Point of sale systems or POS as they are more commonly known are undeniably the backbone of operations for many restaurants helping them in managing daily routines and processes in an efficient way. Not surprisingly, the global restaurant POS market is big business and is expected to reach USD 24.7 billion by 2025.This growth is being credited to the increasing emphasis on improving market intelligence capabilities along with the growing importance of smart technology in a multi-channel world.
However, regardless of the positive growth speculation, research shows that it’s still not the norm in many restaurants. 32% of diners believe restaurateurs lag behind in their technology and they are not too far wrong in their judgement. Only about one in 10 believe their establishment is leading edge with many operators still using a combination of hand-written tickets and receipts, traditional cash registers and credit card terminals.
While cost has always been cited as one of the biggest barriers to implementing technology, POS systems are now more affordable than ever before. Integrating a restaurant specific POS system into your business delivers a wide range of benefits, far beyond what is possible with a rudimentary cash ticket system and all of which far outweigh the perceived costs – such as:
More detailed and accurate reports: For any business, the importance of reporting can never be stressed enough. And in today’s customer-centric, digital-first world, many business owners and managers are bombarded with ‘information overload’ and need a way to derive greater control, understanding and intelligence from their organization’s data.
This is where POS systems come in useful. Equipped with strong reporting capabilities newer POS solutions can generate reports that are much more detailed than ever before. Restaurants’ can quickly access, analyze and monitor critical business data by generating detailed sales reports, productivity reports, inventory reports or check monthly profits in seconds, helping businesses plan for the coming hours, days and weeks ahead efficiently. Add to that, the capability to come up with calculations that are 100% accurate, and you have a system for your business that will simply be indispensable.
Greater Operational Efficiency: The right POS system can streamline every operation of your restaurant, bar, or cafe, from orders and payments to your entire ingredient inventory removing operational headaches and allowing you to focus on other aspects of the business and providing the best possible service.
With a POS in place, you can dig deeper in your data beyond simply sales. Business owners can analyze time periods that generate a lot or minimal sales allowing restaurateurs to manage their staff to sales ratio more effectively. With 6% of all possible sales lost because of lack of service, according to one MIT Sloan study, a POS system can help a business ensure appropriate delegation of tasks and staffing levels allowing them to serve customers more effectively, increasing customer satisfaction and profitability..
Quicker and more secure payment process: Time is money in the restaurant industry, particularly quick serve and fast dining establishments in high traffic business areas. It’s important to be able to cash out customers efficiently and securely.
An integrated POS system, with the necessary hardware and software, makes it easy to process credit and debit cards quickly and eliminate potentially costly mistakes and misunderstandings that are so common to handwritten tickets. Most important of all, card payments processed via POS are proven to be not only faster but safer and more secure.
In addition, a POS removes the frustration of deciphering a tip amount or total that is completely illegible. Many POS systems simply ask the customer the percent of tip they wish to include, then does the math for them. Servers don’t have to agonize over scribbled checks, and customers don’t have to wrack their brains to calculate 20% of $32.48.
There is no end to the benefits that your business can gain from having a POS in place. As POS systems stand today, they are practically capable of doing just about anything for your business, and automatically at that. Equipping your business with a POS system makes for a stronger restaurant, which in turn makes for better customer experiences.