Did you know that more than 80% of data related to the operations of your business is stored digitally? This includes technology such as a POS system and comprehensive business management suites that are currently hosted on the cloud or an external server. Focusing on crucial technology, POS — a vital part of restaurant businesses — here’s the thing.
With the advent of the internet, online ordering for restaurants has become increasingly popular. Many customers prefer the convenience of ordering their food from the comfort of their own homes. Online ordering also allows customers to view the menu and specials for a restaurant before placing their order. This can be especially helpful for customers with dietary restrictions or those seeking specific items. Overall, online ordering can be a valuable way for restaurants to expand their customer base and increase sales.
Exceptional Customer Service
Exceptional customer service in the restaurant business relies heavily on smooth, efficient operations behind the scenes. Platforms like Gloria Food POS play a crucial role by unifying order management, payments, and staff coordination in a single, easy-to-use system. By reducing wait times and minimising errors, gloriafood-pos.com helps restaurants create a seamless dining experience that keeps customers coming back.
The finest restaurant POS solutions stand out with their unique features compared to other brands on the market. Apart from processing money, successful restaurant POS systems assist restaurateurs like you with activities ranging from analysing financial statements to employee management.
All of the above can determine whether your business succeeds or fails within a single year of operation.
The following is a checklist of the top POS systems for ambitious restaurants, which is also suitable for cafés, pubs, and eateries. These point-of-sale systems may handle everything from maintaining ingredient inventory to accepting internet reservations. Furthermore, some of them offer COVID-friendly capabilities to help restaurants serve their customers in an increasingly dynamic environment.
A Checklist to Determine the Best POS Systems for Your Restaurant
Our rundown of the best restaurant POS systems includes feature-packed, all-in-one solutions that offer everything you require to successfully and efficiently run your eatery and make changes when needed:
Lightspeed
Premium-quality, feature-packed POS
Lightspeed is a highly advanced, fully integrated platform, a popular POS system for restaurants. This premium POS can be used in both quick-service and full-service restaurants. It is counted among the most trustworthy choices for restaurant businesses because it concentrates on barcoded products. The provider’s large number of third-party integrations additionally makes it appealing to business owners who want to customise their software to their individual needs.
Features
- Extensive integration features: You can easily connect to a vast library of integrations via Lightspeed. This allows you to add functionalities such as loyalty programmes and staff scheduling.
- Customisation: You can customise your POS according to specific sectors, such as hotels, fine dining, eateries, cafes, or bars.
- Stock control: Lightspeed allows you to track ingredients individually through its inventory management functions within the software interface.
- Floor plan display: The software features a floor plan display that directs servers to a designated table as needed.
- Comprehensive menu option: A menu is available that allows you to include images of each meal along with its corresponding descriptions.
- Backup and Support: Database backups and system updates are provided at no additional cost, and all plans include live training and 24/7 customer support.
Benefits
- Lightspeed provides comprehensive customer support through 24/7 service via phone, email, and online chat.
- It serves as the perfect platform for restaurants that deal with barcoded inventory.
- The pricing is straightforward and reasonable, with no hidden costs.
- The inventory management feature enables you to handle ingredients in depth.
- Reservations can be made in advance with ease.
- There is a loyalty app for customers that ensures consumer engagement.
Pricing
Pricing starts at 39 USD per month, and the highest price is 389 USD per month. There are also customised plans for enterprise solutions.
Square POS
Catering to multiple eatery businesses.
Square is a well-known restaurant brand with devoted solutions for serving tables and counters, pubs and lounges, cafés, delicatessens, and food carts. Square POS is a suitable alternative for mid-sized, on-the-go enterprises due to its solid industry reputation and attractive price tag. It’s a good solution for start-up eateries.
Features
- Menu management: Offers menu management capabilities, including customised designs and item categorisation, to make best sellers more accessible.
- Menu modification: Bulk modifications enable you to update your menus with new choices and items quickly.
- Integrations: A wide selection of 3rd-party integrations is available to make the distribution as simple as possible.
- Easy tracking: Third-party systems for employee attendance monitoring and customer bookings can be added.
- Single-platform order handling: Square’s order processing software enables you to manage all your orders from a single interface.
- Table management: It offers a user-friendly table management tool that allows you to tap tables to fit more guests or reorganise them to make more room.
- Extensive reporting: Square’s reports include high-level overviews as well as in-depth analyses of your transactions by categories, item, and means of payment.
Benefits
- Square is a versatile restaurant POS system that serves restaurant businesses of different sizes and scales.
- It features multiple functionalities, including statistics, stock management, and third-party integrations.
- Square showcases sleek and fashionable hardware equipment.
- It also offers benefits such as online purchasing and a free introductory plan.
- You can include employee management as one of its extensive list of advantages.
Pricing
For the “Plus” edition, Square charges a modest 60 USD per month. If you don’t mind a more limited set of features, you can opt for the free option.
TouchBistro
Ideal for full-fledged service.
TouchBistro is a sophisticated point-of-sale system created for and by restaurant employees. As its name suggests, they made it with restaurants in mind from the beginning. It features a configurable UI and excellent stock management capabilities. Further, its menu administration and inventory control features make it suitable for various additional hospitality enterprises, particularly those with a large or complex inventory.
Features
- Multiple apps: Offers a variety of apps tailored to meet the diverse needs of various restaurant establishments.
- Table-order management: Provides a robust table-specific order management function with readily digestible menus, reducing errors and complementary items.
- Personalised table plans: Design custom table plans that you can use to locate your most expensive tables, modify seats, alter parties, and much more.
- Direct order communication: Servers would be capable of sending orders directly to the eatery’s cooking section via various printers or screens.
- Menu management: Design, update, and publish customisable menus to the system, as well as add and delete offerings on the go.
- Inventory control system: Track which items are sold and the materials used in each meal.
- Extensive data collection: TouchBistro can send daily updates to senior management using the data acquired by the platform.
Benefits
- It has a dynamic and intuitive interface.
- It comes with a solid crew and inventory control system.
- Customer support is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
- TouchBistro also has locally installed point-of-sale software.
- It boasts of a fantastic internal booking system.
- The platform supports third-party delivery apps.
- The POS has over 200 functions, covering practically everything that most eateries may ever want.
Pricing
TouchBistro offers a range of pricing options, starting at $ 69 per month.
Toast
Best-suited for Android users.
The majority of POS systems are designed to function on iPads. Toast, however, has chosen Android-driven software that can operate on your current Smartphones and tablets. For a great experience, you can use it on Toast’s hardware, which was built specifically for the restaurant business. As a result, Toast is best suited for smaller to medium-sized eateries with Android-compatible technology.
Features
- Order management: Toast enables your waitstaff to take orders from guests at the table and forward them to the kitchen and bartenders.
- Modern payment gateways: Servers may accept payments using EMV cards or Samsung Pay using a card reader.
- Cost management: Enables managers to quickly examine labour and dish expenses while accounting for fixed overhead expenses, providing a clear and consistent picture of total income.
- Online orders: Toast enables online ordering, letting you establish a public-facing website where customers can place orders.
- Menu management: Menus are updated in real time. It integrates with Toast’s delivery dispatching service to expedite orders.
- Stock control: Toast utilises inventory management systems to track the prices of every ingredient and ensure consistent portion proportions. You can also track wastage.
Benefits
- Its design makes for an affordable option, and hence, it is ideal for Android customers.
- It provides extensive menu customisation capabilities.
- Customer support is available 24/7 through call, email, and online chat.
- Other benefits include table ordering plus payments supported on the platform.
- There are many digital ordering methods available.
- It offers enhanced employee monitoring and administration.
Pricing
Toast offers a free option, but its feature-packed options, including its takeaway app and internet orders, begin at 165 USD per month.
Upserve
Lending in-depth reports.
Both the front and back ends of Upserve have simple, straightforward interfaces. Because of its highly flexible structure and extensive reporting capabilities, it remains a popular choice. Obtaining reports on your business and employees is a proven method to increase staff productivity. Hence, Upserve is opted for by many restaurant owners. Upserve additionally provides a robust set of capabilities. It’ll be an excellent fit if you manage a small restaurant or want to better understand your overall sales.
Features
- Bill splitting: For guests who do not have a wealthy donor to cover the entire meal, Upserve offers complete bill splitting.
- Table orders: It also offers total table ordering.
- Online ordering: Upserve offers online orders and deliveries, albeit the latter comes at an additional cost.
- Reports and analytics: Upserve is proud of its analytics and reporting capabilities. Its simple dashboards might help you identify trends in your restaurant’s operations. These can help improve employee performance and increase guest loyalty.
- Customer service: Upserve has a support crew on standby and is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Benefits
- Upserve’s online ordering is fantastic and offers a seamless experience.
- Customised onboarding features instil confidence and restaurant know-how in recruits.
- It supports operations in offline mode and boasts of 24/7customer support.
- The interface is exceptionally adaptable and flexible.
- A streamlined user interface makes it easy for you to handle the software’s functions.
- Its in-depth reporting gives extensive insights into your eatery’s performance.
Pricing
Upserve offers an excellent always-on function for internet disruptions, starting at $59 per month. It’s also very expandable, with more expensive options available when you need to scale up.
Conclusion
In an exceedingly harsh economic landscape, you may require one of the top restaurant POS solutions for businesses now to ensure that you’re maximising features and functionalities. Increased online ordering, including third-party deliveries and cashless payment alternatives, is expected to become the norm. Sophisticated internet restaurant POS systems can help you save time and money while enhancing your service quality and customer relationships.
