Point of Sale Blog Posts

Making sure your point of sale software is safe and secure is an important part of running a small business. Even a small breach can damage the trust of your customer base and, if you’re already running on tight margins, any monetary loss could put you in a significant bind. With that said, any good POS system will have strong built-in measures to keep your valuable information safe.

Hunting for a new POS or just starting your research? Take our quiz to find out which system we think is right for your small business.

With more businesses adding the option to tip following a purchase, combined with prices going up, many customers are fighting back with their wallets. Tipping actually decreased from 2022 to 2023 according to a report from our top payroll systems systems recommendations,  Gusto.

We recommend Lightspeed for small to midsize restaurants focused primarily on quick-serve and fast-casual orders because the software is affordable, you can install it on any iPad, the inventory management is best suited for buildable items and combo meals, and a straightforward loyalty program is available on all plans.

It will cost you more for features you might expect to be standard (reservations, customer loyalty, and online ordering to name a few) which can run up your monthly bill. There are fewer integrations available which is a blessing for easily-overwhelmed new business owners but a curse for quickly growing restaurants.

Restaurant POS hardware is a worthwhile investment for an efficient restaurant. These are our recommendations for the best restaurant POS systems along with compatible POS hardware options and pricing.

If your business only takes cash and runs on a small scale, you can probably get away with a traditional cash register or cash box. But with the prevalence of card/contactless payments, we would still recommend a basic card reader and POS system.

Many kinds of businesses fall under the “food service” umbrella, including full-service restaurants, quick-service establishments, bars, and food trucks (or other mobile food operations). Some of these benefits will be better suited to one kind of eatery than another.

Every payment processor you research will have some form of fee you have to pay for every successful transaction. The best POS systems for small businesses offer reasonable flat-rate charges or interchange-plus fees. Small businesses will benefit from flat-rate payment processing, while high-volume businesses should consider interchange-plus processing for the best rates.

You may need a KDS in your restaurant if you offer multiple ordering methods (at the counter or the table, drive-thru order window, online, etc.), currently run into order errors and slow turnaround time because kitchen staff has a hard time deciphering order tickets, have a restaurant with more than one prep station, or want to cut down on your physical paper usage.