What would you say if I offered you better control over your labour and stock, faster table turn and better engagement with your diners in these troubled trading times?
It’s a no-brainer, of course – and that’s why it’s worth supercharging your restaurant POS in 2019.
The evolution of restaurant POS is a real bright spot for the hospitality industry as it fights foes including Brexit uncertainty, rising costs, waste and inefficiency.
Yet as one top chef-director said recently, 2019 is tough, but also offers opportunities as harsh trading conditions force rents down.
This is the time to make the most of what you’ve got.
So what are the 9 great reasons to supercharge your restaurant POS?
- Restaurant POS puts the power in your serving staff’s hands, quite literally.
- Servers use handheld devices including tablets and smartphones to take customers’ orders and payments right at tableside, while your managers gain an end-to-end view of operations online from their mobile or laptop.
2. Speedier service
- Serving staff can sent orders direct to the kitchen, where the POS software integrates with kitchen automation screens or printers so the meal is delivered swiftly.
- And after the meal, staff can take payment at tableside and print out the receipt at a printer in the restaurant – all time-saving activities help servers create a great guest experience.
- Restaurant POS also makes it simple to split bills easily, which is particularly useful for casual dining where parties are large.
3. More engaged guests
- One of the most useful features of restaurant POS software is that it captures important information about your guests from the minute they book online.
- This includes info on their preferences – eg vegan food, or a preferred table – so you can provide the kind of personalised service today’s diners demand.
- This is crucial in improving customer engagement, because if you know their preferences you can provide tailor-made service and also create email marketing campaigns that you can be sure it will hit the mark.
4. Easier course management
- With EPOS, you can split courses to help the kitchen, and make changes such as a starter being chosen as the main course.
- You can also set the kitchen up so that the printer or screen displays the correct information to each station, such as a grill chef.
5. Better menu management
- With restaurant management technology, you can manage the display for different times of day so staff don’t have a huge menu to deal with.
- This is important in restaurants that serve all day, which could mean an unwieldy menu appearing on the hand-held device.
- With advanced restaurant POS you display a screen layout appropriate to the job code of the staff member.
- You can also easily enable or disable menus based on the area or terminal, the member of staff, the time of day, the day of the week or even specific dates.
6. Flexible order management
- You should always choose a system that provides flexible table maps where you allocate specific orders to specific tables.
- A good restaurant management system will allow you to transfer the whole or part of the ticket, and merge or split tables up if guests move. Aloha Guest Manager, for instance, suggests a table based on wait time and profitability.
7. Improved control of costs, allergens and waste
- The best restaurant management technology gives restaurant owners valuable control over areas ranging from cost reduction to ingredient selection and allergen warnings.
- For instance, the combination of Aloha by NFS restaurant EPOS and Kitchen CUT technology allows chefs to create menus within tight cost controls. It also reveals potential allergens in ingredients, so chefs can devise dishes with total control.
- The information pulls through to every recipe and dish where the ingredient is used, making allergens traceable. Serving staff can also access allergen information on their handheld devices.
- The best restaurant POS software tracks your most popular menu items, spotting trends and delivering accurate forecast reports. It helps you make good procurement decisions and cuts waste.
8. Better cash management
- There’s a lot of cash flow in a restaurant business and it can be hard to keep tabs.
- Your restaurant POS software tracks all transactions in real time so your cash position is always immediately visible. See more on how EPOS can drive your revenue through the roof here.
9. Upskilled staff
- The best restaurant management technology is intuitive to use, and staff can be taking orders within a couple of hours so there’s little disruption.
How much will it cost to supercharge your restaurant POS?
A restaurant management system can be a major investment. However, cloud-based system represents an excellent ROI because there’s no need to buy expensive hardware.
You should also investigate rental schemes that provide the system with easy monthly payment.
What else should you think about?
Think hard about what you want to achieve with your restaurant management system, and how you want your staff to use it; what sort of reports will help you run your business efficiently?
Be specific about you what want. POS systems are available for retail, too, but to get the facilities you really need, you should invest in a dedicated system developed specifically for restaurants.
Ask your supplier to talk about restaurants they already supply and make sure you ask to see references.
Investing in restaurant POS is one of the most important decisions you’ll ever make for your business. Take your time, get expert advice – and you’ll be sure you make the best choice.
* Ready to supercharge your restaurant POS?
