How much should I spend on POS for my restaurant?
How much should I spend on POS for my restaurant?
How much should I spend on POS terminals for the hotel and catering industry?
The hospitality industry has modernised over time, and the advent of digital technologies has made it possible to streamline work and revamp outdated processes in order to make them more convenient and efficient. Restaurants and bars have operated in a similar way for much of history and, although the manual work of chefs, waiters and waitresses is still fundamental, today they have certain aids such as TPVs, which allow them to serve customers in a better way. This is due to the fact that charging and other functions, such as the organisation of orders, are easier.
With this in mind, it is important to have one of these systems in your hospitality business - after all, the latest technology attracts customers, so we will gladly pay the price for POS terminals. Even if you want to maintain a traditional style of business with food that is attached to the cultural heritage of your locality, it never hurts to improve your customers' experience.
However, before you embark on the road to modernisation, you need to know a few basics before you can even think about investing in a device like a POS. In the end, the important thing is not how much you spend on your business, but that you do it wisely; that is why I will present you with some interesting facts, starting with: what is a POS? what are its characteristics? what is it for? and, finally, what are the models and software available, along with the price of these POS. So that you can choose the one that best suits you.
What is a POS?
Before we talk about POS prices, you should know what they are, right?
POS stands for "point of sale terminal". These devices, commonly known as point of sale or, in some countries, simply as points, are designed to allow the collection of the products and services requested by the customer, allowing them to use debit or credit cards issued by the banking and financial institutions of their choice, or other digital means of payment. They do this thanks to the complement of software and hardware, as they need to process the information of the card or means of payment used by the customer to make the payment effective. This can be done by means of the card's magnetic stripe or by entering the required data on a web platform.
In addition, they fulfil other functions, such as organising orders, reading barcodes, organising staff, etc. It all depends on its features and the price of the POS will be accordingly.
Parts and features of a POS
It is important that you know the parts and features of a POS, as the quality of the POS and the presence of certain elements can drastically change the price of the POS. In this way, you will be able to choose the one that best suits the needs of your business. Each part will come with a brief description.
Monitor
Modern hospitality POS terminals are complex digital devices that include a monitor for management, on which you can view the data you need and manage the platform that the software provides. Most monitors nowadaysare touch-screen, to avoid the need for a space-consuming mouse. This is the most expensive element and the price of the POS will be determined mainly by the characteristics of the screen.
These can come in different resolutions, size and quality.
Keyboard
A common computer keyboard that incorporates additional buttons in the case of devices made specifically to support hospitality POS software, such as a card reader. It may not be present on fully touchscreen models, so we save the price of these at the POS.
Card reader
The card reader is another of the POS, which allows you to use this device to give customers the option of paying with their cards. There are now payment methods that no longer require the use of a card reader, but they are still the most common alternative to cash and probably will be for quite some time.
Receipt printer
The printer is responsible for printing payment receipts and invoices. While it is true that digital devices such as POS greatly reduce the need for paper, these physical receipts are still required for tax purposes in some places, and the customer has the right to demand them.
You may have several card readers that allow you to serve many customers at once, so you may need more than one printer. These can be purchased together with the POS for an additional charge.
Coin box
A POS with a card reader eliminates the need to receive cash payments, but does not make it impossible to make cash payments. To this end, a POS terminal incorporates a cash box where you can place the banknotes, coins and cheques that you receive.
What is a POS terminal for?
I have already mentioned the main functions of a POS terminal, but it is necessary to emphasise its importance in the organisation of your accounts, the appearance of modernity that it gives to your business and the possibilities that it offers to customers, we should not be guided only by the price of the POS.
The POS automatically stores information on payments, products consumed, services used and the exact date and time of each transaction. This eliminates the need to create endless books of accounting information.
In turn, these devices have a modern design and functionality, allowing you to attract all types of customers to your business.
Finally, giving customers the option of using their cards or other digital means of payment is essential nowadays, as it increases their sense of security and improves their comfort.
POS models
Now that you have the information you need to choose the best POS model for you, I will show you some that will serve as a reference, along with their features and prices, which serves as a general reference, no matter where you are.
However, you should bear in mind that although we referred to the card reader earlier as a fundamental part of the POS, the reality is that many of these models come without it built in, so you have to buy the product separately. But don't worry, I'll include a couple of card reader models at the end to give you an idea of the total price of enjoying a POS.
Bliscop POS Pack
On this website you can find numerous POS products for your business at a very affordable price. You can select a pack that includes a thermal printer, cash drawer and 15.4-inch Android touch screen. By purchasing a pack like this you can enjoy our POS software for free for 6 months, but there are also many other POS softwares available such as Loyverse TPV.
The price of the POS is 419 Euros.
GEON Hospitality POS Touch POS Pack
This elegant POS features a GEON branded 15-inch touch screen, a coin and note drawer and a thermal printer. It has a WIFI adapter, so cables won't be such a problem.
The base operating system is Windows 10 and it comes equipped with its hospitality software with unlimited license. The general features of the equipment are, RAM memory of 4 GB expandable to 8, 64 GB SSD hard disk, 4 USB ports, one COM and one HDMI.
The price of the POS is approximately 700 EUR.
Itactil Touch POS
As you would expect from a brand called Itactil, they offer us this interesting model with touch screen which features the same elements as the previous product. The screen is a little larger at 15.5 inches and, unlike the GEON, it comes in different models that can incorporate an Intel Celeron or Atom processor.
Similarly, depending on the model, it can come with 2 or 4GB of RAM or have a faster processor. The SSD memory capacity is 64 GB and it comes with Windows 10 Home.
The price of the POS is 630 EUR.
WAITERPRO Touch POS
This model is interesting, if only for the price, it does not include a display but a Tablet as touch interface, in one compact unit. The design is simple, but the 10-inch tablet may be too small for some.
It comes with software for management, but we found several shortcomings in its use. The price of the POS is 370 EUR.
CITAQ Hospitality POS Pack
This stylish model incorporating orange colours to the equipment, features a design in which the printer is incorporated into a single unit along with the 15-inch touch screen. Again, features are standard, with 64GB of internal storage accompanied by 4GB of RAM albeit at the cost of a hefty price tag for the POS.
Beyond the software, the most notable feature is that it has 6 USB ports. The price of the POS is 980 EUR, approximately, being the most expensive model on the list.
SUNMI Android POS
Finally, another model that works with Android, as it is the most common alternative for those who prefer to avoid using Windows as the base operating system. This model is the most compact of all, although the touch screen is 11.6 inches, so it is still bigger than the WAITERPRO, but maybe not big enough depending on your needs. All devices, including the thermal printer, come as a single unit that does not include the cash drawer in the price.
The Android system is 7.1 and only has 1 GB of RAM and 8 GB of flash memory. The price of the POS is 610 EUR, to which the cost of the cash drawer must be added.
Finally, I will include the two card reader models I mentioned, in order to give you a complete idea of the price of installing your full POS. The main advantage of these models is the non-existent maintenance fees derived from their use, as we will only pay a transaction fee, saving us a monthly maintenance fee or conditions such as contracting some kind of associated product that banks may offer us. However, if our objective is to make intensive use of the cards because it is a method widely used by customers, we will be better off with a POS datafono associated with a bank, as the commissions on payments are better.
myPOS Smart N5
As far as this model is concerned, it is a datafono with card reader and built-in thermal printer that works with Android system, as well as WIFI and Bluetooth. The price of the POS is 300 EUR.
Sumup Air-Pago Portable Card Reader
This model, much simpler than the previous one, only works as a card reader and we will need to connect it to an auxiliary device such as a smartphone to carry out transactions, which requires additional configuration. The price of the POS is 30 EUR.
Hospitality POS Software
Taking into account all of the above, you can conclude that installing your POS for a price of 1000 Euros is possible, you just have to choose what best suits your needs. But what if your POS terminal has mediocre hospitality software, doesn't come with one, or you simply don't like the default one that comes with the equipment?
There are numerous POS softwares, from free to others that cost more than 100 euros per month, depending on our needs, we will have to look for the one that best suits us. If we want a software that supports direct customer orders, that includes QR codes for your digital menu, that allows us to register the employees' timetable as well as the inventory of our business or that shows us numerous reports to know the state of our business, an option to take into account is the Bliscop POS software, for a price of 29.50 euros per month.
What is clear is that a POS software is the muscle of our business and having one will help us enormously in our daily tasks, making them simpler, reducing errors and saving time that we can dedicate to the many other tasks required to manage a business. That is why we recommend not only looking at the price of the POS, but also at everything it can offer us.
You can take a look at our website Bliscop if you are looking for a POS Software for your hospitality business!