With every business conducting their business online, restaurants must do the same. Implementing a Point of Sale (POS) system in your restaurant is the easiest way to automate and digitize many of its functions. Indeed, POS systems are the future of payments and offer advantages that make them a necessary addition.
Why Must a Restaurant Have a POS System?
POS systems based on cloud computing can work both online and offline. So, even when your internet isn’t working, the operation of your restaurant will not stop. Here are a few advantages of restaurant POS systems that make them a must-have.
1. It Eases Your Billing System
POS systems allow both servers and customers to view the menu on a tablet. Billing on tablets reduces the manual labour and time taken in creating a physical bill. It even allows you to split the bill if a customer asks. Also, orders from across the delivery platforms will be directly pushed into the restaurant POS system. This reduces the manual labour required to add orders received from different online channels.
2. It Give You Better Control over Stock and Inventory
One of the biggest blunders that restaurants make is not keeping a keen eye on their stock and inventory. The restaurant POS system is an integrated Inventory Management System that sends you an alert when stock needs reordering; so, no more inventory mistakes and discrepancies. It also integrates with recipe management (an integral feature of inventory management) and keeps track of all the stock consumed while making each dish. The result is a detailed account of the actual stock consumed.
Your POS system must have a Central Kitchen Module if you have multiple outlets with a single base kitchen. It will make sure raw materials and semi-processed items are properly circulated to various outlets.
3. It Augments Your Customer Relationship Management
You can centrally manage your entire customer database with your restaurant POS system. This allows you to segment your customers based on their history, geography, and ordering behaviour. You can then send customized SMS and emails to them, or run a customized loyalty program.
4. It Helps Manage Multiple Outlets
A restaurant POS system can help you manage multiple outlets and expansion. It will deliver a detailed report of sales across all outlets along with available stock. It will also help you compare sales reports across all your outlets. This makes it easier to make plans for expansion and manage all your outlets efficiently.
5. It Prevents Internal Theft
The restaurant industry is infested with internal theft and pilferage. POS systems provide you with real-time reports of sales, available stocks, the number of bills generated, sold items, et cetera. Keeping a real-time tab on your inventory will help you prevent internal theft and your dependency on managers. With a good restaurant POS system, you can run your restaurant from anywhere in the world through your phone.
6. It Improves Floor Management
It can be difficult to manage reservations if you own a dine-in, but not with a POS system in place. A good restaurant POS system allows you to accept reservations online, so you will always be aware of how many tables are occupied and how many are still available. That makes floor management extremely practical for your hosts.
7. It Improves Staff Timesheet Management
Now you can set up clock-in and clock-out function with your POS system and keep track of your staff timesheets. This makes it easier for you to track staff hours for payment. And you will be able to manage your staff from your smartphone, regardless of where you are.
8. It Automates Accounting
Accounting is the least enjoyable component of running a business. Without integrated accounting software, you will be spending too much time crunching numbers instead of spending time in your restaurant. Many restaurant POS systems come integrated with accounting software platforms that provide the benefits of automated accounting.
9. It Provides a Broad Range of Payment Methods
Society is moving towards contactless payment methods, especially in the wake of COVID-19. Without a centralized system, it can be hard to track payments. POS systems allow you to accept contactless payment, along with credit cards, cash, and cheques. This bodes particularly well for quick-service restaurants.
10. It Live Tracks Order Changes
While printing tickets and placing orders to the kitchen is an effective way of communicating with your chefs, it’s hard to keep track of everything. You can’t possibly keep track of changes and update any order along with keeping track of the progress of the meals. With POS, you can make the changes directly on the system instead of staff doing it manually.
11. It Provides Advanced Security
An up-to-date restaurant POS system brings advanced business security that prevents data breaches and fraud. You can also set up user-specific restricted access; like an accountant can only access financial data and kitchen staff can only view orders, and so on.
For seamless operation, get an efficient restaurant POS system from a reliable POS provider. To run and manage your restaurant properly, a POS system is a prerequisite. Choosing the right kind will reduce your dependence on manual labour and eliminate internal thefts and discrepancies. It might feel a little expensive but its benefits make it worth every penny.