What is the Best POS System for Quick Service Restaurants?

Hey! This week we wanted to blog about the best POS system for quick service restaurants.

During our usual rounds of outreach and research, we have found many of our customers and contacts in the small business sphere are really worried over why they are not earning as much as they can, or even worse, losing customers and business altogether!

We want to make sure that doesn’t happen, so let us share some information with you.

There are over 300,000 QSR locations worldwide, and their popularity is evidenced by how 19% of adults have visited a QSR within the last 30 days! Also factor in how the industry earned $273 billion in 2015, which was also the 6th year in a row for sales growth.

A QSR eliminates the time-consuming elements of casual dining such as table service and longer preparation times for food, so the popularity and profitability is a clear given.

Though a QSR can offer the best cuisine in their area, using an outdated cash register creates a service bottleneck slows service.

Thankfully, there is solution that helps. Point of sale systems remedy these issues by offering features and functions that enable the streamlining of operations and influencing of customers to return for more business.

Pain Points and Solutions for QSRs

It’s no secret that productivity is key when managing a QSR. Even though casual dining locations have reputations for providing excellent meals and a unique dining experience, many consumers wish to just get a meal as quickly as possible. Slow service = lost customer. Simple as that.

Even though a POS system is easy to find (just Google if you don’t believe me), they are often not adopted where they can be beneficial and effective.

Without a POS, problems can arise and pile up, which can substantially hurt a QSR financially. Since a POS system involves no cost initially, the business has nothing to lose and everything to gain in terms of benefits and profits.

Furthermore, customers notice a lack of technology and base their opinions on that. ¼ of consumers have stated that technology is an important factor in choosing a place to eat.

Since customers may pass on your QSR due to outdated equipment (yes, this actually happens), it’s important to nip this in the bud.

QSRs not using a POS encounter problems such as:

• Getting their food at a snail’s pace, which is statistically the top complaint diners have with QSR. Kind of defeats the purpose, no?
• Lack of QSR stock information, leading to issues fulfilling orders and awkwardly telling customers you can’t make their order. They will not be coming back, we assure you.
• Disorganization of active and past orders, creating an operational nightmare beyond recognition.
• A lack of repeat customers resulting from poor service, which closes a QSR quicker than it opened. Ever notice how many small restaurants close months after they open? Case in point.
• Malfunctioning, obsolete, and simply ancient equipment that cannot keep up with rapid-fire orders. That cash register from 1994 is no longer cutting it.

Since you can’t serve food to or profit off of empty dining tables, a QSR is entirely dependent on their customers’ satisfaction. When customers leave with a happy stomach, they have the initiative to post positive reviews, which are invaluable for promotion and marketing.

Remember how we mentioned Yelp? It matters way more than you’d think!

The features POS systems offer for QSRs:

Order Management – Ensure orders are quickly fulfilled by tracking them as walk-in, take-out, or delivery until completion. Customers really appreciate this, especially if you give delivery customers a call to check up once an order is listed as fulfilled.

Receipts – Provide kitchen staff an instant print-out of an order, minimizing interaction time between the cashier and the kitchen. Also, create custom receipts for customers for print or email to add a personal touch to your transactions.

Payments – Provide easier means of splitting payments for customers, as well as the convenience of NFC payments for even quicker processing. Make sure that line is kept as short as possible, even during the lunchtime rush.

EMV Compliance – Enable secure transactions with EMV compliant terminals.  Though only 36% of merchants today are EMV capable, an estimated 86% of POS terminals will be EMV compliant by 2017. Make sure you do not miss the boat.

Customer Management – Gather customer information in real time, use phone numbers for keeping contact, and easily check on their order history. They may have enjoyed their meal, but why not reach back out to make sure and ask them for feedback? It helps a ton!

Tip Management – Manage tips received by the wait staff to reduce any conflict or issue regarding payouts/pooling. We’re sure you have seen wait staff fight over tips, and it can get ugly. Keep them happy and eager to excel at providing service.

Reporting – Give managers and employees a full outlook into business data such as transactions, taxes and overall daily activity. Vital information such as this can’t be ignored, so having a birds-eye view of it all in real time is crucial.

Intuitive Design – Offers an easy-to-use and easy-to-learn interface and functionality, reducing time spent taking and charging for orders. Do you want a new hire to mess up orders while they are being trained? We’re sure you don’t.

Online/Offline Operation – Continue processing transactions during connectivity issues, as well as provide expanded stability/support to reduce transaction issues and equipment failure. As awesome as the internet is, it can be as unreliable as your car is during a cold winter morning.

Marketing/Loyalty – Influence repeat business by using stored customer data and remarketing applications to promote sales, events and new menu items. Make sure they are posting statuses on Facebook and tagging your restaurant when they come in to eat. It’s incredibly effective marketing.

That just about wraps it up! Implementing a quick service POS system into a QSR is nothing short of beneficial. The features they provide always translates into immediate and noticeable improvement in business efficiency and customer satisfaction.

Want to get started with what we have explained here? You can do so today by trying the eHopper free POS.

Need more advice? Check out our blog every week.