Let’s be honest – shopping for a new PoS system is a chore. It’s not nearly as fun as shopping for dinnerware, selecting artwork or redesigning your menu. None of the visions you had about owning a restaurant involved you combing through product brochures and trying to figure out the difference between Bluetooth 3.0 and 4.0. But unfortunately, it must be done.

A PoS system is the closest thing a restaurant owner has to a second brain. It remembers, records, checks and authorises everything you don’t have time for. If you think about it that way, shopping for one isn’t a chore as much as it is an opportunity to find a system that offers you digital advantages that weren’t around 20 years ago. Because it can still be overwhelming, here’s a quick list of features that any PoS system worth its salt should have.

Easy-peasy payments

As the name suggests, a Point of Sale system exists primarily to facilitate sales. All PoS systems can handle payments. But what’s important is how. In how many ways can patrons pay? How do you upsell patrons without leaving the table? What truly makes a PoS system shine when it comes to payments is customer convenience. It should plug into mobile payment solutions such as Zapper, SnapScan and MasterPass, as well as @table payments through the likes of FNB and NuPay. Otherwise, it isn’t worth your time.

Powerful patron engagement

Modern PoS systems can gather vast amounts of data about every transaction, patron or menu item. This is invaluable information that you can use to improve your marketing tactics and get that much closer to achieving ultimate customer satisfaction. Loyalty programmes are also better run when they can integrate with your PoS in real time. Some restaurants have introduced branded apps through which they manage online orders, payments and rewards. These apps wouldn’t be as effective without a robust PoS system as a foundation.

Streamlined staff management

Staff management can easily get out of control without the right systems in place. You must strike the balance between Orwellian working conditions and absolute chaos. Your PoS system is well positioned to help you do this. Shift scheduling and accurate timesheets are easily handled by a sophisticated PoS system, especially one that uses fingerprint recognition technology. Running your team this way keeps team members accountable and boosts productivity without making you the unpopular shift monitor.

Intuitive inventory control

Rampant wastage and inefficient inventory management are two of the most insidious killers of restaurants. They’ll quietly drain your revenue for months, even years, until you must call in Gordon Ramsay to berate you, while he whips your restaurant back into shape on syndicated TV. You need strict inventory management that’s also easy enough for you to perform regularly. That’s why a good PoS system is one that’s intuitive enough to let you do this in a hassle-free manner. It’s one that can deduct from your inventory as table orders are processed, recommend orders to your suppliers, and allow for full recipe and production control.

Brag-worthy business reports

You make some of the most important decisions about your restaurants based on the reports your systems deliver to you. So why wouldn’t you want the most informed systems available? PoS systems are at the heart of your restaurant. This means they know about everything from customer trends, staff productivity to back-of-house efficiency and menu performance. A worthwhile PoS system will be able to gather this information and present it online, on your phone, on premise – and with data that can be integrated directly to leading accounting systems such as Sage Pastel, SageOne and Sage Evolution.

It might sound too good to be true that one PoS system could have all these features, but it’s not. Pilot PoS is the perfect companion for any restaurant looking to succeed.

If you need more convincing, download our brochure, Why Choose Pilot below.

Author : Rudi Badenhorst

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