The best bar POS system: 5 must-have features

The success of any modern bar is not just measured by the high sales rate or the large number of people that patronise such a bar or club at a time. 

The determinant factor of success is to attain status as the best bar venue in a town or city, and this can only be achieved by consistently providing customers with exceptional services they don’t get from other bars. When this happens, they get retained and become loyalists who refer other people to your bar.

To provide quality, quick, and personalised services, it becomes essential to have staff and advanced technology to help you. 

One such technology is a Bar Point of Sales (POS) System, specialised software and hardware that has proven its effectiveness in managing and streamlining various aspects of business operations in a bar or nightclub, helping out with order processing, inventory management, customisation, reporting and analytics, customer relationship management, etc. The Bar POS system enhances efficiency, customer service, and profitability by providing these services. 

This article will explore the five essential features that make for the best Bar POS system, highlighting the key functionalities that can transform your bar operation. As a new bar owner or one looking to upgrade your current system, you will learn how Grafterr’s advanced POS system can add a unique edge to your bar.

Crucial features for bars

Though ePOS are generally suitable for enhancing business operations, as a bar owner or manager, you must look for one that works best for your business. These are five must-have features to look out for in a POS system:

  1. Inventory management

Knowing how much liquor or food you have on hand is critical; imagine a group of happy friends walking into your bar for their favourite drink, taking a seat, and placing their order, only to be later informed that the orders are unavailable. You can tell their moods will change, and you might lose them as customers.

A POS system must be able to monitor and control your bar’s stock of beverages, helping with real-time tracking, prevention of overstocking and wastage, automatic recording, cost control, and overall customer experience improvement.

  1. Order customisation 

Not all bars serve the same drinks. You might often have diverse menus with unique drink options and customisation preferences, so you need a bar POS fully customised to your bar operations. A rich POS system should allow easy customisation of the menu items, which will enable you to modify and substitute the menu based on your customer’s requests, assign prices to drink variations and accommodate special requests.

  1. Real-time analytics 

It is always essential to keep track of goods that are selling, those that aren’t, and where you might be wasting money so you can make decisions to adjust. Real-time analytics provides immediate insight into data. It provides information like sales trends, customer preferences, and peak hours, allowing you to quickly adapt to enhance operational efficiency and profitability.

  1. Integrated payment

A seamless and integrated payment processing system is vital for your bar’s efficiency and customer satisfaction. Go for Bar POS systems that offer integrated payment processing for a secure and quick transaction. It should also support various payment methods, including debit and credit cards, split payments, and mobile wallets.

  1. Mobility 

Your bar staff must be able to move easily through the premises and take orders. A POS system should enable you to take orders, serve customers, and process payments from anywhere within the facility using mobile devices. Not only does this make navigating the bar easier, it also makes taking orders faster, and your staff can engage more with customers, creating a friendlier experience.

Graftter’s EPOS system for Bars

Grafterr understands that bars have unique needs. So they provide some of the best ePOS systems that revolutionise operations for UK bars and nightclubs. Bars can take full potential of Graffter’s ePOS one platform, streamlined services, which allows you to cut costs, increase ordering efficiency, and manage every area of your bar from a single platform.

Grafterr ePOS system offers: 

  1. A Point of sale (POS) that streamlines your restaurant and table management ops.
  2. Kitchen Display System (KDS) that instantly communicates food or drink orders to the kitchen or the appropriate personnel 
  3. Digital waiter pad that takes customers’ orders, sends them to the kitchen or bar, and even processes payment. It is a replacement for the traditional paper notepads.  
  4. QR order and pay that streamlines services and cut cost using automated customer ordering 
  5. Flexible payment processing with no monthly fees, no PCI compliance costs, or terminal rentals.

Enhancing customer experience

These features offered by Graftter’s ePOS system go a long way to contribute to improving customer satisfaction, loyalty, and overall bar experience; they do the following:

  • Take out long queues and increase customer satisfaction.
  • Allow your customers to order food and drinks directly from their tables.
  • Customise food and drink menu.
  • Reduce staff taking orders, allowing them to focus on serving efficiently.

Any customer who experiences the comfort your bar provides after you have integrated Gratferr’s EPOS will surely return and refer more people.

Real-world success

Many businesses have successfully integrated advanced POS into their bar operations and have recorded significant operational efficiency and revenue increases.

“The Bitter End” Bar in New York integrated the POS for its bar and streamlined operations. As a result, it has increased sales by 20%.

Choosing the right system

The first step to choosing the right POS system is to assess your needs and evaluate your bar’s specific requirements to know what system to use. When this is done, you would need to look out for the must-have features in the system. 

Grafterr provides an all-in-one platform that offers streamlined services including flexibility in payment and cost-cutting. These processes help to enhance customer satisfaction, allow table-side ordering, reduce queues, ultimately improving staff efficiency and customer loyalty.

Future trends 

Grafterr is committed to staying ahead of the curve with innovative solutions. With this, the future of bar POS technology promises exciting advancements. The trends to watch out for include contactless ordering and payments, greater mobility options, and even enhanced AI-powered analytics for more precise decision-making.

Conclusion

Retaining your customers’ trust in you as the best bar and being successful requires selecting a bar POS system that is right for you. Grafterr’s ePOS solutions offer a competitive edge with robust features leading to enhanced customer satisfaction, and long-term profitability for bar owners in the dynamic hospitality industry.