When it comes to the Point of Sale Systems (POS) every one of us have the similar misconception that a POS System is just register that keeps track of the sales and cash. In reality though, a POS System is much more than a system that merely acts as a glorified cash register as it is generally perceived. It is basically a software tool that helps in making the day-to-day functioning / service of the restaurant much more smooth and helps in making it a cheerful for the customers. People generally prefer to go to restaurants in order to escape from the monotony of their lives and to enjoy a few relaxing moments with their near & dear ones over a nice hearty meal, without having to take the burden of cooking. If we look at things from this perspective, we will understand why giving quality service is so much more important when it comes to the restaurant business than anything else. The POS System plays a very important role in maintaining a consistency and balance in the restaurant’s overall services by making everything work more smoothly and synchronously.

Even if someone is a budget sensitive restaurateur, there are many less complex Point of Sale Systems available that are capable of doing the accounting tasks, order processing, inventory management, customer relationship management and manage the employees’ payroll modules and host of other such tasks. The core idea of a restaurant Point Of Sale System is to maintain a consistent performance and to keep a balance in the overall functioning of the restaurants and their services.

Let’s take a look at the various jobs and aspects of the restaurant business that can be improved to a huge extent by the help of a POS equipment / system:

Guest Service: The restaurant business (or any business for that matter) thrives on how efficiently they can serve their guests. As discussed earlier, a POS System plays a very important role in the maintaining a consistent standard of guest service. What a POS software essentially does is that it eliminates the necessity of having multiple employees / people to help in coordinating the various aspects of the dining parlor, the kitchen and the billing segment. It helps in making the entire business environment absolutely hassle free and gives it a more smooth flowing and coordinated feel. The coordination and smoothness provided by the Point of Sale Systems is actually the result of the usage of a number of coordinated systems that works together, right from the moment an order is placed, till the time the order is completed. For example, as soon as an order is entered into the system it is transferred to the kitchen display system, wherein a printer or a monitor in the kitchen prints / displays the orders placed at the restaurant. Once the order is completed the kitchen team can mark the order ready for dispatch form their end. This helps the managers in keeping track of the order. They can oversee the entire process, tracking the time being taken by the kitchen team to complete an order. This in turn helps the managers in understanding the lags in the system and work on them accordingly to ensure that the food / orders are delivered on time, every time. Much in the same way, the Point Of Sales systems provide access to order management section that allows the managers to check, monitor and distribute the different orders received, among the different servers for speedy & prompt delivery.

Point Of Sale Marketing: The Point Of Sale Systems are very versatile in nature and can serve a host of important function. They can not only help the restaurant businesses by streamlining their overall functioning process, but also helps them in their marketing efforts. It helps the restaurants in keeping a track on how much effective their advertisement strategy is and simultaneously, how well it being implemented. The restaurants can promote their brand of service by introducing loyalty programs like, offering guests special discounts on the basis of certain parameters.The Point Of Sale systems keeps a record of a lot of important usage data and other information that are entered into the POS system are. The data / information stored by the Point Of Sale Systems are actually processed and stored in a statically organized manner. These data and information can be very beneficial for the restaurants in understanding their sales and revenues. They let the restaurants surf through a huge amount of data that can give them a fair amount of idea regarding performance / sales of in the various sectors. Like the sales in alcohol, highest selling item / dish, number credit card payments made, number of cash payments made etc. all these information can help the restaurants in planning their advertising and customer loyalty programs. The access to all these important information and data actually helps the restaurants in finding out the sectors where they are lagging behind and the steps that they need to take in order to improve their services.

Keeping a Track on Sales: As discussed earlier, a Point Of Sale System / software stores a variety of data related to the sales f the restaurant. All these data can actually help in indicating the sales ratio of the different dishes that are sold by the restaurant. These data are actually instrumental in identifying the top selling dishes and the least selling dishes. Identifying these will not only help the restaurants in focusing on improving the food quality, but also will help them in generating more sales. Apart from this, the Point Of Sale Systems help in keeping a track on the daily consumption and sales, which can help in making the necessary changes in the inventory and keep the system updated continuously. This in turn will help the restaurants in indicating the accurate availability status of the dishes, thereby helping the customers in placing their orders accordingly and hence reduce the chances of embarrassment of the restaurant authority.

Monitoring Employee Performances: A Point Of Sale Systems / software is an equipment that comes with the ability of creating an employee schedule within the system. The Point Of Sale Systems comes with a built-in time clock / time stamp recorder which helps in keeping a record of the performance of the employees. All the employees are needed to punch in their in and out timings on the system via a pc or via bio metric machine. This not only helps in keeping an organized digital record of the daily service timings of each and every employee but also helps in eliminating the chances of imposing additional workload. The Point Of Sale Systems also help in keeping a record of all the data related to outgoing stocks. This can be helpful at the end of the week to make a tally of the remaining physical stocks in the restaurants, with the one that is being indicated by the Point Of Sales System. As a result of this, the chances of theft / mishandling of the raw materials can be reduced to huge extent. With a Point Of Sales System in place, embezzlement by the cashiers is also a fur-flung prospect.

A Point Of Sales System is thus a must have for every restaurant. It is not only helpful in increasing the speed and accuracy of the restaurant’s overall management, but also is helpful in cutting down on the overall staff expenses and cost of staff training. This in turn can actually reduce the overall operating cost of the restaurant significantly. With the COVID-19 pandemic ravaging the world, hand written orders by attendants and manual management of the business have already become a thing of the past. An appropriate POS System can thus give your business a much needed polish and hence be helpful increasing the sales.