Guide to Retail and Restaurant POS
A Guide to Retail and Restaurant Point of Sale Systems Are you having problems managing your company financial statements? Are you tired of manually taking inventory? Do your eyes hurt from trying to read the handwriting of your cashiers, servers or managers? Read this article carefully and understand how to make your business life easier. Leave those labor-intensive, tedious, and time consuming tasks behind because a robust POS system will take care of them for you. What is this System? A POS system utilizes a computer instead of a cash register in goods exchange transactions. Basically, a point of sale system can handle transactions such as inventory, printing receipts and invoices with facts about the transactions, and it can also handle card payments. A point of sale can be utilized by retail stores, restaurants, hospitals, hotels or any establishment that requires payment transactions. Retail Point of Sale System For the retail industry, their POS is rather complex and less standardized compared to that of the Restaurant POS industry. For this system, it usually consists of a monitor, cash drawer, printer for receipts, scanner for barcodes and inventory, debit/credit card scanner, and of course a computer. More advanced systems have all-in-one units with touch screens. A retail POS system is capable of handling sales, returns, gift card transactions, exchanges, layaway and loyalty programs. Most systems also can handle advanced features such as promotional sales and multiple forms of payments. In some retail environments, there are a number of POS units available on the floor in various locations for actual checkout while a back office computer handles the inventory and other financial aspects of the business. The back office “brain” all-encompassing machine is also capable of producing sales reports, trends, and cost analysis. You can see this kind of system in supermarkets and malls where there are multiple cashiers using this system. Restaurant Point of Sale System The restaurant point of sale system is simpler and a more versatile system compared to retail. This is because in the restaurant industry, the point of sale’s main function is to track orders, print checks, receipts, customer orders and financial reports. These systems are usually used by big fast food chains and sit down restaurants and bars / nightclubs; however they are also commonly used in café and quick service environments. For fast food chains, you might have noticed that the cashiers have headphones; this headset system is actually an additional feature for the restaurant point of sale system to allow the employees to communicate easily. Similar devices are also available for the kitchen including, impact printers to deal with heat and customized kitchen display units. The POS Industry Point of Sale does not only provide easier financial transactions but enhances the overall management scheme of a company. It is advisable to choose wisely when selecting a particular POS system especially when picking the software and reseller / servicing company. Most companies provide trial software as well as interactive demos; restaurant POS expert like Dinerware have many online demos and videos that restaurateurs can check out. Other major players in the restaurant POS are Micros, Aloha and Harbortouch. For the retail industry the choices are much more diverse with larger merchants creating their own customized solutions. However, many smaller merchant have had success utilizing Intuit’s POS and Apple’s Checkout. Because there are so many different companies that provide point of sales software and systems, as a buyer, you really can design your own system to suit your own needs. So what are you waiting for? There is a system out there that would help you with all the cumbersome...
Read MoreWhat is a Point of Sale System?
A common question that new business owners ask is, “What is a point of sale system?” More accurately business owners want to know how a POS system can help improve commerce for their business. There are many benefits from a transactional and financial standpoint that new or existing business owners should know. This is specifically true for retail and hospitality businesses where tracking inventory and multiple customers simultaneously is critical for operations. For a basic overview of what a point of sale system is and the three (3) most common configurations be sure to check out our Point of Sale page. For a more in-depth look at restaurant and retail POS along with a look at POS hardware and software check out our series of posts starting below. What is a POS System? POS is an acronym for Point of Sale and is often used interchangeably with the term Point of Purchase (POP) or checkout. However typically when the term POS or Point of Sale is used the user is referring to the hardware and / or software configuration used at the place of commerce. While historically this was the only option, even today it is common to see a basic manual cash register. However with the advent of bank cards and credit card processing, the need for electronic components such as a credit / debit card terminal became necessary. This has led to the development of fully integrated Point of Sale configuration or ePOS setups which today can be anything from a full computer station to an iPAD and custom app. Point of Sale configurations vary widely depending on the application. What is used in a restaurant or retail environment can be very different than what is needed for mobile or online merchants. While the basics are the same, the specific requirements of the merchant can change the solutions drastically. For more information on the different type of point of sale configurations use one of the following links to navigate directly to a POS specific page. POS defined and basic modern configurations – Point of Sale Overview Advanced and integrated solutions – Dedicated Point of Sale Systems For more specific information about point of sale in both a restaurant and retail environment as well as hardware and software applications use the links below. You will also find consumer friendly information on this site including “How to Choose the Right POS” and top brands among other topics. Point of Sale Further Defined (Click Link Below) Guide to Retail and Restaurant POS POS Evolution: Retail and Hospitality Point of Sale Software Point of Sale Hardware How to Choose the Right...
Read MorePoint of Sale (POS) Reviews
What is the Best POS Solution? Many small business owners ask “What is the best point of sale system?” This largely depends on the type of business and the scope of transactions. The first determining factor that an owner must look at is the industry that their company competes in. There is a large difference in the type of POS needed for the following industries… Hospitality: (Restaurants, Nightclubs, Quick Service, Fast Casual, Take-Out Food, Hotels) Retail: (Grocery, Convenience Stores, Clothing, Boutique, Shops, Consumer Goods) Mobile: (Home Delivery, Contractors, Repair, Technicians, Painters, Plumbers) Online: (eCommerce) For the most part, the need for point of sale is the most critical in hospitality (restaurants) and retail due to the need to track inventory and multiple customers simultaneously. Mobile merchant typically have custom needs and online merchants can typically handle their needs with a robust shopping cart software solution. When it comes to the basic local merchant there are a few standout software solutions that are the best. We highlight and review these two solutions, Dinerware for restaurants and Cash Register Express for retail, in detail at BestPOSSystem.com our partner educational site. These two solutions were picked not based solely on amount of features but a combination of price, functionality, features and ease of use. For more details be sure to check out Best POS...
Read MoreCash Free Advertising
Pay for the ad after you make a sale! Cash free advertising is a relatively new form of advertising that implements the methodology of cost per acquisition (CPA) commonly used in the online e-commerce world and transfers the “pay-per performance” structure to the brick and mortar business. Cash free advertising campaigns allow businesses to forgo the upfront cost of advertising and only pay when the advertising medium generates a measurable sale. Typically, with advertising using the traditional method, a business would map out a budget for their advertising and pay upfront for the campaign. This could be a billboard, radio spot, a TV commercial, mailers and even online marketing. After it runs the business would then wait for the customers to arrive. With cash free advertising the business pays nothing upfront, the advertising campaign runs and the business only pays for the advertising when the customer makes a purchase. This method eliminates the risk of paying for ineffective advertising campaigns and affords the business the ability to accurately track the return on that investment. Another great option with these programs is that in some cases the business owner can also pay for the advertising using the goods or services of the business. This creates a unique 3-way barter system where the business owner pays for the advertising campaign at its cost of goods sold (COGS) while still charging the customer full retail price for products sold and services rendered. This option is great for a business with low COGS and a high gross profit margin. Assuming that those businesses also have relatively low fixed costs, it creates a massively discounted advertising payment strategy. Cash free advertising is changing the way that businesses pay for advertising and is being done with new technologies that track the way consumers spend money. With state of the art tracking software through point of sale systems advertisers can now guarantee that the advertising worked. The key element is that if the campaign does not work the business does not pay for it, thus eliminating the most critical risk in...
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