As a consumer, you’ve been on the receiving end of a point-of-sale (POS) system thousands of times, but now that it’s your business, what do you do? If you stick to traditional paper-and-pencil recording, you’ll just be creating more work for yourself.
Since you’re new to the restaurant industry, or brick-and-mortar businesses in general, you may not be familiar with all the things a POS can do for you.
Of course, having the right technology is only one piece of the larger puzzle of opening and operating a restaurant. But if you make the right POS decisions from the beginning, your restaurant can provide a great experience for all guests and employees.
what is Restaurant POS system?
Restaurant POS systems are the primary technology that facilitates transactions between diners and businesses. In a retail store, this is usually just the cash register and payment system. But for restaurants, team members use the POS system to clock in and out, send orders to the kitchen and bar, assign tables, and collect payments.
Restaurant POS system Designed specifically for the food and beverage industry, its technology goes far beyond currency exchange. The best restaurant POS systems help modern restaurants and bars manage back-of-house (BOH) and front-of-house (FOH) operations and improve the overall customer experience.
Types of Restaurant POS Systems
Since there are multiple steps between taking a customer order and receiving payment, various types of POS systems assist in different ways. They are generally divided into two categories.
- hardware Includes the handheld devices, terminals and monitors that make up your restaurant’s POS. Employees are responsible for the equipment, but customers also use them throughout their meal.
- software On-device assistance helps restaurants operate efficiently. Some systems are more comprehensive than others. Check that the software you plan to use has the functionality you need and is compatible with your hardware.
Not every restaurant needs the same components to make up a complete POS system, but the various options available can simplify ordering and payment, staff management, and inventory needs.
POS terminal
Terminals are typically placed behind the bar or at employee workstations, but mobile devices such as tablets are becoming increasingly popular. The server uses these two methods to accept orders digitally. The order is then sent back to the kitchen system, alerting the chef of the new order. Customers can also pay via bank card or smartphone wallet on the table device.
kitchen display system
A tablet or monitor connected to a POS terminal is often considered the BOH’s command center. As orders come through, they appear on the screen so the line cooks can get to work. Some POS systems can alert the waiter or delivery person once the order is ready to be sent to the customer.
printer
For teams that still prefer to use a paper ordering system, the kitchen printer can be connected to the FOH’s POS terminal to send order information. Customer may also request a printed copy of the receipt.
How does a restaurant POS system work?
At the most basic level, the goal of a restaurant POS system is to make the process from ordering to final payment as easy as possible.
Most restaurant processes follow similar steps.
- Customers can place orders through kiosks, mobile apps or through desktop servers with tablets. If customers use a self-service kiosk, payment may be required at this time.
- Orders will be sent to the kitchen for preparation and the BOH team will be notified of new orders.
- Once the food is ready, the waiter will be notified through the POS terminal to collect the food.
- For dine-in customers, the waiter will provide the customer with a payment terminal at the end of the meal.
- At the end of the day, restaurant managers or cashiers use the POS to reconcile daily bank deposits and review sales and tips.
Many restaurant POS systems now support additional operational needs, such as:
- Inventory management. Your restaurant must maintain adequate inventory to satisfy your guests and keep up with their orders.built-in Inventory managementyou can minimize food waste (and the costs that come with it) and control your inventory.
- Staff scheduling.Even if your restaurant POS system doesn’t have this feature, many tools have integrations that allow for tracking change Easier.
- Delivery driver monitoring. If your restaurant offers delivery, some POS systems now have the ability to track your driver’s location and how long each delivery takes. This can help you organize your deliveries more efficiently so that your food arrives quickly and is ready to eat.
- health and safety data. You and your staff must stay on top of cleaning and food safety documentation and compliance. Many POS systems now have tools that integrate health and safety checklists to simplify routine inspections.
- Marketing Automation. Loyalty cards or points-based customer rewards are a great way to build a following in your community. Your POS system should offer this feature so customers can easily accumulate points when making purchases and earn rewards when they dine with you.
Why Restaurant POS Systems Are Important
Your restaurant POS system can quickly become the brains of your operation, allowing you to run and manage everything from one centralized hub.
Some of the major benefits of using a restaurant POS system are that it not only makes running your restaurant easier but also increases profits and improves employee satisfaction.
Use data to power your business
Continuously collecting data through your POS system means you need to base any decision on hard facts. Whether you’re considering removing a menu item due to poor sales or promoting a staff member to achieve top sales and bigger tips, the information collected in your restaurant POS system means you can gain advanced and granular insights.
Manage daily needs
You can manage everything from one system: collect payments, place orders, manage your schedule, and even adjust your seating plan. This simplifies every employee’s job, improving team retention and overall employee satisfaction.
Expand your restaurant
If you operate multiple restaurants, share each restaurant’s information with other restaurants to get a 360° view of your operations. This means you can continue to expand into new locations as your business becomes more successful.
Top restaurant POS system software
Making the work of the general manager and employees easier is the ultimate goal of restaurant POS. You should also look for a system that is easy to use for both employees and customers.
to be included in Restaurant POS system Categories and platforms must:
- Take orders from the menu and submit these orders to the kitchen for multiple guests or tables
- Process payments, split checks, and add discounts using various methods
- Provides secure data access and functionality to protect sensitive data such as credit card numbers
- Includes reporting and analytics as well as order cancellations to monitor sales metrics for each location
Here are the top five leading restaurant POS software solutions from G2’s Winter 2024 Grid® Report. Some comments may be edited for clarity.
1. Toast tag
toast It is an all-in-one restaurant POS platform that integrates face-to-face and online ordering through the cloud.
What users like most:
“Toast is a modern platform that is very easy to use. Staff picked up quickly. It generally makes operations very smooth. It integrates well with other systems and therefore provides good data access.”
– ToastTab ReviewsLeo C.
What users don’t like:
“Recently, Toast implemented a $0.99 service fee that Toast charges restaurant customers. Please note that restaurants already pay a monthly subscription service fee to order online.”
– ToastTab ReviewsLeonard H.
2. Square
Not only used by the catering industry block It is a POS system that offers various payment options and tracks data through a centralized dashboard.
What users like most:
“I love how quick and easy it is to use. It’s very well organized, making the categories easy to find and very separated. When customers pay with Square, it’s very easy to use a credit card as it is to use cash.”
– Plaza ReviewMarissa P.
What users don’t like:
“I use my square software every day for my shipping business. I am on the road most of the time and my clients love the ease of use and the way they receive their receipts quickly via email or text message. Around Both are great software and can’t recommend them highly enough. Customer support is quick to respond to any type of questions or concerns.”
– Plaza ReviewFrank CZ
3.Posist restaurant POS
theorem It is a cloud-based restaurant POS system that unifies the front desk, back office and operating system to make restaurant operations more efficient.
What users like most:
“There’s no hassle with soft launch, and Posist offers hundreds of integrations. Easy to learn and easy to use. We think the QR code ordering feature is the best integration.”
– CommentRakesh V.
What users don’t like:
“The system does not provide enough flexibility to download customized sales reports. Additionally, most reports take more than a month to download.”
– CommentTalon S.
4. Clover
clover Designed to replace traditional cash registers and payment terminals with its integrated suite of tools to optimize restaurant operations.
What users like most:
“Clover is one of the best platforms for managing cash and accepting payments without having to write every time. Using this in my business company actually helps me work quickly and not have to scramble to receive and transfer payments. The software is very easy Used. The dashboard is very well designed and has all modern tools to manage payments well.”
– clover reviewDonna H.
What users don’t like:
“I can’t easily print multiple transactions. I can download them into a spreadsheet and print out the list, but that’s a lot of useless information that I have to edit from the spreadsheet (very time consuming) or I have to Take a screenshot of the transaction history (also time-consuming), or I print them out one by one.”
– clover reviewSommer S.
5. Food Science
Foodics is purpose-built for the restaurant industry, enabling restaurants of all sizes to manage their accounting, customer loyalty programs, inventory, and daily operations from one location.
What users like most:
“The system itself is a huge help to our operations as it integrates with our accounting system, ordering platform and kitchen-based display system (KDS).”
– food science reviewFare A.
What users don’t like:
“Given transaction restrictions, back-end inventory tools need to be developed.”
– food science reviewYasser A.
It’s time to start cooking!
Your restaurant POS system should always feel like it makes your life easier, giving you more time to do the things you enjoy most, whether that’s returning to the kitchen yourself or greeting guests as they dine with you. By choosing a system that suits your specific needs, you’ll be seeing more clients in no time.
Improve your backend business solutions Restaurant management software Can be integrated with your POS system.
