Improve Restaurant Costs And Profits

Why it’s vital to have a system to track restaurant costs…now more than ever!!!

The current economic downturn has caused many good, quality restaurants to go out of business. With food costs, employee theft, and employee costs on the rise, restaurants without good systems in place are left wondering what happened to their profits.

Increasing Costs Means Lower Profits!!

Rising Food Costs

• The current economic downturn and rising food costs have forced restaurants such as Uno Chicago Grill Pizza, Charlie Brown’s Steakhouse, and Fuddruckers to file for bankruptcy in the past year.
• Overall food prices have increased by 3.9%...The biggest jump since 1974.
• Wheat prices have increased by 60% this year.
• Because of the increase in the price of corn, used as feed by farmers, the prices of beef, chicken, pork and dairy are expected to see the largest increases.

 New Health Care Law

With the new health-care law, restaurants now face another cost that must be managed.

• Restaurants with 50 or more full-time workers now must provide health insurance to employees who work over 30 hours per week.
• A typical US business will spend $6000 to $7000 per employee.
• However, restaurants on average make only $2000 profit per employee, each year.
• Any restaurant found in violation of the health care law may pay a penalty of $2000 to $3000 per worker.

Employee Theft Is Cutting Into Your Profits

Your Employees May Be Costing You Money

• According to the US Chamber of Commerce, 75% of all employees commit some form of employee theft. Many will do so repeatedly.
• Research done by Employee Theft Solutions, a division of The Shulman Center for Compulsive Theft and Spending, estimates that employee theft causes ⅓ of all US corporate bankruptcies.
• Small businesses with 100 employees or less have the greatest risk for employee theft. This is because small businesses normally implement fewer anti-theft controls than large businesses.
• A typical business will lose 5% of its annual revenue to theft.

Six Signs of Employee Theft

Dan Cosgrove, CEO of Mercantile Systems, Inc has identified six signs to look for when determining if your business is a victim of employee theft.

• Have Your Food Costs Increased?
• Is your cash drawer over or under consistently?
• Do your employee’s tips add up?
• Have you been told by your customers or employees that someone is stealing?
• Do your customers complain that your prices are too expensive or change frequently?
• Do your instincts tell you that something is wrong about an employee?
• If you answer yes to any, or all of these questions, you may be a victim of employee theft.

The Right POS System Can Keep Your Business Healthy

The POS system you choose for your restaurant should have tools to manage your inventory and food costs, prevent employee theft and credit card fraud, and be flexible enough to meet your restaurant needs.

Managing Inventory

Managing inventory in a restaurant can be a daunting task. If you are managing inventory manually, you could end up spending hours each month just counting condiments. However, with today's modern Restaurant POS Systems, you can reduce the time you spend managing your restaurant inventory significantly.

Tracking Food Costs

You need to be able to see all food costs and profit margins at any point in time.

Something that is constantly drilled to MBAs is “If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it.”

If you have not been measuring and tracking your food costs, it is impossible to ensure that you have the lowest food costs possible.

Your POS system should have multiple cost and profit margin reports to give you an accurate view of how much you are spending on inventory.

Tracking On Hand Counts

This would involve entering in an initial count of all products you would like to track. Also, you would need to define which items are removed from inventory when an item on your menu is sold. For example, if someone purchases an omelet, you would need to program the system to not only deduct eggs from inventory, but also cheese, any toppings, oil, etc. With most systems, this is done by defining a food recipe in the system. In the recipe, you would specify all of the ingredients that make up the menu item. When the menu item is sold, all of the ingredients are removed from inventory.

Creating Purchase Orders

With many restaurant POS systems, you also have the ability to create purchase orders for your vendors.

For example, when you are out of eggs, you would generate the purchase order for more eggs. When the eggs come in, you would let the system know that the eggs have arrived, and the system will automatically add the eggs into your inventory. This method of adding inventory would be much more efficient than any manual method.

To speed up the process, many systems can auto-generate purchase orders. For example, you can setup your system to create a purchase order when you are down to four dozen eggs. Again, when the eggs come in, they will be automatically entered into your inventory.

Integration Into Your Accounting System

The time you gain in making your restaurant inventory process more efficient could be quickly lost if you have to manually input this information into your accounting system.  Be sure that the POS system you purchase can automatically make adjustments to your chart of accounts in your accounting system.

Tracking Food Waste

One final aspect of a modern inventory system is accounting for food waste. Again, using our eggs example, if someone dropped a dozen eggs on the floor, in most modern POS systems, you can quickly enter this in as food waste.

Theft And Fraud Prevention

Employee Theft

• Your POS system should include functions to prevent employee theft.
• This includes manager passwords and manager swipe cards.
• You should also see when those manager passwords were used in your reporting. For example, if a manager approved a void, you should have a report in your POS system that shows the name of the employee that performed the void, and the name of the manager that approved it.

Prevent Credit Card Fraud

• In 2007, Heartland Payment Systems had a security breach of close to 100 million transactions by hackers.
• In 2008, RBS Worldpay announced that there was a security breach of their payment systems that may have affected 1.5 million people.
• In 2005, a security breach at CardSystems Solutions compromised 40 million debit and credit card accounts.
• To combat credit card fraud, the Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council required that all POS vendors comply with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS).
• This standard protects card holders by ensuring that POS systems meet a minimum level of security when they store, process, and transmit credit card information.
• Be sure that any POS system you purchase is in full compliance with the PCI DSS standard.
• You may want to ask POS vendors the following questions:
  • Have your systems been certified for PCI Compliance?
  • Do you store credit card information in your POS software? If so, how do I protect my systems from credit card fraud?

Flexibility

• The POS System you purchase needs to be flexible enough to accommodate your restaurant’s needs.
• Any system that claims to be a “one size fits all system” normally ends up as a “this size does not fit me” system.
• Be sure that the vendor has a trial version of their POS software you can download so that you can make sure the system will work for you before making a purchase.
• You also need a system that will grow with your business.   If you move to another location, or, you need extra POS terminals to keep up with your restaurant’s growth, the vendor you select should allow for easy relocation and expansion.
• The POS system you purchase should be flexible enough to accommodate a variety of hardware.
• You shouldn’t have to rely on purchasing the most expensive computers, printers, and cash drawers to get your system up and running.

Reporting

• A restaurant manager or owner needs to be able to see a complete view of his business at any point in time.
• If you are just relying on sales figures to tell you how well your restaurant is doing, you could be actually losing money by not tracking other figures
• Food Costs, Wastes, Voids, Discounts, Comps, Expenses, and Labor are just some of the metrics that you need to be tracking on a consistent basis.
• Having access to this information allows you to make better decisions concerning purchases, employee scheduling, or even whether to fire someone for stealing.
• Your POS system should include detailed reports to give you a full view of how well your business is performing.

Support

• The POS Vendor that you choose should offer a variety of support services.
• Those services should include 24/7 phone support availability, online support, training manuals, and video walkthroughs
• Included in the POS software should be preventative maintenance functions, such as a backup system

Where Can You Find A Restaurant POS System That Has All Of These Features?

Here at Harbortouch, we provide Restaurant POS systems that help you control your inventory and food costs, prevent employee theft and credit card fraud, and manage your restaurant all in one package.

The system is not just a Point of Sale...it is a full business management system, which also includes the following features:

• Employee time clock management
• Over 90 Business Reports
• Gift Card Software....custom made gifts card with your logo are available
• Employee Swipe Cards....employees can clock in and out of the system just by swiping their cards

We include all of these features so you can focus on keeping your business profitable and save valuable time on management tasks.

Customizable Systems

Not all businesses are alike.  So we offer a wide range of custom configurable Restaurant POS hardware systems. From single station systems to multiple station systems ...you can choose the most complete solution for your business.

Integrated Credit Card Processing

Process credit cards easily through the Harbortouch with our smooth credit card integration and processing for your POS system

Benefits of an ATM Cash Machine in Your Business

First of all, I just want to reiterate that if you own a retail business, restaurant, hotel, bar, or fast food establishment and don’t have an ATM you’re missing out on easy income and other benefits. Owning and operating an ATM machine is easier than operating your merchant account, and less complicated than a cash register. ATM machines rarely need servicing and our toll free support answers all questions.

Does your business still accept checks? Want to reduce bad checks and check acceptance overall. Want to reduce your credit card fees?

CHECK OUT THESE ATM MACHINES

Studies show that an ATM machines in your business will typically do all the above. How does a reduction in credit card fees sound, plus, your customers will usually spend more if they have cash. With the latest credit cruch, consumers are using much more cash over credit. Giving them access to cash can only help your bottom line.

If you’re interested in purchasing an ATM to place in a business or location you don’t own, we can help you with that too.

You can purchase ATM Machine equipment from us (or anyone else), then set your ATMs up on our ATM processing network. You can arrange to have the location manager put 20 – 30 twenty-dollar bills in the machine daily and you make money!

You can even set up a system to load the cash yourself using our free online monitoring so you know when the machines are running low. simply get your $20 bills ready, visit the location, load the ATM and you’re done in a matter of minutes.

If you own a business or want to put an ATM in, but want to outsource that service, we can help you there too. We have plenty of ATM Business Owners (ATM Machines Investors) interested in good ATM locations. We would make all the arrangements between the parties and get an ATM in your business.

CHECK OUT THESE ATM MACHINES

If you want to purchase an ATM we offer several payment options. You can use a money order, cashiers check, Paypal (for credit card purchase), or we can arrange financing. If you want a true lease, our lease company will only lease to the owner of the business where the ATM will be installed.

If you find a location and do not want to buy, lease, or provide the money to put in it, you will need a location partnership agreement. Once you have made arrangements with the location owner, simply have the business owner contact us. Otherwise we can help with any aspect of owning and operating an ATM machine and the ATM service that goes with it.

Feel free to contact us for more information.

Picking the Correct Point of Sale Software - A Handy Tips guide

If you're thinking about purchasing or developing a point of sale software for the business, the question that you're undoubtedly wondering is: Which one should you choose? There are tons of various Pos systems available nowadays and trying to pick one out without knowing what you're looking for can be quite a task. While you're certainly likely to be spoilt for choice, the very fact of the matter is the fact that you're have to some way of separating the greater Pos software from the rest. Before you even have that far, the first step to choosing the right point of sale software is to think about one very simple question. "What Do you want Point of sale software For?" Different businesses have different requirements for his or her Pos systems, and you'll discover that it varies largely depending on the industry that you're in. For example, an a store or outlet would want Pos software that's able to identify the items for sale and output their current price while totaling in the figure and printing a receipt. However, more involved point of sale software may even sync having a server or network to alter the stock figures, and perhaps even alert the appropriate department when the stock is low. Similarly, in a hotel the pos systems might need to coordinate with room availability and report to a central system that tracks room bookings and statuses. It might even automatically track which customers are in which rooms too in line with the data entered into the Pos software. So bearing all of this in your mind, you need to first identify what you want out of your point of sale software before you actually begin looking around and seeking to decide which one to obtain! Different Options, Different Needs, Different Potential At the end of your day, every Pos software is supposed to help make things easier for the business by tracking sale data and simplifying the processing of the sale. Obviously different businesses have different needs, and their systems have to reach different potential levels. This is exactly what you need to consider when selecting Pos systems. Some present day point of sale software is based on Windows or UNIX platforms and can be networked or designed to run over the internet. The more general varieties can also be customized in a variety of ways which permit even medium-sized businesses to make use of effective Pos software without for customized coding. Consider this, and think about what you require out of your pos software. What you'll probably find is the fact that you're in a position to quite easily determine the right choice when you fully explore what you require from your point of sale software!


Source:
bjstar.com

Deciding upon the Suitable Point of sale software A Interesting Information

If you’re buying or developing a point of sale software for your business, the question that you’re undoubtedly wondering is: Which should you choose?

There are tons of different Pos systems available nowadays and seeking to pick one out without knowing what you’re looking for could be a task. While you’re certainly likely to be spoilt for choice, the fact from the matter is that you’re going to need some way of separating the greater Pos software in the rest.

Before you get that far, the initial step to choosing the right point of sale software would be to think about one quite simple question…

“What Do You Need Point of sale software For?”

Different businesses have different requirements for their Pos systems, and you’ll discover that it varies largely with respect to the industry that you’re in.

For example, a retail shop or outlet would want Pos software that is in a position to identify the things being sold and output their current price while totaling up the figure and printing a receipt. However, more involved point of sale software might even sync having a server or network to alter the stock figures, and perhaps even alert the appropriate department when the stock is low.

Similarly, inside a hotel the pos systems might need to coordinate with room availability and are accountable to a central system that tracks room bookings and statuses. It could even automatically track which company is in which rooms too based on the data applied for the Pos software.

So bearing all of this in mind, you need to first identify what you want from your point of sale software before you actually start looking around and trying to determine which to obtain!

Different Options, Different Needs, Different Potential

At the end of the day, every Pos software is meant to help make things easier for that business by tracking sale data and simplifying the processing from the sale.

Obviously different businesses have different needs, as well as their systems have to reach different potential levels. This is what you have to take into account when choosing Pos systems.

Some present day point of sale software is dependant on Windows or UNIX platforms and may be networked or designed to run over the internet. The greater general varieties can also be customized in various ways which permit even medium-sized businesses to make use of effective Pos software without having to pay for customized coding.

Consider this, and think about that which you require from your pos software.

What you’ll probably find is the fact that you’re able to very easily figure out the right choice when you fully explore what you require out of your point of sale software!

Consumer study offers insights into the U.S. gift card market

Understanding consumer demand and trends can help gift card-issuing merchants and retailers create or adjust their strategy. As the U.S. gift card market matures, new distribution channels are creating opportunities for gift card issuers. A new study shows that gift card malls are growing in popularity, and while many people still want to give actual cards, nearly half of the respondents were interested in receiving virtual gift cards. Additionally, more consumers are reloading prepaid cards, which can affect their spending habits when it comes to merchant-branded closed loop cards.

Additional study highlights include:

• Purchases at gift card malls are on the rise. The percentage of consumers purchasing closed-loop cards at gift card malls jumped to 46 percent in 2010, up from 38 percent in 2009.
• Virtual gift cards on the horizon. While most people preferred to give an actual gift card, 25 percent of respondents indicated they would be likely to give an electronic gift card, and 48 percent said they are interested in receiving one.
• Average value of open-loop gift cards increases while closed-loop holds steady. Open-loop card recipients reported an average value of $68 in 2010, compared with $59 in 2009. Average closed-loop gift card values remained steady at $39 in 2010. The average value of fine dining, grocery and drug store cards increased, while the value gifted via gas station cards decreased.
• Overall, more consumers are reloading open- and closed-loop cards, which can mean more visits and a greater spend. Of those who reloaded closed-loop cards, 35 percent said they visited the merchant more often and 20 percent said they spent more money at each visit.
• Consumers continue to spend more than the value on their closed-loop cards. Nearly three-quarters (72 percent) of consumers reported spending more than the value of their closed-loop gift cards. The amount of overspend was greatest at department stores ($28), followed by grocery stores ($27), discount stores ($25), fine dining ($24) and specialty retail ($24).

FREE GIFT CARD SETUP HERE

Source:

http://www.retailcustomerexperience.com

New Trends in Retail Point-of-Sale Systems

A far cry from their mechanical ancestors, new point-of-sale (POS) systems are helping businesses to cut costs in everything from advertising to labor. Consumers are being directly marketed to using ever-evolving algorithms, which are boosting impulse buys. One employee can easily manage a dozen new, retail POS systems. These and other new trends in POS technology can modernize any business.

BusinessWeek.com reported recently that more Americans shop at a Wal-Mart store in one week (140 million) than annually watch the Super Bowl (80 million) or weekly view American Idol (23 million). What does this have to do with retail point-of-sale (POS) systems? The answer is, in a word: everything.

Ubiquitous in large retail stores, supermarkets, fast-food chains, and white-cloth restaurants, point-of-sale systems continue to improve the consumer shopping experience by speeding up transaction time while delivering detailed and accurate receipts, which facilitate returns when necessary.

Since their introduction in the mid-1980s, businesses have benefited from retail POS systems through increased customer satisfaction, better inventory management, and reduced shrinkage. New developments are taking retail POS systems to a whole new level, however, helping to reduce labor costs and increase impulse purchases, both in stores and on-line. Heres how:
Self-Service Equals Labor Savings

FREE RETAIL POS SYSTEMS HERE

Recently, supermarkets and home improvement stores have introduced self-serve retail POS systems. Although an attendant cashier is needed to help when items are missing their bar codes or RFID tags, when age verification is required, or when shoppers are flummoxed, the public is adopting the concept. The necessary expertise to operate the touch screens, scanners, and payment acceptance mechanisms is also growing. This means that one attendant can be assigned a dozen or more retail POS system stations.

Although there are still far fewer self-serve retail POS systems than those operated by cashiers, a European-based food market chain opened retail locations in the U.S. this year that offer only self-service retail POS systems, an indication of the belief in consumer acceptance and savvy.
Quasi-Personalized Advertising

Customers are now used to receiving coupons related to their purchases along with their grocery receipts. They have also become accustomed to seeing offers on their receipts for participation in surveys and sweepstakes.

FREE RETAIL POS SYSTEMS HERE

In a new twist on this quasi-personalized interaction with retail POS systems, as customers in some U.S. and international retail outlets stand in line, they are being scanned and presented with gender- and/or age- specific advertisements on electronic displays based on algorithms that match patterns with ads.

Unlike coupons and receipts, electronic ads aim to influence in-store, impulse purchases. Advertisers have learned to be brief in these pitches. According to BusinessWeek.com, people do not watch ads that are longer than seven seconds, which, interestingly, is about the maximum amount of time people spend on a website home page before deciding to stay or abandon.

Integrating Brick-and-Mortar and Online Stores
Speaking of websites, another recent development is the integration of brick-and-mortar with their online counterparts through their POS systems. Merchants with significant IT resources integrated robust accounting and POS systems with their Web stores early on. That ability is now available to small and mid-size businesses, as well. Benefits include greater understanding of customer behavior and the ability to promote slow-moving or overstocked items on websites with just a few clicks.

Each year, more and more people shop online. Amazon.com reported record sales for the last three months of 2008 despite the poor economy. Merchants need to be responsive to this trend. At the same time, in-store customer interaction is key to capturing additional sales. New POS systems give businesses a competitive advantage with both online and in-store customers.

FREE RETAIL POS SYSTEMS HERE

Sources
BusinessWeek.com

Retail POS Systems: Get More from Your Cash Drawer

Not every retail business has a point of sale system, but almost every one should. The decision to acquire a retail point of sale system is often triggered by the desire to get control of day-to-day cash handling. As important as that is, the big payoff in installing a point of sale system comes from the information that is generated from it

Retail POS Systems: Best Reasons for Purchasing Not What You Think
A point of sale system can validate or debunk intuitive guesses about how a business is doing overall, what products are selling fastest and slowest, what shifts or individual employees are most productive, which days and times are busiest, where traffic is coming from, and, depending how the system is configured, can even track individual customers buying habits.

FREE RETAIL POS SYSTEM HERE

Businesses using hard data from a retail point of sale system can make informed decisions about stocking, scheduling, pricing, advertising, promotions and even in store merchandising. Adjustments in any one of these areas can positively affect the bottom line, and taken together, savings can be significant, often providing a return on investment in the POS system within months.

So, while the initial impetus to purchase a POS system might be driven by a need to improve cash management or lessen the likelihood of theft, the wealth of data is often the more valuable benefit to using a point of sale system.

Retail POS Systems: More Work with Less Effort
Retail POS systems can be simple or robust. Fully integrated point of sale systems deliver benefits beyond information and cash management including the capability to: re-price merchandise without touching it, integrate Web site shopping carts, enter sales directly into accounting systems, track payroll, and trigger orders to suppliers. The list of POS services that can be integrated with back end systems continues to grow as software publishers jostle for market share and the market responds.

FREE RETAIL POS SYSTEM HERE

Retail POS Systems: Software
At the heart of every point of sale system is software, and it should be the first piece of a POS system to be researched. It is not hard to find off-the-shelf POS software that has been written for particular types of businesses including restaurants, bars, hotels, auto dealers, car rental companies, travel agencies, and businesses that use service tickets to name just a few. When industry-specific software is available, it should be seriously considered as it will need less customizing than more generic offerings.

Custom programming is sometimes unavoidable, but it can be more costly and difficult to maintain. Besides the functionality of the software, another purchase consideration is ease of use. Employees confronted with systems that are difficult to learn will often find a "work around" bypassing the system and effectively sabotaging it. Finally, software that cannot be supported by the company that wrote it will eventually have to be supported internally or be replaced. So, research not just the software, but the company behind it.

Retail POS Systems: Putting the Pieces Together
Once the choice of software has been determined, finding the hardware components is relatively easy. Besides a cash drawer, input and output devices are needed. To enter orders or sales, a barcode reader, touch screen, or keyboard is usually used. Magnetic card readers are sometimes integrated into keyboards, but they are also found as standalone devices. Output devices include label printers for tagging merchandise, and receipt printers.

Retail POS systems, depending on configuration, range in price from the mid hundreds of dollars to the low thousands of dollars for a single location.

FREE RETAIL POS SYSTEM HERE

Source
Inc.com