13 replies to this topic

[DeliGirl]

Hey EGulleters!

 

I own and operate a deli-gourmet grocery-bakery-sandwich shop-wine store-breakfast establishment. 

 

We sell prepared foods (breakfast, sandwiches, salads, soups), inhouse baked goods, beer, wine, imported food stuffs, charcuterie, cheese, gifts, beverages, etc.

 

It's gotten busier and more complicated over the past 9 years that we are desperate to add an effective POS system that doesn't cost us an arm and a leg.  We currently take orders manually and run excel spreadsheets and quickbooks for everything else, but we need to streamline the whole shebang. I'm hoping to come in under $5k all in.

 

Does anyone have any experience, pos or neg, with any of the new IPad systems? Any customer or user input would be welcome.

 

I've located a company in the Bay Area called Revel Systems.  Anyone have experience installing one of their systems?

 

Thanks so much!

 

[Beebs]

Hi DeliGirl

 

I worked in a retail / cafe establishment and we used Microsoft Dynamics RMS.  I can't recall how much it cost but I don't think it set us back that much, probably under $5K.  I really liked this program, very user-friendly, had all the bells & whistles of what we needed for a simple retail operation, including inventory control, purchase orders, customer profiles, etc.  Because it's Microsoft, it integrated with Excel (I don't know about Quickbooks...probably not).  Quite a step up from previous POS systems we used. 

 

However, it is a retail system, not restaurant, so if your establishment is more restaurant-y than retail (ie, putting food orders into the kitchen, seating, etc), MS Dynamics probably won't work for you.  It's been over 6 yrs since I've used that system, so I don't know what has changed. 

 

Good luck!

[DeliGirl]

Thanks Beebs!  the crickets were killing me.  We need to find something that does both jobs: restaurant-y and retail-y.  I appreciate your taking the time to let me know about this Microsoft product; I will look into it as they may have made some upgrades and have more uses in the current iteration.

[eternal]

I drive by this company all the time and see their stuff frequently in restaurants. I know nothing about it

http://www.dinerware.com/

[DeliGirl]

Eternal: thanks, I'll check them out! A quick look at their website looks promising. 

[Saara]

Hey DeliGirl!

 

I've been researching the POS subject for a couple of years now and have not found an affordable "perfect" solution yet. 

 

We have a seasonal bakery/deli/pizzeria and a candy shop. Two different halves of the business, but we need a POS solution that can support both. They are out there, but they average about $20k. Since we only operate about 4-5 months/year, we can't justify that sort of outlay.

 

Currently I'm keeping an eye on Android-based solutions and am hoping that they will develop quickly to become robust enough to support us in the next couple of years. Meanwhile we muddle along with 3 ancient registers in the candy shop and 1 newer Sharp on the cafe side. This year we're trying to get a new merchant services account set up before we open for Easter sales in ... a week. Hmm ... maybe not.

 

One of our chocolatier friends is relatively happy with the iPad-based ShopKeep system. Since we have to build pizza orders, it won't quite work for us, but it seems to be working, is affordable, and is updated regularly. That was about $1500 for hardware and software per station if I recall correctly. He's running it in two shops.

 

Anyway, you're not alone in your search. Please keep posting here with your findings. I will do my part as well. 

 

http://www.merchantmaverick.com/ has some good reviews on POS (and merchant services), but I don't see DinerWare on there. Let us know if you get a ballpark figure from them. :)

[StanSherman]

For a quick and reasonable card reader/service look at https://squareup.com/  The reader is free or very reasonable and you can be set-up in a day.  I've got it on my android and it works great.  They have POS systems starting at $250-500. 

Edited by StanSherman, 09 March 2013 - 02:20 PM.

[sct4a]

Take a look at microsale - not to be confused with micros. We have it at over 20 locations and are very happy with it. The actual company is a complete nightmare to deal with and has by far the worst service but the product is quite nice and works great.

[Saara]

Just to clarify, we gross about $350k per 4 month/season. We need to be able to run cards fast. Square is not there. We own our own terminals, but we just need to update so we're not getting screwed by our current provider. We're also bank-shopping since a certain American bank wants to charge us for making cash deposits over $10k. 

 

Another clarification, we're in the food service industry. We net approximately $20. No k's. ;)

[qrn]

I had a car once that was aPOS,,,,,(joke,probably in bad taste,however
Bud

[DeliGirl]

Bud: as long as your bad taste doesn't roll into your food prep, it's all good!

 

Saara: sounds like we are in similar situations.  We should top 1 MIL in sales this year (woohoo!) but only net like $25k at the end of the year.  We are running a dinosaur register with a regular swipe credit card scanner that takes forever.  I don't think square will work for us as there are still too may bugs to work out and from what I've seen it will not address complicated functions like ours. 

 

For banks, we switched from (probably the same) certain American bank to a local small bank and LOVE them!  You know when you fill out a credit app and they ask you for your bank contact?  Who do you currently list?  Righto, no names just an 800 number with a rotating cast of characters.  Now I have a name at the bank who knows me and my business, a bank president who eats at my establishment 4 times a week, and people who actually care about my business.  I never have cash deposits in excess of $10K, but I'm sure if I did, they would not charge me to deposit them!  They recently refinanced our real estate loan for us and were a dream to work with.  I highly recommend going local for banking for small businesses!

 

"The actual company is a complete nightmare to deal with and has by far the worst service but the product is quite nice and works great."

As the official CFO, HR Manager, CEO, Chef, Buyer, Accountant and Clerical Assistant (to name a few of my many hats) in our small business, I'm afraid the above line scares the bejesus out of me.  I need great customer service from the company we partner with or it might just push me over the edge!  Thanks though for taking the time to write.  If their service improves, lmk!

 

I'll keep ya'll posted as my research continues, and let you know if I find something worthy of your taking the time to read!

 

Thank you!

[DeliGirl]

Just a quick update: we are meeting this week with a rep for the system POSLavu.  I met with a business developer at our local Apple store last week and he recommended Lavu, so I'm going to give it a look.  I'll let you know how it goes!

 

DinerWare did not have an inventory function.

 

[jjahorn]

I work for a company that does PoS systems - mostly large scale, but I they have solutions for smaller firms too.

They are big in Asia and Europe, but not so much in North America.

 

Maybe you want to look at what they offer though - Wincor Nixdorf

http://www.wincor-ni...istro/node.html

 

I don't know about this product - I work on supermarket solutions, but they are very flexible.

Unfortunately I also can't tell you anything at all about price...

[Graphix]

Take a look at Harbortouch. http://www.harbortou...touch/overview/ . I was forced into trying it at the restaurant I was managing by owners who didnt want to shell out for micros. I actually ended up really liking it. Most of my servers who were all used to Micros said it was the easiest POS to learn. You have to use them for credit card processing (the rates are pretty competitive)  but they provide the equipment at much cheaper rates than other POS companies. There is also free 24 hour support where they can 'screen connect' to remote access the terminals and help troubleshoot problems.