Five things to consider when buying a new EPOS system

1. What are your needs?​

Buying the right ​EPOS​​ is an investment that should have extremely high ROI for your business. Start with the basics. What do customers want when they come into a restaurant? For many operations, it’s a clear menu, minimal wait time and the ability to pay when and how they want. With Lightspeed, images and product descriptions can be added directly into the system to show to your customers on an iPad. You can also update your floor plan in your POS as tables get moved around, giving your staff instant and effortless updates. After their meal, let your customers pay wherever they are seated and however they want.

2. Is it mobile?​

People are excited about mobile technology in restaurants. It’s more efficient, it usually leads to a higher average check, and it looks cool. But for all the hype around mobile, there’s a lot of confusion about what it actually is; most people associate mobile EPOS​​​with portable units that let you place orders tableside. Mobile, however, is more than just portable units — it’s having a system on the cloud that follows you anywhere. Everything is done on the internet, on a website or app, instead of a computer or server. With a cloud-based EPOS​​, you have true mobility; the freedom to check your data from anywhere you have internet access and get real-time system updates.

3. Will my customer experience be affected?​

Absolutely! As an independent restaurateur, you don’t face the same challenges as the biggest chains in the world. Many companies, however, make the mistake of thinking that smaller businesses need smaller solutions. People know more about tech than ever before; they are always connected — 88% of people check restaurants or bars online before showing up and every single one of your customer expects flexibility. When guests enter your restaurant, they want to order easily, from anywhere and pay however they choose. That’s where Lightspeed comes into play.

4. How will my systems speak to each other?​

Every system should be open. This means it should be able to connect seamlessly to the other tools you need. As the central place where all of your data resides, yourEPOS ​​is your main system, but Lightspeed gives you room to do more. Accounting, building loyalty, having the right payment provider and managing your employees’ schedules are just a few of things you can do with Lightspeed’s huge catalogue of integrations.

5. Who will help me if I’m in need?​

Every market has its challenges. Lightspeed chose to open an office in the UK to not only offer local businesses its existing solutions, but solutions catered specifically for them. Lightspeed’s global reach offers you two advantages: the company has the resources to offer you 24/7 customer support. On the tech side, technology advances so fast that the only way to stay up to date is if you are in every market to see things evolve on a global scale. Lightspeed has customers in more than a hundred countries.

Visit Lightspeed at the Restaurant Tech live 26-27 September, Stand 6124​​