Between managing staff, attracting new customers, keeping costs in check, and everything else that goes on behind the scenes, running a restaurant is no easy task. And without a robust restaurant POS system in place, it’s even harder.
The right restaurant point of sale (POS) system can streamline almost every aspect of restaurant management to ensure your business is efficient and effective. However, with so many options available, it can be difficult to figure out which system is best. Every business has different needs — after all, a full-service restaurant operates much differently than a food truck or quick-service restaurant — so it’s important to carefully compare your options to make an informed decision and select the best POS system for your business.
Below, find a step-by-step guide for how to choose a new POS system.
Step 1: Identify the Features You Need in Your Restaurant POS System
If you’re working within a budget — as most restaurant owners are — you may not be able to get a system with all the bells and whistles. But you can absolutely find a system that fits within your budget and meets your business needs.
Start by identifying the POS features that are essential to your restaurant operations. Is accounting a major pain point for your business? If so, make sure your restaurant POS has an accounting function or the option to integrate third-party accounting software. Is online ordering a priority? Look for a restaurant POS system with a native or integrated system.
Other features to consider include credit card processing, real-time reporting and analytics, workforce management, dining room and table management, tableside ordering, inventory management, and food delivery or takeout functionality. Also consider whether you want a cloud-based or on-premise solution.
Determine which features are absolutely essential for your business, and then weed out products that don’t offer the solutions you need.
Step 2: Determine Other Helpful Restaurant POS Features
Beyond the essentials, pinpoint any features that would be nice to have, but not necessarily mandatory. These could be minor things, like a customizable interface, touchscreen or iPad compatibility, or employee self-service options, or major things, like offline mode or curbside pickup. While these features may not make or break the solution, they can help you narrow down your options and get the most out of your investment.
Step 3: Set a Budget
The next step toward finding the right restaurant point of sale system is setting a budget. When determining what you can afford, consider both initial costs and ongoing costs.
Initial costs cover any hardware, infrastructure, setup, and support required to get your new system up and running. The initial costs vary by provider, but may include:
- Point of sale terminals
- Mobile point of sale terminals
- Receipt and kitchen printers
- Credit card readers or terminals (EMV/NFC/MSR)
- Kitchen display systems
- Local network and wireless Infrastructure
- Customer facing displays
- System installation
- Menu programming
After the initial setup, you may be required to pay ongoing fees for your restaurant POS software and any add-on services, such as:
- Software fees ($20-$50 per month per workstation)
- Support fees ($99-$399 per month)
- Annual upgrade fees ($300-$999 per year)
- Processing gateway fees ($30-$300 per month)
- Online ordering ($99-$199 per month)
- Loyalty or gift card programs ($30-$199 per month)
Your budget should also account for training costs. Many restaurant POS providers offer training, but rates vary widely. Before moving forward with the company, make sure to ask if installation comes with system training, and whether it is available on an ongoing basis. Also ask what training documentation is available (e.g., training videos, guides, etc.).
Step 4: Ask Questions to Evaluate Potential Restaurant POS System Providers
Your desired features and set budget should help narrow down your search to a few providers. Then you can ask further questions in the following categories to determine which provider is the best fit.
- Infrastructure: Understand if and how the system will fit within your current infrastructure. Will it work with your current terminals and network, or will you need to invest in new hardware and software? Will you be able to accommodate contactless payments and work offline if needed? If you intend to grow your business, is the POS scalable if you add locations or terminals?
- Merchant services: Evaluate each provider’s merchant services to make sure you can easily process debit and credit cards. Some restaurant point of sale systems offer merchant services directly, while others allow you to outsource. Some incorporate processing fees into the overall price, while others charge a monthly fee or fee per transaction. In any case, make sure you understand any contracts that are involved, including contract length and terms, as well as how the merchant services will affect initial, ongoing, and total costs.
- Usability: Ease of use is important; no matter the features a POS has, it’s not effective if your team can’t use it correctly. Make sure the system is user-friendly and that you can access adequate training, both now and in the future. For instance, when you hire new employees, will they have access to on-demand video training, or will they only have manuals?
Also consider whether the system can be customized to your unique business, and the process for handling updates in the future.
- Customer support: Even reliable restaurant point of sale systems will require support at some point or another. Understand how support is priced (e.g., is it included/free, or does it require additional costs?) as well as availability (e.g., can you access support 24 hours a day, or only during business hours? Are techs available through phone, email, text, or in person?). You may also want to know whether the support team is U.S.-based or overseas, as well as the typical resolution time for support tickets.
- Security: Keeping your and your customers’ data safe is critical, so your POS solution provider should have robust security measures in place. During the evaluation, ask how customer data is protected, as well as what payment processing technology is used for security. You can also inquire about specific compliance measures, such as whether the POS is EMV-compliant and if the payment solution is PCI-compliant.
You may also want to know how often the system is backed up, including whether it has failsafe backups. Finally, don’t be afraid to ask about the company’s track record for stability and reliability. If they’ve encountered several data breaches, you may be better off looking elsewhere. - Marketing features: Restaurant POS systems can be effective tools for marketing. If you plan to leverage your POS for marketing, make sure it offers the features you need. Consider what kind of customer and sales data it collects, as well as how you can access that data. For instance, does it save customer information from online ordering, and can you recall each customer’s preferences upon a new order? This can be especially helpful if you plan to implement a loyalty program.
The right restaurant POS system can help speed up manual processes, improve sales, reduce room for error, improve the customer experience, and ultimately, boost your bottom line. By understanding the features you need and other factors to consider, you can streamline the process of finding the best restaurant POS system for your business. For an even deeper look into selecting the right POS system — and then maximizing your return on investment — download our Restaurant POS Buyer’s Guide.