Looking for Point of Sale System, Confused by the Options

[bodegahwy]

No question some customers are just looking for the cheapest pizza. I do not want their business because I can not earn a living chasing it.

$8 is still cheap pizza. The good news is that if you actually get the $8 instead of the $5 you can put a dollar back into the pizza, another dollar into marketing and still keep one more dollar per pie all while making one that is clearly better. That is the story you tell. Better, different, interesting, local, hand made, fresh…

If all you talk about is price you have two problems: 1. You are telling the customer that price is the only reason to buy from you and you can not win that game against the nationals and 2. You tend to attract the customer that is solely price motivated and actually turn off the one who is willing to pay more for a better product.

How do you get from where you are to “there”? Tough one. Not over night that is for sure. First: make your product better. Second, tell the story of why it is better. Third switch from absolute price/discount promotions to value added promotions. Fourth, charge what you need to.

There are VERY few examples of successful Indy stores in the $5 game. Mostly they post in the TT about how they are going out of business and then we never hear from them again.

[bodegahwy]

With caller ID (speeds up the process and eliminates basic mistakes) and online ordering we can run our biggest nights with one less phone person than we used to (had a high end POS then too). No question that saves us thousands each year alone. I can’t imagine how much additional front labor we would run writing out orders and adding them up!

The employee clock-in and wage reporting saves the manager/owner at least an hour a week they can spend on productive work. How much do you spend on order slips? If I had to buy two part or three part order slips they would cost me a thousand or two per year! How about employee mistakes on order entry & pricing. Funny how those mistakes tend not to be in the store’s favor isn’t it?

Look into leasing a system that really does all the things you want. Pay for it over three years.

[tmp]

Thank you.

I understand what you’re saying about the ability to put the $3 back into the business. That would be excellent.

To start making the product better, what can we do? There are people that already like the pizza, if we change the ingredients and change the pricing then there is a possibility even more customers will leave - or - it is possible it will drastically improve business. Either way, it is a risk. What is the least risky route to go?

When you say value added promotions, what do you mean by that?

Do you think more changes should go into the business first or do you think prices should increase first to then allow for more investment into the business? I’m assuming we would need to make the changes first and then raise the prices where people see everything is improving.

Thank you again.

[tmp]

@bodegahwy

With caller ID (speeds up the process and eliminates basic mistakes) and online ordering we can run our biggest nights with one less phone person than we used to (had a high end POS then too). No question that saves us thousands each year alone. I can’t imagine how much additional front labor we would run writing out orders and adding them up!

The employee clock-in and wage reporting saves the manager/owner at least an hour a week they can spend on productive work. How much do you spend on order slips? If I had to buy two part or three part order slips they would cost me a thousand or two per year! How about employee mistakes on order entry & pricing. Funny how those mistakes tend not to be in the store’s favor isn’t it?

Look into leasing a system that really does all the things you want. Pay for it over three years.

Thank you.

I think I am convinced on the online ordering. What I am still not convinced with is the more expensive system. What do you think the payments for leasing would be?

I am trying to help a friend, and I am worried what if changing the pricing, investing thousands into new equipment, and other upgrades goes wrong? How confident are you this will work? Again, currently no online ordering, no email marketing, no SMS marketing, no Facebook, etc. If we add all of that, increase pricing, send direct mail, and try to find other ways to improve the customer experience at the same time do you think it will work?

Thank you again.

[bodegahwy]

Somebody else chime in here. I am going home for the day and my fingers are tired!!

[tmp]

@bodegahwy

Somebody else chime in here. I am going home for the day and my fingers are tired!!

Thank you again for your help.

[Piper]

tmp, do not let my posts regarding issues with Point of Success online ordering sway your decision (you are probably referring to me when you said you saw users complain). My situation is due to the fact that the online system won’t work perfectly with the way my system is set up. If I was starting from scratch with Point of Success today it would not be an issue - I would tailor the menu to work with the Online Ordering module from the start.

The Online Ordering module is completely integrated with Point of Success - the orders will appear right on your makeline and inside of your POS.

By the way, if you’re interested in the service level of Point of Success, the owner of the company (Mr. Ward) phoned me directly shortly after I made a post complaining about the online ordering. He wanted to know exactly what the issue was and how they could correct it. Those guys are on their game; they are the best company I have ever worked with. They have helped me many times with things that they certainly didn’t have to.

I’ve yet to find anything the “top of the line” systems do that I need that Point of Success doesn’t at 1/4 of the price. You can build it yourself or have somebody do it for you, but it really isn’t technically difficult to put together your self. If you can network computers together using a router (which has become ridiculously simple in the past few years) and install software you can build your own Point of Success system.

You asked a lot of questions in your first post… I will try to answer a few of them as a user of the system:

• Point of Success doesn’t have built in e-mail marketing, but it has a field for an e-mail address for each customer. I wouldn’t want a built in system for e-mail marketing anyway. My point of sale system is a tracking and reporting system - a tool to be used in marketing - not a marketing system. I use Constant Contact for my e-mail marketing, because that’s a marketing system. What ever a POS company can put together for an e-mail marketing system is going to pale in comparison to Constant Contact, a company that specializes in e-mail marketing.

When I want to send an e-mail, I generate a report with the customers I want to send to and upload it to Constant Contact to send.

• I use Mercury and have never had an issue. I am at cost + 9 cents, which ends up being around 2% for all transactions.

• You can use PCCharge to integrate with any other processor that supports it. I think it’s just a one time fee to purchase the connector.

• You can still use Gift Cards and Loyalty through Mercury even if you don’t use them for processing, but it isn’t free. If you process with them, Gift Cards and Loyalty are free. I use Repeat Returns at the moment for my rewards program.

• The Epson TM-U220 is the work horse for kitchen printers, and the Epson TM88-III for receipt printers. You want thermal for receipts (faster, quieter) and impact for the kitchen (thermal paper will turn black with heat). My TM88-III had the Drawer Kick port failure, and I replaced it with a Star TSP-600 that has caused me nothing but problems. I’m going to buy another TM88-III.

• You also have the ability to ditch the kitchen printer and go with make line monitors. The Point of Success monitor is very nice, but we stick with paper tickets because of a large dine-in business. It’s just a lot easier to have individual chits for each item when food is at the pass.

• The cash drawer connects to the receipt printer via a telephone-like cable (it’s not a telephone cable, make sure you get the correct one for your printer.)

• Record Keeping/Database - Yes, you can search by phone number or anything else. All previous orders are available. Not only does Point of Success have one of the most robust report packages I’ve ever seen, but the report writer is included with the software. You can create your own reports, you can get someone like me to help you with them, or you can pay Inborne to make you one for a pretty reasonable price. If you can dream of a report that you want it can probably be done in under two hours. This is a very powerful feature of Point of Success.

The database is also thought out with well planned indexing, which results in a very “zippy” system.

• For your hardware questions, you can use USB, Ethernet or Serial for your printers - that’s up to what you purchase. You will install the driver on one computer and then share them across the network. Keep in mind that USB is only good for about 15 feet, so if your kitchen printer is going to have a long haul from the computer you should use Ethernet.

If you have any Point of Success questions just let me know… I love talking point of sale systems and I’m more familiar with PoS than a user probably should be

[tmp]

@Piper

tmp, do not let my posts regarding issues with Point of Success online ordering sway your decision (you are probably referring to me when you said you saw users complain). My situation is due to the fact that the online system won’t work perfectly with the way my system is set up. If I was starting from scratch with Point of Success today it would not be an issue - I would tailor the menu to work with the Online Ordering module from the start.

The Online Ordering module is completely integrated with Point of Success - the orders will appear right on your makeline and inside of your POS.

By the way, if you’re interested in the service level of Point of Success, the owner of the company (Mr. Ward) phoned me directly shortly after I made a post complaining about the online ordering. He wanted to know exactly what the issue was and how they could correct it. Those guys are on their game; they are the best company I have ever worked with. They have helped me many times with things that they certainly didn’t have to.

I’ve yet to find anything the “top of the line” systems do that I need that Point of Success doesn’t at 1/4 of the price. You can build it yourself or have somebody do it for you, but it really isn’t technically difficult to put together your self. If you can network computers together using a router (which has become ridiculously simple in the past few years) and install software you can build your own Point of Success system.

You asked a lot of questions in your first post… I will try to answer a few of them as a user of the system:

• Point of Success doesn’t have built in e-mail marketing, but it has a field for an e-mail address for each customer. I wouldn’t want a built in system for e-mail marketing anyway. My point of sale system is a tracking and reporting system - a tool to be used in marketing - not a marketing system. I use Constant Contact for my e-mail marketing, because that’s a marketing system. What ever a POS company can put together for an e-mail marketing system is going to pale in comparison to Constant Contact, a company that specializes in e-mail marketing.

When I want to send an e-mail, I generate a report with the customers I want to send to and upload it to Constant Contact to send.

• I use Mercury and have never had an issue. I am at cost + 9 cents, which ends up being around 2% for all transactions.

• You can use PCCharge to integrate with any other processor that supports it. I think it’s just a one time fee to purchase the connector.

• You can still use Gift Cards and Loyalty through Mercury even if you don’t use them for processing, but it isn’t free. If you process with them, Gift Cards and Loyalty are free. I use Repeat Returns at the moment for my rewards program.

• The Epson TM-U220 is the work horse for kitchen printers, and the Epson TM88-III for receipt printers. You want thermal for receipts (faster, quieter) and impact for the kitchen (thermal paper will turn black with heat). My TM88-III had the Drawer Kick port failure, and I replaced it with a Star TSP-600 that has caused me nothing but problems. I’m going to buy another TM88-III.

• You also have the ability to ditch the kitchen printer and go with make line monitors. The Point of Success monitor is very nice, but we stick with paper tickets because of a large dine-in business. It’s just a lot easier to have individual chits for each item when food is at the pass.

• The cash drawer connects to the receipt printer via a telephone-like cable (it’s not a telephone cable, make sure you get the correct one for your printer.)

• Record Keeping/Database - Yes, you can search by phone number or anything else. All previous orders are available. Not only does Point of Success have one of the most robust report packages I’ve ever seen, but the report writer is included with the software. You can create your own reports, you can get someone like me to help you with them, or you can pay Inborne to make you one for a pretty reasonable price. If you can dream of a report that you want it can probably be done in under two hours. This is a very powerful feature of Point of Success.

The database is also thought out with well planned indexing, which results in a very “zippy” system.

• For your hardware questions, you can use USB, Ethernet or Serial for your printers - that’s up to what you purchase. You will install the driver on one computer and then share them across the network. Keep in mind that USB is only good for about 15 feet, so if your kitchen printer is going to have a long haul from the computer you should use Ethernet.

If you have any Point of Success questions just let me know… I love talking point of sale systems and I’m more familiar with PoS than a user probably should be

Thank you for your help! You explained a lot to me. The hardware is starting to sound easier to install.

I am stuck between Point of Success and POS Pizza. They both seem good. Point of Success seems easier for the employees to learn.

I was told on the forum here that it is a good idea to have two systems. Therefore, we need:

2 Touchscreen Monitors
2 Computers
2 - 3 Receipt Printers
1 Cash Drawer

I’m seeing the following pricing online:

Epson TM-U220: $255 for Ethernet
Epson TM88-III: $144.99 for Serial or Parallel (Two would make it $289.98)
Computer: $188.88 (http://www.ebay.com/itm/Gateway-SX2110G-Desktop-Dual-Core-4GB-500GB-Windows-8-Black-Keyboard-Mouse-/281167978364?pt=Desktop_PCs&hash=item4176eadf7c) Two would be $377.76

I’m missing the cash drawer and two touchscreen systems. What do you recommend? I’m looking for one that is practical for a pizzeria, but affordable. (I’m seeing some new around $200 but they’re for home use. I’m not sure if they can handle grease, etc.)

So far, excluding the two touchscreens and cash drawer, we’re at $922.74.

Then, we have the cost of Point of Success:

$599 for Software
$199 for Online Ordering
$150 for Online Ordering Setup
$299 for Caller ID
Total: $1,247

Total Excluding Two Touchscreens and Cash Drawer: $2,169.74

In your opinion, is this setup better than those iPad Point of Sale systems?

Also, I see “Technical Requirements” on the hardware requirements page, and it is talking about things I am not familiar with. Is that anything to worry about?

Do you see a problem running this on a Windows 8 computer?

Is anti-virus necessary even if the computer isn’t used for Internet other than the normal Point of Sale functions?

What do you mean by at cost + 9 cents? There isn’t a flat rate percentage for processing, there is a fee of 9 cents on every order? What do you mean by “at cost”?

Thank you so much!! I am really hoping it will work out either with Point of Success or POS Pizza since the other systems are too expensive. We can always upgrade to one of them when sales increase.

Thank you again.

[Piper]

@tmp

Thank you for your help! You explained a lot to me. The hardware is starting to sound easier to install.

The hardware is extremely easy to install.

I am stuck between Point of Success and POS Pizza. They both seem good. Point of Success seems easier for the employees to learn.

I don’t know anything about POS Pizza so I can’t really help with that decision. I will say there is a large contingent of rabid Point of Success lovers right here on this very forum. The software is slick, and the customer service is second to none.

From a purely superficial standpoint, I think POS Pizza is ugly where the Point of Success user interface looks like a work of art.

Epson TM-U220: $255 for Ethernet
Epson TM88-III: $144.99 for Serial or Parallel (Two would make it $289.98)
Computer: $188.88 (http://www.ebay.com/itm/Gateway-SX2…1167978364?pt=Desktop_PCs&hash=item4176eadf7c) Two would be $377.76

That computer looks like it will work just fine. Heck, it’s got more beef than my current server running 4 terminals. Edit: After further inspection, I think the processor and hard drive on that computer are a little weak… I’d spend a few extra bucks on a speedier computer.

Do not get a Serial or Parallel for your receipt printer - your new computer isn’t going to have Serial or Parallel ports! That’s why that printer is so cheap; you need to get a USB or Ethernet. Just remember that an additional Ethernet is going to take another port on the router and another Cat5 run.

I’m missing the cash drawer and two touchscreen systems. What do you recommend? I’m looking for one that is practical for a pizzeria, but affordable. (I’m seeing some new around $200 but they’re for home use. I’m not sure if they can handle grease, etc.)

I would not get a touchscreen meant for home use. Pay the money and get a good Elo. It will probably run you around $500.

I only have one touchscreen in my store (at the front counter) the others are standard monitor and mouse. I always intended to upgrade to touchscreens, but it works just fine the way it is and I prefer money in my pocket.

Considering you are only going to have two terminals, I would recommend you just do a mouse and keyboard at the one that isn’t at the front counter. You’re going to need a computer to be your Office Manager for reports and stuff, and nobody wants to type in a name, address, delivery instructions, etc, on a touchscreen. If you’re going to have a keyboard there anyway for that, you might as well just put a mouse next to it and save the money on the touchscreen.

In your opinion, is this setup better than those iPad Point of Sale systems?

I am not nearly ready to accept the idea of my Point of Sale system being cloud based, so yes I believe it is a better set up. I’m not comfortable with it from a technical standpoint, a reliability standpoint, or a business standpoint. If Inborne decides to close up shop I still have a fully functional Point of Sale system with all of my data secure and intact. What happens if one of the cloud based operators decides to close up shop?

For something this important, I want my system 100% internal and my 10 years worth of data to be within arms reach. I know Lavu offers a local server option, but it starts getting on the pricey end with a $149 monthly fee… and that’s after purchasing the software licenses and hardware.

Also, I see “Technical Requirements” on the hardware requirements page, and it is talking about things I am not familiar with. Is that anything to worry about?

I think the section you are referring to deals with using Order Entry on a tablet or mobile device - at least that’s the only section I see labeled “Technical Requiremetns”. Unless you’re a full service restaurant and plan to give your servers tablets to take orders on it probably doesn’t apply to you.

Do you see a problem running this on a Windows 8 computer?

Point of Success version 3 will run on Windows 8. You’re not going to buy an older version, so you’re fine.

Is anti-virus necessary even if the computer isn’t used for Internet other than the normal Point of Sale functions?

There’s always a danger of somebody using the Internet for something other than normal Point of Sale functions, so I would always use anti-virus. Microsoft Security Essentials is free.

What do you mean by at cost + 9 cents? There isn’t a flat rate percentage for processing, there is a fee of 9 cents on every order? What do you mean by “at cost”?

It means I pay whatever the interchange rate is for a given card, plus 9 cents. So a Visa branded debit card may cost me 1.4% plus 9 cents. A reward card may cost me 2.3% + 9 cents. This is a very standard setup.

Thank you so much!! I am really hoping it will work out either with Point of Success or POS Pizza since the other systems are too expensive. We can always upgrade to one of them when sales increase.

I assure you there will be no need to “upgrade” from Point of Success. It’s a fully functional and robust Point of Sale system. It will have everything you need to run a restaurant. I have used it in a six terminal setup in an over-a-million dollar full service restaurant with 100 seats, pick up and delivery. It’s cheaper than the other systems because they don’t force you into buying their hardware or paying somebody to come install it and “train” you for a week, not because it lacks any features.

[tmp]

Thank you for your help.

I’m thinking about doing Ethernet for the printers. Do you recommend any particular router? If there are three printers, plus two computers, that would require five Ethernet ports. I’d prefer to have a couple extra just in case.

What model for the Elo touchscreen do you recommend? Also, what model for a cash drawer?

Thank you for letting me know that Windows 8 should work fine for Point of Success, but will there be printer drivers for Windows 8?

In your opinion, is the online ordering worth the $70/month? What tips do you have so I don’t run into the problems you had?

I’m seeing a company charge $500 to put a menu in Point of Success. Did you do the menu yourself?

Do you use any online backup service so that you will not lose data in the case of a complete system failure?

What is the backup if the whole system goes down? Do you use pen and paper until it is back up?

Thank you so much. Everyone here has been so helpful. I really appreciate that you’re willing to help out.

[Piper]

I’ll reply to your new questions shortly… but I’m going to edit my post above regarding your computer selection - Once I dug into the specs, that processor is pretty weak, and the hard drive is slow too. I would spend a few extra bucks and get a beefier computer.

[tmp]

@Piper

I’ll reply to your new questions shortly… but I’m going to edit my post above regarding your computer selection - Once I dug into the specs, that processor is pretty weak, and the hard drive is slow too. I would spend a few extra bucks and get a beefier computer.

Thank you.

I will keep looking for computers. I’ll let you know when I find a better one.

[tmp]

I found the following three computers after a quick search. The one is wireless, but we’ll probably have it wired via Ethernet anyway.

Are these better? If not, I’ll keep looking.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Gateway-SX2370-UR13-500-GB-AMD-A6-Quad-Core-2-2-GHz-4-GB-PC-Desktop-/271413272355?pt=Desktop_PCs&hash=item3f317ddf23

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dell-Inspiron-i660s-3848BK-500GB-Intel-Pentium-2-9GHz-4GB-WIFI-PC-Desktop-Win-8-/271430712472?pt=Desktop_PCs&hash=item3f3287fc98

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Gateway-SX2370-Slim-Quad-Core-Desktop-PC-W-4GB-Ram-DVDRW-500GB-HDD-HDMI-/221398994778?pt=Desktop_PCs&hash=item338c688f5a

[Piper]

I’m thinking about doing Ethernet for the printers. Do you recommend any particular router? If there are three printers, plus two computers, that would require five Ethernet ports. I’d prefer to have a couple extra just in case.

I’ve always used Linksys routers, haven’t had many problems with them. I think you’re better off going with USB for your receipt printers. They’re going to be sitting next to the computer, so there isn’t much need to network them. Other computers will still have access via printer sharing.

What model for the Elo touchscreen do you recommend? Also, what model for a cash drawer?

Not sure on model numbers, but I’d recommend a 17-inch. For cash drawers, I couldn’t even name a brand name off the top of my head, and I couldn’t even tell you what I have. You just need one that holds cash

Thank you for letting me know that Windows 8 should work fine for Point of Success, but will there be printer drivers for Windows 8?

Yep, Epson has the drivers available for Windows 8.

In your opinion, is the online ordering worth the $70/month? What tips do you have so I don’t run into the problems you had?

Definitely worth it. There are operators here doing upwards of 20% of their sales online - you can save 70 bucks per month just on labor answering phone calls. My and other’s problems are related to how we have specialty pizzas set up. If you decide to go the Point of Success route I can explain it in more detail. Even if I explain it now you wouldn’t know what I was talking about without having a little grasp of the software.

I’m seeing a company charge $500 to put a menu in Point of Success. Did you do the menu yourself?

Yeah I did it myself. It’s very easy, it’s more tedious than anything. I probably spent a full day on my first one, but that was for a full service restaurant with a large menu and getting through the learning curve. A simple pizza menu can probably be done in a couple of hours.

Do you use any online backup service so that you will not lose data in the case of a complete system failure?

I use Mozy. It’s only 10 bucks per month. My data is backed up to two local computers and also remotely, so at any given time I have four copies of my most recent backup.

What is the backup if the whole system goes down? Do you use pen and paper until it is back up?

We’ve only had about 30 minutes of downtime in 10 years, but it wasn’t software related. The power supply died on our server. For some reason I started calling around locally to try to find a power supply, forgetting that I had 3 other identical computers in the store. Once I shook the stupid off, it took five minutes to swap in a power supply and we were back in business. Luckily it was during a slow time, so I think we had to hand write about 3 orders.

There are better contingency plans however. Point of Success will let you register an installation of the software on a backup computer, or in the worst case you can download and install a fresh copy of the software on a working computer and swap over your database backup. The software will run un-registered for 30 days - plenty of time to get things fixed or call Point of Success and obtain a registration code for your new computer.

I spent several years always worrying about what we would do if the POS went down, but I’ve learned it’s probably the most reliable thing in the restaurant. I’ve had multiple refrigeration failures, my sheeter down for a weekend, my dishwasher out on a Friday night, my water heater go out twice, my soda dispenser fail, my 3-compartment sink crack a drain pipe during a rush, my floor sink drain clog flooding half my dining room, my building sign fail 4 times, my ice maker go out multiple times, A/C go out when it was 100 degrees… but the damn POS system just keeps reliably marching on.

I found the following three computers after a quick search. The one is wireless, but we’ll probably have it wired via Ethernet anyway.

Are these better? If not, I’ll keep looking.

They should all be hard wired. As a matter of fact, I don’t think Point of Success will even support wireless connections.

Yeah, all of those look much more suitable than the first one you posted.

[bodegahwy]

I have generally purchased my touch screens on ebay used. . They run 500-600 each new but I can find them under $100 on ebay. Since we use touch screens on five of our six machines I usually buy 3-4 at a time (once every few years) and have spares in storage. I need to replace about one a year. I guess if I bought new ones they would last 5+ years but at less then 20% of the price I like doing it this way.

Piper is right about the serial/parallel port thing. That technology is over. Go with ethernet for your network and USB to connect all printers, screens, keyboard, mice etc.

[tmp]

Thank you all for your help.

I am just wondering if the added cost with result in increase sales. If we send out menus with online ordering mentioned on it, and put SMS marketing and email marketing sign up forms on the website I am hoping it will help to increase sales.

I understand you’re saying that it will result in saved labor costs, preventing mistakes, etc but will the system help result in customers purchasing more frequently? For example, a rewards or loyal program, sending direct mail or calling those who haven’t ordered in a while, thanking the most loyal customers, etc.

It’s 2014, I guess a Point of Sale system is almost a necessity for a pizzeria now, right?

Thank you again.

[Piper]

@tmp

Thank you all for your help.

I am just wondering if the added cost with result in increase sales. If we send out menus with online ordering mentioned on it, and put SMS marketing and email marketing sign up forms on the website I am hoping it will help to increase sales.

I understand you’re saying that it will result in saved labor costs, preventing mistakes, etc but will the system help result in customers purchasing more frequently? For example, a rewards or loyal program, sending direct mail or calling those who haven’t ordered in a while, thanking the most loyal customers, etc.

Yes… the value of having a Point of Sale system (aside from tracking and efficiency) is to be able to Database Market. The existing customer base is the low hanging fruit - they should be the first people getting marketed to. Direct mail and e-mail to existing customers has a huge return. Identifying and thanking our most valuable customers is probably the most important thing we do.

It’s 2014, I guess a Point of Sale system is almost a necessity for a pizzeria now, right?

I don’t know why anybody would open a pizza place (or just about any restaurant) without one. If you can’t afford a POS system when you open you can’t afford to open the business. I see it about as optional to the business as an oven.

[tmp]

@Piper

Yes… the value of having a Point of Sale system (aside from tracking and efficiency) is to be able to Database Market. The existing customer base is the low hanging fruit - they should be the first people getting marketed to. Direct mail and e-mail to existing customers has a huge return. Identifying and thanking our most valuable customers is probably the most important thing we do.

I don’t know why anybody would open a pizza place (or just about any restaurant) without one. If you can’t afford a POS system when you open you can’t afford to open the business. I see it about as optional to the business as an oven.

Thank you. I’m starting to see how important this is.

[Rico]

In general about a pos system I can tell you that when we switched from paper slips to the pos system our sales increased 20 percent in the first year. I’m pretty sure you’ll never hear anyone in this forum say they made a mistake switching from paper slips to a pos. This first thing a pos will do without having any other feature is raise your ticket numbers. I believe that the more expensive systems offer more than the lesser expensive but are only valuable if you use all the features. I would only recommend not biting off more than you can chew. If a lower cost system is what you can afford and offers everything you are looking for that’s great. Just getting a system in your place will be an improvement.

[tmp]

@Uncle Rico

In general about a pos system I can tell you that when we switched from paper slips to the pos system our sales increased 20 percent in the first year. I’m pretty sure you’ll never hear anyone in this forum say they made a mistake switching from paper slips to a pos. This first thing a pos will do without having any other feature is raise your ticket numbers. I believe that the more expensive systems offer more than the lesser expensive but are only valuable if you use all the features. I would only recommend not biting off more than you can chew. If a lower cost system is what you can afford and offers everything you are looking for that’s great. Just getting a system in your place will be an improvement.

Thank you for your reply.

I do think that a low cost solution is best at this time. If those higher end systems are really worth it, we might be able to upgrade later down the road. What I’ve been reading about Point of Success is very positive, so I don’t think I will have a problem with it.

I’ve been reading about targeting certain offers to certain customers. For example, if customers usually spend around $5, target them with an offer that is $7 - $8, if they usually spend $25, try to target them with an offer that is $28 - $30. By doing this via email is it possible to offer coupon code that are only good for the people that receive that certain email? Can customers enter the coupon code online with Big Holler or mention the coupon code in the store to type it in on Point of Success?

I’m trying to learn how to use Point of Success, and it does seem a little complicated, but more simple than POS Pizza.

I can’t figure out how to tell the system which employee is ordering, other than clicking on the server on the bottom left.

Also, when I hit “Log Out” it will still allow me to go to the Manager screen.

In addition to that, I’m not sure how to have it set up where the delivery driver can put in and take out money.

I’m a little lost here, but I’ll keep experimenting with it.

If you have any tips, let me know.

Thank you.