Bars and pubs are a business which is not quite like any other. It sits in a space between restaurants and other forms of hospitality and shops, where people buy products at a counter. This can make the fluid running of them a tricky task, but nonetheless one which can be made significantly easier by EPOS.
In this blog, we will outline some problems which can affect the smooth running of a bar, as well as how EPOS equipment can help.
How EPOS Equipment Can Help Your Bar or Pub
EPOS can help the everyday operations of your bar in three critical ways;
- Help staff charge customers accurately.
- Implement food to your business fluidly.
- Keep track of stock levels accurately.
Improve Transaction Accuracy
Bars will often have upwards of 50 or even 100 products available which can all be combined in countless different ways. This can make it very difficult for staff to quickly and accurately key in prices, especially when there are many customers at the bar waiting to be served.
Manually searching through a menu is an option, but it can be time-consuming and still leaves significant scope for human error. A better choice is to have the entire menu loaded on an EPOS system which will automatically work out a total bill.
The system can be set up so that all the employee has to do on the screen is hit a menu titled “whisky” which will open a panel with the selection of whisky available. They can then click “whisky B” before choosing other options such as “with coke” or “double”.
This EPOS system will make it easy for staff to key in what was ordered to get an accurate price, ensuring you do not under or overcharge your patrons, avoiding conflict and making sure no potential profits are lost.
Streamline Food Ordering
Food can be a problem in bars if care is not taken to make sure that the service is implemented correctly. After all, it is in many ways a secondary service, and it will be easy to let things slip unless every member of staff is entirely onboard.
EPOS systems can take care of the majority of the heavy-lifting, ensuring that there is less room for mistakes. The amount of information that can be tracked by these machines is immense and will accommodate any of your requirements.
To begin with, it is important to remember your bar staff aren’t waiters/waitresses. They are primarily there to pour drinks and cocktails for customers. This is especially true if you try to implement food into a bar which was previously just for drinking in.
By allowing staff to just walk up to the till and plug-in precisely what the customer wants in real time, you can make the process easier for both parties. This inputted information will then be transported automatically to the kitchen where the chef can clearly see what is required of them.
This setup can help any bar compete on the food front and make sure that there is perfect communication between the front-of-house and kitchen staff regardless of their traditional roles.
Track Stock Accurately and Easily
As mentioned, bars can have upwards of fifty or one hundred products which will include alcohol, various snacks, as well as food in some cases. Keeping track of what stock is running low as well as when it needs to be replaced is vital but can prove difficult.
EPOS systems can be implemented to store and track all stock levels as well as providing an accurate report on what you should request in your deliveries. It can even provide alerts and warnings when it becomes a risk that you will run out of an offering before more can be delivered.
This system minimises the risk that you will run out of your house vodka at 11pm on a Saturday, or that you will have to explain to an angry drunk customer that there are no more cheese and onion crisps available!
Get in Touch
The benefits that EPOS can offer any business are vast, although any faults or damages will naturally cause disruption as your company has to adapt to old ways. It is crucial that you have a repair company in place that you can rely on for swift and consistent results. That’s where we come in.
At our dedicated facility in Ayrshire, we will quickly get your EPOS equipment back up and running before testing it thoroughly and sending it back on its way to you.
To book in a job today, give us a call now on 44 (0) 1294 274914.
Alternatively, complete our contact form, and we will be in touch as soon as we can.