The evolution of
Point of Sale machines (POS) over the past few decades has revolutionized merchants’ ability to quickly process payment. Between the ability to electronically scan and call up the price of the purchase, and to accept cash and carry out
credit and debit card payment processing electronically – without one of those old carbon paper credit receipt machines – point of sales machines dramatically cut down on the time that a sales transaction takes.
This fact is nowhere more obvious than in the restaurant business, where a number of peripherals related to point of sale systems can be set up to facilitate nearly every aspect of the customer’s interaction with the restaurant. For anyone in the restaurant business considering investing in POS machines, it is worth thinking about all these additional benefits. First, the POS itself makes it easier for the wait-staff to accept credit card payment and process the charge quickly, which both encourages customers to tip better and speeds up customer turnover.
A restaurant POS system can also make it easier for wait staff to take orders from customers and send them to the cook. A thorough POS system would work something like this. After a waiter gets the customer’s order he goes to the touch-screen work station and punches in the customers’ food and drink orders. Or with even more advance systems, the waiter carries a hand-held device into which he enters the order at the table, which is then transmitted wirelessly to the area’s work station.
After accepting and processing credit card payment, all relevant information from the transaction, such as how much of each ingredient was consumed and the size of the check, are sent to inventory and income databases to help with upkeep and record keeping.
This example shows many of the ways a POS system can help increase restaurant efficiency. Of course, it isn’t necessary to invest in every top-of-the-line piece of machinery, but each piece cuts down significantly on operational costs.