What is a point-of-sale system and why is it important?
Have you ever been out to dinner and waited for your bill for what felt like forever? Or worse yet, been the server trying to get the bill calculated and printed as you watch your table grow less patient by the second? In the hospitality industry these seconds matter greatly. The aforementioned delays are factors which can greatly affect customer experience, which in turn can affect the bottom line of the business.
A point-of-sale system is kind of like the brain of a hospitality business. From your small coffee shop to a multi-story entertainment complex, a point-of-sale system can help streamline staff operations, creating a stress-free experience for the customer. Point-of-sale systems are also a wonderful tool for management, allowing for systematic organization, detailed tracking of sales and just about any other report that a managerial mind could dream up.
Alpha POS was born out of a realization that not all POS systems were created equal. After working with two other POS providers, the founders of Alpha POS found that the Focus POS software and systems were the most reliable, in addition to being very customizable and user-friendly. Reliability is absolutely critical in this industry. Customer satisfaction has been known rely on a patron getting the correct cocktail at warp speed! The customization available comes in handy when you need to ensure that the gluten-free pizza has been ordered and all food allergies have been noted properly. These are factors that again influence customer experience greatly, which is the reason most restaurants open in the first place – they want customers to have a great time enjoying the food that they make better than anyone else. The same goes for experience-centered businesses. The systems that Alpha POS offers can service operations as small as a walk-up window-style restaurant and as large as Top Golf, an entertainment mecca that has taken cities across the nation by storm.
When customers check in at a restaurant or business that Alpha POS operates, that is entered in the system, which has a customized floor plan and can automatically calculate which server is due for a table. Orders are entered through this system, which has that specific establishment’s menu stored, including specials. Bills can be calculated quickly and easily split, allowing guests to pay for their individual portions, which has shown to be tantamount in our current day and age. From a management perspective, the software can manage employee shifts, track inventory and invoices, configure forecasted sales and has countless other tools that can truly help businesses succeed. If you know what aspects of the business are profitable and where improvement is needed, you are ahead of the curve.
