The ROI in Café POS Solutions
There is nothing in the world like the charm of a small, independently owned and operated café. Small villages in Europe are lined with these small treasures. Most towns in America offer a fair share of these gems as well. Smaller cafes provide a warm intimacy that is very hard to come by in the larger chains. Each has its own persona in terms of ambience and menu offerings.
The entrepreneurs that own and operate these small cafes are faced with the same operational challenges that exist in the larger chains. They need to implement systems that preserve the profitability of the café to protect their hard work and investment in the facility. Among these internal systems is the POS (point-of-sale) solution.
Many café owners feel that modern automated café POS solutions are overkill for their small operations. Some see these POS solutions as an exuberant cost item that produces little or no value compared to a basic cash register. However, in today’s market, there are many POS systems that are both affordable and yet robust enough to ensure ROI for the small café owner. The key is finding the appropriate café POS solution that contains the features that provide ROI at the right price.
Some of the functions of today’s café POS solution that ensure the ROI for the owner are:
- Speed of Service – Transaction times are critical in a café particularly during peak periods. A well-designed and properly implemented café POS solution provides 1-3 second transaction times regardless of the payment method. The most sophisticated of cash registers cannot provide that level of service. Further, fine dining POS solutions fall short here as well. Many café operators select full hospitality POS solutions for their café. Generally, they find that it is not the right tool for the job and too many steps are required to process the simplest of transactions.
- Customer Loyalty Programs – Most successful cafes enjoy the luxury of customer loyalty simply due to their unique atmosphere and offering. However, in today’s climate, many consumers make value-driven decisions when selecting where to dine or where to enjoy their next cup of gourmet coffee. A solid café POS solution provides integrated customer loyalty programs that incentivize the value-minded customer to frequent independently owned cafes.
- Cash Controls – Well-designed café POS solutions provide complete cash controls that are far superior to those provided by a basic cash register. Cash reconciliation also becomes simpler with POS which saves time as well as labor dollars while providing full barista and cashier accountability.
- Integrated Marketing and Communication – Many café operators utilize powerful systems like Constant Contact to communicate with their customer base and market to prospective customers. However, when the marketing component is tied directly to the POS solution, the power of the delivery of the content is increased significantly. Offers and updates can be personalized and delivered based on preferences, history, buying habits, frequency of visit, etc. This is all powered by the data collected in the POS solution.
- Pricing Controls – Small cafes can lose significant amounts of revenue through errors in pricing, employee giveaways and ordering mistakes when antiquated systems are in place. Sound café POS solutions eliminate paper, handwriting, calculators and other potential points of failure when it comes to pricing controls. Over time, this can save a small café thousands of dollars.
There is often quite a bit more to consider when selecting the right café POS solution. As mentioned above, every café is unique which is what makes them so special and successful. Therefore, no 2 situations are exactly the same. For more items to consider when seeking the right café POS solution, download our free checklist that will help to guide you through the process.