Executive Q&A: A POS Platform That Saves Time & Money

Please speak to the benefits of a POS that offers a range of restaurant management tools?

• Restaurant operators are struggling with the rise of inflation and the ongoing labour shortage. Savvy POS platforms, equipped with modules that help them save time and money, by doing more with less, are more important than ever. 
• An ideal POS solution offers integrated customer, sales and payments data and analytics, integrated data-driven loyalty programs, and seamless, multichannel marketing & communications capabilities for dine-in and dine-out experiences:
  • Analytics and insights can show an operator what brings their customers back, who their best servers are and why, and how menu items are performing
  • Comprehensive integrated inventory that is simplified and streamlined to allow operators to track and automate inventory without breaking the bank or using staff resources. 
  • Integrated payments reduce the possibility for human error, because the amount to pay is automatically pushed to the payment terminal. It also reduces the amount of time spent at checkout, and cuts the amount of receipt paper. Operators can have the most advanced inventory management system in the world, but if they’re overpaying for your payments, or worse, if they’re inefficient and unintegrated, the POS system isn’t doing enough.

How can restaurants seamlessly integrate POS with food delivery?

• Savvy POS platforms, such as Lightspeed Restaurant offer seamless integration and real-time updates for delivery and order-ahead. Restaurants can accept orders made online that appear directly into the Lightspeed POS, streamlining all orders into the prep queue. Merchants can now send real-time status updates via text message, so customers can track their orders from start to end.
• Contactless technology (ordering, delivering and payments) for safety and security and click and collect payment adoption acceleration.

What are some critical considerations when integrating new payment methods such as e-wallet, crypto, and more?

• It makes sense for restaurant operators to consider meeting customers where they are at (and making it easier to pay) by offering a variety of payment options. At Lightspeed, we’ve recently introduced digital gift cards powered by LSPD Restaurant. On a restaurant's website, there is an option for customers to buy a restaurant gift card and send it to the recipient by email. It can also be downloaded into their Apple wallet.
• There are, however, key considerations for crypto that business owners need to keep in mind:
  • If crypto continues to grow, the possibility that  future regulations may be implemented could potentially lead to these funds becoming more expensive to handle.
  • Accounting can become challenging if an operator’s system is not set up to handle these types of transactions.
  • Exchange rates and value tend to be very volatile. From one day to the next, cryptocurrency can drop significantly. This has to be something that restaurant operators are prepared for if they choose to accept this type of payment.

How can customer data fuel loyalty, menu optimization, and revenue?

• Restaurant operators that use integrated payment solutions are collecting payments data that helps them identify what they need to do next in order to streamline efficiency and optimize their business.
• For example, we recently expanded our flagship hospitality product, Lightspeed Restaurant, to include Lightspeed Advanced Insights. Powered by Lightspeed Payments, data from every transaction processed is automatically captured, analyzed, then delivered right back to restaurateurs - identifying trends that reveal impactful ways for merchants to optimize their business, such as:
  • How menu items are performing and what to sell to improve the chance of bringing a guest back.
  • Automatically collects useful data, from each guest that pays with a credit card, such as preferred payment methods to determine which devices and flows increase ticket size and cover count. 

  • Define a time range to dynamically track sales and visits compared to the restaurant’s average. Use data to identify how guests respond to new hours, events, or marketing pushes. 
    
    Learn more at lightspeedhq.com