How To Set Up Pos

A properly set up POS organization is a elementary only beautiful thing to behold during a busy shift. Every interaction at the computer is fast and efficient which allows your team to spend more time with their most important job, taking care of their guests and ringing in the adjacent club.

If I had to guess, about of our readers are happy with their electric current POS layouts and don't really have a need to change it, just like anything there is always room to ameliorate. Pocket-size changes tin can add up to easier training (POS is normally 1 of the harder areas to railroad train a new staff member on) , college revenue and better customer service. Keep reading, and you may choice up a couple of new tricks to assist streamline your POS.

A Word of Caution:

Something to keep in mind is that there are many different POS companies on the market. It seems like every bar briefing I attend I come up across a handful of new POS companies that I've never heard of before. Some are deject-based, some are in-house-server based. Whichever you choose, virtually likely the information structure volition be pretty similar. That existence said, at that place tin can be slight differences on how each POS is structured and more chiefly how the POS displays its information in reports.

Before you lot make any changes to the POS system, make sure that the changes will not just have a positive effect on the front of house interaction with the POS, simply will as well have a positive consequence on your power to understand and utilise your information when it comes to the reports that are generated. If you lot're non completely sure how your POS volition react to your changes, information technology's a great thought to review some of your system's resources (I like to utilize YouTube) or but reach out directly to your rep. They should be able to help yous understand any downstream impacts of the changes you lot plan to brand.

The Typical POS Information Structure:

The restaurant level is based of the eatery's unique location. If you had multiple restaurants, you would duplicate this construction for each eating place. If you were operating a chain of restaurants, I would expect there to exist a few layers on top of the eatery level for territories, states, regions, etc.
Revenue centers tin exist broken down into sections like retail, special events, Lunch, dinner, etc.
Categories are usually where the front of the house starts inbound customer orders. When you first log into the POS the first screen yous commonly run across is a table map or a list of open checks (depending on the POS) and a list of categories. (In the example beneath, we see Fast bar, Bourbon, Vodka, Gin, Cocktails A-F, Cocktails K-1000)
Items are typically what prove up on the order ticket as well as the client receipt.

Note: Not shown are "Modifiers" which are typically tables of "modifications" that can exist associated with items. For example you could take a gear up of modifiers that are associated with cooking temperatures for steak. That table could also be associated with cooking temperatures for Hamburgers, fish or any other item that requires taking temperatures.

Here's a mockup of an example screen yous might see when you first login to your POS:

Function of the screen will show a visual representation of where guests might be seated, and the screen may besides testify a listing of categories.

10 Tips for Optimizing your POS Data

Agreement the POS data structure is not necessary to brand changes, only it does help to have a mental movie of how everything is continued. Below are x tips for fine tuning your POS buttons and brand you a super star of a manager to your staff.

one) Make sure all of your items are in the POS.

Information technology's pretty embarrassing when the bartender has to make up a price for the bourbon that is on the shelf and the customer mentions that the price was dissimilar yesterday. It could be even more embarrassing when a bartender makes up a price of $8 for Johnnie Walker Blue Label and ends upwards selling the whole bottle considering they had to judge on the toll.

2) Weed out Onetime Buttons.

If you have an old seasonal carte, take the buttons out of the active POS screen so your front of house staff doesn't have to dig through retired items on a busy night. This likewise goes for old inventory items: beer, wine, bottles of wine, all of information technology! Get rid of the ataxia and save your staff a few clicks.

Normally at that place is a fashion to deactivate or "annal" the button without deleting it. I would be very cautious about deleting an item or irresolute a button name as it will likely affect historical reports. Create new buttons for new items and archive the sometime. (Or if you actually want to delete them, ask the owner or full general manager almost this first to ensure they are non still generating reports that rely on that information.)

3) Make Logical Categories

Below is an obvious exaggeration of categories, just in that location are a few in there that are pretty common. (See annihilation familiar?)

The ones to a higher place that I meet pretty commonly are things similar "Bourbon Cocktails", "Tequila Cocktails" and "Rum Cocktails". They may not seem similar terrible categories, but take a moment to recollect about all of the knowledge that you have every bit a bartending professional and how long it took you to obtain it. Someone new to hospitality may non know that a Negroni is a gin cocktail, or that a Paloma is a tequila drink. They would not know what to do with themselves if someone ordered a Trinidad Sour.

Preparation and didactics are always a proficient idea, only you could also make it a trivial easier to find by organizing the categories into Cocktails A-F, Cocktails G-Grand, and Cocktails North-Z for case. It's very easy to train and hopefully avoids confusion.

4) Split up Upwards Large Categories

This should be pretty obvious, but if you have 100 different whiskies in your inventory, your main category should non be whiskey. It's going to drive your staff crazy to shuffle through 20 pages of buttons in your POS. Think virtually breaking them into logical categories, Bourbon, Rye, Corn, Scotch, Etc. Yous could also take a unlike approach of dividing them into Whiskies A-F, Etc.

Even though we are talking about data structure, in that location is however artistic freedom on how you set things up! Talk to your staff to see what makes the near sense to them, just remember that you're looking for logical, objective, and hands trainable systems.

5) Utilize Color if Possible

This will definitely depend on which POS visitor that you are working with, only many modern POS companies will permit you to associate colors to POS buttons. One manner that you can utilize colors for your POS is to assign colors to place subcategories in larger categories. This makes it very quick for your bartender to notice and select the right item. Here's a mockup example where:

Yellow = London Dry Gin
Orange = Old Tom
Purple = Genever
Blue = Other

6) Create a Fast Bar button

Chances are you lot already accept a 'Fast Bar' screen. Maybe you lot even pulled a report from your POS to identify the peak selling bar items and used that to choose what's on the screen. But did you actually consult your bartenders as well? It's worth asking – changes are pretty adept that they will have ideas yous hadn't yet considered.

seven) Streamline the Ordering Procedure

Retrieve nigh ways that you can eliminate every bit many push button pushes equally possible. I know this is obvious, just you'd be surprised how little changes in this area can brand a departure. If you want to get a staff member excited, ask them what particular they detest ringing upwards considering there are too many buttons – and how they would improve it. Once they are on lath, ask them what else. They volition be excited to hear you listening to their suggestions and yous'll get the benefit of improving the system for anybody.

Be sure to cheque with a few unlike people to validate the changes before yous really implement them. The event will probably exist a small laundry listing of changes yous can make that tin can make a big difference all together.

viii) Activate New Buttons Before Launching

Once more, this seems obvious but you'd be surprised how easily it can exist missed. Be sure to activate POS buttons for whatever new menu items before launching the item(s) to the public. In fact, consider activating the buttons a week beforehand (or even simply a few days) to get the staff used to the location of the new items. This can likewise too assist you to test out items to make sure they have all of the appropriate modifiers associated to each item.

9) Communicate Whatever Changes that were made in the POS

Bartenders and servers input hundreds of orders every calendar week and they get used to where each button is located. From categories to modifiers, an experienced staff fellow member could almost probable ring in orders with their eyes closed.

As y'all can imagine, it tin be very frustrating for them to suddenly find things are different – particularly if they hadn't been warned. Requite them a heads up to let them know what changed so they won't be surprised that first shift and starting time ringing in incorrect orders. (Granted, actually getting them to read that memo is an entirely different matter… Please let me know your tips for that!)

x) Agree on Portion Size and Price for all Modifiers

The perfect example of this is the modifier, "Add Chicken". I know Chefs will often resist offer this modifier, merely if you lot are going to offer it to guests, add together it to the organisation and arrive consistent. Agree on the exact price and portion size (For instance, 6 oz Craven Breast) and so that when the modifier is used, information technology gives the guest (and the kitchen) a consistent feel.

There have been quite a few places where I've worked or consulted for that refuse to make this a policy. Equally a result the front of business firm staff have to size up the chef's mood or know that the sous chef volition fill the order, simply the executive chef won't do it. The consequence is unnecessary confusion and potential for an inconsistent guest feel.

In the bar world the most common examples of this are the "up" charge and the "double". Whether y'all offer information technology or not, make certain that you have communicated the details with the staff and be consistent.

I hope you found these tips helpful and hopefully a niggling easier to understand. I'm sure yous won't be bringing upwardly POS information structure at your next cocktail party, but I hope that you won't go screaming out of the room when someone brings up the subject either. If you take a few tips that you lot similar to add, I'd love to hear most them in the comments below.

Chris Tunstall

Co-Founder of A Bar To a higher place and career bartender and mixologist. I love experimenting, creating cocktails, and drinking Green Chartreuse.

Source: https://abarabove.com/pos-buttons/