The Top 5 Point-of-Sale Systems for Any Restaurant
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Choosing the right point-of-sale (POS) system or credit card processor for your bar or restaurant isn’t an easy task. There are just so many options to choose from that you may feel completely overwhelmed. That’s why we’ve put together this list of top-reviewed credit card processors—it’s a great jumping-off point for your search for a new POS.
One thing to keep in mind—there’s no “overall best” POS system. There is, however, a “best for YOU” POS system. Every business is unique, and the key to selecting the right POS system is to find the one that fits your unique needs.
With that said, here are some of our favorites (in no particular order):
Revel
Revel emphasizes security, customization, and ease of use—three things that any restaurant manager will appreciate! It also provides great insights in the analytics department, which will help you find smart ways to grow your business.
When it comes to security, Revel boasts PCI-compliant cloud technology and Point-to-Point Encrypted (P2PE) payments, which are essential to protecting your customers’ payment data. There are also plenty of control options when it comes to managing your users, so you can be sure no employees are seeing data they shouldn’t have access to.
Revel is iPad-compatible, making it quick and easy to get set up and started. It’s a comfortable, intuitive interface for staff and customers alike.
ShopKeep
ShopKeep bills themselves as a “one-stop shop” for running your business, and they have all the goods to back it up! Start with their one-on-one onboarding program, where you’ll get the individualized support you need to get up and running with their system—quickly and easily.
And let’s emphasize easy here. ShopKeep does a great job of offering a full-service POS system—including inventory management, automated bookkeeping, employee time tracking, and more—while remaining simple and intuitive to use.
One interesting way ShopKeep sets themselves apart from the competition is their baked-in business loan service, ShopKeep Capital. That might seem unusual at first, but it makes a lot of sense. After all, who better to offer you a business loan than the company that tracks all your sales and inventory in the first place?
Clover
Clover lets you mix and match hardware and software to create the custom-fit POS system of your dreams. (This is what you dream about, right?) As mentioned earlier, finding the right POS system is a matter of finding what works for you and your unique business needs, and Clover’s versatile setup makes that a little easier to accomplish.
When it comes to payment types, it’s important that your POS system accepts a wide variety—and Clover definitely delivers on that capability. It can handle traditional magnetic-strip cards, chips, and contactless payment types, which means your customers will always be able to use the type of payment they prefer.
Clover also provides useful sales analytics in an easy-to-understand way. These business analytics will make it easier to find success and grow your business!
Lightspeed
Lightspeed is a POS system with a focus on overall business success. Their system is especially useful for shops with complicated inventories, making them far easier to manage. Lightspeed offers easy solutions for bundling items, offering specials or sales, and keeping a close watch on inventory.
Lightspeed also gets high marks for their thoughtful on-boarding and 24/7 customer support. It’s exactly the sort of safety net many new business owners need, and it makes it super comfortable to get up and running with your new POS system.
On top of all that, Lightspeed checks all the boxes when it comes to payment types and customer profiles as well! Not only will your clientele be able to pay the way they want, you’ll be able to build detailed customer profiles that can be the backbone of effectively targeted marketing campaigns.
TouchBistro
TouchBistro is the top-ranked restaurant POS system for the iPad, and with good reason. It’s fast, reliable, convenient, and flexible. It also doesn’t rely on an internet connection to operate, although it’s perfectly suited to life on the cloud as well.
Unlike some of the POS systems on this list, TouchBistro is made specifically for the restaurant industry. This means it has some ultra-convenient features built right in, including bill splitting seat joining, and hundreds of other custom actions. In general, TouchBistro just makes it easy to run a restaurant (or at least as easy as possible).
Speaking of easy, TouchBistro gets high marks for both its unlimited user policy and its free software updates. These are the sort of “little details” that help a POS system really stand out, and TouchBistro does them right!
Making The Switch
If you think one of the POS systems in this article might be the right fit for your restaurant, you should look into trying a free demo before officially making the change. Most modern POS providers are more than happy to let you take the software for a test drive. Be sure to ask specific questions while trying the new POS—as we said at the beginning, finding the perfect POS system is a matter of finding the right fit, and it’s up to you to see exactly how a new system will work for your restaurant.