The type of restaurant point-of-sale (POS) software you choose as a small business has the potential to massively affect almost all areas of your operations. From forecasting demands to running discounts, accepting payments and, most importantly, keeping your customers happy.
With the market offering 100s of POS systems, all claiming to be the best, it becomes overwhelming to choose the one best POS system for your small business. In this article, we will introduce you to the top 3 POS systems for small business restaurants and guide you through the qualities you should look for while making a choice.
Features a POS System Must Have
When selecting a POS system for small restaurant business, make sure it has the following features.
- Order Management - The system must allow simple order booking, tracking and amending.
- Table Management - Functionalities to manage tables, track open orders and split bills.
- Inventory Management - Track stock levels with ease and cut waste-related costs down to a minimum; make sure that popular items are never out of stock.
- CRM (Customer Relationship Management) - A POS system should be able to gather helpful customer information to provide specific insights into your business.
- Reporting and Analytics - Must be able to generate sales, inventory, staff performance reports, etc., for better business decisions.
- Payment Processing - The system should offer a number of different payment methods, such as credit/debit card payments, mobile-based transactions and other available options.
- Usability - Your POS should be easy to use so your staff can quickly pick up how to use it.
- Reporting - Should provide detailed reports on everything related to sales, profits and customer behaviour.
- Price - The system should be affordable for your small business budget.
- Scalable - A small business can quickly become a large business. Therefore, you need a system that is easily scalable.
Top POS Solutions for Small Restaurant Businesses
Based on the above-mentioned selection criteria, here are the top 3 POS systems for small businesses.
3S POS
3S POS emerges as the best POS system for small restaurants, tailored for small businesses looking to streamline operations. It offers well-crafted features to address modern restaurant requirements such as order management, user ordering and reporting. This system is specifically designed for restaurants.
Key Features
- Advanced Order Management - Configure unlimited order types like dine-in, takeout or delivery.
- Online Ordering Integration - Integrates directly into online ordering services without brokers.
- Table Management - Graphical table layout management with real-time updates of table status.
- Inventory Management - Keep track of inventory in real-time, get low stock alerts before you run out and avoid waste while controlling costs.
- Comprehensive Reporting - Detailed reports related to the performance of items, most popular SKUs sold in a particular season or within customer preferences and management of employees.
Pricing
Custom pricing that scales with the needs of your business.
Pros
- Scalable and adjustable to any restaurant format.
- Specifically designed for restaurants.
- It comes in both configurations — standalone and as a part of EPOS — the complete IT solution for restaurants with a number of different modules, including an online ordering system, a handheld ordering system, a kitchen display system, tableside ordering, QR ordering and more.
- Solid customer support.
- Easy to train staff on how to use.
- Integrated payment solutions allow you to process transactions from almost all payment gateways — debit/credit cards, eWallets (ApplePay, GooglePay) and contactless payments.
- Detailed reports on inventory, employees, sales and customers.
- 100% white label, fully customisable.
- Affordable.
Cons
- Takes thorough planning for deployment.
Customer Reviews
3S POS consistently receives high praise in customer reviews for its functionality, especially the seamless integration with your EPOS of a complete restaurant portal designed to simplify operations and improve service levels within restaurants.
Square
Square is a popular choice among small restaurant owners due to its ease of use. Square includes powerful order management, table management and inventory tracking modules.
Key Features
- Menu Item Rebranding - Customisation of menus, prices and modifiers with ease.
- Multichannel Order Management - Single interface for online and in-store orders.
- Integrated Payments - Contactless payment options; enjoy a range of digital wallets for smooth and fast transaction processing.
- Comprehensive Reporting - In-depth sales, employee and inventory-level reporting.
Pricing
- Its free basic plan has no monthly charges.
- The Plus Plan, which costs £60/month per location and includes features like live sales reports and team management.
Pros
- Easy to set up and use.
- Cost-effective price for small businesses with budget constraints.
- Strong customer support.
Cons
- Customisation limitations.
- The free version is very basic; you will have to pay for premium plans to use most of the features.
Customer reviews
Most users praise the affordable and easy-to-use solution, but customers have reported that it’s difficult to mitigate errors as the customer support is a bit hit-and-miss.
Toast POS
Toast POS is a popular and leading restaurant-focused, cloud-based provider rivalling that of Square. It delivers powerful order management capabilities along with kitchen operations and customer engagement tools.
Key Features
- Built-in Table Management - Graphic table management interface with live status updates.
- Live Inventory Management - Solid inventory management system.
- Guest Engagement - Comprehensive CRM software to develop and maintain customer relationships.
- Online Orders - A complete, all-in-one solution for accepting both online and offline orders.
Pricing
- The starter plan is free for Toast payments to process.
- The Essentials Plan - £165/month (includes all features in the starter plan, plus online ordering and gift cards).
Pros
- Quickly adaptable to any type of restaurant.
- Powerful customer engagement and loyalty functionalities.
- Comprehensive inventory management.
Cons
- Can be high priced for start-ups and small businesses.
- May need to commit to a long-term contract.
Customer reviews
Most customers praise the solid inventory management and CRM features but complain about it being excessively expensive.
Conclusion
Ultimately the answer to what is the best POS system for a small restaurant depends on your unique requirements. To make the right choice for your small business, it’s crucial to consider the features, costs and quality of different POS systems available on the market.
With its integrated online ordering, real-time order management and tailor-made solutions for small restaurants, 3S POS remains the top choice. Square and Toast POS are also solid options; however, they do come with some drawbacks.
For almost 20 years, 3S POS has offered one of the most flexible EPOS systems to international brands such as Caffe Concerto, Chaiiwala, Heavenly Desserts, Pepe’s Piri Piri, GDK and thousands more delighted customers.
If you are looking for an Restaurant POS System that will not just help you accept payments but includes inventory management, multi-site management, loyalty programs, and much more, speak to our sales for a free demo.