An All-In-One, Customizable POS System Supports Experimentation For Lost Boy Cider

Lost Boy Cider, the winner of Best in Show at the 2021 Governor’s Cup, is helping put Virginia apples on map. The cidery uses dirt farmed apples sourced locally from the Shenandoah Valley, and the founder, Tristan Wright, is on a mission to share the deliciously natural products, leaving sugary ingredients and other “funny business” behind. 

Lost Boy Cider is a self-proclaimed gateway cidery—in presentation, sourcing, and flavor—pleasing both the taste buds and heart health of local DC-ers and tourists. Meeting the high demand in their Old Town Alexandria tasting room requires an efficient team equipped with equally-efficient technology. For that, they chose Arryved POS. 

Price Matching Inspired Their POS Transition & Comprehensive Training Made It Seamless

Transitioning off prior POS systems required some research, but Arryved met Lost Boy Cider’s criteria: high quality at a fair price point. 

“We price matched to try to get the best quality for what we’re paying for,” explains Kristie, the Tasting Room Lead at Lost Boy. What costs were they comparing, exactly? 

“Your exchange rates were far less than Square, and less than Toast too. That’s a no brainer,” Tristan clarifies. While Arryved’s superior value for the cost drove their POS switch, extensive training made the transition a breeze.

Helpful Human Support & Tools Made Onboarding Fast

Arryved’s intuitive interface made for quick learning for Lost Boy Cider.  “My team caught on well. It’s a pretty visual, easy-to-navigate system,” Kristie says. 

With more complex functions, Kristie leans on Arryved’s knowledge base, which includes a plethora of on-demand resources like how-to videos and articles. Kristie continues to keep certain articles on hand for easy reference!

“I could just take a snippet of it—picture examples and step-by-steps—and print it out for our book up front to help my staff with tricky things,” she explains. These tangible, readily available resources solve issues immediately when busy staff are in the midst of service. 

Even now, almost a year after onboarding, the Lost Boy Cider team counts on Arryved’s award-winning Customer Support Team to quickly answer the phone or email when they need help. Setting up a new feature or finding a fix during service is done in a snap!

All-In-One, Mobile POS With Offline Mode Supports Lost Boy Cider At Events

Previously, the Lost Boy team was using Toast in their tasting room and Square at off-premise events. With Arryved, they can do it all under one system! 

Not only is it easier on staff to work with the same POS regardless of where they are, but the backend is more organized too. Synced sales, inventory, and reporting information make quantifying success easier and forecasting production faster. 

Kristie agrees: “I like that we can switch back and forth from the venues right on the handhelds, and I can see everything right from there, even report-wise. That makes it easy!”

Mobile POS devices plus foolproof offline mode keep staff efficiently collecting orders at events regardless of setup amenities or internet connection. “Being able to send the handhelds to the farmers markets and using offline mode is really nice, because when they get back it’s still all within the same system,” Kristie gushes. 

Now, the team can see daily revenue from both on and off-premise sales in one dashboard. 

Easily Customizable Menus & Flights Assist Frequent Cider Experimentation

As part of Lost Boy’s mission to make unpredictable ciders, they launched an Explorer Series that releases a new flavor every month, in addition to a Weekly Release. 

“The idea behind the Explorer Series is to drive those conversations—wow I had no idea cider could taste like this!—and showcase cider in a way that people didn’t know was possible,” Tristan explains. This frequent amount of experimentation and cider rotation calls for menus and flights that are easy to customize!

“We have a Weekly Release that we need to update each week, and then, undoubtedly one or two, sometimes three ciders will rotate out and new ciders will rotate in,” Tristan says. “To be able to do that on the fly and have it seamlessly update any customer-facing area, it’s really convenient and efficient.”

With so many delicious ciders to choose from, ordering flights is common at the Lost Boy tasting room. Luckily, with Arryved’s flexible menu tools, staff can add the Weekly Release to any flight without having to reconfigure inventory or pricing on the backend. 

“Adding and maintaining all of our products—because I’m constantly changing things every day—that became a lot easier with Arryved. Duplicating things, changing some of the information, it’s a lot easier than Toast on the backend,” Kristie notes.

Arryved’s dynamic flight tool works for more than just on-premise sampling. Now, when the Lost Boy team bundles to-go orders, they can use it for that, too!

“I really like the way the flight system works. We started doing discounts on stovepipes to-go, and it’s nice that even with to-go, you can just create that flight of 4 stovepipes—nice and easy—and set the pricing,” Kristie says. 

With a 4-pack in hand, you’re sure to see satisfied guests leave Lost Boy Cider’s tasting room doors. They’re riding the high of good times and delicious drinks, instead of a sugar rush. 

Featured image courtesy of Lost Boy Cider.