What is Point of Sale (POS) Software?
Point-of-sale (POS) software solutions can be summed up as "cash registers on steroids." Even before the rise of mobile and cloud technology, POS solutions took the basics of the cash register and expanded them to task directly to back-end accounting systems, credit card payment processors, inventory systems, and more. The cloud has become a hot trend in this space because it's allowed many small to midsize businesses (SMBs) to make use of advanced POS services because they can avoid the ongoing expense of deploying and maintaining a back-end server at every location.While there are several kinds of payment processing solutions out there, including credit card readers and even online credit card processing software, the solutions reviewed here are full-on cash registers. That means they communicate with back-end accounting software and can handle any kind of payment, including cash.
But perhaps the most important trend in today's POS systems is mobility—the ability to move POS functionality out from behind the cash register station and into the hands of roving employees for faster, more customer-centric business. Few industries have a more mobile sales model than restaurants, which is why we chose to focus this POS software solution review roundup on restaurant-oriented POS solutions, both cloud and on-premises as well as mobile and stationary, so you can decide for yourself which solution is best for you.
Important Considerations
For restaurant operations, the right POS system can be a make-or-break decision. During the most critical times for your business—the pre-business-hour rush of a commuter coffee shop, the frantic luncheonette that has to get everyone in and out during an abbreviated lunch hour, or an eatery serving a casual but fast dinner—the POS system needs to perform in just the right way. A slow user interface (UI) can mean fewer meals sold and unhappy customers, but a feature-anemic system can cause back-end accounting problems or even drop essentials such as credit card processing.
Today's credit card industry has made processing payments more secure but also more confusing than ever before. A primary concern are new Europay, MasterCard, and Visa (EMV) chips, which store data on integrated circuits on the credit card face rather than magnetic strips on the back. Not only does this require a hardware change at the POS system level in order to process cards this way, it also uses different back-end authentication mechanisms as well.
Another fast-growing standard is the near-field communications (NFC) transaction, which is an electronic payment system being popularized by mobile giants, such as Google Wallet and Apple Pay. Making sure your POS system candidate can handle these new emerging systems is only half the equation. The other half includes whether or not that implementation will annoy or please your customer, as well as whether or not it will help or hinder your PCI-compliance efforts.
And remember, your accounting department won't be satisfied with a POS system that's just able to process cash in the front of the house. How it helps back-end processes is just as important. Tracking cash flow, inventory, and customer habits are capabilities that can be central to many operations and your POS system winds up being the data collection hub for much of that information. How does it handle imparting that data back to you? Are the reports easily customized? Sufficiently detailed? Do they cater sufficient to your specific business? Is scheduling included?
Another critical area, especially for restaurants, is product support. If the system crashes at the start of your busy period, how easy is to get someone on the phone? That's a question that can often be solved by paying for the appropriate support plan. But just because you have someone on the phone doesn't mean your system is back online, and you've still got hungry customers to feed. A backup solution is essential here and that's especially true in the case of cloud-based POS solutions, which can suffer not only from software problems but also Internet connectivity issues. Ensuring that your vendor has your back in these situations is key, but knowing exactly how and where that support will come from can be critical, too.
The Best Tool Through the Eyes of Customers
To help you work through these issues, PCMag has looked at seven of the more popular restaurant-capable POS systems. To get a better feel for how these solutions work within this particular vertical, we decided to base our reviews on the opinions of real-world restaurant managers who are using these systems every day.
That approach allowed us to focus in on issues important to restaurant industry insiders. For example, we found that part of the challenge in evaluating POS system customization capability is that it may not clear pre-sale what the default functionality delivers. Travis Hall, Director of Operations for Wild Eggs (which owns two restaurants in Lexington, Kentucky), had worked with one POS system that allowed for alerts, but a customization he really wanted wasn't available. The system would issue an alert if comp (free) sales topped one percent for the day, but his stores routinely hit that number. Therefore, he found it annoying and distracting, and wanted to set the threshold to double the default. He couldn't get the system to do that. Another question that Hall encourages restaurants evaluating POS systems to ask: How does the system handle check splitting? (Hall was far from alone in regretting not having asked about check splitting pre-purchase.)
We also found that sometimes a post-purchase surprise can be a good one. Scott Hunsicker is General Manager of the Reading Fightin' Phils, a job that includes overseeing food concessions for the minor-league baseball team. Hunsicker said he was surprised by how valuable his ownership team found mobile-accessible, real-time reporting to be. "Using their phones, ownership can see everything. I don't know that you grasp the value of that until you've got it," he said. "You see labor costs, what's selling, house accounts, running tabs, etc."
A key item Hunsicker regretted not having asked prior to purchase? How rugged the POS mobile systems are in terms of being left out in the rain, and how easily, safely, and quickly they can be moved when a lightning storm hits with little warning. Making any technology purchase decision requires getting the right answers to all your key questions. But knowing which questions to ask is a matter only experience can teach you. Use the experience of our interviewees to make the right POS system choice for your business.
Featured Point-of-Sale System Reviews:
Square Chip Card Reader Review
Editors' Choice
$29.00 MSRP
Bottom Line: Square is an affordable and easy tool for accepting credit card payments on lots of mobile devices, and the experience is excellent for buyers and sellers alike.
Aldelo POS Pro Review
$59.00 MSRP
Bottom Line: A good price and basic features, coupled with front-of-store reliability, makes Aldelo a point-of-sale (POS) software solution to strongly consider.
PAR Brink POS Review
$90.00 MSRP
Bottom Line: If you're open to the cloud, PAR Brink POS is a point-of-sale (POS) software solution absolutely worth evaluating. But, if cloud isn't on your wish list, there are better alternatives.
Posera Maitre'D POS Review
$50.00 MSRP
Bottom Line: Although Posera Maitre'D POS is one of the higher-priced point-of-sale (POS) software solutions in this review roundup, that price tag buys a lot of features in this generally stable, robust...
Revention POS Review
$267.83 MSRP
Bottom Line: If all you need are basic point-of-sale (POS) capabilities, then POS software solution Revention POS could be an excellent and low-cost option.
Action Systems Restaurant Manager Review
$3500.00 MSRP
Bottom Line: A mixed bag in terms of mobile support, Action Systems Restaurant Manager's feature selection and customization options are the strong points of this point-of-sale (POS) software solution. I...
Menusoft Systems Digital Dining Review
$1100.00 MSRP
Bottom Line: If mobility for the wait staff is a priority, then Menusoft Systems Digital Dining is a point-of-sale (POS) software solution definitely worth considering. But purchase analytics, e-commerce...
Post a Comment