Is Cutting-Edge POS Necessary for Restaurant Franchises to Stay Competitive?

Updating point-of-sale systems is just the latest development in continued change prompted by COVID-19. Safer and more efficient payment methods have gained serious momentum in the past year-plus, but when compared to a big-picture change, how essential is a small adaptation?

On Monday, QSR Magazine ran a story titled “The Traditional POS is Dead.” The report addresses how consumer ordering habits have changed in recent years and why they are unlikely to change back post-pandemic. 

The article quotes Chris Lybeer, chief strategy officer at Revel Systems: “90 percent of transactions pre-COVID were rung up at a traditional POS, but now almost 70 percent of them are rung up elsewhere,” he said.

The article suggests that point-of-sale technology needs to take a restaurant through constant change — but if the landscape is to change only further, at what point is the investment worth it?

COVID-19 prompted major adjustments to the restaurant industry, including enhanced drive-thru services, mobile and kiosk ordering and cashless payment alternatives. These changes have prompted updates to traditional point-of-sale service, and if a restaurant brand hasn’t offered some form of these provisions, they could be left behind in favor of more adaptive brands.

It took adjustments like those for many restaurants to even survive the last year-plus, but the restaurant industry is now more prepared than ever to embrace change, if only out of sheer necessity. 

In-house point-of-sale systems, like traditional card readers, one-touch payment systems or even manual cashiers, are not exactly revolutionizing a payment experience like other point-of-sale systems. If a consumer will have to walk up to a counter to order anyway, the experience and the time commitment requirement will be largely unchanged.

The truly revolutionizing systems, however, are overhauling traditional means of ordering altogether. Mobile ordering can allow consumers to jump lines, and enhanced delivery services can allow consumers to order from their couch. This is likely where brands can update point-of-sale service to remain competitive, as they essentially make the physical ‘point’ in ‘point-of-sale’ irrelevant.

And COVID-19 remains a pressing concern for many consumers, which is why even an in-house point-of-sale update can play a critical role. Last year, Nicole Gelinas of The New York Post wrote a piece on how one-touch payment options had remained “infuriatingly absent” in the U.S. despite pandemic touch-points being discussed heavily. If consumers remain mindful of these touch points and take continued precaution, this is where an updated in-house ordering service can draw in additional consumers.

There are many layers to the kinds of point-of-sale service that will be implemented, however. Cost effectiveness will often remain the driving factor in how quickly these systems are put into place.