How can a POS system for your coffee shop help increase your sales?
When we opened our first coffee shop, I knew nothing about Point of Sale (POS) systems for coffee shops. Thankfully, my business partner understood them and helped set up our first one. We wanted to save money because we were quite small.
And so initially, we selected one of the Apple / IOS-based app POS systems. The options were fairly limited, but it was easy to use. The limiting and crippling factor with that POS system was that it was iPad based. When Apple released an update, our staff was prompted to update the iPad, even though the POS system wasn’t ready to operate on the updated version. In the end, we limped along, but were hoping to find something better.
We were determined to find a better solution for our second location a few years later. After researching and testing, we finally landed on Toast. I could not be happier. While it is not a perfect system, it is a vast improvement over the previous iPad-based system.
Toast offers several features that allow us to compete with corporate brands without spending a lot of money.
The Toast online ordering/app ordering function allows us to showcase images of our drinks and allows customers to order ahead. The team enters these drinks in the queue so customers are served well.
The Toast system also functions offline, which is a lifesaver in a coffee shop. On occasion, the Internet provider’s system will go down, but Toast will allow your team to keep taking orders and serving customers.
We have also utilized their gift card system, allowing us to sell both electronic and physical gift cards. These have been great revenue boosters. People tend to buy them as teacher appreciation gifts, for family and friend birthdays, anniversaries, or just to brighten someone’s day.
While the initial capital investment is more than an iPad-based system, the Toast system and hardware are well worth the investment.
Anytime our team has had an issue, the support team has been able to quickly help us. We highly recommend that you consider the Toast POS system for your coffee shop. So, “Yes!”, with all of the added features that Toast offers, “it can help increase your sales!”
*Full Disclosure. The links provided above are referral links. HOPE Coffee will receive a financial bonus from Toast should your establishment sign up through this link.