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A point of sale (POS) system can give you better control over your restaurant operations, helping you increase efficiency, generate more profits, and utilize inventory management. Converting from a traditional cash register and paper-based orders to a restaurant POS system can simplify the flow of order taking, processing the order and delivery of the order in a timely manner.
What is a restaurant POS system?
A POS system is an extension of a cash register. The typical restaurant POS station consists of a terminal and cash drawer, a receipt printer, a touch-screen monitor and credit card processing. Most restaurants have several such stations, with additional components such as kitchen printers, bar printers and kitchen video screens depending on the type of operation.
For retail-style restaurants like sandwich shops, POS systems often include printers in the food preparation area, eliminating the error factor in fast pace operations that can occur when hand written orders are passed back to the kitchen. For quick-service restaurants, POS systems are practically a requirement for living up to their name: orders taken on terminals in the front are displayed on monitors or printers in the kitchen, ready to be quickly assembled and delivered to the customer.
POS systems for table-service restaurants and fine dining fall under a different category. These systems need to be set up with your menu and seating plan so servers can communicate orders to the kitchen and bar, track reservations and seating, and handle transactions.
Fine dining POS systems typically include more stations: multiple server stations, a bar station, a hostess station, and printers in the kitchen to the hot and cold side. They also have more functionality -- including the ability to create and store open checks, let servers hold orders that are sent to the kitchen until the appropriate time, well as track which server is responsible for which table.
Restaurant POS Benefits
POS systems can greatly reduce the amount of time your staff spends in the kitchen and speed up the order process. The efficiency gains can be impressive. Additional savings come from reduced shrinkage: servers can't sweetheart food to friends without entering them in the system.
In addition to the direct cost savings, restaurant POS systems offer detailed reports that can help you make more informed business decisions. Sales reports help you better predict volume and schedule employees appropriately. Inventory reports help you order the right ingredients week after week, cutting down on waste. And order reports let you see which items are most popular, which items generate the most profit, and let's you know which items you no longer need to carry.
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