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Preventing Over Pouring With Your Point Of Sale System

Over pouring can be a huge source of lost profits for a bar. Just an extra 10 to 30% alcohol in a pour could lead to thousands of dollars in lost profits per drink type per month. Unfortunately for bar owners, correcting this problem isn’t simply a matter of training employees. Often, the problem arises when bartenders intentionally make drinks stronger in an effort to earn better tips from employees. Luckily, this problem is fixable by upgrading your point of sale system.

Using Your POS System to Stop Over Pouring in Your Bar

One of the biggest challenges in stopping over pouring is doing it without taking away from your customers’ experience. Devices like spill stops and automatic alcohol dispensers can dramatically decrease over pouring, but when they are used in view of customers, they can give your bar the image of being cheap and possibly make customers feel as if they are being shortchanged. These systems are also not flawless since bartenders are able to circumvent them by pouring directly from the bottle or by making a double pour.

The biggest flaw, other than customer perception, of these systems is that they don’t track total alcohol usage. This is where point of sale systems comes in. A good point of sale system provides easy touch screen options so bartenders can quickly enter each drink type as they make it. This allows you to track not only total revenue, but also gives you a drink by drink break down. There is also little risk of offending customers because they expect to pay for their drinks and won’t think twice about seeing the bartender add them to their tab.

The key is to set clear guidelines for the use of the POS system and enforce them. Bartenders will need to immediately and accurately enter every drink sold. The practice of entering them into the POS system only upon closing the tab should be discouraged because it leads to errors. These records will then allow you to compare the drinks sold against your inventory. If your inventory is diminishing faster than expected, you can then take corrective action.

Stopping Over Pouring in Other Settings

This practice can be extended to hotels, bars, concessions, and virtually any other business. In settings where customer experience is less important, either because drinks aren’t prepared in front of customers or due to a mass production situation like a sports arena, a POS system can be combined with an automatic dispenser. No matter how drinks are served, the same principles of accurate record keeping and inventory tracking can be applied. The location and business setup are also irrelevant because even advanced POS systems are extremely mobile and can be operated from tablet-sized devices. Because of this, no business owner should need to worry about over pouring if they use an advanced POS system.

Managing Promotions with Your POS

Point of sale software, or POS, is a useful way to keep track of customer information and sales to a particular member of a store. When it is time for a store promotion, the software can help improve the final end-of-sale figures by offering leveraging options.

Encouraging Store Membership

Promotions are effective when the right tools are available to help reach customers and ensure they are aware of the upcoming promotional or sale items. Offering store membership is only one way to obtain additional leverage to ensure that a promotion goes as smoothly as possible.

The software comes into the picture by offering opportunities to print store membership cards, detail customer data that is provided to the store and keep track of customer purchases so that it is possible to identify when a particular promotion may be appealing to specific clients of the store.

Encouraging customers to join as a member can take a few different paths. A store can offer different membership cards, such as gold and silver card holders, or it can offer a general membership that applies to every individual.

The benefit of using POS software to set up customer membership include:

  • Gathering information about the customer
  • Setting up an account, which details purchase history and customer activity
  • Sending out details regarding promotions, particularly when clients have purchased the item in the past or have an interest in similar products
  • Providing reduced prices on promotional items
  • Improving marketing strategies based on client activity in the store

Point of sale software is not limited to the applications at the register and end-of-sale data. It is also used to set up customer touch points, which can then be used in marketing and promotions.

Making Customers Aware of Promotions

A store promotion is only effective if customers are aware of the upcoming sale and can come to the store to purchase the items. If they do not know about the promotion, then it is less likely to gain the expected results.

POS software provides a solution to help improve awareness because it gathers customer data. Business owners or managers can send out emails newsletters, advertisements and flyers to appropriate customers based on membership or purchase history. The POS software tracks the data so that it is accessible when it is needed.

Final Tally

Along with the applications in gathering information, setting up memberships and marketing, POS software is still useful in the management of promotions by offering a final tally of the sales that occurred. The software is used to add sale items, reduce prices according to the promotion and give the final prices to customers. Ultimately, it can also track the total sales that occurred during the promotion and update customer account data for future references.

Point of sale software has a variety of applications. It can be used to track data, discover new information, market to customers and improve promotional events. When it comes to an upcoming promotion, stores can market to specific customers or every member based on the type of promotion that is running.

Inventory Control with POS Software

Business owners have many elements to their business that they must constantly keep in the forefront of their brains. This is not an easy task when you add to that the stress of knowing if you forget something it could cost you money. Remembering everything all the time is not humanly possible. That is why there is software to help with such daunting tasks.

POS or point of sale software was developed in order to help business owners keep vital point of sale information quickly accessible and to ensure that each point of sale transaction is done as quickly and effectively as possible. Another aspect of POS systems, however, is to assist the business owner with inventory control.

Why Inventory Control Matters

Inventory control is a very crucial element to a successful business. If you do not have control or working knowledge of how much product you have on hand at any given time, you are putting yourself at a great disadvantage. Inventory control is also a safeguard against illegal actions taking place within your business. When employees or customers attempt to take advantage of a business owner by doing underhanded things with inventory, a good POS system can alert you to the fact that something is not quite right.

For Retail and Hospitality

It may seem that a POS inventory control system would only benefit a traditional retail business, but professionals in the hospitality industry are learning that keeping up with their inventory control via POS software can save them a lot of time and worry. Restaurant and bar owners have inventory on hand just like a retailer. The food and liquor purchased by these business owners are their inventory and if that inventory is not strictly kept track of, it can translate into financial disaster. You have invested in this inventory and you must make sure that it turns into cash. Your bottom line depends on this.

POS Inventory Features

Most POS systems will have inventory features that can help you manage stock, purchasing and inventory flow. You need to know what you have on hand, what you need and what you have sold. Attempting to do this with old fashioned record keeping can be a recipe for disaster. When all this information is easily accessible in one easy to use system your job becomes much easier and more enjoyable. When you are constantly on top of your inventory information you will be the first one to know if something is wrong. If inventory is missing, you will know. If inventory sold and revenue is not matching up, you will know. Being informed of what is happening in your business is the best way to catch a problem early on and deal with it before it costs you serious money.

Replenishing orders automatically Is one of the great features of using a POS system that has inventory control. With this feature, an owner can set a certain level that stock reaches and then trigger the software system to automatically replenish it and send invoice and orders to the appropriate vendors.

POS inventory control offers you the feature of stock reports as well so that you are always up to date on stock on hand at any time as well as stock purchases. Other great features include:

  • Entering your numbers for stock take
  • Keep track of sell price and price margins
  • Instantly enter stock transfers
  • Track inbound inventory
  • Generate barcodes for items that are not in your system.

Upgrade Your Restaurant with A Tablet POS

Point of sale systems have traditionally been tethered down by cords. Now using cloud technology and tablets, POS systems can be used more efficiently using a wireless cloud system. There may be some concerns about security using a cloud system in a business; however, a cloud mobile system uses public, private, and hybrid levels to ensure privacy and security on all levels. According to this article, the complete replacement of traditional cash registers in restaurants with mobile POS systems is only a matter of time.

Upgrading to a mobile tablet Point of Sale system has multiple benefits, including increased flexibility, and streamlined ordering and paying. For restaurants, hotels, and retail businesses, mobile point of sale has benefits that will make even the busiest days run more efficiently.

Benefits of a Tablet POS

Pay Anywhere – A tablet POS allows customers to pay anywhere in the business. For example, customers can now pay right at their tables on a tablet and not have to wait around for a waiter to bring the check.

Online Ordering Capabilities – Customers can order while they are on their way to the restaurant if they are in a hurry for an additional level of convenience.

Speedy – Being able to take order and send in that order right from the table saves a time for both the server as well as the customers. Having the ability to take credit cards and tip from the POS tablet immediately also saves a significant amount of time.

Reliable – The POS has already proven to be reliable, and adding mobile device capability does not decrease the dependability at all. Being able to have a reliable system right on hand anywhere in the business is very convenient for the costumer, the business owner, and the employee.

Documents The Evening – A boss can use the point of sale system to document when, where, and what was going on with each customer and order throughout the shift.

Inventory – The tablet POS system can be used to keep track of the inventory whether it is liquor bottles for a bar or clothing items for a retail business. By being able to scan items from anywhere in the store offers convenience as well as time saving benefits to businesses. This makes it easier to keep track of what is where at all times and have an up to date number ready for when new orders need to be placed. Inventory tracking can also alert you to issues if a certain item needs to be reordered too soon too often.

Updating you system to include mobile features can be as easy as downloading new software onto your existing system and purchasing the required mobile devices. The time it takes to upgrade and train staff is definitely worth it when it comes to making your business more efficient and documented.

Updating to a tablet point of sale system can streamline your restaurant business save time and in turn money which is likely the bottom line goal for every business.