The POS market has become saturated in recent years. While you have more options to choose from than ever before, there is a downside to this unprecedented level of choice. With so many options available, it’s often difficult to determine which POS system will be the best fit for your bar or restaurant.
There is significant research indicating that too much choice can be paralyzing. In his TED Talk, psychologist Barry Schwartz explained the downsides of excessive options. In addition to being paralyzing, it can lead to greater levels of dissatisfaction. When deciding between over 40 POS systems, you’re likely to have a great deal of uncertainty regarding the specific features that are most important for your needs. As a result, it can lead you to have doubts about whether you’ve made the right decision.
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Beyond this detailed back-end reporting, the specific features that are valuable to you will be dictated by the type of establishment you operate. For example, ordering integration to make online orders from Grub Hub, Uber Eats and other delivery apps run smoothly may be important to a pizza restaurant or any establishment with a large volume of takeout business. Bars in college towns, on the other hand, may want to prioritize a POS that makes it easy to split checks.
The items discussed above fall in the category of “nice to have” features. They add value to your business and would potentially be a deciding factor between systems where many of the other features are roughly the same. However, if you find a feature that can make your bar more money, it should rise to the top of your list of items you value in a new POS system.
At Bar-i, we have experience working with bars that utilize a wide range of POS systems, and our software integrates with over 40 of the most common POS options. Based on this experience, we’ve found that the single most important feature a POS system can provide is the ability to ensure your drinks are sold at the correct price and can be accurately tracked for level 3 inventory (comparing what was poured vs sold to reduce shrinkage and improve profitability).
One of the most common problems with POS systems involves a lack of granularity when generic modifiers are used. Often, the use of generic modifiers can lead to two serious problems:
Creating separate buttons for each of these types of drinks ensures that every cocktail you serve is priced appropriately, but it’s also a very labor-intensive and time-consuming process.
In addition, it requires constant maintenance. You have up to four buttons to update every time the cost of a bottle of liquor changes. For example, when your cost for a bottle of Jack Daniels rises from $25 to $28, you need to update the prices of your drinks accordingly to ensure you maintain your profit margin. To accomplish this, you must update the pricing for every POS button associated with that drink. This is extremely time-consuming and creates a lot of extra work for your staff, especially at a time when inflation is rampant and product costs are rising regularly.
Some POS systems have a feature that eliminates the need to program separate buttons for each pour size. Instead, you use one button per liquor type and can still get the accurate pricing and tracking data you need with modifier buttons. In our experience, we’ve found that SmartTab has created the most effective functionality for this solution.
The SmartTab feature leverages three important elements:
One of the nice features about the Bar-i inventory system is that our software automatically updates the prices of bottles every time you purchase an item. We’re currently working on a potential feature that allows Bar-i users who also use SmartTab as their POS to have these pricing updates get automatically sent to SmartTab as part of our integration with their POS. This would ensure that when the latest bottle prices are entered as part of our inventory audit process, your POS prices remain up to date as well.
Ensuring every ounce of alcohol is sold at the correct price and can be accurately tracked for level 3 inventory might be the most important feature your POS system can have. This feature results in higher profits by:
While there are other “nice to have” features which may impact your choice of POS system, none of those should be prioritized as highly as a feature which drives greater profits for your bar.
If you’d like to learn more about how Bar-i can streamline your operations and maximize your profitability, contact us today to schedule a free consultation. We serve bars and restaurants nationwide from our offices in Denver, Colorado.