Buyer's Guide for POS Software

How to Select the Right
Restaurant POS Software

Follow our the steps below to identify your restaurant point of sale software needs. At the end of this guide, Feature Comparison Chart of best-selling POS restaurant sofware packages.

STEP 1: Define Your Deployment Needs

Number of Locations & Number of POS Registers Per Location
POS restaurant software is manufactured for various deployment scenarios. Restaurant software manufacturers may design software for single pos register installation, multiple pos registers, and multiple restaurant locations. You can vastly narrow your choices just by understanding your locations needs.

Network Infrastructure of Multiple POS Registers and/or Multiple Locations
Operating system and hardware requirements vary among software packages and will affect the cost of implementing your restaurant POS system. While one software package might support a Windows peer-to-peer POS station set up, another may require a Windows Server operating system for multiple POS registers or restaurant locations. The hardware and costs for networking two or more point-of-sale registers running the same software at a single location or between multiple locations should be factored into the budget.

POS Hardware Compatibility
POS hardware compatibility varies among software packages. Be sure to consult the software's hardware requirements prior to buying touch screen computer, receipt printers, pole displays, card readers, cash drawers, and barcode scanners. If you own existing POS hardware components, be aware that your new restaurant software may not be compatible. Whether you need just one POS register or multiple POS stations, consider buying Complete Restaurant POS which bundles restaurant software with all required hardware, preconfigured for gauranteed compatibility. If you opt to purchase restaurant software separately from POS hardware, consult a reseller about the various operating requirements for the POS software packages you are evaluating, and find out if your reseller offers Onsite Installation Services.

STEP 2: Define Critical & Secondary Features

Identify the Features You Need
Determine the critical functionality you need in a restaurant POS software package. Use our Features Comparison Chart to identify features commonly found in restaurant POS software packages and build a list that suits your needs. Note which of these features are misson-critical, secondary needs, and which features are unnecessary for your POS needs.

STEP 3: Evaluate & Compare Software Packages

Contact Industry Resouces for Recommendations

Contact a reputable reseller with expertise in the POS industry. Based on the system requirements and features criteria you've identified, ask for a recommendation on a variety of restaurant POS software packages. Be sure to ask for demonstration or trial versions, which are usually downloadable.
If desired, directly contact the software manufacturer for names of restaurants who use their POS software. Contact those references for their feedback on ease of installation, usability, features, and performance.

Understand Software Manufacturer's Support, Upgrade, and Return Policies.
Support and upgrade policies vary greatly among POS software manufacturers. While one may require paid support contract with purchase, another manufacturer may include up to a year of free support with purchase. Some software manufacturers only include software patches, know as "bug fixes", for current versions with purchase, while others offer full version upgrades for the first year. Be aware that most software companies do no accept returns on software and do not guarantee the fitness of their software for any particular purpose; neither do resellers. This is an industry standard rule, making your evaluation of the free POS software trial version essential to ensure satisfaction.

Install Trail Versions to Evaluate Features & User Interface
Once you've narrowed your choice down to only POS software packages fitting your critical features criteria, and hopefully secondary criteria, install the demonstration versions on your PC. Evaluate each software's depth of functionality for those features. In addition, consider ease of use and the intuitiveness of the user interface. Restaurants with large staff and high turnover may place greater weight on ease of use to save the expense and time associated with training new users.
Once you've had a hands-on evalutation of critical features and usability, it's time to narrow your choice and make a purchase decision. Revisit the software system requirements and have a list of final questions ready for your reseller.

Restaurant POS Software at POSGUYS.com POSGUYS.com offers a variety of restaurant POS software packages including. See Restaurant Software Comparison Chart for itemized feature comparison for all of the software.