The right tools are a big part of your business success. To automate your restaurant and increase productivity, you should invest in modern software and hardware. Cash payments and sophisticated cash registers can be considered a thing of the past. Now advanced and multifunctional POS-technology is used instead. Read below about what it is and how it can improve your performance.
What Types of POS Exist?
Speaking of POS system meaning, it is worth noting that such a term existed before. A typical example of a “point of sales” is the checkout of any store. That is, it is literally the place where transactions are made. Modern services offer merchants and their clients much more than just selling goods and accepting payments.
What are the key features of a point of sale system? Among the main options, you can find tools for inventory and employee management, payment processing, administration, marketing, customer service, business intelligence, and more. You can choose a POS System with the components that your business needs.
As a rule, such services fall into two main categories: on-premise and cloud. For the first one, you need to purchase hardware (barcode scanners, PCs, cash drawers, etc.) and maintain the system yourself. It can be pretty costly, especially if you need to hire a team of specialists to update and manage all the software and devices.
The second type is more affordable and modern. If you do not need complex equipment and the presence of a physical store with goods as part of your activity, you should opt for a cloud ordering system for a small business. It is easier to acquire, run, and maintain. Even if you have little experience with software, you can handle it without problems since your service provider is responsible for updating the components.
How to Use a POS System?
For you, as a user, point of sale integration into a business is a fairly simple process. Your main task is to choose a quality service. For example, with ORTY, you can open an online restaurant in just a few minutes.
The main task of such systems is assisting in transactions between buyers and merchants. However, advanced providers offer more functionality, so you can also use them to:
- order management in your restaurant;
- creating and changing menus;
- table management;
- analysis of sales and efficiency;
- personnel management;
- work with clients.
How do point of sale systems benefit restaurant employees? It saves time on order processing and avoids human error. All this, in turn, has a positive effect on the company’s work as a whole.
How Does a POS System Work in a Small Business?
While these services help businesses complete the really complex tasks, and the set of POS functions is growing every year, you don’t need to understand exactly how it all works from the inside. The operation of such systems can be conditionally divided into four main steps:
- Your customer puts the items they like into a shopping cart (real or virtual). If you have a physical store, the first step of the POS operation comes when a cashier scans a barcode. In the case of digital counterparts, this happens after the buyer proceeds to pay for services or goods.
- The system analyzes the item’s price information and related taxes and enters the sales data into your records.
- The client makes payment in any available way.
- When the transaction is confirmed, and the money for the goods is transferred to you, a check or invoice is printed. Now, the POS system operation is completed.
Thanks to modern technologies, you can work with clients wherever you are and literally from any device convenient for you.