In today’s competitive and data-driven environment, businesses of all types are discovering the benefits of the cloud. If you’re a restaurant franchise manager with multiple locations, coordinating all of your sales, labor, and other data from all stores can be a major headache. A point of sale (POS) solution that includes cloud-based reporting can make those tasks so much easier. Here are three key advantages.
Accessibility
Cloud-based reporting and POS solutions are provided as software-as-a- subscription (SaaS), accessible on any device (computer, phone, or tablet) that has an internet connection and a web browser. Since the internet is always “on,” you can access your data and run analytics anytime, 24/7; and you’ll be getting real-time data as it happens, as information is transmitted instantly to the cloud. You can also access it from anywhere that has an internet connection, enabling you to work remotely—whether you’re traveling for business, participating in a local festival or tasting event, or even just checking in while you’re on vacation.
Visibility Across the Chain
Cloud-based reporting is particularly useful for managing multiple locations, because it provides centralized access to data from all locations, giving you detailed views of each store and the overall “big picture.” You can create dashboards to analyze sales, labor costs, and other financial details for an individual store to evaluate that store’s performance. You can also make comparisons between locations, which can help you monitor trends and spot potential problems that need to be addressed, increasing process efficiency. You can then make menu or pricing changes at store level as-needed. You can even customize your dashboard to control which data you want to see. As your business grows and adds even more locations, the cloud provides more flexible data storage capacity than an on-site data center, and at a better cost. Cloud-based reporting is ideal for examining both drill-down details and overall business performance.
Security
Not only does cloud-based reporting consolidate data from all of your locations, but it also keeps that data safe by providing redundancy and backups. If your in-store equipment gets damaged (say, by flooding from a burst pipe, or a power surge from a lightning strike), you could lose your valuable data. With a cloud-based solution, your data is stored off-premises in the cloud with automatic backups, so it can easily be restored in case of emergency.
Solutions such as myFocus Office from Focus POS offer the conveniences of cloud-based reporting along with core POS functionality that is not internet connectivity-dependent. To find out more about how your business can take advantage of the cloud and work with a dealer who offers reliable support and service, contact Focus POS.
