Tablet POS or Traditional POS – Which is better for your Restaurant?
March 17, 2016
Technology in the payment space has skyrocketed in the last year. More and more restaurants are converting from traditional POS systems to high tech mobile tablet POS systems, but which is best for your restaurant? As with most business decisions it’s a matter of weighing the pros and cons for your specific restaurant. What works for a quick serve hamburger joint might not be the best solutions for your home-cook café.
For both solutions you should make sure you are purchasing or leasing a system with some of these basic features:
Payment processing via cash, card and check (and in some establishments, PayPal or Apple Pay)
Sales reporting and forecasting
Inventory control
Setting up tables/open tickets
Splitting tabs for payments
Making reservations
Delivery/Takeout features
These key features will benefit your business -service will be faster, more accurate, and more professional. Once you have experienced these features you won’t believe how you even did business before you had them.
Tablet and traditional based pos systems share some similarities but now let’s dig into some of the main differences to help you determine the best fit for your restaurant.
Mobility
With a Tablet POS system, gone are the days of having your servers run back and forth taking orders from their tables and placing orders with the kitchen. Tablet point of sale systems allow your servers to take orders and payments tableside, giving them the opportunity to excel in customer service and turn more tables than ever before. If you have a high-volume restaurant this could really increase your monthly sales.
Security
Security can be a big concern among restaurant owners. Traditional POS systems tend to be difficult to steal because they are much bigger than tablets and they are stationary, but tablet point of sale systems have the ability to be locked remotely and even tracked via GPS software so you can ensure your system won’t walk away in the wrong hands.
Reporting
Both the traditional and tablet have received some updates in their ability to help predict sales, manage inventory, and produce real-time reporting on many aspects of your business. However, there is one key difference that tends to be a big must among restaurant owners. Traditional POS systems have to be accessed in the establishment while Tablet POS systems have cloud reporting so you can look into your business’s sales from anywhere in the world.
Cost
Traditional point of sale systems can cost quite a bit more than tablet point of sale systems and don’t include free software upgrades. So if you are like many small business restaurant owners tight on cash, the tablet point of sale is a no-brainer for you.
So which one is right for your restaurant? There’s never an easy answer and the needs of every foodservice business are different. Make sure your POS system matches your unique needs and requirements. Deciding on a point of sale for your restaurant is a big business decision that shouldn’t be taken lightly. To help you with this daunting task contact SilverEdge and we would be happy to help you make a great decision for your restaurant.
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