At the end of a meal at your restaurant, you want to make guest payment as easy as possible. That’s where point-of-sale (POS) systems come into play — and that’s far from their only use in restaurants. In fact, many of the best POS systems for restaurants include features such as floorplan and table management, self-service kiosks and shift scheduling.
To help you decide which POS system is best for your restaurant, we researched and tested some of the top solutions on the market today. We narrowed these down to five platforms that excel on fronts such as customer experience, hardware and overall value.
Customer experience
Overall value
Hardware
Restaurants
Minimizing transaction fees
None
30 days
None
None
None
$69 per month
$160 per month
Free to start
$69 per month
$59 per month
Yes
Yes (100+)
Yes (95+)
Yes (25+)
Yes (80+)
Yes
No
No
Yes
No
Phone and text, live chat, email
Phone and email
Phone, email, live chat
Phone, email, live chat
Phone, email, live chat
Restaurant POS systems charge a monthly subscription fee that gives you access to POS software and at least one POS hardware device. These subscriptions start at $59 per month, though Toast offers a free plan for new restaurants. You can upgrade to higher-priced plans that include more software features, such as customer loyalty plans and QR code ordering, as well as additional hardware devices. These add-ons and upgrades may increase your monthly cost from just under $100 to several hundred dollars more.
Most POS vendors also sell hardware devices independent of your subscription. You’ll often need to request a quote for this equipment, which may include kitchen display systems and customer-facing displays. For a full equipment setup, you might spend $200 on the low end and $1,600 on the high end, depending on which vendor you partner with and the capabilities your restaurant needs.
Payment processing fees are also part and parcel of any POS system. These often take the form of a percentage of each transaction, which may fall between 1.5 percent and 3.5 percent. There may also be a small additional flat fee for each transaction. In most cases, you can’t avoid these fees, though Lavu’s dual pricing model enables you to easily offload them to the customer.
A feature-rich restaurant POS will prove more effective for streamlining your operations, from back of house all the way to the front. Here are some key features to seek out in a great POS system for restaurants.
The average consumer expects your restaurant to provide delivery or takeout options that they can access from anywhere. Many POS systems come with tools for setting this up via dedicated websites. You can include the URL for this site on your Google Business Profile to get customers right to your menu and order page. With the right restaurant POS, these pages will be one and the same, making everything easier for your customers.
With mobile POS tools, your restaurant can process customer payments at the tableside. This massively reduces the time between a guest getting their check and signing the receipt’s merchant copy. Plus, since a mobile POS is compatible with just about any mobile device, it reduces the need to buy POS hardware.
The future of the restaurant customer experience may be in fully self-sufficient dining experiences. POS self-service kiosks and payment options bring this future into the present. Your guests place their orders, add customizations and tender payment whenever they’ve decided what to eat — all without a server’s involvement.
Sometimes, with large groups of guests, each person prefers to put down their own card instead of loading the bill onto one patron’s card. You can enable this with restaurant POS check-splitting features. Your servers can use these tools to assign items to patrons, who then use their cards to cover their own costs. Not every restaurant offers this flexibility, so implementing this feature can improve your customer experience and keep guests returning.
The best POS systems for restaurants include inventory management tools for tracking the stock levels of each ingredient you use in the kitchen. Some platforms include vendor management and purchase order tools, and these advanced features may be necessary to keep your kitchen properly stocked. The same is true for tools that indicate to customers which menu items are sold out based on your inventory levels.
Payment processing tools for restaurant POS systems should cover contactless payments as well as card and cash transactions. They should also allow for payments to be processed when your internet connection is down and completed once you’re reconnected. This way, you can keep running your restaurant amid even the most severe network outages.
Many restaurant POS systems include tools for adding employees and managing their schedules and shifts. You might also find platforms with built-in time clocks for employee clock-in and clock-out, as well as tools for managing servers’ tips. These features pair neatly with restaurant POS tools for managing your tables, menu and everything in between.
Certain restaurant POS systems all but double as CRM platforms for storing customer profiles. This CRM functionality has numerous applications in email marketing and customer loyalty programs. For example, you can use this information to maintain and serve an email list and offer special rewards on customers’ birthdays.
POS systems often integrate with the best accounting software platforms, such as QuickBooks and Xero. They may also integrate with the best email marketing platforms, such as Mailchimp and Constant Contact. With these integrations, the data in your POS always matches that in your other platforms. That means you can execute functions in one to execute parallel functions in the others rather than manually taking the same steps on each platform. The end result is more streamlined financial and marketing processes.
The best POS vendors for restaurants keep their customer support teams available well outside standard weekday business hours. After all, your restaurant likely operates well into the evening or even past midnight. That’s why POS vendors offering 24/7 support make all the difference. You’ll get the help you need on key issues whether it’s 1 p.m. or 1 a.m.
You can use POS systems to oversee guest reservations and manage your waitlist. This includes offering reservations in the first place and alerting customers to their place in line and changes in their wait time. Leveraging this technology can give your customer experience an edge over similar establishments. More foot traffic could result.
Top-notch restaurant POS systems give you the tools to build an online menu and auto-update your items’ availability based on your inventory levels. This way, customers never put in an order only to be told that what they wanted is unavailable. You’ll prevent a major customer complaint and keep guests coming back for seconds.
With many restaurant POS platforms, you can set and modify a floor plan as well as visualize how your guests and staff will move through your establishment. This feature usually goes hand in hand with table management tools for taking each table’s orders, assigning serves to tables and overseeing your seating availability. Smoother, more coherent operations should result.
As with any type of high-quality technology, POS systems for restaurants often include a bevy of reporting features. For example, you might be able to run reports detailing your staff’s performance and activity. With this information, you can make smarter scheduling decisions and find ways to cut costs. You might also be able to run sales reports showing which menu items your guests like best and when these items’ sales peak. This data can inform how you build your happy hour menu or seasonal promotions.
Take the following steps to decide which restaurant POS system is best for your operations.
Vendors’ websites typically include pricing tables that detail the features you get with each membership tier. Compare and contrast several vendors’ tables to determine which providers give you the best bang for your buck.
Consider restaurant-specific POS features such as menu management, kitchen display systems and curbside pickup. Not all POS vendors offer these, and you should only consider those that do. It’s also important to look for 24/7 customer support, as your restaurant probably operates well outside weekdays and standard business hours.
Then, read guides such as this one as well as customer reviews on sites like Trustpilot and the Better Business Bureau (BBB). This should give you an idea of which vendors’ reputations and offerings justify their price points.
Trustpilot reviews, on the other hand, are usually plentiful and mostly positive. Disgruntled reviewers seem to take to the BBB, whereas all types of customers leave Trustpilot reviews.
There’s nothing quite like testing a platform yourself before signing up for it to know whether it fits your needs. It’s paramount to get a demo or — even better — a free trial before you register for any POS vendor. Try out the software and hardware devices for both your online and in-person operations to see what guests and your staff think. Seek out feedback and make your choices based on that.
In some cases, POS vendors will offer you a quote, and in other cases, your price will be the amount listed on the vendor’s website. Consider these final prices alongside the features and usability you’ve experienced to decide which platform is best for you.
Below are some key ways POS systems for restaurants can benefit your operations and bottom line.
You would have to be cash-only to run a restaurant without a POS system, and even then, lacking a POS platform would prove unnecessarily complicated. POS systems are standard among restaurants since they massively streamline operations while addressing nearly all guest wants and needs.
There may be a small initial learning curve when you implement a POS system and train your staff on it. However, POS systems are built to be intuitive and simplify complex processes. Set aside roughly 40 hours for staff training, and everyone should be up to speed.
The drawbacks of POS systems — price, security risks, internet connectivity reliance — are all inherently solved in top POS vendors’ offerings. You break even on POS costs since your operations become much more streamlined, and POS systems must be PCI-compliant to maximize security. Plus, most POS systems can accept payments offline and process them once your Wi-Fi connection returns.
POS hardware typically lasts five to seven years, but most restaurant POS hardware is designed to withstand spills, high temperatures and other restaurant conditions. This means restaurant POS hardware lasts longer than other POS setups.
POS systems and cash registers aren’t mutually exclusive — the latter are often part of the former. A cash register can complete cash transactions, but POS systems process all types of transactions and oversee your operations. Through a POS system, you can manage inventory, market to customers, build out loyalty programs, and so much more.
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