Which Restaurant POS is the Best Fit for Your Business?

Knowing Which Restaurant POS to Use Can Save Your Business Time and Money

A POS or “point of sale” system is the hardware and software businesses use to track inventory and process credit cards. Every full-service restaurant needs a POS system streamlined enough to manage employees, keep organized transition records, and provide financial data that helps the restauranteur make sound decisions regarding the business.

In this Article:

• Clover Review 2018 | POS System Reviews
• What are the strengths of a Clover Point-of-Sale system?
• What type of businesses use Clover?
• What is the best POS system for restaurants?
• What POS system is recommended for a quick service restaurant?
• What is best Point-of-Sale system for small bar?
• What is the best pizza restaurant POS?
• How much does a restaurant POS system cost?
• Conclusion

Clover Review 2018 | POS System Reviews

The Clover POS system positions itself as workhorse “designed to take things off your plate, automate the busy work and free you up for what you really want to do every day.” [1] Clover’s main objectives are ease of use and simplicity in the areas most important to restaurant owners: quick credit card processing that doesn’t slow transactions, managing employees clocking in and out, tracking restaurant inventory, and online ordering.

Over 3,000 financial institutions provide Clover POS systems to their customers. Restaurants of all sizes from carry outs to five-star steakhouses can enjoy using a Clover cloud-based POS. With over 300 options to customize, Clover is a point-of-sale system you can’t afford to pass on. [2]

What are the Strengths of a Clover Point-of-Sale System?

Restaurants benefit Clover’s ease-of-use in handling daily operating tasks, such as online ordering and fast transaction. These are key to earning repeat business from customers. Clover restaurant POS also allows:

• Multiple payment types. Restaurant owners can accept credit and debit cards, magnetic stripes and chips, and various forms of touchless payments like Apple Pay and Google Pay.
• Visible transactions. Large 14-inch HD displays make completing transactions quicker.
• Two Printers. Set up one printer as a customer-facing display and the other for printing receipts.
• Expandable. Add mobile apps and other Clover wireless access points to make it even more effective for business. You can also use peripherals like barcode scanners and weight scales. [3]

What type of businesses use Clover?

Hospitalities, construction, retail, finance, health, education, and other industries use the Clover point-of-sale system.

What is the Best POS System for Restaurants?

The best POS system for a restaurant should be versatile, expandable, and able to capable of managing features needed to operate a restaurant.

• Quick Credit Card Processing. Creates hassle-free customer experience and easy, fast transactions for employees.
• Inventory Tracking. Accurately records and keeps tabs on supplies.
• Employee Management. Keeps owners and managers informed of where employee positioning throughout the restaurant, which employees are on which cash drawers, and when they’re in use.
• Online Ordering. Cloud-based ability that allows customers to order online at their convenience.
• Loyalty Programs & Customer Outreach. Integrates with popular customer engagement platforms to allow the restaurant to maintain communication with customers to offer deals and discounts for frequent visits.
• Bookkeeping Options. A top of the line POS should allow restaurant owners the ability to manage books within the system for seamless accounting.

The best restaurant POS will also save the business owner time, money, and training hours by being streamlined, easy to learn, and adaptable enough to grow with the ever-changing needs of the restaurant.

What POS system is recommended for a quick service restaurant?

Quick service restaurants, commonly known as fast-food restaurants, include McDonald’s, Burger King, Subway, and drink-based brands like Dunkin Donuts and Starbucks. These restaurants sell products at a price point below $10 per transaction and rely on POS systems focused on speed and efficiency. Recommend point-of-sale systems would include the following features:

• Mobile POS. This allows your employees to complete transactions from any location in the restaurant be it tableside (i.e., Panera Bread), or even curbside (i.e., Chick-fil-A) for more fast, convenient service.
• Kiosks. Some restaurants have befitted from having kiosk-based ordering. Some McDonald’s restaurants use these to allow the customers to manage their own transactions from start to finish. Kiosks keep lines short and enable employees to work with customers who may need more extensive help or service.
• Easy Checkout. A good restaurant POS allows the customer to end the transaction in a way desirable for them. This means either offering printed receipts, or receipts via text or email. Keep in mind that encouraging electronic receipts gives you the opportunity to ask customers if they’d like to opt-in to loyalty programs or email newsletter subscriptions.
• CRM-Integration. Customer interaction through secure capture of contact information for email marketing helps you earn repeat business from your customers. Many businesses end transactions by asking customers if they have an email address they’d like to share. This gives the company permission to continue the relationship beyond the initial sale.
• Order & Delivery Management. For restaurants with delivery capability, like many pizza restaurants, a good POS can handle online and call-in orders, track sales, manage inventory, and execute delivery.
• Staff Management. Quick service restaurants often have quick shift changes. Having a restaurant POS that can allow for staff changes keeps lines down and customers from waiting.

A point-of-sale system for a quick service restaurant has to be flexible, fast, and mobile-enabled to provide the most benefit.

What is best Point-of-Sale system for small bar?

If you operate a bar or nightclub, you need a POS system that can handle the day-to-day tasks of restaurant management, but with sophisticated details about your patrons that are unique to your industry.

• Tracking Tabs. With the amount of volume at the bar—especially during sporting events and happy hours—the best restaurant POS is one that can take and keep track of customers by name or description.
• Price Tracking. Your POS system should be able to create and update pricing for happy hour and events easily to eliminate error.
• Alcohol Tracking. Keep more money in your pocket by tracking alcoholic beverage and drink recipes from your POS.

Other key features of note for bar Point-of-sales is checks management (one check or split?), tracking tips, and verifying age.

What is the best pizza restaurant POS?

Pizza is United States is a $45.1 billion industry made up of over 75,000 pizza restaurants. [4] With this much pizza, why would anyone want to lose a slice of the pie by not having the best point-of-sale system?

Since pizza is a customizable, portable, one of the most ordered takeout foods by college students [5], it’s important to have a restaurant POS that can handle the diversity and volume necessary for this staple of the fast food industry. Here’s what the best pizza POS needs:

• Customizable Interface. The right POS needs to handle multiple order combinations while saving pre-customized pizzas and customer order configurations.
• Easy to Use. Part-time employees drive most pizza restaurants. The best POS to use should be easy to train employees on, quick for them to learn, and provides data for managers to work hours and productivity.
• In-Store & Online Fulfillment. It needs to take orders quickly and effectively in-store and online. It should also be able to capture and store user data for offer solicitation.v
• Tracks inventory. The ideal pizza restaurant POS should be able to keep up with ever changing inventory and track volume of the product, so you never have to call a customer back and say, “We’re all out of pineapple.”
• Phone Integrated. You want a system that integrates with phone orders so that when a customer calls, the system recalls a customer’s order history and delivery address.

Learn to see the pizza POS system for your restaurant an investment toward growth and one that can help you roll in the dough.

How much does a restaurant POS system cost?

A restaurant POS system is one of the most important investments your business will make. Your POS enables you to take credit card payments in-person and online, manage employees, track inventory, communicate with customers, keep accounting data, and provides useful reports that help owners make smart financial decisions.

Pricing for a restaurant POS varies based on hardware and functionality and range from basic credit card processing to cloud-based and mobile capable (Apple to Android).

Conclusion

You’re in business to make a profit. You don’t want to be one of those businesses that loses money by not providing credit card processing or by failing to have an ecosystem that sustains the key financial sectors of your business—your cash drawer, your inventory, your customer acquisition, and your employee productivity. Clover is one of the most reliable systems in the point-of-sale industry and offers business owners a suite of functionality to help their restaurants grow, sustain, and thrive at any size under any circumstance. If you’re ready to learn more about how to skyrocket your profit using a restaurant POS, contact us.

Sources:

1. https://www.clover.com/run-your-business
2. https://www.business.com/reviews/clover-station/
3. https://www.firstdata.com/en_us/products/small-business/all-solutions/clover-station.html
4. http://www.pmq.com/December-2017/The-2018-Pizza-Power-Report-A-State-of-the-Industry-Analysis/
5. https://www.usatoday.com/story/college/2017/08/04/the-most-popular-food-delivery-orders-on-campus-according-to-grubhub/37434509/