Restaurant Point of Sale Advice

A quick note that I am focused mainly on the retail side of things but do have personal experience in table serve restaurant management as well as the sales and support of multiple restaurant, bar, and quick serve point of sale systems.

If you are searching for a hospitality point of sale system, please do contact me at 208-340-5632 or kevinantosh@gmail.com with a note that my advice will likely not be as in depth as what I can provide on the retail side.

Hotel Impossible Revenue Claim

The April 25th, 2016 episode of Hotel Impossible titled "Futility Closet" included mention of how a point of sale system can increase bar revenue. If I heard correctly, host Anthony Melchiorri mention a sales increase of around 30%.

I can vouch for that from personal experience - just the sight of a point of sale system in a bar, restaurant, or retail store can curb employee theft (employee theft accounts for around half of all retail theft in the US per the National Retail Federation).

In the past I can recall a nightclub and bar that spent just over $50,000 on a very basic point of sale system and the owner reported back to me the the system paid for itself the very first weekend - that is how much the owners employees were stealing from him or revenue that was being lost due to employee errors!

Kudos to Hotel Impossible and Anthony Melchiorri for mentioning one of the key benefits of implementing a point of sale system in your bar, restaurant, or hotel!

Are you  in the US and in need of no cost retail point of sale advice?  I'm happy to help and can be reached on my cell at 208-340-5632 (I am on Mountain Time) or via email at kevinantosh@gmail.com. There is also a contact form to the right that can be used to reach me.

Next Free & Unbiased Point of Sale Workshop

Wow - so February sure flew by! Here are the details on my next point of sale workshop. As a reminder, these workshops are free and are not sales presentations (I can't sell you anything anyway!).  Given the upcoming liability shift date for EMV, I will be devoting part of the workshop to EMV specifics. The workshop will also cover the following:

• Differences between point of sale systems designed to run on computers versus point of sale systems designed to run on mobile devices like smartphones and tablets
• How to budget for a point of sale system
• What to avoid or common "gotchas' when selecting a point of sale system for your business or organization
• How to select the best vendor to work with
• How to use a weighted point spreadsheet to make your final decision

All of this takes place in a free and unbiased environment! The workshop will be at the Boise, ID location of the Idaho Small Business Development center on Tuesday March 31st 2015 from 2pm to 4pm.

Here is a link to more details and registration information:

https://business.idahosbdc.org/workshop.aspx?ekey=40350042

Are you  in the US and in need of no cost retail point of sale advice?  I'm happy to help and can be reached on my cell at 208-340-5632 (I am on Mountain Time) or via email at kevinantosh@gmail.com. There is also a contact form to the right that can be used to reach me.

Point of Sale Buying Tip: Using a Weighted Point Sheet to Determine which POS is Best for You

By popular request - a video showing how to create and use a simple weighted point spreadsheet to decide which point of sale system is best for your business or organization. This works out great in the decision making process as it uses what is most important to you when selecting a POS system for your business or organization and this decision making method can be utilized by anyone who is searching for a point of sale system.

Are you  in the US and in need of no cost retail point of sale advice?  I'm happy to help and can be reached on my cell at 208-340-5632 (I am on Mountain Time) or via email at kevinantosh@gmail.com. There is also a contact form to the right that can be used to reach me.

Weighted Factor Method of Selecting the Best Point of Sale System

Due to numerous requests - I am working on getting a video and blog post uploaded that explains how to use a basic spreadsheet and factors/points to compare and choose the best POS solution for your business based on what features and functions are most important to you and your business or organization.

I hope to have this up by Sunday, February 8th, 2015.

The whole process is a lot easier that I make it sound and is not general to one type of business or geared towards any one solution.

Blog/YouTube Stats and Thanks!

Since many of you are focused on taxes and making plans for EMV, I wanted to say "thank-you" to the 300+ businesses and organizations that contacted me in 2014 and were kind enough to let me know what you ended up purchasing. Your feedback helps me stay on top of what the popular solutions are as well as gleaning feedback on service and support.

My calculations indicate that you folks have gone on to spend over $2M in various POS solutions.

Please visit my contact page for information on how to reach me.

Which Point of Sale System is Best for You?

Tough question as the answer varies depending on several factors like:

• Type of business
• Type of products and services sold
• Annual sales volume
• Location
• Technical knowledge of the leadership team
• Growth plans
• Existing technology in place and how long the existing technology has been used

Really a short answer isn't possible without learning more about your business or organization. While it would be nice to provide a short answer - the short answer would likely not be very helpful and may send you down the wrong path.

Best bet is to contact me for unbiased point of sale advice, attend one of my point of sale workshops, or even watch my YouTube videos which cover multiple aspects of searching for a new or upgraded point of sale system.

Are you  in the US and in need of no cost retail point of sale advice?  I'm happy to help and can be reached on my cell at 208-340-5632 (I am on Mountain Time) or via email at kevinantosh@gmail.com. There is also a contact form to the right that can be used to reach me.

Thoughts on News from NRF Big Show 2015

So I have been sorting through all the news that came out of the NRF Big Show for 2015 and there sure was a lot of news (Oracle entering an agreement to acquire MICROS) and cool new products and applications related to point of sale systems, data mining, social media marketing, electronic signage, and related hardware. However, just about everything that I have read so far applies mainly to larger chains.

While larger chain retail stores and restaurants are attractive from a revenue standpoint, my experience has been that there are more single location independently owned retail stores, museums, restaurants, bars, food trucks, and concession stands in the US by number. I'm talking about the typical "mom and pop" business with one to five locations that generate $250,000 to $800,000 in annual gross sales per location.

Looking at my database of over 4000 businesses (which I never share with anyone unless they ask me to),  90% are "mom and pop" businesses while the rest are chains with 16-300 locations. The 90% still need affordable point of sale systems that do everything that a point of sale system designed for a chain can do. 

Since these businesses have the same technology needs as the larger chains but don't have the revenue to justify spending $20,000+ on point of sale systems and related technology, I'm concerned that this segment of the market is becoming under-served to the point that the only point of sale systems on the market will not provide everything that these business owners need (or worse, come with requirements that take away precious revenue).

10 years ago over 10 different point of sale systems existed that had total costs well under $6,000 and provided everything that a single location (or small chain) business needed. Now, a business owner is hard pressed to find anything under $10,000 that doesn't come with contracts or similar that takes revenue away. Even more concerning is the lack of interest many local-based point of sale dealers/partners have expressed to me in serving the "mom and pop" segment of the market.

While mobile solutions like Bindo Point of Sale and NCR Silver are great - they don't yet offer full functionality for businesses that have more complex technology needs like locally hosted databases, jobber parts, backording, or employee scheduling.

Hopefully I missed the news specific to point of sale solutions for "mom and pop" businesses!

Obviously anyone with news or information about point sale solutions that meets the needs of these "mom and pop" businesses is welcomed to contact me and I will be happy to post information about your solution.  Your businesses must be located in the United State or Canada and have an existing active customer base.

Point of Sale Trends - Who Wants to Sell to You & What Are Your Options?

I have taken some time to chat with different point of sale dealers/partners that have physical presences and sell point of sale systems both online and locally. There are some noteworthy trends taking place related to business plans, solutions, and target market segments that might be of interest to you. I will break it down by gross annual sales volume so you can skip to the section that applies to your business or organization. Note that this applies to everyone and is not just specific to retail stores, museums, restaurants, bars, concession stands, venues, or similar.

Under $100,000 in Gross Annual Sales:

• Cash Register
• Square

Basically businesses and organizations with this low of a sales volume really can't afford to spend much more than $200-$1500 on a cash register or point of sale system.  Most of these cash register and point of sale solutions are found online but some areas do have local dealers but plan on paying an additional hourly labor rate for any onsite training, setup, or support services. Most companies that I spoke with prefer that these systems be sold online and direct to the end user.

$100,000 to $300,000 in Gross Annual Sales:

• Cash Register
• Tablet/Mobile Point of Sale System
• Point of Sale System with a Monthly "pay as you use it" Fee

This segment of the market has become increasingly competitive with numerous iOS, Android, and even Windows systems on the market designed to run on mobile devices like tablets and smart phones. Nearly all of these systems use a "pay as you use it" pricing plan which is easy on your budget (think of it as another utility bill) and normally includes support and updates in the monthly fee.   Most companies that I spoke with prefer that these systems be sold online and direct to the end user.

Make sure that you watch out for hidden fees in the contracts and ensure that your EMV hardware needs will be taken care of since our EMV Liability shift date is coming up in October 2015.  Also make sure that you are working with something that does not lock you in to a long term merchant services contract as this will cost you dearly in the long run.

$300,000 to $800,000 in Gross Annual Sales:

• Tablet/Mobile Point of Sale System
• Bundled Computer Based Point of Sale System 

You folks are in a tough position. Your business may have feature/function needs that require more that what the tablet or mobile point of sale systems offer but you likely don't have $8,000 - $20,000 to spend on a full blown computer based point of sale system. You may also have noticed that your local point of sale dealer/partner is only interested in working with businesses with multiple locations and not single location businesses.  This is due to the simple reason that selling mobile point of sale solutions with monthly "pay as you use it" pricing plans or $8,000 computer based point of sale systems don't generate any profit while selling $20,000+ point of sale systems to large single location businesses or business with multiple locations does generate a profit.

You will likely be able to find online point of sale companies willing to sell you a 'bundled' system online and then you take care of setting up the system yourself or hire a local technician.

To be honest - many of the point of sale companies, partners, VAR's and dealerships that I spoke with are not planning on providing anything for this segment of the market. I understand the reasoning but it seems like this is leaving folks with these sizes of businesses and organizations with limited options - especially if any sort of onsite services are needed.

Hopefully someone will come up with the right type of solution that offers all the features/functions that businesses and organizations in this market segment need as well as any onsite support services. I was part of a company that launched $2995.00 bundled point of sale systems in the late 1990's so I'm sure that a $5995.00 bundled system would sell well today and you simply add on optional bundles for services like training, onsite setup, and ongoing support/

$800,000+ in Gross Annual Sales:

Basically - anyone and everyone with a point of sale system wants to work with you. Unless you have real basic technology needs, you will likely want to go through a local point of sale dealer/partner who can sit down with you to learn more about your business and what you need in a point of sale system.  Make sure that you take time to find a system that meets your present and future needs as well as a point of sale partner/dealer that can provide the support and service that you need.

Overall Summary:

So, obviously, there are some market segments that are likely going to be under-served for the time being while other segments will be receiving lots of cold calls from salespeople!

The good news is that I don't care what your volume is. I have worked with business and organizations with 1 location and annual gross sales as low as $18,000 to chains with several hundred locations and multi-million dollar per location annual gross sales.

Are you  in the US and in need of no cost retail point of sale advice?  I'm happy to help and can be reached on my cell at 208-340-5632 (I am on Mountain Time) or via email at kevinantosh@gmail.com. There is also a contact form to the right that can be used to reach me.

Christmas Blessings and Happy New Year!

I wanted to take moment and thank everyone that contacted me in 2014. It has been a true blessing that I am able to continue to offer free advice and direction for those of you searching for point of sale systems for retail stores, museums, restaurants, bars, concession stands, venues and food trucks.

I sincerely hope that you take some time to reflect on 2014 and are keeping Christ in Christmas!

There is a still a lot on my plate as 2015 brings new point of sale solutions from Microsoft and EMV compliance becomes important to anyone and everyone who accepts credit and debit cards as payment for products and services.

As time allows, I will continue to keep tabs on the more popular solutions like Bindo POS, Retail Pro, NCR Silver, Lightspeed, MICROS, and Sapphire as well as the many other POS of sale systems on the market.

Christmas Blessings!

Which Locales Can I Help

Just a quick note that I am only able to help folks whose business or organization are located in the United States or Canada. Due to differences in currency, tax structures, areas that software is sold and supported, and grammar/languages, I'm not familiar with the various point of sale systems sold outside of the US and Canada.

Why You Should Be Avoiding Clover, HarborTouch & QuickBooks Point of Sale

As I am now receiving near daily calls and emails from folks considering the Clover point of sale solution, I wanted to explain why you should not be considering point of sale systems like Square, Clover, HarborTouch, and QuickBooks point of sale.

The only assumptions I am making is that your business is generating at least $60,000 in annual gross sales and 90% of payment is made using debit or credit cards.

When you purchase a point of sale system that requires you to use one specific company for merchant services, you are at the mercy of that company when it comes to the rates that they charge you for merchant services. What I have seen happen time and time again is that these companies will raise your rates every 90 days or so.

While paying 1/2% more in merchant service fees (which is what seems to be the norm with these companies) may not seem like much - lets see how that adds up over 5 years.

If your business processes $200,000 in debit and credit card transactions annually the 1/2% is $1000/year so you could easily end up paying $4000+ in excessive merchant services fees over the course of 5 years.

I don't know about you but I would rather have that money as profit!

Are you  in the US and in need of no cost retail point of sale advice?  I'm happy to help and can be reached on my cell at 208-340-5632 (I am on Mountain Time) or via email at kevinantosh@gmail.com. There is also a contact form to the right that can be used to reach me.

Upcoming Free Point of Sale Workshop

A quick note that my next Free Point of Sale Workshop is being held in Boise on September 16th at 2pm. We will be covering the following topics:

• Whats new in the POS world
• What to choose: a point of sale system that runs on a computer or on a mobile device
• How much do point of sale systems cost
• What to look for in a point of sale vendor
• EMV and what it means to you
• "Gotchas" related to support, merchant services, and more

Each attendee will also be able to complete a Return on Investment worksheet to help determine your point of sale budget.

All of this is accomplished in a vendor neutral environment.

Here is a link to more information as well as registration information:
https://business.idahosbdc.org/workshop.aspx?ekey=40340053

This workshop normally runs around 90 minutes to 2 hours depending on how many questions folks have at the end of the workshop.

If you have questions or are interested in having me conduct this workshop at your event or for your organization, I can be reached using the contact form to the right, via email at kevinantosh@gmail.com or on my cell at 208.340.5632.

Point of Sale Buying Tip: What are "Workarounds"?

If you have ever taken on the task of shopping for a computer or tablet/smartphone point of sale system for your business or organization, you may have asked if the system can perform a specific function and the response was "no but there is a 'workaround'".

If you already have a point of sale system, you may have been told the same thing if you asked about something that you want the system to do for you.  So what the heck is a "workaround"?

Workarounds are creative ways to make your point of sale system do something that it was not officially designed to do. The most common requests are feature/function related like the following:

• Gift Registries
• Special Orders
• Return to Vendor/Return to Manufacture
• Food Waste
• Transfers Between Locations
• Consignment Sales
• Bar Tabs
• Order Sequencing

There are plenty more that I have been asked about over the last 15 years but the above are the most common.

Here are some things to keep in mind if you receive a workaround related answer to a "can the system do XYZ?" question:

1. Have the technician or sales rep show you how the workaround would function in a liver version of the point of sale system.
2. Make sure that the workaround does not effect other aspects of the system.
1. ie - causing inaccurate reports
2. ie - you can use the layaway function for a gift registry but what happens if you also need to use the layaway function for actual layaways?
3. Make sure the workaround does not negatively effect any financial data

I hope that helps! Please visit my contact page for information on how to reach me.

Yes - I Help Food Services Related Businesses as Well

I've made some minor changes to this blog site and my YouTube channel to remove most of the references to being just retail and museum specific. This change was prompted due to the fact that I have been receiving an equal number of calls and emails from retail and food service related businesses. I will work on creating more news and information specific to food service businesses as well as retail stores and museums (like what the heck is going on with Aldelo?!?!).

In the meantime, if you are in need of some free impartial point of sale advice, are located in the US, and have (or will open) one of the following types of businesses listed below, see the various ways to contact me to the right.

• Specialty Retail
• Retail Chains of 2-75 locations
• Museums of all sizes
• Quick Serve Restaurants
• Sit Down/Table Serve Restaurants
• Counter Serve Restaurants
• Company Employee Stores
• Cafeterias
• Concession Stands
• Venues
• Food Trucks
• Kiosk, seasonal, or 'pop-up' businesses
• Retail and Restaurant Franchises
• So...just about anyone who isn't a large scale chain like Sears, Home Depot, or Denny's.

Why Won't a Retail Point of Sale System Work in a Food Service Business?

With both retail and restaurant management experience as well previously providing point of sale solutions to both retail stores and food service businesses, I am often asked what the main differences are between a point of sale system designed for retail and a point of sale system designed for food service.

The reality is that there are a lot of differences but is also depends on what type of food service business you have. Here are the key differences on what makes a food service point of sale system unique (with the biggest items in bold as it would apply to nearly all food service businesses):

• Tabs
• Split checks
• Modifiers (ie: extra mayo, extra shot of espresso, no pickles)
• Tracking food cost
• Tracking labor cost
• Tracking food waste
• Customer counts
• Table map
• Remote kitchen, bar, and prep station printers
• Reservations
• Tip (how the payment is processed to include letting the guest/customer add a tip)

Not a comprehensive list but enough to give you an understanding of some of the key differences.

If you are in the United States and in need of some free point of sale related advice or help,  you can reach me via the contact form to the right, via email at kevinantosh@gmail.com or on my cell at 208-340-5632.  Over the last 15 years I have helped thousands of folks find the best point of sale solution for their business or organization.

Point of Sale Buying Tip: Dealing With New Products

It can be time consuming to find just the right point of sale solution for your specialty retail store, restaurant, bar, or similar business. A recent websearch shows that there are well over 100+ point of sale apps and software programs to choose from!  A websearch also shows that there are a lot of new programs and apps available.

Over the last 14 years I have seen multiple point of sale solutions come and go (anyone remember Regit2000?). The most common scenario is that someone develops a point of sale solution and then loses interest in continuing to support and develop the solution. Orphaned customers using discontinued solutions made up a good portion of my business when I worked in the point of sale industry.

Here are some things to consider/ask when dealing with newer point of sale programs and apps:

• What sort of funding does the company have?
• Staffing levels for support and development (stay away from 1-2 person operations working out of their basement or garage)?
• What is the timeline to product updates, new features, improvements, etc.?
• How is technical support handled and what are the average response times?
• When possible, see a live demo of the software to look for how quickly the software functions. Slow response times within the software (or app) are signs of poor coding within the software.
• Always get 2-3 references to contact as well as any valid reviews to read.
• If available, a free trial or demo of the solution is good as well since it allows you to take the program for a test drive and shows confidence on the companies part in the solution that they are offering.
• Will I always have access to my information (inventory items, customer information, etc.)?

This is not a comprehensive list by any means - feel free to comment or email me (kevinantosh@gmail.com) with your own suggestions. 

Micros E7 and 3700 Review

Over the last 14+ years I have mainly focused on Retail and Museum point of sale solutions but I have also had some experience with a couple of the solutions from Micros. Here are my thoughts specific to working with the e7 and 3700 solutions from Micros:

The Good:

• Solid solutions designed for any food or liquor service business
• Well designed hardware
• Flexible when it comes to programming
• Extensive reporting
• Large customer base

 The OK:

• Have to use their hardware and peripherals
• Not a "do it yourself" solution - lots of initial training and on-going support
• Somewhat traditional - not a forward thinking company (eg. last on the market with tablet solutions)
• Lots of add-ons allow the system to work in hospitals, hotels, and venues like event centers

The Needs to be Improved:

• Expensive!
• If you have issues with your Micros dealer/partner it is very difficult to switch to a new dealer/partner as Micros assigns protected territories
• Expensive to make changes (eg. changing who handles your credit and debit card processing)

Summary and Note for folks in Idaho and Oregon:

Micros has been like a 3M in the point of sale world. Solid and reliable but expensive and not the "latest and greatest".  Of note, the 2 Micro's technicians servicing Micros customers in eastern Oregon and all of southern and eastern Idaho have quit so I'm not sure what level of service Micros customers in these areas are receiving currently.

If you are one of those customers, please do contact me and let me know. If you are searching for a point of sale solution for your restaurant or bar from a local company with local service (and multiple customers throughout Idaho) please let me know and I can put in touch with them.

Are you in the US and in need of no cost retail point of sale advice? I'm happy to help and can be reached on my cell at 208-340-5632 (mountain time) or via email at kevinantosh@gmail.com.

Review of Spark Solutions Group/Cowans Restaurant Soluitions

Update June 2016: RITE Solutions has officially expanded to offer retail point of sale systems in the markets formally served by DirectPOS/RVP Business Systems. The includes the states of Idaho, Utah, Montana, Wyoming, Nevada, California, Oregon and Washington with a special focus on the Boise, ID, Salt Lake City, UT and Spokane, WA markets.

Back in September of 2013, the point of sale company that I used to work for, DirectPOS, sold their customer lists to One Step Retail Solutions and Spark Solutions Group/Cowans Restaurant Solutions. I wanted to pass along some feedback from former DirectPOS customers specific to Spark Solutions Group/Cowans Restaurant Solutions. Unfortunately the feedback has been mostly negative.

• Local techs have all quit
• No local support like we used to have
• No commitment to helping customers
• No local presence
• I've already switched to Khamu Solutions as they can offer me local support and training
• Keep pushing me off to a call center for support even though my business is near their office
• Expensive

I wish that I had better reviews/comments to pass along - especially since there are hundreds of businesses using the Micro's solution from DirectPOS.

Are you in the US and in need of no cost retail point of sale advice? I'm happy to help and can be reached on my cell at 208-340-5632 (mountain time) or via email at kevinantosh@gmail.com.

Update 24.April.2013:  Since Jason C. posted his comment and offered to to speak with unhappy customers I have not heard any additional complaints related to Cowans/Sparks.  The same can not be said about One Step Retail Solutions.

Review of Aldelo Point of Sale Software

I've worked with the Aldelo point of sale software back to when it was branded as NextPOS and QuickPOS so I thought that I should share some of my experiences with the program.

The Good:

• Windows-based so no unique hardware requirements like Micro's has
• Simple to learn and use
• Flexible for different types of bars and food service related businesses
• Very affordable

The OK:

• Reasonable reporting and menu changing functions with proper training
• Basic functions for pizza and delivery businesses
• Does a good job of handling special functions like split checks, loyalty and discounting
• Confusing support options

The Less than OK:

• Can go too in depth when it comes to food cost
• Limited ability to handle physical items (ie. gum and mints)
• Unclear future

Summary:

I really enjoyed working with the Aldelo solution and customers have had positive results using the software. However, times are changing and it appears that the software is slowly being phased out in favor of the XERA POS solution which incorporates mobiles devices and similar newer technology.

Are you in the US and in need of no cost retail point of sale advice? I'm happy to help and can be reached on my cell at 208-340-5632 (mountain time) or via email at kevinantosh@gmail.com.