Whether you operate one café or several, a café POS system is one of the best investments you can make in your business. Here are four reasons why you need café POS technology and how your business can benefit from it.
1. Increased order-taking efficiency and accuracy. Let’s face it: Café customers don’t want to wait a long time to order. This is especially true in the morning and at lunchtime, when people are hurrying to get to work.
With a café POS system that features an intuitive interface, employees need only tap the icons that correspond to the items customers want — no more fumbling to get everything down on paper or committing orders to memory. You also need a POS system that processes payments in seconds. Quick, efficient service gives you the ability to serve more customers with increased accuracy, enhancing customer satisfaction and boosting your bottom line.
2. Heightened potential for upselling. Busy employees don’t always remember to engage in suggestive selling — for example, asking customers whether they would like a muffin to accompany their coffee or pointing out any special promotions your café may currently be offering. However, many café POS systems can be programmed to prompt employees to sell suggestively, and some will lead them through the upselling process step-by-step. If your POS system has a customer-facing display, you can also use that display for upselling by using it to display messages and images of select menu items.
3. Better handle on sales. Reports generated by your café POS system provide insights on sales, which can help you make smarter business decisions when it comes to purchasing and engineering a profitable menu. It will also yield insights into whether your staffing levels are appropriate for various dayparts. Some café POS systems have a time and attendance module that automatically calculates optimal staffing levels, making things even easier.
4. Improved inventory control. The inventory management module of your POS system enables you to set minimum and maximum in-stock levels for every ingredient you use and every ready-made item you sell, from packaged treats like cookies, to coffee beans, to such perishables as eggs and butter. When stock has been depleted to a preset level, an automatic reorder can be generated, ensuring that you never run the risk of disappointing customers because you were unable to prepare a popular item or feature a favorite treat or beverage.
Moreover, the inventory control feature allows you to set inventory levels to prevents you from over-ordering ingredients. This means less ingredient waste — and less money wasted on ingredients you don’t need.
There is a wide range of options when it comes to selecting a POS system, but not all have the features you need to manage your café. Selecting a POS system designed for your industry will equip you with features that help you manage your business profitably and enable your employees to provide more efficient and accurate customer service. Don’t settle for less.
