A table service POS gives restaurant owners greater control over operations, costs, and customer service. By streamlining table management, ordering, payments, kitchen communication, inventory, and labor, the right POS helps owners reduce waste, improve efficiency, increase revenue, and deliver consistently better guest experiences.
Customer service is the lifeblood of the table service industry. In order to provide the best experience for your customers while operating cost-effectively, you need smooth, consistent processes. With the right table service POS system, you’ll be able to manage these five areas of your business easily and efficiently and increase customer satisfaction.
1. Take Table Management to a New Level
Managing tables from a screen is a big step up from a write-on, wipe-off sheet on the host or hostess station. It lets your team see exactly which tables are available in each section, which will soon become available, and how many tables are assigned to each server so you can balance their workloads. Software also helps you collect data that helps you monitor table turns so that your team can plan better and give guests accurate wait time estimates. And, when you have a tablet POS system, your host or hostess can keep all of that information with them as they work.
2. Bring POS Functions to the Table
With a sleek, mobile device running POS software, servers have all the functionality they need right in their hands to place an order. No running back and forth to a stationary terminal is necessary. Orders are more accurate because they don’t have to rely on their memories or handwritten notes to get orders to the kitchen.
A tablet POS system can also integrate with a kitchen display system (KDS) to instantly tell each prep station what to fire or tell the bar which drinks to mix, even before customers finish placing their orders. Servers have more face time with guests, appetizers are ready sooner, hungry guests spend less time waiting, and, often, tips are bigger because of great service.
And with the right tablet POS system, your servers can do more. The system can help them increase ticket size by upselling and cross-selling. The tablet POS solution puts all the information they need to suggest sides and drinks based on the customer’s order. It can increase ticket size, but it can also make sure guests have everything they need for the ultimate dining experience. mPOS also allows servers to accept payments right at the table. The table service POS system will allow servers to split, combine, and transfer checks to another table. It can even let your servers split the cost of a shareable appetizer between several people. You can also give guests options for how to pay with a system that allows you to accept cards, mobile wallets, and cash, so payment is fast, easy, and convenient for customers and less stressful for your team.
3. Automate Communication between the Front and Back of House
Using a table service POS, servers can send orders directly to a kitchen display system (KDS). Your new workflow becomes:
- Server takes the order at the table
- Each part of the order immediately goes to the right food prep station through the KDS
- The KDS times prep so all parts of the order, from drinks and appetizers to the entree and desserts, are ready at the right time for all guests at the table
- Your team spends less time looking for missing parts of the order and dealing with mistimed prep
- The front and back of house work like a well-oiled machine
There’s another advantage to having a kitchen automation system fully integrated with your table service POS: Data. Tracking numbers like which orders take longer, which menu items are the biggest risk for time and mistakes, and even which servers and kitchen staff are the most productive will make managing your restaurant easier and more profitable.
4. Streamline Inventory Management
According to Nation’s Restaurant News, menu prices have increased 3.8% to keep up with rising food costs. But you know controlling those prices is the key to keeping your customers coming back. Tracking inventory, including how much you use versus how much you waste, can help you control food costs and improve margins while you control menu prices.
Detailed reporting from the data you collect with a mobile solution can also help you maintain the right levels of inventory based on demand and what’s on the menu. It takes the guesswork out of menu planning, budgeting for inventory, and holding onto more margin.
5. Optimize Labor
In a busy restaurant, every second counts. It’s not just about quick service. It’s about labor costs. The National Restaurant Association reports that labor costs for full-service restaurants increased to 36.5% of sales last year, up from 33% in 2016. With tablet POS, you can increase employee productivity because they aren’t running back and forth to shared terminals, to the kitchen or bar to place orders, and back and forth when they take payments. A mobile system lets them save time and lets you get the most from labor on each shift. It may even be able to allow you to schedule fewer servers, helping to protect your bottom line.
Employees can also clock in and out on your POS system, showing exactly when they’re working and helping you avoid the high costs of overtime.
Your Restaurant Concept, Only Better
You know that managing a successful restaurant is an art and a science. You need to balance costs and streamline work while delivering customer experiences that make your restaurant the first choice for a night out. A table service POS system with the features you need to run your business will make reaching those goals easier.
Contact us to learn how Reflection POS can help you run a restaurant that your guests will love and that gives you a healthier bottom line.
