INTRODUCTION

ONE Chop your infrastructure costs

TWO Less clutter, more coverage and reliability

THREE Increase order efficiency and payment speed

FOUR Change menus quickly and easily

FIVE It grows along with you

SIX Ensure stellar customer service

SEVEN Manage floor plans with a few swipes

EIGHT Maintain oversight

NINE Get up and running in a matter of hours

CONCLUSION

FOOTNOTES

INTRODUCTION

People are excited about mobile technology in restaurants. It looks cool, it’s more

efficient, and in some cases, it leads to a higher average check.i

The National Restaurant Association is calling mobile the hottest technology trend of

2015, with 29 percent surveyed saying they’ll be adopting tablet computers in their

restaurants.ii

But for all the hype around mobile, there’s a lot of confusion about what it actually

is. Most people associate mobile POS with portable units that let you place orders

tableside. But mobile is more — much more — than just portable units.

The key is how the system uses something called “the cloud” — with cloud, everything

is done on the Internet, on a website, instead of a computer or server. With a cloud-

based POS, you have true mobility. Managers and staff do everything — and we mean

everything — on mobile devices connected to the Internet, including menu setup,

workflow setup, descriptions, taking orders, sending orders and managing floor plans.

There are many, many benefits to a cloud-based mobile restaurant POS. Here are nine

of the most important ones.

9 Reasons Why a Mobile Point of Sale is Better for Your Restaurant

NUMBER ONE

• A cloud-based mobile POS doesn’t burn a hole in your budget. Upfront

costs are dramatically lower than a non-mobile POS — no more

expensive computers, workstations, or servers to buy. You just need

mobile devices such as iPads or iPhones, an Internet connection, and a

subscription to a cloud-based mobile restaurant POS provider.

• You can up your ‘green’ credentials as you dispense with the costly

requirements of your energy-hungry server.

• Those frequent, expensive updates? They’re a thing of the past. You’ll

always be accessing the latest, most-up-to-date version from the web.

• For most POS systems, a breakdown means ordering replacement parts,

which must then be shipped, delivered, and installed, usually in more

time than you want to wait. With a cloud-based mobile restaurant POS,

the only thing you need to replace is an iPad or iPhone.

Chop your infastructure costs.

number one

NUMBER TWO

• Say hello to cleaner counter spaces and less clutter. The only things

taking up space are printers, payment hardware and a WiFi router hidden

in the back of your restaurant.

• Staff can carry mobile devices with them, which means no more

forgotten dessert orders from the patio or slow drink service at the pool

tables. Wait staff enter orders right on a mobile device, no matter where

they are in the restaurant.

• A good cloud-based mobile POS system provides backup in the event

that anything happens to your Internet access. These include fallback

routers or offline solutions, which allow you to keep operating when

your Internet service provider can’t.

Less clutter, more coverage and reliability.

number two

NUMBER THREE

• Orders sent through a cloud-based restaurant POS arrive at the kitchen

or bar in milliseconds. If you’re managing line-ups during peak dining

hours, those saved minutes can add up to significant dollars.

• You choose where your order goes: head chef, sous chef, line cook, cold

food station, hot food station, salad station, dessert station or bar.

• Depending on your country and payment processor, payment can be

accepted on the device, including cash, debit and credit cards. A cloud-

based mobile POS gives you the option to email or print receipts for

customers.

Increase order efficiency and payment speed.

number three

NUMBER FOUR

• With “going local” once again topping the charts as most important food

trend of the year,iii restaurants need an easy way to change their menus

based on what’s in season. A cloud-based mobile POS makes changing

menus a snap.

• Managers can access menus from the Web. With the right login

credentials and an Internet connection, you can change menu

information anytime, anywhere — working from home, while on the

road, visiting suppliers, or overseas attending events.

Update menus quickly and easily.

number four

• Any restaurant considering one-off food events, setting up a seasonal

food truck, or opening a whole new venture, will see significant benefits

from a cloud-based mobile POS. Just bring an iPhone or iPad with a way

to connect to the Internet, and you’re ready to create orders. The system

doesn’t depend on hardware so it can expand as quickly as you do.

• If you have IT staff helping you, they’ll want to know if your POS can easily

talk to other systems and programs. A good cloud-based mobile POS

allows you to quickly integrate digital signage, online reservation systems,

accounting packages, and other services as you need them.

NUMBER FIVE

number five

It grows along with you.

• For diners with allergies or food restrictions, it matters where and how

the food was prepared. Now you can tell them. Add detailed information

on menus and menu items, including supplier information (e.g. pastured

poultry from Polyface Farm or Kobe Striploin Steak certified by the

Japanese Kobe Beef Council).

• Many cloud-based POS systems allow you to create customer profiles,

complete with bar tabs and order histories. Staff members can offer your

best customers “the usual”, even when they’re new to the job.

• Some cloud-based restaurant POS systems allow you to create prompts

that pop-up when a customer places an order, for upsell opportunities

such as matched sides or drinks.

• If your food looks good, show your customers. A cloud-based mobile

POS can let you show off a full-screen photo of your plates and other

items on an iPad.

Ensure stellar customer service.

NUMBER SIX

number six

• That party of four suddenly grows to eight? A good mobile POS lets you

move tables around quickly and easily right on the device. You can keep

your eyes on the restaurant floor. No need to dive behind the desk to an

out-of-the-way workstation.

• Your virtual floor plan can mirror the actual floor plan. Avoid serving

errors by helping busy servers, food runners, and new staff quickly pick

up on any changes made to the layout.

Manage floor plans with a few swipes.

NUMBER SEVEN

number seven

• With a cloud-based mobile restaurant POS, you can keep your eye on the

money, even when you’re not there. Run reports, check an audit trail, or

review daily and hourly sales, all from your mobile device.

• A cloud-based mobile POS allows you to create user accounts for each

individual employee. Accounts come with customizable security settings;

you determine what employees can access, such as opening a cash

drawer, permission to discount, changing the floor plan or accessing

financial reports.

Maintain oversight.

NUMBER EIGHT

number eight

• A cloud-based mobile POS requires no installation. Setup printers,

restaurant information, workflows, and menu information in the

system — and you’re good to go.

• As with any system, a good restaurant POS provides good technical

assistance, as well as a strong network of local partners to help

with setup. Your cloud-based mobile restaurant POS should be no

different.

Get up and running in a matter of hours.

NUMBER NINE

number nine

The last thing you want to worry about in your business is technology.

A cloud-based mobile restaurant POS takes away the hassle of system

and hardware management, and puts it into the hands of the people best

equipped to handle it: IT staff managing server farms and software updates

from remote destinations.

Choosing a cloud-based mobile POS will ensure that you don’t spend more

than you need to, while maintaining control over what matters most.

Conclusion

CONCLUSION

i Wong, Venessa. “That Tablet on the Restaurant Table Will Make You Spend

More.” Bloomberg Businessweek. September 17, 2013.

ii What’s Hot: 2015 Culinary Forecast. National Restaurant Association. Fall

2014.

iii Ibid.

Footnotes

FOOTNOTES

At Lightspeed, we build end-to-end commerce solutions that restaurateurs

can use to build, manage and grow their businesses. Lightspeed is an all-in-

one point of sale, table management, and analytics platform for restaurants

of any size.

With the right technology, restaurateurs can make their customers happier,

and make the world a more delicious place.

Start your free trial.

Questions? Call us at 1-866-932-1801 or +32 9 221 22 20

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