"customer number" generator on a POS query..

[Deacon_V]

OK, so I admit, I’m out scouting out the competition in town to see what they’re selling these days. I have a question some of you with POS already in play could answer for me. I noticed their invoice count was WELL below what I would expect it to be. I picked up an order on Thursday, and again on Sunday evening about the same time…and they’d only processed 200 orders in what should have been their busiest nights.

Does a POS system ( I have no idea who they use ) allow you to set it to generate a “random” customer or invoice number? The only possible benefit of that would be to prevent snooping like I am trying to do I suppose. Or, are there POS systems that will generate an customer/invoice number based on the terminal it was processed at perhaps? Again, I can’t see any benefit in that, other than perhaps a way to keep an eye on whoever in “on” that drawer during a given shift.

any thoughts?

 

[SolutionsGal]

With Aldelo POS you can suppress the order number, but the ticket number resets itself each day.

Hope this helps!

 

[Deacon_V]

Thanks, it does. I believe I may have answered my own question (but please, don’t that let ya’ll from chiming in!) I just sent another person in for a lunch order this afternoon, and their “ticket number” is like 12,000 numbers past where mine was at closing last night. This HAS to indicate a random numbering process, or perhaps each of their order screens is generating it’s own sequencing. Good news for me, b/c with the numbers I had last night…there wasn’t enough room for another store to be opening up!!

 

[Registered_Guest]

I’m just curious - but what would you do differently in your own business if you knew for certain that your competition had less orders than you? Or more orders than you?

If I tricked you into thinking you had double the number of orders I had, would you not advertise as much?

 

[Deacon_V]

oh, sorry…I didn’t make it clear in this particular post. I’m looking at getting into business and was merely checking out the sales numbers I’ve estimated for the local competition. It’s not a matter of what I would or would not alter in my present business practices, though, I guess I’ll figure out a way to not have sequential invoicing when I do open up!

You never know who might be snooping around

 

[txpizza]

There are sevral POS Systems which allow the user to begin your daily ticket numbers at a random number or a preset number (say 2436, whatever), to mask excatly what your are looking for.

Best of luck getting up and running. My plans are on hold until things stabilize in this brave new world.

Tony

 

[Deacon_V]

Thanks TX. I wish you luck as well. With me, it was a matter of having a little bit of money (very little) left over from the sale of a business I had formerly owned & currently manage. I looked at that amount, knew it wasn’t enough to make any difference in what ever retirement I think I might have had plans for. Not even enough to live on for 6 months.

So, I decided to use that to seed my pizza shop. I’m being very careful in my equipment purchases, and when I’m finished and opened, I’ll have less invested than a new double stack MM would run me. I’m tuning my business plan currently but really, all I’m going to go after is a line of credit to handle my living expense for the coming year as this shop gets it’s legs.

I don’t own any rose-colored glasses so I’m very aware this is going to be a long hike…but heck, the opportunity to build something that just might buy me winters on the beach is worth the roll of those dice to me. Besides, we’re all going to be nationalized/socialized before it’s over anyway, but that’s a whole other post! :lol:

J