As a restaurant owner, you know that quality food and outstanding
service are the keys to customer satisfaction and retention. These are
pivotal for your restaurant to succeed.
Kenyans today are spending 25% of their total budget at restaurants, which is good news for you
However, the pressure is on to make it a memorable meal that keeps them coming back for more.
In order to beat out the competition, your restaurant’s
atmosphere and experience are other important factors you must consider
to keep your customers happy.
This includes the music you play, lighting and decor choices,
cleanliness and more. But, all of that means nothing if you don’t have
your most important sales tool; your point of sale system.
If you use an outdated POS system or one prone to shutting down, you
are putting your business at risk. If you’re not using one not all,
you’re missing out on opportunities to upsell, provide better service,
and improve your overall revenue.
So, Why Exactly Should My Restaurant Use a Point of Sale System?
A POS system is both the software and hardware used alongside the card reader for accepting your customers’ payments.
It creates a completely connected system between your hostess,
servers, kitchen and back office. There is no guessing on sales
transactions or inventory management, as all that information is housed
for you in one easily accessible place.
If you aren’t using a POS system, it is a necessary business tool you need to seriously consider.
Here are the top 10 benefits of using a POS system in your restaurant.
1. Correctly tracked sales
You handle a high volume of cash and credit cards every hour of every day. Your old school cash register system forced you to do everything manually, but those days are gone when you install a
modern POS system.
It tracks each sale you make with ease and accuracy. The information
allows you to make better-informed decisions for your business.
For example, you can see what menu items are the most popular at the
end of the day, so you can better prepare for tomorrow’s demand. The
valuable tracking capabilities open up productivity time for both you
and your staff to focus more on serving customers.
2. Hassle-free transactions
Nowadays,
92% of consumers read restaurant reviews. A restaurant that takes care
of customers in a timely, hassle-free manner will help influence
positive reviews online.
A POS system can help with transactions. It handles your credit and
debit card processing, which eliminates the need for separate systems.
Some of the older registers forced you to use multiple pieces of
software and hardware to process a transaction and print out a
receipt(using
kitchen printers), but most
Restaurant POS systems offer an all-in-one solution.
Therefore, your credit and debit card acceptance rate is faster,
easier and more secure. Both your staff and customers will thank you for
the upgraded transaction system.
3. Better managed inventory
A headache for any restaurant owner is how to efficiently track
inventory, especially when you have multiple deliveries and packages
coming in. A POS system helps you better manage what is in stock, by
providing an accurate and up-to-date snapshot of available items.
It tracks details about each product such as number of sales, date of
sales and price. It automatically tracks and controls inventory through
a scanning process, rather than manually to free up your time and
resources for other business priorities.
A huge benefit a POS system has is its ability to analyze previous
sales data. This will help you make smarter buying decisions in the
future. This inventory analysis is a necessary component to manage your
budget, as well as make changes that positively impact your finances.
4. Higher security
As mentioned, the tracking capabilities on a POS system help you keep
tabs of all sales completed in a given timeframe. An additional side
benefit of this capability is that it keeps your staff accountable for
all sales rung up and maintains a hold on employee theft.
For example, this feature might prevent employees from giving out a discount to friends when they are not authorized or allowed.
While you always want to assume the best of your employees, it
doesn’t hurt to know you have a strong, high-quality system with
trustworthy transaction data.
5. Stronger business reports
A huge benefit of a POS system is the detailed reports it generates.
Due to all the information it records through the system, it creates
reports on sales, credit card transactions, individual employee sales,
stock, inventory, profit and loss.
This can be done on any terminal, at any time for real-time
information on your business. You can use these to determine the most
popular business hours or what menu items are costing you more dollars
than they are bringing in.
The POS system reports are highly valuable as you make business decisions and adjustments for a more efficiently run restaurant.
6. Continuity with your kitchen
Rather than your servers running back and forth from kitchen to bar
to the table, the POS system automatically sends tickets directly to the
kitchen when they are entered.
This eliminates any confusion with messy handwriting or additional
notes, as the POS is very specific and clear enough for anyone to
understand. You can program the system to send menu items to different
kitchen stations. Also, ensure that all orders are properly and promptly
placed.
Customers and staff alike will be pleased with this increase in food delivery time and correctly placed orders.
7. More loyal customers
Whether you operate a small restaurant or own multiple locations, a
customer loyalty program makes a significant difference in returning
customers. If you’re looking to increase retention and foot traffic,
your POS system can help with this also.
It supports restaurant loyalty programs that provide incentives and discounts to your returning customers.
For example, if you have a promotion running that states if a
customer buys five coffees, the receive the sixth for free, the POS
system can program those details in for a seamlessly recorded
transaction.
8. Labor management
Recent data found that 76% of restaurateurs are looking for labor-management resources in their POS.
Fortunately, the right POS system can indeed answer that call. It
effectively takes over the time and attendance component of your labor
management.
Systems include time clock functionality, so your employees can clock
in and out on a POS terminal. It also ensures high-level security by
controlling access to sensitive information and controls such as voids,
discounts and refunds. A POS system gives you stronger financial
security and streamlined time management.
9. Better menu display
Your employees spend less time searching for a menu item after you
use a POS system to program a beautifully designed display for them to
use. It enables you to divide your menu up into similar sections, such
as appetizers, main entrees, drinks and desserts.
Rather than an old register where each price is manually entered or
items are scattered, using categories helps staff develop a faster
checkout routine. The biggest benefit of this feature is a smoother,
faster checkout process for your customers.
10. Streamlined accounting
Not only will you clear up your own headaches with a POS system, but
your accountant will thank you as well. With the detailed tracking and
reporting, your accountant won’t need to sort through countless receipts
and wonder what might be missing.
Best of all, many POS systems import all of your data directly to
accounting software, making everyone’s job that much easier. You’ll
wonder how you ever did it all manually after using the modern system.
Wrapping It Up
Ultimately, the benefits of a POS system are increased productivity,
stronger tracking, better management and more satisfied customers. While
the setup and financial investment may seem daunting at first, it is
worth it for the strong return and rewards your business will reap.
Whether you are running a counter service or upscale restaurant, now
is the time to make the change for an increase in satisfied customers.
With the addition of a POS system, you can focus on what matters most;
the quality of your food and service for your customers.
HotelStar is a modern Restaurant Management System/Hotel POS to make
the work of managing your restaurant easy and efficient. Fully Touch
enabled and Accessible across devices, its loaded with features and
reports.
Read More
