The COVID-19 crisis has severely impacted the food and beverage industry. Many restaurants did not have the systems in place to continue to operate during a stay-at-home order and were left scrambling to find a way to stay afloat. Many were able to pull through but some were not.
Thankfully, if you operate a restaurant, there are a few ways to financially recover after COVID-19, one of which is by utilizing technology in your restaurant, particularly a point of sale (POS) system. You probably already have some sort of POS technology but if your system is out of date or one-fold, you might want to consider upgrading in the wake of lockdown.
Easier Online Orders
An efficient online restaurant POS system acts as a meeting point between the customers and restaurateurs. It creates an ambient interaction environment by providing editable menus and ordering mechanisms. Having a dedicated system for your restaurant can help reduce charges imposed by third-party services and thereby gain significant leverage against your competition.
However, you cannot eliminate third-party restaurant services, but installing a system that integrates seamlessly with the majority of these services can be useful. According to PaymentsJournal, some third-party delivery apps have eliminated commission fees and made it easier for a small restaurant to join in and sell at affordable rates.
After installing the new system, you should make sure that your customers know that you have reopened for drive-thru and home delivery orders. To achieve this awareness, you can reach your customers through any of their communication channels available to you. When personal contacts can target real individuals, social media groups can come handy to attract new clients in your vicinity.
Track Comps and Customer Satisfaction
Many restaurants leverage delivery as a means of additional sales, but not all menu items and dishes will travel well. With an online restaurant POS system, you can track comps and get instant customer feedback. This will help you understand where your processes are falling short and hence amend appropriately. With a restaurant POS system, you can interact directly with your customers and know which of your dishes need a redo and which to scrap from the home delivery menu.
A POS system can also help you create and run promotions and loyalty programs that could see your restaurant get more orders and thus more revenue.
Create a Touchless Environment
COVID-19 is spread by coming in contact with the disease directly. Minimizing contact between people and surfaces shows your commitment to following health and government regulations, which will be appreciated by guests.
Reliable POS technology can help a restaurant create a secure touchless environment. This aligns with the fact that many of the POS systems usually integrate with contactless payment systems that fulfill modern data security requirements. They do not need you to change your pricing mechanism, edit your menus, or pay hefty fees to have your staff trained. Therefore, typical restaurant POS software should help you keep your expenses low while opening new avenues for your business during COVID-19.
Judging by the way things stand, a touchless system is an excellent escape route for restaurants launching a new POS system. Through the system, you can get a lot of information about your customers, which you can then use to track their preferences and improve your services in general.
Reduce Waste and Cut Costs
In the COVID-19 era, all businesses are struggling to remain afloat, and cutting costs and reducing waste are two main ways on this trajectory. How will a POS system help a restaurant achieve this? It is straightforward. With an online food ordering system, you only need to have the ingredients for your menu items ready. This means you will only cook what customers pay for rather than prepare a large amount and expect you will get customers.
Again, with an online system, you will only need to have core staff to do the cooking and packaging. This reduces the wages as you can work with two to four kitchen and packaging staff.
If working with a minimum number of workers may cause unwanted pressure on your staff, you can amicably reduce their salaries to get help. Again, POS systems come with different pricing systems that are affordable to young ventures and established restaurants.
So, What Do You Get With POS Software?
A restaurant POS system is one way to ensure you continue serving as many customers as possible, even with the lockdown and social distance requirements. For new restaurants that are unwilling to close with the fear that it may be impossible to come back after the crisis, POS technology can expand your reach if you can let new and old customers know you can make drive-thru and home delivery meals.
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