Restaurant

You have a restaurant location secured. You already have the required licenses and everything is set to start accepting customers. How do you accept payments? There are multiple ways to do it. The easiest is to take hard cash after customers eat. Is it the most effective?

Unless you have very few customers per day, you don’t want your patrons lining up with cash every other time. Most people are used to credit cards and other new payment methods anyway. Take advantage of some of the following modern payment methods for restaurants.

Point of Sale Systems

Point of Sale systems for restaurants are computerized programs that help you accept payments, track sales and save money. They work with credit cards, cash and other payment methods to cater to every type of customer. They are secure and impossible to alter, making them great at reducing employee theft issues.

Besides security, POS systems better communication in your restaurant. Orders made in the dining areas are sent and printed automatically by your kitchens’ printers. Chefs see the orders and serve the food for the waiters to pick and deliver to customers.

The systems allow you to make menus once and use them for any other branches your open in the future. If you plan to run loyalty programs, POS systems make it easy to remember your customers and reward them.

Pay at the Table Systems

The conventional POS systems remain with the cashier. Your customers must go through the cashier to have their payments processed. With a pay-at-the table system, you make paying for foods even more convenient for the customer.

A mobile POS device resembles a thin landline phone. It has a touch-screen menu and a feature to swipe credit cards. It also prints receipts to make things easier for everyone. With the system, your customers can easily choose between splitting bills or pay full amounts discreetly. They avoid lines or unnecessary communications with your staff when they need to make payments.

Self-Ordering and Checkout Systems

A significant number of restaurant customers leave within the first five minutes if they are not attended to. If you are a busy business and your patrons have to queue for long to pay, be certain some of them will leave you. Most people want fast-services all-round, which is what some new self-service systems are providing.

Imagine getting into a restaurant and using an iPad to order meals. Waitresses don’t have to come to you. Order what you want and wait for your meal to be delivered. When the time comes to pay, you use the same device to complete payments.

Depending on the systems used, your customers can customize your order by adding or removing ingredients. They get the food they want and you save money and time. With customers making orders, waiters only work to deliver meals and bills if needed. You also don’t need many employees as computer systems do most of the work for you.

Contactless Payment Methods

These methods include Apple Pay, PayPal, Google Wallet, and most Internet-based payment methods. Your customers send bills to your restaurant’s account of any of the chosen options. You can integrate POS systems with multiple contactless payment options to suit the different types of customers.

You can also accept contactless payment methods without a POS system. Payment options like PayPal and Google Pay only-requires you to have similar accounts. When a customer makes a payment, you get notified. You can then print a receipt for them.

In the absence of a system to consolidate the different payment options, managing contactless payment methods can be challenging. You must keep up with the money paid through Apple Pay, Android Pay, and Google Wallet. There are fees to be paid and you need to account for them. For best efficiency, integrate any accepted payment options to a point of sale program.

Cryptocurrency Payments

Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin have been all the rage in the last few years. These days, they are easy to convert into fiat money. Millions of people also use them, so there isn’t a reason you shouldn’t accept them.

Don’t rush to accept bitcoin if you have no idea how it works. Cryptocurrencies fluctuate occasionally, leading to instant gains or losses in value. Once you learn about their benefits and challenges, consider adding them as payment options.

Pick a good payment gateway while you are it. By a gateway, your customers don’t just send money directly into your account. There are apps that make it easy to complete payments and get receipts. Since there are hundreds of crypto coins, a good payment gateway can help you accept any of them.

Cash

Every year, industry experts predict the death of cash for restaurant payments. Stories of a paperless society are floated occasionally. But cash is still a popular payment method in almost every industry. Sure, the rates of using cash in restaurants have dwindled. However, you don’t want to get rid of cash payments yet.

In a study done in 2017, 12% of consumers prefer using cash to buy services over any other method. When asked about paying for food at restaurants, 39% of the consumers used cash over debit or credit cards. Security concerns and frustrations with credit card payments were the main reason people opted for cash payments at restaurants.

With so many people using cash for payments, don’t go paperless yet. Simply integrate cash payments with POS systems. Your customers pay instantly and get receipts. The machine records payments and tracks daily or monthly payments for easy accounting. With a good POS system, you don’t have to be afraid about employee theft. Every payment is accounted for.

To Conclude

If you just opened a restaurant, there is no need to fuss about which payment method to accept. Point of Sale is a must have system. With it, you can accept cash, credit cards, and other payment options conveniently. Your sales are tracked and employee theft is curbed. You save time and money by automating payments and add convenience to your customers.