Learn five of the best POS terminal for bars and breweries of 2022. This will surely help you boost your business.
What is a POS Terminal, and Why Does your Business need one?
Merchants typically use a POS terminal for processing credit card transactions. It’s usually installed at the point of sale and is valuable for businesses such as bars to accept credit cards from customers.
A POS terminal can be a stand-alone device or integrated with other systems, such as cash registers or inventory management systems.
Merchant pos software helps process credit card transactions. They have a card reader and software used to process the transactions.
A POS terminal’s most essential function is providing an alternative to cash payments and reducing the risk of theft for business owners.
What should you consider when Selecting a POS Card Reader?
Selecting a POS system is not a decision to be taken lightly. Many different factors need to be considered before making your final decision. These include the system’s cost, the software used, and whether you want it on a monthly or yearly basis.
The most important factors to consider are:
The type of payment you want to accept.
The type of merchant pos software you wish to use.
- The software will be compatible with your POS and store management systems.
In Summary: 5Best POS Terminals for Bars in 2022
Revel Systems has the best iPad POS for bars and nightclubs with many customers.
Square for Restaurants is the best free point-of-sale system for small bars, breweries, and wine bars.
Toast is the best overall bar POS for stand-alone bars, hotel bars, and bars that need low upfront costs.
Lightspeed is the best for marketing and stock.
TouchBistro is best for being easy to use and learning quickly.
The 5 Best POS Terminals for Bars and Breweries in 2022
A bar point-of-sale POS terminal combines software and hardware that accepts customer orders, processes payments, monitors sales, and analyzes your bar’s performance metrics.
Bars require POS systems with credit card pre-authorization, tab management, and cash transaction tracking. The best point-of-sale POS card reader for bars is user-friendly and automatically updates inventory as items sell.
We have compiled a list of the best POS terminal for nightclubs, bars, and breweries in 2022. These are some of the most popular POS terminals in the market today.
Revel Systems
Similar to Toast and Oracle MICROS Simphony, Revel Systems is a hybrid iPad POS that operates through a local area network and the cloud. This configuration provides exceptional offline functionality for Revel. Revel also supports retail businesses, not just restaurants. Therefore, event venues that wish to sell tickets, merchandise, beverages, and food will access all necessary resources.
And unlike Toast and Square, Revel users can select from eight payment processors to obtain the lowest possible processing rates.
Why go for Revel Systems?
Revel Systems provides dual till cash registers and the ability to configure high cash alerts when tills reach a certain percentage. Revel Systems, like top-ranked Toast, integrates with security software such as Solink and Envysion, allowing high-volume operations to identify theft and customer issues. Users can easily manage digital menu boards using the Revel dashboard to promote upcoming events and drink specials.
In addition, unlike Toast, Square, and Simphony, Revel Systems lacks a handheld order and payment device designed for this purpose. Instead, Revel uses iPads with carrying cases. This works well for tableside service, but iPads tend to be heavier and less portable than their competitors’ handheld devices, which all fit in an apron pocket.
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Square for Restaurants
The Next POS terminal on our list is the Square reader. The Square reader is a card reader plugged into your phone and can process transactions with a swipe or tap. It has no monthly fee and no per-transaction fee. It is also effortless to use and install.
Why go for Square for Restaurants?
Square for Restaurants is an iPad POS that is becoming more and more popular. Bars can avail no fee merchant services and use them without a long-term contract. Like the top-ranked Toast, Square’s essential POS subscription doesn’t charge monthly software fees. Instead, you only pay processing fees when you use credit or debit cards. But Toast users have to sign a contract for two years, while Square users don’t have to commit to anything long-term.
You can get the POS app on your phone and start using it right away. If your business grows or your needs change, you can switch to a higher subscription level or a new POS system at no extra cost. Because of this, Square is an excellent choice for new bars and smaller businesses like breweries and wine bars.
Visit Square for Restaurants
Toast
Toast has been a popular point-of-sale system for restaurants for a long time. The last time we looked at bar software, it was the best POS and has only improved since then. Toast has the most comprehensive and valuable staff management tools of any bar POS. It also has no fee merchant services such as free essential POS subscription and Pay-as-You-Go options for hardware (though employee management costs extra).
Over the past two years, this provider has done much to make its powerful system more affordable for even the smallest businesses. Toast is our top pick for the best bar POS because it has the tools for most types of bars.
Why go for Toast?
Toast has a lot of third-party integrations that let you tailor the POS to your needs. You can add BevSpot to your store if you want to sell more drinks. Breweries can use BrewLogix to track how their kegs are used and PourMyBeer to let customers pour their beer. For more security, bars can add the Solink integration, which syncs security camera data with POS data so that it’s easy to figure out if a customer has a problem or if an employee is stealing.
You can add the Toast Pay Card with PayOut for an extra fee. This app lets your employees get their wages and tips as they are earned instead of waiting until the next payday. Toast is the only system with this option, and it can help bars keep employees who want to get their tips immediately. This could make a big difference if you have difficulty keeping people at your bar.
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Lightspeed Restaurant
Lightspeed Restaurant is a point-of-sale app for iPads made for the food and drink industry. When it bought competitor Upserve in 2020, it added many new features to this easy-to-use system. Upserve is now Lightspeed Restaurant U-Series, a powerful hospitality POS that combines automated customer data and inventory with one-click reordering, along with Lightspeed’s easy installation and iPad terminals. Lightspeed’s higher subscription levels give you access to Upserve’s familiar, automated list and deep customer insights.
Many POS systems have bright and cartoony screens. Still, Lightspeed Restaurant’s dark mode screens and tabbed navigation bars are discreet in low-light settings like craft cocktail bars and upscale lounges where keeping the atmosphere is essential. Busy bars will like the automated inventory system that tells you when you’re running low and suggests reorders by the vendor.
Why go for Lightspeed Restaurant?
Like Revel and Toast, competitors, Lightspeed’s built-in inventory tracking is complete, with tools for physical counts and managing vendors. But because Lightspeed’s inventory tool is more automated, it is easier to use than Toast and Revel Systems. With Lightspeed’s Advanced Inventory function, which is only available at the Pro level, your system will suggest orders based on your low stock alerts. This ensures that you never run out of product, no matter who places the supply order, and lets you place several orders with different vendors by clicking a single button.
At the Pro Plus level, your Lightspeed POS comes with detailed reports called “Insights.” You can get these reports at lower subscription levels for an extra fee. These insights give you a more in-depth look at how productive your staff is and how your customers to act. Automatic updates are made to customer reports based on payment information. You don’t have to log each customer visit or purchase manually. The system does this for you, even if the same customer uses different credit cards.
Lightspeed’s Workforce Management tools have a staff schedule builder that is easy to use. After making a schedule in the management dashboard, you can email or text the plan to staff. Staff won’t be able to clock in early; if someone tries to clock in late, a manager will have to override the system. So, you won’t be surprised by shift changes at the last minute or higher labor costs from people coming in early.
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TouchBistro
TouchBistro is an iPad POS system for food and drink businesses that is easy to use and can be set up by the business owner. The system takes up little space and is easy to set up by yourself, just like Square for Restaurants. The basic POS has everything you need to run a small bar, from basic employee scheduling to speed screens and real-time inventory tracking.
Its inventory is best for keeping track of individual items like bottles, cans, and glasses of wine, so breweries and wine bars will be well-supported. But TouchBistro makes it hard to keep track of each liquor pour, so cocktail programs should look at Toast, Revel, or Lightspeed instead.
Why go for TouchBistro?
TouchBistro’s online user knowledge base has detailed instructions on how to install it. Most TouchBistro users find that getting their system up and running only takes a couple of hours. The company also offers setup support services at prices that are based on each bar’s needs.
Interface based on iOS
More than any other system on this list, TouchBistro’s POS interface and back office dashboard look like a big iPhone. TouchBistro is easy to learn for anyone who has used an iPhone. TouchBistro is easy to use because of how well it is put together. Many user reviews say that new employees can get familiar with it in less than an hour. TouchBistro could save you hundreds of dollars in training costs if your bar has a lot of staff turnover.
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How to Choose the Right Merchant POS Software for You
TouchBistro’s online user knowledge base has detailed instructions on how to install it. Most TouchBistro users find that getting their system up and running only takes a couple of hours. The company also offers setup support services at prices that are based on each bar’s needs.
Interface based on iOS
More than any other system on this list, TouchBistro’s POS interface and back office dashboard look like a big iPhone. TouchBistro is easy to learn for anyone who has used an iPhone. TouchBistro is easy to use because of how well it is put together. Many user reviews say that new employees can get familiar with it in less than an hour. TouchBistro could save you hundreds of dollars in training costs if your bar has a lot of staff turnover.
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