3 Reasons Why Now Is the Time to Upgrade Your POS
With so many competing responsibilities vying for a restaurant owner’s attention, it’s tempting to let “good enough” alone. Nowhere is this more true than your technology. If your existing POS system is technically doing its job, and business is fine, why break what isn’t broken?
That line of thinking may make sense with an investment like furniture - yes, indeed: that table isn’t broken and it’s doing its job just fine - but restaurant technology has made so many advancements that many owners would be shocked at how much an upgrade could impact their bottom line. In particular, cloud-based POS systems can radically improve the way owners manage their restaurant: from scalability to security to ease of use (and not to mention significantly less burdensome subscription costs). It’s a wonder so many in the industry are still using wired, on-premise systems.
This article from Upserve offers operators three reason why now should be the time that they update their restaurant POS system.
- Hardware hiccups
Minor hardware malfunctions – fuzzy monitors, inconsistent printers, frequent connectivity issues – are something too many owners concede as “part of the business.” But, chances are these indicate bigger concerns in the making.
If hardware hiccups are slowing down business even a little bit, time and use are not going to make the problems fix themselves. They will likely only get worse, and more difficult and expensive to repair.
More importantly, if printers and base stations aren’t communicating now, how long will it be before the on-premise server goes down with them, taking all of vital data and records along for the ride? With one too many hardware failures, an owner could face catastrophic data loss for his restaurant.
Not only do cloud-based platforms offer more efficiency, but also more reliability to boot. Data will always be safe and encrypted, and hardware can be easily replaced in the event of damage or failure, leaving these hiccups in the past where they belong.
- Unified experiences
Both customers and staff deserve a platform that provides a uniform, cohesive experience that is equally efficient throughout. Older restaurant POS software was designed “horizontally,” meaning POS systems provided add-ons and third-party tools, but each operates in its own silo, with no synchronicity between them. This creates a need for additional clicks, additional support teams, and longer process chains from problem to solution.
Today’s restaurant management POS systems still offer third-party apps, but these resources are perfectly implemented into the core POS software, offering a seamless workflow that allows users to access restaurant inventory, sales and other key data at all times, while maintaining an experience that is user-friendly and on-brand.
Plus, as extensions of the core POS software, these apps all fall under the same service and support agreements, so even those rare situations are handled in a simple fashion.
- Security, security, security
Older POS systems for restaurants were designed for use in one location, with limited connectivity options (usually limited to manual upgrades, report uploading, and the like). Things have changed, all for the better.
Today, users can implement security measures much more advanced than a simple login/password combination. Now precious data is encrypted, protected by fingerprint scanners, ID card logins and more. These credentials immediately tell the system which features to enable and which to protect, so no employee can accidentally alter key settings or information.
In addition, these security measures improve accountability, helping owners to protect against fraud, loss or manipulation of the system to disguise less-than-scrupulous behavior. In the end, a modern, scalable POS system is simply safer.