Today’s day-to-day business moves faster than ever. Restaurants and foodservice establishments have always been notoriously fast-paced and there are days that no doubt feel like sink or swim. Since the dawn of time, adaption has been an essential characteristic for survival, and this is no less true in the business setting. Fortunately, as technology continues to advance, so do the means in which we have available to adapt. Welcome to the modern era of POS.
Point-Of-Sale systems are used with computers to help your restaurant move faster than ever. These systems provide high-quality assistance to increase efficiencies and ease the burdens of the daily grind. In addition to ringing up sales faster, they can also accumulate and organize information around popular items, inventory, and your customers, helping you keep better control over your operations and adapt to meet the shifting demands of your valued guests.
Perks of a POS System
Most POS systems include a special software to sync information between different units spanning various locations. The PaayyTech23 Point of Sale System (Central Model #20H-001) is a bundled unit that includes everything needed to get started, such as the software, cash drawer, printer, terminal, card payment device and barcode scanner, with additional add-ons available to customize and outfit the system for your specific type of business. With a painless setup, PaayyTech boasts that new users are able to start ringing up orders 15 minutes after unboxing.
Just about every POS system includes a software that can be configured to set up with easy reporting tools to provide a snapshot of business operations from a web browser. This is great to identify which menu items are selling well, and which aren’t so you can change up your menu to provide valued patrons exactly what they’re looking for and save on unnecessary food costs. This also helps plan for appropriate inventory of key ingredients and can further enhance marketing efforts (think sales, promotions, coupons, etc.) on top selling dishes.
Many restaurants have started implementing tablets with their POS systems for quick tableside assistance. Tablets can be used to take down orders and automatically send to the kitchen, as well as accept payments, eliminating time-consuming steps that make the process flow smoother and makes life easier on staff and customer alike. This also improves the rate of table turnover by minimizing checkout times, allowing you to still provide top-notch customer service while reducing wait times so you can serve more hungry guests. Some establishments have opted to take wait staff out of this process altogether by mounting tablets to tables and allowing customers to order refills or additional items, unobtrusively notify a server when they’re in need of service, pay, print receipts, and solicit customer feedback via quick surveys. This puts the customer’s wants first by encouraging them to enjoy their personalized dining experience on their own time.
POS systems also reduces human error that sometimes comes into play with traditional payment systems. In many instances, employees must add orders and calculate tax on their own, but a sophisticated POS system automates this step, providing correct figures every time.
Eliminate losses by easily tracking and evaluating every step in a menu item’s life cycle. From receiving shipments from suppliers to delivering a final product to be enjoyed. Use data gleaned from the system to readily view where your losses are coming from and fixable flaws in current processes.
A final advantage of implementing a point-of-sale system is it allows users to quickly update pricing. When adjusting price, you can use the system to update in one place and, because of the cloud-based software, the new price will be automatically reflected across all locations. This is a huge perk for any establishment with more than one location. Anyone ringing up orders will be able to instantly view the correct price and prevent inconsistent messaging.
Ready for an Upgrade?
If you’re still running your restaurant with a notebook and pen and constantly find yourself running into errors and mismatched inventory, you might want to seriously consider using a POS system. A good system may have a higher upfront cost, but the savings in time, labor, avoidable hassles and food costs down the road can more than make up for it.
Central offers Point-of-Sale bundles and accessories from Royal and PaayTech, and are continually adding more options to our site. For more information on how your business can benefit from one, give us a call at 800.215.9293.
Chase joined Central Restaurant Products in February 2016 as a Content Specialist, bringing to the role years of various foodservice experience, including front-of-house service (slingin’ chicken wings and libations with a smile on his face) and back-of-house food prep using heavy-duty commercial cooking equipment to prepare for peak dining hours at his university’s dining hall.
He puts this experience to use writing for Central’s Resource Center, website, and print catalog. ServSafe certified, he enjoys educating on food safety in the commercial setting, researching new dining room and tabletop trends, and sharing innovative solutions to enhance operational efficiencies. He also enjoys (in no specific order) long hikes with his dog, bingeing 90s sitcoms, red wine, and live music.
