POS Software Blog

The cash register was invented in 1879 by James Ritty.  James Ritty was a saloonkeeper in Dayton, OH whose bartenders often pocketed the profits instead of turning them over to their boss.  James’ brother John was a mechanic who helped him design the first, most basic of cash registers to preserve profits in their saloon.  The original device did not even provide a drawer for storing cash.  It consisted of a series of keys that represented specific amounts of money.  The concept came to Ritty while he was on a steamboat trip to Europe.  He found himself intrigued by a device that counted the number of rotations in the ship’s propeller.  Brilliant!

In 2011, the National Coffee Association reported there were 22,549 coffee shops in the USA.  This was an 18.4% increase in the number of stores over the previous 3 years.  We are clearly a nation that loves our java.  More importantly, we love the charm and atmosphere provided by these coffee shops and tea houses that seem to appear on every street corner.  We love the aroma, the décor and the trendy music playing in the background.  As a society, we love the entire coffee shop experience.

Private clubs come in a variety of shapes and sizes.  Some provide activities for members such as golf, swimming, tennis, hunting, boating, etc.  Others simply provide an exclusive and unique ambiance where members can relax and enjoy a cocktail, a cigar or a great meal.  Many clubs provide a combination of the luxuries mentioned above.  Although private clubs are non-profit organizations, they are faced with many of the same business challenges that for-profit businesses face on a daily basis.  Private clubs also introduce some other business challenges that are unique to that market segment.

A couple of vertical markets have managed to perform extremely well during this prolonged economic downturn.  It seems that consumers have continued to spend money on their pets and their kids regardless of the situation.  I suppose it makes sense that people continue to invest in what makes them happy and what brings them the most joy and satisfaction in their lives.  Hence, the pet industry and several industries that focus on children continue to experience growth.

One of these successful markets focused on the kids is the family fun center market.  Some larger franchise chains like Bounce U have continued to build new units across the U.S.  However, most of these family entertainment centers are local start-up entrepreneurs.  These business owners enjoy the satisfaction of serving their communities while earning reasonable profits along the way.  Further, the concept comes with special perks like reasonable hours, a fun and playful atmosphere and far less headaches then running a restaurant or retail establishment.  No late nights.  No returns.  No liquor license required.

Restaurant operators were generally early adopters of POS technologies.  Even smaller independent owners and operators recognized the business benefits of an automated POS solution.  Both full service restaurants and quick service establishments jumped on the POS bandwagon early and often to maximize efficiencies and control costs in their operations.

When you think about the overall customer experience as it pertains to your business, naturally the first component that comes to mind is your staff.  I would agree that the most critical component that impacts the customer experience is the ability of your staff to interact with your customers in a way that meets your standards of quality.  These interactions should reflect your brand, your mission and to some degree, your personality as the leader of your organization.

When I was in restaurant management, there was nothing more important to me than speed of service.  Several factors came into play when striving to be a leader in this area.  Some of these factors included operational issues such as employee training, the physical layout of the operation, procedures in place, attitude and proficiency and finally, technology.  In the 1990’s when my restaurant deployed a computerized point-of-sale (POS) system, speed of service was suddenly easier to achieve with each and every visitor.