What's New in Point of Sale Software - Your 2011 Shopping List

By Derek Meade


When it comes to sourcing out point of sale systems, there’s no question that restaurant and hospitality operators have become much more tech savvy in recent years. Not only are they more comfortable when choosing POS software, they’re also demanding a bigger bang for their buck when it comes to POS technology. Thinking of upgrading your POS system? Here’s what you should be looking for in 2011.

It doesn't seem so long ago that hospitality operators were excited to see Remanco POS Systems hit the marketplace. Does anyone out there still remember the original Remanco POS System? You had a sleek looking keypad, a little black plastic “key” and a bible of PLU codes to memorize. You punched in your food and beverage orders, and miraculously, your beverage orders printed out at the bar while your food orders printed simultaneously in the kitchen. It was exciting, sleek, and revolutionary. In many restaurants, the main Remanco terminal was proudly located next to the Pac-Man machine. Enough said.

The world of POS system technology has come a long way since those early days. Today’s restaurant and hospitality operators are much more tech savvy than they’ve ever been, and the point of sale industry is slowly responding to this fact. With this said, here’s the top features you, as a hospitality operator in 2011, should be looking for once you’ve decided to invest in a new POS system.

Data Reporting
The top two issues every hospitality-based business wants to get a handle on are food cost, and labor costs. Keep those things in check, and your chances of succeeding in such a competitive market are greatly increased. Modern POS systems will help you get a handle on these profit killers by allowing managers access to important, easy to understand data on demand, and in real time. A POS system with state of the art data reporting capabilities will allow you to forecast business volumes, which gives managers the information they need to fine tune scheduling and avoid unnecessary labor costs. Time and attendance can be precisely monitored. Real time and instant access to data also allows managers to spot problems quickly and make snap decisions to address discrepancies in cash flow and adjust inventory levels. The POS system will pay for itself many times over if it can help you get a handle on these two issues alone.

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Back Office Management & Database Integration
Having all your POS terminals linked together, combined with the ability to run reports, make menu and pricing changes on the fly, check inventory levels and consolidate payroll at one central location is crucial to running your business efficiently and profitably. Your POS system should allow you to do this quickly and easily, all from the back office. Database integration and back office management capability should be at the top of your shopping list.

Customer Relationship Management
Effective promotions can go a long way in boosting profits. Determining if your coupon or gift card program is working as it should, however, can be difficult. POS systems that can quickly help you evaluate which promotions are working and which ones aren’t, can save you time and money in spades. Having a POS system that can keep track of customer histories, their likes and dislikes, comments, etc. can give you valuable insight into what future promotions to put in effect, and which ones should bite the dust. Effective customer loyalty and points programs keep your customers coming back. When it comes to CRM, let your POS system do most of the thinking for you.

Wireless Mobile Computing & Handheld Devices
Wireless point of sale is imperative for businesses that operate outside of traditional, brick and mortar locations. Venues such as ski resorts, theme parks or even stadiums can greatly benefit from wireless POS systems (think concession stands or private suites for instance). In a more traditional environment, such as a restaurant, the benefits of having wireless, at the table ordering capabilities through handheld devices are many.

With wireless handheld units, serving staff save time by not having to line up to get access to the POS terminal, and therefore are much more productive. Managers can reduce staffing levels by scheduling just a few skilled staff, give them larger sections, and make their primary focus greeting customers, taking orders and up-selling. Non-serving staff can then be hired (at significant payroll savings) to dispatch food and clean sections. When serving staff are able to remain on the floor, the result is a superior customer service experience for your patrons and increased sales for you through up-selling and faster table turns. Also, waste is cut down considerably, since placing orders at the table greatly reduces errors.

Wireless handheld devices have been greatly refined in recent years, with increased battery life for handheld units and improved ease of use for staff. The time indeed has come to embrace wireless POS technology.

Payment Security & PCI Compliance
Payment security is crucial in today’s marketplace. With the incidence of fraud and identity theft reaching epidemic proportions, safeguarding the safety of your client’s credit card data is vital. The PCI Security Standards Council is an open global forum for the ongoing development, enhancement, storage, dissemination and implementation of security standards for account data protection. It's imperative that POS systems today follow this standard. Is your POS system secure and PCI compliant? If it’s not, it needs to be.

Self Service Technology
Self service technology has created quite a buzz in recent years. Having moved beyond kiosks, POS systems now offer self serve options that give restaurateurs’ the ability to delegate the food ordering process to customers themselves. Touch screen terminals are now intuitive and easy to use, and offer add on/up sell items items instantaneously, which boosts average check totals. The traditional “Server” is replaced by food runners, or counter staff, who can also do quality checks. Even the payment process can be taken care of by the customer, allowing for quicker table turns and increased cover counts. Self service technology may not be appealing for patrons looking for a fine dining experience, but it certainly is attractive for those who operate fast food or quick serve/casual dining establishments.

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Enterprise POS & Multi Location Capability
For those who operate large and multi-location operations, choosing the right POS system has never been easy. Due to logistics and a host of other obstacles, businesses with multiple locations were forced to be creative in how they coordinated the collection of cash and data. Businesses such as these require enterprise wide POS systems that offer features such as client recognition capabilities, hospitality and retail sales, gift card processing, quick and easy debit and credit options, and more. They also require a POS system that can get around cabling and network issues, and preserve precious data in case of a system or network failure. If your company fits in this category, a reliable and flexible enterprise POS solution is a must.

Cross Platform Compatibility
Is the system you're looking at cross platform compatible? Does it run on your choice of Windows, Linux or Unix? Linux POS solutions can be very cost effective in regards to licensing, installation, administrative and support costs. Make sure you're not closing the door on that option.

With the above points in mind, restaurant & hospitality operators should feel even more prepared when looking at new POS systems. If the POS software you're looking at doesn't offer the features mentioned above, move on. In today's economic times, you can barely afford not to. However, if worse comes to worse, I guess you could always sell that Pac-Man machine.

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Both Traditional and Online Businesses Need Merchant Services

Merchant accounts that allow business owners to accept a variety of customer preferred payment methods have become commonplace in traditional business settings. Even small businesses, such as fast food providers, convenience stores and kiosk sized retailers have accepted the fact that allowing for multiple popular payment options is a wise decision. Far few consumers are carrying cash these days, and even those who are often prefer the safety and security of paying via credit card or check, if for no other reason than to have an accurate, detailed account of each purchase. Slowly but surely, online vendors are realizing this as well.

The popularity of Paypal, a service which requires consumers to set up accounts similar to an online banking institution, kept many online businesses from opening merchant services for the benefit of their customers. Disadvantages to using the Paypal system were soon evident, however, as bad experiences with the system were publicized by both merchants and consumers. The stigma of a flawed system was not the only consideration for Internet shoppers and online businesses, however. Many consumers were unwilling to use a system that required setting up an account, memorizing yet another password and using a third party to transmit credit card or bank account information.

The level of convenience available to consumers declined sharply as a result of having to navigate a completely new and often confusing separate web site in order to make a simple transaction. On the merchant side of the equation, the realization that Paypal offered no additional fraud protection and charged rates very similar to and often higher than merchant services providers has caused many to second guess it’s usefulness. Of particular concern is that there is simply no way to determine the amount of lost sales due to consumer hesitation aimed at opening a Paypal account.

Consumers generally feel more comfortable using payment formats that mirror those used by their neighborhood retailers. When purchasing small items especially, many will not go through the trouble of spending an additional five to ten minutes online in order to purchase an item that only costs a few dollars. While the prices of these items may be small, the losses incurred by business owners who don’t offer a tried and true merchant account system can be substantial.


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How the Credit Card Processing Works

When a merchant makes a sale and swipes a customer's credit card, the card number, the amount, and the merchant ID travel over the credit card processor's computer network. The credit card processor is usually a company that does nothing but provide credit card processing services.
From the processor's network the transaction goes to a credit card computer network. If the customer is using Visa, for example, the transaction will go to Visa's network. In turn, the electronic transaction goes to the bank that actually issued the card. The bank then checks the account and verifies the customer has adequate credit to cover the purchase. The bank then sends the merchant an authorization over the network. Now the sale is complete, but the transaction is not — no money has changed hands yet.

At the end of the business day, the merchant sends that day's charges, in a batch, to the credit card network for processing. The transactions travel via the merchant's credit card processor. Individual transactions are then stripped out and sent back to the individual cardholders' banks. Banks then debit cardholders' accounts and make appropriate payments to the merchant's credit card processor through the Federal Reserve Bank's Automated Clearing House.
The credit card processor then credits the merchant's bank account for the transaction amount, minus its fees for the transaction. Those fees also go toward paying transaction fees to the issuing bank and the credit card network. Despite the use of computers, it can take two business days before the merchant's account is credited.

Reference: http://youtu.be/rItDwdtvMFw

The Top 10 Benefits of Accepting Credit Cards

1. Accepting credit cards will often double… even triple your current sales. Studies show businesses that accept credit cards can see a huge increase in volume… almost overnight.

2. It will legitimize your business. Studies show that when you display credit card logos as forms of payment you accept, these logos create a sense of ‘trust’ in your customers mind, and if they trust you, your customers will buy from you.

3. A merchant account improves cash flow. Accepting cards has a huge positive effect on business cash flow. Even if sales don’t increase (and they almost always do) your business will benefit by having the money from the credit card sale instantly delivered to your bank account. No more waiting for check to clear, or sending out time consuming invoices, waiting for payment. With credit cards you get your money from your customers quickly and easily.

4. Over 90% of web purchases are made using credit cards. If you are selling ANYTHING on the web and you are not accepting credit cards, you are eliminating 90% of your potential buyers.

5. Grabs Impulse buyers. Credit card holders buy more on impulse, are more affluent, and buy 2.5 times more merchandise than non-card holders.

6. Convenience. Let your customer decide the most convenient way to buy from you. Many customers want to use credit cards because of reward points or reward miles associated with their credit card. Customers are more likely to buy from a business that accepts credit cards than one who does not. Don’t lose a customer to a competitor just because you don’t accept credit cards.

7. Larger orders. The average order size of someone paying via credit card tends to be larger than someone paying by cash or check. And larger orders = more profit. In addition, customers paying by credit card tend to place extra orders and order more often.

8. Competition. Your competition is already accepting credit cards. You need to accept cards in order to survive.

9. A merchant account is inexpensive. Gone are the days of high rates and fees. Today’s credit card processing rates are so low even the smallest mom and pop outfit can easily accept credit cards. In fact, usually the increase in sales a business receives when they do accept credit cards more than covers the small costs involved. As a result, by accepting credit cards many businesses make more money!

10. Quick and easy setup. Many businesses think getting setup to accept credit cards is a long and tedious process. No more! Most of the time you can be up and running within 24 – 48 hours. If a provider tells you otherwise, go somewhere else!

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