The real strength of an EPOS is its facility to link into a fast range of other technology from stock control to online booking facilities. This can help tremendously in your CRM system helping you track regular customers and relaying information to the entire front of house team.
EPOS setups differ greatly from site to site. The best thing to do is talk to restaurateurs in venues similar to yourself. They can advise you on ho they have found their current EPOS setup and any pitfalls to look out for.
Make sure you demo any systems, look at the speed of the system, how long does it take to enter in an order, is the credit card processing speed OK? Remember during busy service you want these things to happen as quickly as possible.
If your restaurant is suited to it consider the use of wireless handheld devices such as those used in the Wagamama chain. These can send the order directly over a wireless connection into the kitchen as well as double up as a Chip and PIN processor.
You will save on wasted trips to the kitchen to give an order, especially if the kitchen is a fair distance from the dining area. Mixed up orders will now be a thing of the past as chefs don’t have to try and decrypt a waiters handwriting, improving the relations between back and front of house.
Make sure there is a good support package from your selected EPOS supplier. You don’t want to have a problem on a busy Friday night and find out that support will not be in until Monday morning. Make sure you are aware of any cost for system upgrades and any annual maintenance fees.
Your EPOS can tell you if a special offer promotion has increased your covers and by how much allowing you to see if it is worth doing another in the future. This can also help with restocking as you will be able to immediately and easily pinpoint the best selling menu items.
There are so many different systems it is impossible to give an idea of cost, but they range from software on a standard PC to dedicated hardware costing over £10,000.