payroll, timekeeping, and sales reporting.
Restaurants that use POS software operate faster. Employees are able to offer faster services and checkout times by taking orders through handheld devices and tablets. This way, servers are able to move to the next table without having to physically deliver the orders to the kitchen staff.
Frequently Asked Questions About a Restaurant POS System
What Is the Purpose of a Restaurant POS System?
A restaurant POS system allows businesses to accept customer payments and keep track of sales through a single platform. It’s possible to set up POS software in different ways based on the kind of business you have. This includes a brick and mortar restaurant, ghost kitchen, or both.
Most POS software includes payment processing software and allows for order processing, loyalty program integration, inventory tracking, and business reporting. This simplifies the daily restaurant operations.
Why Should Restaurants Use a POS System?
Restaurants should use a POS system because it increases customer satisfaction and improves the customer experience while also simplifying various restaurant processes. It allows customers to use different payment methods, integrates with loyalty programs, provides business reporting analytics, and monitors inventory. Look into the ERP meaning to see how ERP systems are similar to POS systems.
What Features Should You Look For In a Restaurant POS System?
The features you should look for in your restaurant POS system include:
- Sales monitoring and reporting
- Employee management
- Billing and order processing
- Loyalty program integration
- Inventory management
- Customer relationship management
These features include the ability to streamline daily restaurant operations and improve the customer experience.