For those who run a single pub, restaurant, or cafe, it might be comprehensible so that you can suppose {that a} trendy hospitality EPOS system can be excessive for your online business. Advertising by some EPOS suppliers can create this impression, as everybody likes to speak about their massive well-known prospects, multi-site capabilities, and enterprise options. Many are priced with these massive companies in thoughts too, all however ruling out the small enterprise proprietor as a potential buyer.
Nevertheless, hospitality EPOS system can have as many nice options for a small enterprise as a big multi-site group, and the charges can simply be justified, by the point they’ll save & income uplift they’ll convey, to not point out the stress they’ll alleviate for the small enterprise proprietor.
On this article we take a look at a number of the key options to search for in a hospitality EPOS for a small enterprise.
Velocity of service and ease of use
An EPOS system designed specifically for hospitality will be built with speed of service and ease of use on the forefront.
From taking orders & cost on the bar or counter, including orders to tables, splitting payments or recording ideas, every course of needs to be designed with the operator in thoughts. This implies clear, easy steps to finish the duty within the shortest time doable.
With the excessive workers turnover of the hospitality {industry}, a purpose-built EPOS must also be very intuitive and person pleasant, so new workers members can familiarize yourself with the system from the beginning of their first shift.
The advantages of all of this are slick service, diminished ready occasions, and extra prospects served. These advantages alone can justify the worth tag of many methods.
Trade related reporting
A good thing about any EPOS system is entry to itemised reporting, to have the ability to see not simply your complete gross sales, however what has offered nicely and what hasn’t.
An industry-focused EPOS will provide this however will take it a step additional to provide the stories which might be vital to you as a hospitality operator.
For instance, for an {industry} the place gross sales fluctuate a lot over the course of every week, it’s vital to have gross sales comparability stories that alter the prior yr interval to align to the identical days of the week as the present interval. This offers you a like for like comparability. Evaluating to the very same date the yr earlier than can be evaluating a Saturday with a Friday, which is unlikely to point out you a lot of use.
Employees wages are one of many greatest prices for a hospitality enterprise, so stories on workers prices and the way these evaluate to gross sales are very important to making sure you’re working a worthwhile enterprise. Having a real-time view of your wage share straight on the EPoS additionally allows you to make final minute staffing choices if wanted.
There are numerous different stories which might be vital to us within the hospitality sector, comparable to inventory and wastage, money variances, ideas and repair cost, reductions and promotions, and food and drinks service occasions.
All of those are equally as vital to a small enterprise as a big multi-site.
Figuring out your margins
Making margin on the food and drinks you promote is significant to being worthwhile. An excellent hospitality EPOS ought to present you the gross revenue (GP) you make on every merchandise once you set your gross sales and price costs. For objects with recipes the price may be routinely calculated from the components.
Gross sales stories will then present the GP it is best to have made for any interval based mostly in your gross sales and price costs.
Lastly, working inventory takes on the system will present the GP you make after any wastage or inventory loss. All of that is out there without having to fork out for an exterior inventory taker – a value that may be a battle for a small enterprise.
Save time ordering inventory
One other profit of getting inventory process in place is your system can use your present inventory ranges and up to date gross sales historical past (or said PAR ranges) to routinely generate orders that you could ship to your suppliers. Not solely does this prevent time, but additionally reduces the potential of errors.
Loyalty
Loyalty schemes aren’t only for massive companies, however the complexity of setting them up could be a actual problem for small enterprise. It is a disgrace because it deprives them of the advantages – driving repeat enterprise and constructing a stronger connection along with your prospects.
An efficient loyalty scheme must make it simple for purchasers to enroll, after which to scan their loyalty cross to obtain their factors or advantages. It additionally must be simple for the operator to make use of the info on visits, spend and buy historical past to ship related, focused advertising communications to encourage members again into the venue.
The complexity of establishing an EPOS, loyalty system & advertising instruments to work successfully collectively to realize this has led to loyalty schemes being principally run by massive companies.
Nevertheless, hospitality EPOS methods at the moment are out there with loyalty methods in-built. This implies members can enroll in your web site and obtain a digital loyalty cross that they’ll scan straight on the until to earn factors or obtain promotions. It additionally means all the info on their go to and buy historical past is on one system, making it simple to filter to ship related advertising communications.
Constructed-in reserving system
Many small companies now use a reserving system to maintain observe of bookings and allow prospects to guide on-line. Nevertheless, managing bookings may be time consuming for a small enterprise, the place the proprietor operator can find yourself attempting to handle new bookings and reply to requests all whereas engaged on shift.
This may be made a lot simpler with hospitality EPOS with a built-in reserving system. With bookings feeding straight into the EPOS there isn’t any have to log in to a separate system to view your bookings or have a laptop computer open on the bar. As an alternative, bookings may be considered straight on the EPOS, with arrival and departure occasions overlaid in your desk plan.
Alerts may be triggered on the EPOS for brand new bookings, requests, or cancellations, making it simple for an proprietor operator to maintain on high of bookings whereas working entrance of home.
Accounting integration
While in-built options can typically be extra helpful to a small enterprise than attempting to combine a number of methods, an space the place an integration may be very helpful is accounting. Most good hospitality EPOS methods have integrations with common small enterprise accounting packages comparable to Xero and Quickbooks.
Gross sales and funds, and any petty money bills may be posted to your accounts each day with none handbook be just right for you or a bookkeeper. With another extensively out there instruments to routinely create payments from invoices & receipts, a big a part of your bookkeeping may be automated.
Abstract
Each small enterprise is totally different, and never all of the above options can be related to all companies, however small companies can get a minimum of as a lot from EPOS system as their massive counterparts. Some options may even present extra profit to a small enterprise, the place time is valuable, juggling a number of duties is a actuality, and ease is essential.
Tabology provide a cloud-based hospitality EPOS system with built-in reserving system, loyalty platform and workers scheduling instruments. With industry-leading expertise, and a small firm ethos, Tabology provides first fee, private assist from a group with actual hospitality expertise.
Click here discover more about Tabology.
Learn extra
15 EPoS systems for restaurants and cafés – Having the correct ePoS system in place can increase your online business in much more methods than simply funds. Listed below are 15 ePoS methods to take a look at
