4 Hidden Gems Your POS System Offers Your Staff

It’s easy to take your bar or brewery’s POS system for granted. After all, this workhorse is involved in every transaction and business decision you make. While choosing your POS system, you probably made sure it served basic functions, but have you thought about how it empowers your staff to do their best work?

We’re uncovering these four often overlooked POS system features that make it easier for your team to keep customers coming back for more and your business running like a well-oiled machine:

1. Equitable, easy tip pooling and tip outs
2. Digital tabs with card on file
3. Intuitive reporting
4. Reliable hardware & Offline mode

1. Equitable, Easy Tip Pooling & Tip Outs

Tips are the lifeblood of the service industry in North America. When employees get their tips quickly, they’re happy campers and will continue to provide customers with great service. Unfortunately, complicated tip pools and tip-out structures can make working out how much your staff has earned a headache. The good news is, your POS can simplify this process.

Arryved’s End of Day Tip Calculator does the work for you by automatically figuring out staff gratuities. Role-based tip pooling settings make tip outs easier and more equitable. You can even customize tip calculations. For example, you can edit employees’ hours, for the days they forget to clock out, and create customized tipped hours if an employee is doing a task that isn’t eligible for tips. Arryved also lets you allocate tips based on when an order is placed, rather than when a tab is closed, so servers can get credit even if their shift ends before their customers leave.

POS reports also make it easy to see who’s earned the most tips, which can help you decide who to schedule for your busiest shifts, and who could use some extra training. Look for reports similar to these in your POS system to inform your tip-out structure and understand employee performance:

• Employee Performance: See who generates the largest tabs and earns the most tips.
• Tips By Labor Hour: Reference this report if you’re splitting up tips based on hours your team worked. This information will help you create tip pools based on when employees are clocking in and out.
• Employee Time Card: If you’re splitting up tips without differentiating the time of day or shift, this report will help you create an equitable tip-out structure. 

2. Digital Tabs

With a POS system that offers digital tabs, bartenders don’t need to hold a card to start a tab. Instead, they just need to capture payment information once – whether via tap, dip, swipe, or Apple / G-Pay – and then don’t have to worry about holding onto a card. 

This feature means bartenders no longer need to ask customers to spell their last names over the hubbub of crowds and music–while manually flipping through cards–to close out for the night. It also means staff no longer need to deal with or hold onto forgotten cards until customers come back for them.

3. Intuitive Reporting

Powerful, intuitive reports from your POS are a treasure trove of data for managers. With tabs and metrics that update in real-time, the numbers managers see are always accurate.

Intuitive reporting makes employee performance easier to understand. This means you can schedule your best employees during your most critical shifts, like during happy hour or on game day. This data can also aid performance reviews.

Additionally, reports help managers understand profitability and inform decisions. For example, Arryved POS’ integration with MarginEdge unlocks cost management reports like Controllable P&L, Theoretical vs. Actual Usage, Category Budgets, Sales Performance, and Labor Spend. You can use this data to plan marketing promotions, update menu prices, or lower inventory costs.

4. Reliable Hardware & Offline Mode

Bars and breweries are dynamic, sometimes chaotic places. From hazards behind the bar to weaving between customers on the floor, bartenders and servers encounter a lot of obstacles that can disrupt service. Your POS hardware should be able to handle these challenges and make it easier for staff to give thirsty customers their orders.

If your POS system comes with mobile POS hardware that can be carried anywhere and fits in the palm of servers’ hands, your staff is equipped to handle whatever comes their way. This sturdy, reliable hardware lets staff take orders anywhere on your property–from the taproom to the patio–rain or shine.

When your mobile POS is equipped with mobile payments hardware, customers can pay however they’d like, including by tapping, swiping, or dipping their cards, or closing out with a digital wallet. And with an offline mode, your venue can accept card payments even if wifi is down. Staff can focus on providing exceptional service by eliminating tedious tasks like delivering paper tickets and printing receipts. Instead, customers can provide a digital signature. 

The Bottom Line: Your POS System Should Empower Your Staff

Equipped with a POS system that makes their jobs easier, your staff can delight customers and keep them coming back for more. And with features like tip calculators, powerful reporting, employee management integrations, and reliable hardware, it’s smooth sailing for your operations.

If your POS doesn’t have these intuitive, empowering features, switch to Arryved POS. It’s the most trusted POS for bars, breweries, restaurants, and music venues. Request a demo today.