Restaurant POS systems: A guide to choosing the best one

You must have heard the word ‘POS’ quite a lot of times while buying a utility product from any store, paying bills online, or even when eating out. (from local eateries to big restaurants, everywhere!) But have you ever wondered what the POS actually is? 

POS is ‘Point of Sale’ system, in short. Every business owner uses it to manage their sales and associated important operations from a specific point. Nothing less than a vital tech tool to run businesses smoothly! What’s your say?

If you are new to this industry or planning to open a food start-up soon, knowing what point of sale systems for restaurants are and how they support your operational growth is essential. So..

It's time to ditch the old sales setup!

At first, you may think about where the traditional cash collection and manual data handling went wrong. It's natural. But as your business grows, you’ll definitely understand how tough it is to stay focused on that single matter. And without proper attention, you know the rest, probably?

POS gives better solutions, the best ones rather. A restaurant POS system combines hardware and specialized software to collect, track, and deliver customer orders, process payments (front-end operations) along with back-end tasks, such as kitchen communication, inventory management, food cost and wastage control, staff check-ins and check-outs, payroll management, and so on.

And guess what? Each of these happens at one place, simultaneously. Core automation indeed at its highest form!

How do restaurant POS systems work? 

Think of it as the main control centre of your business outlet, intricately connecting the front end to the back office sections. Kind of a continuous, real-time interaction between the two in virtual mode…  

Now, a very easy question for you - “What happens when a person visits a restaurant?”

He sits comfortably at a table and places his order, with a waiter attending to it. Or, there is the self-service kiosk to order for himself. 

“What if he orders food online?” (knew that was already coming!)

Restaurant POS systems collect and track online orders as well as manage the offline ones. 

What happens next? The steps..

• The order goes straight off to the kitchen, virtually through a Kitchen Display System (KDS).

It removes the need for conventional printed tickets for incoming orders, allowing the kitchen executive to monitor them in real-time, prepare or pack the meals without being late. (relevant taxes are applied to the order at this very step)

• The POS system automatically subtracts the item(s) from the restaurant’s digital stock database based on the recipe pre-configurations. (happening back-end). 

Take a pizza order, for instance.

The restaurant stock will deduct 1 pizza bread, along with the ingredient quantities such as corn, chicken, paneer, cheese, etc., and additional condiments (1 sachet each for toppings and ketchup) by itself. 

• The server generates the calculated bill from the POS terminal, along with added discount and pay splits (if any), showing the exact amount on the UPI QR screen. This prevents manual calculation errors. However, if your guest wishes to pay by cash, selecting the particular payment mode on the POS screen is possible. 

(Note: It is a hybrid operation, involving both back-end and front-end tasks) 

• Once the transaction is complete, the payment data is instantly uploaded to the restaurant’s cloud database. Besides, you get the daily sales report, associated ingredient and labour costs for each food, and even know about the best-selling item!   

So basically, whether you run a ‘sit-and-eat’ restaurant or a ‘takeaway’ brand, the POS system configuration is the same for all. A well-organized channel takes orders, sends them to the kitchen, ensures payment, while notifying you of all the ongoing activities to you through measurable data. 

How many types of restaurant POS systems are there? 

There are mainly three types of restaurant POS systems available in the market. The one you choose depends on your service type and floor layout. 

Coming to the first one…

Cloud-based POS

Such a system stores your sales, inventory, menu details, and customer reservations on a secure remote platform instead of a local, accessible machine. By having proper internet connectivity, you can check the restaurant’s overall performance from a comfortable zone  through a reliable, private device. 

Suitable for: multi-location restaurant franchises, and almost every type of food business 

Tablet-based and mobile POS

Tablet and mobile POS systems can conveniently convert your iPad or smartphones into an ordering device. These are a quick and budget-friendly option for small food outlets (preferably stalls) where it is somewhat impossible to install a bulky machine. 

Suitable for: small cafes, food carts, or mobile kitchens  

Handheld POS

Handheld POS systems are those that you can carry anywhere on the restaurant floor. This is very useful to avoid congested queues, while enhancing the table turnover of a food business. 

Suitable for: sit-and-eat restaurants, large outdoor food courts or venues, pubs, etc.   

It is always a good idea to use a combination of all the POS systems, instead of using a single one. You probably have noticed tablet POS systems at fixed points of the table, handheld POS on the whole floor, while you visit a restaurant. Each of these ends up in the bigger cloud-based system.

What makes a Restaurant POS system complete? And best of course! 

Timed order management 

Irrespective of the mode your customer places his/her order in, a POS must help it land in your restaurant’s order management in the same sequence and format. In no way should it cause your staff to manually copy from the system itself. 

Kitchen display system (KDS)

An automated system that sends every order to the kitchen in real-time while displaying the source details where it came from. With greater order volumes, especially if your restaurant has an elaborate menu card, opting for this feature is essential. This keeps your kitchen organized, with the least chances of order-related errors. 

Easy payment hardware

It is not that every customer of yours will be paying their food bills online; many of them may opt for cash, cards, etc. Hence, you must integrate proper POS hardware with suitable card readers, cash drawers, and output terminals to make the billing process easier. 

Data reporting and analytics

From daily transactions to weekly and monthly sales reports, a good POS system should let you know your peak profitable times and the hot-selling menu items at your food outlet effortlessly. It should enable you to have a clear understanding of the reports and make the right decisions.     

Efficient inventory stock management

It is vital in ingredient usage tracking, waste regulation, and continuation with the normal operations, without any disruption. By this, you can make sure an ingredient does not run out midway, and the restaurant operations are running smoothly.  

Efficient employee management

Maintaining staff is one of the biggest responsibilities of a restaurant owner. So, the POS system must help you manage them properly, especially their shifts, attendance, and payroll, instead of leaving all these details in Excel sheets. 

A good POS is the one that effectively integrates all these things with the scheduling software you have already implemented. 

Franchise support across multiple branches 

As your business grows, you will be opening a lot of branches across multiple locations, right or not? And this implies the need for an excellent POS that integrates all the data from those regions effortlessly into a single view. A place where you can see the sales data of each franchise without logging into every individual site. 

CRM (Client relationship management) integration

Your installed POS is already interacting with your customers, taking orders and collecting the payment data. With a built-in system like the POS, restaurant promotions become easier, allowing you to obtain the real value out of the collected data tracked down from every order. 

Hardware setup you need for a restaurant POS system to work

POS system terminal

It is the device located at the very point of sales interaction (often visible over the countertops), ranging from tablets, iPads, and more. Based on specific requirements and convenience level, you are free to choose any. 

Kitchen Display System (KDS)

(You already know this) The KDS is a convenient online server portal that virtually sends your food orders to the kitchen counter executives, with an effective screen display facility. It helps maintain the synchronicity of incoming orders so that every customer gets their meals on time. 

Initially, you may skip it, but as your business grows and high volumes of orders come, the KDS is going to be your ultimate savior! 

Customer display system (CDS)

Functionally quite similar to the KDS, the CDS enables your customers to view their meals being prepared in the kitchen, notifying them of the status of orders and the suitable time to collect the food. 

Sometimes, you can also enable the display of a variety of available menus, inclusive of special discounts (for promotional ad purposes). 

Driver display system (DDS)

The name tells everything - DDS helps track the location of delivery staff, ensuring the smooth running of meal transport operations. It is another important installation to improve your restaurant’s workforce.

Receipt printer

Nowadays, digital receipts, preferably through the mail or the messaging system, have become popular. However, it is not a bad idea (actually very useful) to offer a conventional,  hardcopy receipt on paper. And for that, you need a printer. 

For a food and restaurant business, the best printer choices would be: 

Impact printers - Suitable for kitchen printers as they retain their function in extreme temperatures. However, the cost is a bit too high.

Thermal receipt printers - Very budget-friendly, and use heat-sensitive paper and a thermal print head. No ink required.   

Payment terminal

Those having both swipe and NFC (near field communication) functions help to easily process payments from customers. But, from a real perspective, many of them may also want to pay through their smartphone; hence, a QR code payment screen is a MUST thing for you to keep a QR code at the POS terminal(s).

And last but not least, 

Cash drawer

Despite the rise of contactless, mobile payments, a big handful of customers still rely on liquid money to make payments; which is completely normal.

Several POS systems interact with a wide range of cash drawers, connecting via various USB or bluetooth, along with a bill and cash tray - you can opt for them. 

What operating system will I need for my restaurant POS system? 

Hardware without software? Impossible!

Just like other tech gadgets, the POS systems too run on Windows, Apple, and Android, etc. Actually, the choice of your POS software interface determines the kind of hardware you will need to install. 

When you employ Apple, then iPads are needed, with Android interface, you will require a supporting tablet, while Windows can still run on a desktop perfectly.  

(Note: In case you need a highly secure and customized way to run your POS, then Linux is the best choice.) 

5 things to check before you invest in a Restaurant POS system

A POS, complete in itself, is fine, but modern scenarios are ever-changing. And for that, strong, upgraded features are something not to miss out on.

Well, honestly, the requirements also change from one type of restaurant to another (even though they fall in the same domain). 

Imagine yourself owning a pizza business, while some other person is dealing in a ready-made eatery startup. Both of you will have a restaurant POS system, but the respective focus is going to be slightly different from each other (in a minute, yet the most significant way)

Let’s see how. 

Since yours is making the item (pizza) from scratch, the POS system will require a strong inventory management facility to avoid service disruption due to ingredient shortages. In contrast, the latter needs a POS platform that promotes accurate order taking and timely data report analysis associated with high order volumes. 

Here are some critical factors that you MUST evaluate before installing a POS system for your restaurant. 

Health and food safety regulations

Look for integrations that evaluate the safety of food items and update the daily kitchen executives accordingly through the POS system, in a well-documented format such as cleaning schedules and temperature logs, etc.   

Order and payment integrations

If a POS offers separate modules for taking orders and payments, it is not at all a good one. Get an efficient system that enables both in the same setup, without any manual intervention in checking what you gave out and received for them. 

In-depth report analytics

Resorting to general data reports is not going to help you in the long run. By implementing a high-end POS system that breaks your sales down distinctly with respect to each item, time, and hours of the day, and specific branch location, you can actually analyze the parameter fluctuations and understand what they are trying to tell you about your restaurant sales health. 

Delivery driver real-time tracking

If you run an online food business, this is very much needed, though!

A POS system that effectively tracks the driver’s location (in real-time) after he has set out to deliver customer orders allows you to know whether each of them is getting their order promptly, and assign fresh deliveries to the executive. 

Respect for customer privacy 

A genuine and strong POS system will never store the private information of the customers, such as card numbers, PINs, and similar details. As per the global security standard PCI-DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard), this type of thing can result in blockage of your merchant account with associated penalty charges.  

Some additional questions to ask your POS vendor..

• Can my POS seamlessly integrate with the other hardware tech?

• Will my operating system (OS) support the POS?

• What is the POS’s price; is there any discount? 

• What is the cost breakdown of the POS, and will I be able to pay in monthly installments?

• Are there any hidden costs associated? 

The future of restaurant POS systems

POS - another name for seamless business (here, restaurant) operations and secured payments! 

It itself is a powerful technology that meticulously guides your brand in achieving great heights. With the right restaurant POS system, you make space for it to grow, while resonating with all the practical aspects. 

Here’s what you can expect in the upcoming years: 

• Hybrid cloud architecture 

• Omnichannel and social media shopping

• Real-time AI tracking of orders and inventory management

• Voice and facial biometric payments