It’s a new era for the restaurant industry. Growing markets, economic challenges, and rapidly changing consumer demands are knocking on the doors of food retailers. To stay ahead of the competition, it’s time to leverage your integrated point of sale (POS) system. From inventory management to payment processing to tracking your customer loyalty program, POS software can help you optimize your retail or food business for better sales margins all around. Here’s how you can use the right POS provider to achieve the numbers you want to see.
INCREASE EFFICIENCY WITH AN EASY-TO-USE INTERFACE
Old restaurant touchpoints are clunky, hard to figure out and make mistakes difficult to track and fix. A restaurant POS system for high-output retailers (or your small business) needs to make order-entering easy, intuitive, and efficient to use. Every point of order entry – from assigning tables to choosing add-ons to make alterations – should be designed for usability. By customizing your POS hardware, you can make the ordering process for staff natural and easy to use. Saving 10 seconds per order at the cash register during peak operating hours can make a dramatic difference to your overall ordering capacity.
DECREASE INCORRECT ORDERS
Mistakes happen. It’s part of operating a human-centered business. But every mishap during service has a cost. Wrong orders mean lost profit, food wastage, poor employee management, and potentially a disappointed customer. The more mistakes you make, the worse your margins and your customer service reputation. Don’t forget that return customers usually account for 65% of your overall sales – so it’s important to keep them happy and well-fed. Wrong orders mean lost profit, food wastage, poor employee management, and potentially a disappointed customer. The more mistakes you make, the worse your margins and your customer service reputation. Don’t forget that return customers usually account for 65% of your overall sales – so it’s important to keep them happy and well-fed. One straightforward way to mitigate the number of ordering mistakes is by customizing your POS hardware and POS solutions to work for your brand. Intuitive design, seamless integration with third party apps, and clear order reviews can cut down on mistakes and keep your service running smooth.
RETAIN PROFITS BY REDUCING WASTE
Order accuracy can help food businesses retain an extra 2% of their revenue. When it comes to your big-picture margins, 2% is no small figure. But manually tracking food and beverage usage and stock orders can be incredibly time-consuming and hard to get right. That’s why so many restaurants and retail businesses track inventory using inventory management features – like low stock alerts and order predictions – through their integrated POS software. Not only do POS systems help you regain that 2% margin cost through inventory management tools, but they help you reduce waste and keep your business environmentally conscious.
REDUCE PAPER WASTE WITH DIGITAL RECEIPTS
Nothing is more frustrating than trying to locate a lost order receipt after a customer complains. Looking through a receipt spike or even worse – the garbage – to find what you’re looking for is unacceptable in today’s quick and professional service industry. Switching to digital-only communication through your POS terminal can help optimize your payment processor, save paper, and send a clean, positive message to your patrons. It turns out that most customers prefer paperless receipts. When it comes to streamlining the checkout process, restaurant-goers want easy interactions, such as Apple Pay, built-in payment processing, and credit card options. Plus, going paperless with your POS software means you aren’t refilling your receipt printer in the middle of a busy Saturday night service – and your point-of-sale systems work for you.
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PROVIDE A MEMORABLE PURCHASING EXPERIENCE
With so much of our modern commerce taking place online, it’s important to curate a positive in-store dining experience for customers. That means offering all the convenience of an online store with the added benefit of a real smile and friendly service. Offering easy-to-use self-order kiosks can take the hassle out of waiting in line, and intuitive POS features can make in-person ordering a simple and clear way to interact with your staff. Most POS systems also make it easy to track customer loyalty programs, providing a personalized touch for your guests through order suggestions and more opportunities to earn points. It’s all about customer relationship management and using your point-of-sale system to help retail and hospitality businesses.
SPEED UP THE CHECKOUT EXPERIENCE
Modern POS systems should be less about the cash drawers and more about your overall sales. Today’s customers demand high-quality food alongside fast and efficient service. The quicker and more accurate your POS system, the more likely your customers will associate your establishment with their own line of thinking, living, and consuming. In practice, this means you need retail tools that staff can learn and use with ease – leaving no room for communication errors or order backlogs.
WORK WITH YOUR LOYALTY PROGRAM
Implementing an engaging loyalty program can double your returning customer ratio. As the average American household holds about thirty brand memberships, joining a loyalty program is becoming increasingly popular and expected among today’s retail stores. Using an integrated POS solution to leverage your loyalty program is an easy and effective way to increase membership usage, hook new customers, and gather customer data. When retail store customers scan their credit card or app, your cloud-based POS system will automatically link with their account and provide order suggestions, purchase history, and available rewards.
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INCREASE CUSTOMER ENGAGEMENT
Boosting sales starts with making your items irresistible to customers. Research shows that the more personal the experience, the more invested and engaged your guests will become (and they’ll want to spend more!). The more time and effort your staff put into customer service, the more special your guests will feel. The best POS system links mobile touchpoints so that staff can take orders from anywhere in your building. That not only makes table service far more efficient, but it also frees up your servers to spend more time connecting with guests and less time tallying up orders.
INTEGRATE YOUR POS SYSTEM WITH THIRD-PARTY SERVICES
Full integration doesn’t stop at internal devices and your POS app. A streamlined system connects easily with external apps to make delivery processing clear and easy to follow. A complete POS system tracks sales data and payment processors across online ordering platforms to provide the best customer management portal for your business. With less time needed to set up software connections and train staff in operations, you’ll have time to get down to the important things: making sales and connecting with customers.
HOW TO CHOOSE A POS VENDOR
Every brand has a unique model and customer base, which is why it’s important to invest in a POS that adapts to work for your business. When you’re looking for the best retail POS system, you’re really looking out for three things that will help optimize your business: Customization, usability, and integration. When you’re looking for the best retail POS system, you’re really looking out for three things that will help optimize your business: Customization, usability, and integration.
