Reopening a restaurant can be a lot of work – we totally get it. There are kitchen operations, inventory, menu creation, supplier management, marketing, sales, accounting, and many other moving parts to consider when maintaining a food business and get it running again, post-COVID. To keep up with the ever-changing demands and sanitation requirements for restaurant businesses, it’s always a great idea to implement a POS system to help automate a store’s accounting, financials, and sales reporting in one seamless system.
The POS terminal market is expected to hit AUD 162.1 billion by 2027, boasting a CAGR of 7.5%. A POS system, or point of sale system, can provide a lot of value to any restaurant of any form or size. In this article, we’ll discuss these benefits and the ways you can successfully implement a POS system for your restaurant.
How POS systems help restaurants
Subscribing to software helps restaurants stay optimal. With tech-based systems in place, restaurant staff can stay optimal and productive by eliminating manual work like writing out receipts, computing for tax, keeping inventory logs, and other administrative tasks.
A restaurant POS system, for instance, helps provide so much value to a food business. Here are three of the main benefits that a POS program can help your restaurant stay efficient.
- Save employee time and effort. Arguably one of the most valuable assets a company has is the time and energy of your dedicated staff. But it goes to say that restaurants will never be able to maximise staff if they don’t have processes that help them put their time to good use. On average, 9 in 10 restaurants have fewer than fifty employees on their payroll. A POS system helps maximise those employees’ time and effort.
- Data and analysis. One other value point of having a POS system in your restaurant is having a place to store valuable information like sales logs, tax computations, inventories, customer details, and much more. A POS system can also convert raw data into cumulative reports that provide more insight into your restaurant’s performance.
- Marketing applications. Point of sale systems are also handy tools to have if a restaurant wants to run in-store promotions like loyalty programs, raffle-based contests, and other promotions and marketing ideas. These kinds of ideas can help significantly increase business sales and revenue.
6 tips for effective POS implementation
So you’re quite serious about applying a POS system into your restaurant or chain of restaurants possibly. But where does one start? Here are six basic tips to help you get started on your POS system implementation project plan.
1. Consider your hardware
Any POS implementation project plan will start first with considering all aspects around hardware. Most systems will have specific hardware needs like touchpad screens, receipt printers, and so on. There are also network systems that you need to think about if you want to connect multiple POS systems across various branches if you have multiple restaurants.
Factor in the budget for hardware you will need to run a full POS system in your restaurant. Don’t forget to consider other ancillary expenses such as staff training, internet service providers, virus and malware protection software, and the occasional maintenance and repair budget for when the system encounters issues later on.
2. Find the best POS solution for your context
Not all restaurants are alike. Some have larger menus while some have shortlists of offerings. Others serve one type of dish while another might serve a completely different culture-based cuisine. There are cafes, fast food chains, fine dining restaurants, bards, family restaurants— the list could go on.
And for all these kinds, shapes, and forms of restaurants, your POS needs will vary. Find the best option for you by checking out this list of POS software solutions to start with. Some considerations to keep in mind are what features are non-negotiable to you, how much you’re willing to spend, your staff’s technical know-how, user experience, customer service and tech support, and data storage needs.
3. Keep mobile in mind
The world is quickly moving towards a mobile-first environment and POS systems are closely following behind. The number of users in the mobile POS system segment will most likely hit 1.89 billion users by 2025. A mobile POS system, or mPOS for short, can provide your staff flexibility and mobility.
Keep in mind too that mobile POS systems are still relatively new technologies so don’t expect them to provide all your company’s needs just yet. But that isn’t a far possibility too.
4. Study software integrations
One of the most important aspects of any technology is its ability to communicate and exchange data and information seamlessly through built-in integrations. Systems like H&L POS, for instance, integrate with all kinds of finance, online ordering and payment, marketing and loyalty programs, workforce management and online booking apps. The H&L POS seamlessly integrates with systems like Xero, myob, Accounts Flow, Tyro, me&u, Mr Yum, HungryHungry, Slyp, SEVENROOMS, InnQuest, Zen Global, and dozens more – all integrated to suit your needs, perfectly.
Most systems will provide multiple integrations that allow for more automation, which saves a significant amount of time, energy, and resources. For instance, some POS systems start using QR codes in restaurants to better manage bookings by creating unique codes that customers can just scan in to confirm bookings or even make payments. Luckily, H&L POS is fully integrated with the leading QR ordering providers on the market, such as me&u, Mr Yum and HungryHungry, dedicated to offering seamless and contactless ordering and payment solutions and catering to the current sanitation requirements.
5. Integrate operations and marketing
Proper POS technology implementation involves not just integrating apps into the system, but business operations as well. Three of the most common operational activities that restaurants should align with their POS systems are inventory, reservation, and marketing.
A POS system can help track stocks and supplies, the number of visits by a regular customer, or reservations made. They can even perform advanced tasks like automatically informing the front of the house when orders might be running low in stock so they can stop pushing them. Using digital tools help restaurateurs in many ways if we can link them up with promotional efforts, operations, inventory, and reservation systems.
6. Provide a full onboarding process
Last but not the least, a restaurant that wants to efficiently launch a POS system in their restaurant must never skip on the onboarding process. Whether you’re training existing staff or incoming ones, POS operating must be a part of the training process, whether people will be using it heavily or not. Some of the things that must be included in the onboarding process include steps on how to operate POS, what the company uses the POS for, common issues and workarounds, tech-based considerations, and many others.
Most POS providers provide a knowledge base and virtual (or sometimes even face-to-face) training and support for clients. So don’t hesitate to ask your POS system provider for a demo, especially when launching a POS system to a handful of your existing staff.
POS Systems help solve restaurants’ problems
No matter what kind or brand of POS system hardware or software a restaurant uses, the system must provide one common given— it must solve a restaurant’s problems. While that may sound pretty obvious at first glance, it’s surprising how many restaurants today implement the wrong system or implement the right system in a wrong manner and cause more problems than solutions in the short or even long term.
Don’t rush into a POS implementation program. Take time to plan and research, and get all the necessary support you need to do it right. Successfully putting together a POS system rollout plan could be the game-changer that brings your restaurant the next breakthrough.
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Hospitality peers, we’re here to help you.
It’s been undoubtedly one of the toughest years for the great people in hospitality. But here we can see a brighter future ahead for all of us – one that is paired with great technology, better customer experiences, and more profitable hospitality industry.
We will work with you to grow your business.
H&L POS has been at the forefront of technology in the hospitality and food and beverage industry for over 30 years. We provide Point of Sale with extensive Back of House, and a fully integrated suite of hospitality solutions.
As hospitality people at heart, H&L understands the critical requirements for each food and beverage operation. We have staff in every state of Australia providing direction and advice as you grow and as technology changes.
As always, remember that we are here to assist your business in any way possible. Call us at 1800 778 340, or email sales@hlpos.com to discuss your venue’s needs.