Specialty Coffee Retailer is a publication for owners, managers and employees of retail outlets that sell specialty coffee. Its scope includes best sales practices, supplies, business trends and anything else to assist the small coffee retailer.
Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/109835
A pre-purchase POS checklist It's important for coffee retailers to keep their operation's specific needs in mind. With all the options available (choices range from a simple cash drawer, to an intermediate computerized system, to a fullblown POS), shopping can be daunting. Specialty Coffee Retailer asked Sean Rowland of Coffee Shop Manager, Mike Spence of SelbySoft, Jason Richelson of ShopKeep POS, and Jack Groot and Sherry White of JP's Coffee and Espresso Bar what questions coffee retailers should ask when shopping for a new or upgrading an existing POS system. Their answers are combined in the list below. a POS system and process cards separately to save money? for PCI compliance? needs? If using a particular system is free, but does not solve all of your needs, there will be another cost—the cost of figuring out how to solve the other issues, Groot cautions. for follow-up tech support? in terms of easy ordering of complex drinks, ordering of food, analytics and reports designed for our business? loyalty program, which are common marketing tools in the industry? Coffee Shop Manager's Rowland offers a similar assessment. "Square may offer competitive credit card processing rates, and that is their core business. Their POS is offered as a lure to obtain the credit card processing relationship," Rowland says. "But most of our coffee shop clients recognize that a POS system designed specifically for the coffee industry is always going to be more effective, more feature-rich and more useful than a generic POS system." inventory and employee scheduling, multi-store reporting and management, if needed? whether to other financial programs or just for my records? offering, and will the technicians understand my business? environment? move customers through the line as efficiently as possible, especially during rush hour? cost of goods sold, so you can make smarter business decisions quickly and on a daily basis? what's going on even when you're not in your store? growth? Will you be able to change your processor in the future, and have control over your customer database? You don't want to be locked into a system that won't allow you to grow as your business expands. with? "Ideally you never have to call, but when you do you want to make sure someone is there to pick up the phone," Richelson says. Coffee Shop Manager features reporting designed specifically for the coffee industry, like cup-count analysis. SQUARING UP The pros at JP's have experienced the benefits of POS and Square firsthand. "We've been using Square about a year. It's been a great success—ease of employee training, ease of use, daily reporting online, quick deposits to our bank, big savings on processing fees," White reports. "But right now, you can't credit back part of a transaction, so if somebody is charged $16 on a $6 transaction, your choice is to refund all the money on the transaction. It's only happened a couple of times, so it has been a minor inconvenience." Although JPs has saved what Groot calls "an incredible amount of money" by switching its credit card processing to Square, his shop does not use it as a POS system. 26 "We would like to see some depth added to the programming before we would consider a leap to using it as our only POS. That would mean adding some reporting features and greater depth to the menu options, as well as loyalty programs," White adds. In the end, it boils down to making sure your POS system delivers a good return on investment. "Owners want to know that the system they choose is going to work for their specific shop, is going to help them with their management challenges, and is going to be a reliable long-term investment," Rowland says. "Whether purchasing software or subscribing to a system, the key is understanding how that system is going to help you improve your business and your bottom line." SCR