How Modern Restaurant POS Software Speeds Up Guest Payments
A seamless payment experience leaves a lasting impression on customers and makes life easier for you and your staff
It’s dinner hour and your POS software stops printing kitchen tickets. Or worse, you can no longer split checks, and now that party of seven at table nine is staring daggers at their waiter. The restaurant industry is not immune to the woes of tech going awry. One way to shore up yourself against the wrath of displeased customers and frustrated staff is by investing in modern restaurant POS software.
Besides keeping your patrons happy, an updated payment solution can also make you more money. When customers get to enjoy their meal, close their tab, and move on with their night, customer satisfaction goes up, you turn more tables, and your employees get to take home more tips.
Let’s take a closer look at the benefits of upgrading your restaurant POS software.
Jump to a section…
What is restaurant POS software?
A restaurant POS (point of sale) is often actually a combination of hardware (usually workstations) and software tools that help the front of the house communicate with the back of the house and help your wait staff manage tables, open and close tabs, and process payments.
Why get a POS? Well, taking down an order on a paper slip and hanging it up with a clothespin for cooks to peruse is no longer a viable option for most sit-down restaurants. There’s simply too much going on, and customers expect to be able to split a check, order online, pay for their meal, and leave a tip without errors or hassle. That’s why investing in a robust, reliable POS system plays a huge role in speeding up and streamlining your patron’s dining experience.
The Restaurant Owner's Guide to Improving Operations
Key features of modern restaurant POS software
Look for a POS solution that allows you to manage a variety of restaurant payment methods and can easily integrate with your existing workflow. Here are a few must-have features to look out for.
- Inventory tracking: Automated inventory tracking can help front of the house keep an eye out for any sold-out items, making sure you’re never short on ingredients for your best-selling entrée.
- Kitchen communication: A POS should enable communication between front of the house team and your kitchen staff so tickets can be issued correctly and any imminent issues promptly resolved.
- Tips management: Your customers shouldn’t have to pull out their phones and use a calculator to figure out a tip. A modern restaurant POS solution should suggest amounts in typical percentages. Similarly, your staff should be able to calculate and manage tips with ease so there are no discrepancies at the end of the day and everyone is treated fairly.
- User-friendly interface: Intuitive user interface makes onboarding easier for new employees, which saves you time and leads to fewer errors. Even experienced staff members can benefit from an easy-to-use system because no one wants to spend ten minutes at a workstation figuring out a refund during a dinner rush.
- Integrations with contactless payment: The traditional payment process at a restaurant — involving a pen and paper, a credit card, and a discreet black folio — can feel pretty archaic, considering how digitized the rest of our lives have become. Modern POS systems should integrate with contactless mobile payment solutions that allow customers to settle a bill from their phones.
Restaurant POS software and guest payments
Most people want to pay for their meal and move on. Wasting time having to flag down a server and then waiting for a check after all the plates have been cleared is annoying and can instantly flip a customer review from 'great' to 'I'm never coming back.' On top of that, the wide availability of delivery and drive-through services have made customers even more impatient, with most not wanting to wait more than five minutes for service.
Having a dependable POS doesn’t just mean accepting contactless payments and easily splitting checks; it also means that checks are totaled up correctly and in a timely manner, so your guests are not left stranded at the dinner table. A good POS solution should also make it easier for clients to split a check and leave a tip for your waiter, so there’s no confusion and no tacked-on wait time.
Restaurant POS software and your staff
A high-quality POS software vastly improves the lives of your staff. They don’t need to struggle with glitchy tech all day long, orders can be placed correctly the first time, and there are fewer unhappy patrons as a result. Being able to close tabs and process payments quickly also leads to more tips because a more efficient payment process leads to faster customer turnaround and higher satisfaction. Considering that Americans have 'tip fatigue', this could make a huge difference in your staff’s take-home pay — not to mention your staff retention.
A POS system that integrates with contactless payment methods also takes some pressure off staff from having to keep track of customer credit cards (no more panicked searches for a card that somehow made its way under a menu).
Most importantly, wait staff can spend more time selling food and drinks, talking to customers, and providing a better experience when they’re not stuck at a workstation.
Guest payments are even easier with ExpressCheck
The CityCheers app offers an ExpressCheck feature that works with most POS systems and eliminates the need for a paper check. Customers keep their credit card information in the app without having to hand over the plastic or dig out cash and they get to leave whenever they're ready, without asking for or waiting for the check. Meanwhile, your staff saves time by not having to shuttle back and forth between tables — instead, they can charge the customer directly from the POS system and focus on providing superior customer service.
Want to learn more about how ExpressCheck works? Book a demo.