POS system for retail and cafe sales
May 19, 2018 10:17 AM Subscribe
I own a small retail store that is expanding and adding a coffee shop. We want customers to be able to purchase retail items at the coffee bar, but it seems like using our existing retail POS would be clunky for the purpose of sending food and drink orders to the barista/prep station. Is there a software option that's designed to serve both purposes? Feature wishlist inside.
More specifications:
• OS X or cloud-based. Our salespeople need to be able to do research and other tasks on their machines, so we don't want to switch to a tablet-based POS.
• Unlimited item count (we have about 5,000 SKUs)
• Ability to print tickets to multiple receipt printers like restaurant POS systems, ideally with specific item categories being printed to specific printers.
If anyone with relevant experience knows that this doesn't exist, that would be helpful information too.
More specifications:
• OS X or cloud-based. Our salespeople need to be able to do research and other tasks on their machines, so we don't want to switch to a tablet-based POS.
• Unlimited item count (we have about 5,000 SKUs)
• Ability to print tickets to multiple receipt printers like restaurant POS systems, ideally with specific item categories being printed to specific printers.
If anyone with relevant experience knows that this doesn't exist, that would be helpful information too.
I work in this industry.
What's your budget? Other than the OSX/cloud-based requirement, you're basically describing Aloha. (Micros is another option that I have less experience with, but look into it as well)
Strictly speaking, Aloha is software package that runs on a bunch of networked Windows computers, with one acting as a fileserver and the rest acting as terminals that continually sync their data to that server. In theory, it could be set up on whatever crummy PCs you have laying around, but in practice no reseller will let you do that, you'll have to buy touchscreen terminals with the proper ports to run the printers, etc.
As it's normally set up, the terminals don't have internet access. You could technically set them up to do so (just garden-variety IP networking), but doing so would be a security risk, which is why it isn't done. This isn't because of some Aloha-specific vulnerability, but general security practice. These machines are going to be handling credit card data etc, and are basically the beating heart and circulatory system of your business -- you don't really want your employees getting ransomware etc. on them. There might actually be PCI compliance issues here, as well.
Your printing requirements and database size requirements are really the reason I think you're going to be stuck with a big-ticket commercial system like Aloha rather than one of the cheapie ipad app options or a web app. Those functions quite simply require a whole lot of coding and infrastructure to work right, and Aloha has a 30-year head start on the startups.
The advantage is that Aloha has a lot of additional functionality as well. It adequately handles scheduling, payroll, bookkeeping, inventory control, etc. If you need better-than adequate, there are add-ons and 3rd party options to extend specific areas.
This isn't a sales pitch. I hate Aloha. It is just (unfortunately) the correct tool for the job, I think.
MeMail me if you'd like more specific information.
posted by Krawczak at 2:36 PM on May 19, 2018
What's your budget? Other than the OSX/cloud-based requirement, you're basically describing Aloha. (Micros is another option that I have less experience with, but look into it as well)
Strictly speaking, Aloha is software package that runs on a bunch of networked Windows computers, with one acting as a fileserver and the rest acting as terminals that continually sync their data to that server. In theory, it could be set up on whatever crummy PCs you have laying around, but in practice no reseller will let you do that, you'll have to buy touchscreen terminals with the proper ports to run the printers, etc.
As it's normally set up, the terminals don't have internet access. You could technically set them up to do so (just garden-variety IP networking), but doing so would be a security risk, which is why it isn't done. This isn't because of some Aloha-specific vulnerability, but general security practice. These machines are going to be handling credit card data etc, and are basically the beating heart and circulatory system of your business -- you don't really want your employees getting ransomware etc. on them. There might actually be PCI compliance issues here, as well.
Your printing requirements and database size requirements are really the reason I think you're going to be stuck with a big-ticket commercial system like Aloha rather than one of the cheapie ipad app options or a web app. Those functions quite simply require a whole lot of coding and infrastructure to work right, and Aloha has a 30-year head start on the startups.
The advantage is that Aloha has a lot of additional functionality as well. It adequately handles scheduling, payroll, bookkeeping, inventory control, etc. If you need better-than adequate, there are add-ons and 3rd party options to extend specific areas.
This isn't a sales pitch. I hate Aloha. It is just (unfortunately) the correct tool for the job, I think.
MeMail me if you'd like more specific information.
posted by Krawczak at 2:36 PM on May 19, 2018
Response by poster: For anyone finding this question in search—we still don't know of a solution that meets the criteria listed in the OP. In the end, we decided to sacrifice the requirement that our new system runs on OS X. Square runs on iOS, but they can meet our other needs by combining the new Square for Retail backend with the Square POS frontend that allows for restaurant ticket management and integration with a kitchen display system. This also has the advantage of being much less expensive than systems like Aloha or Micros (not to mention, we don't have to use Windows for anything.)
posted by roast beef at 12:29 PM on May 31, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by roast beef at 12:29 PM on May 31, 2018 [1 favorite]
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posted by BrooksCooper at 12:40 PM on May 19, 2018