Today’s customers are omnichannel. The PYMNTS 2022 Restaurant Friction Index reports that the average restaurant receives orders through 2–3 different channels. You want to set up your restaurant to effectively capture sales from all the channels customers like to use, while maintaining operational efficiency. Point-of-sale (POS) integration plays an important role in achieving that.
In this article, explore the basics of POS integration for your restaurant: how it works, why it’s valuable, and ways it can streamline the ordering and delivery experience you offer.
POS systems are the control center for your restaurant. Their main function is to register orders, send them to the kitchen, and process payments.
For in-person customers, the process is fairly straightforward: a staff member enters the order and payment information into the POS, which then sends the order to the kitchen to be prepared. Once it’s ready, a staff member hands the finished order to the customer.
This process can get more complicated when you need to coordinate delivery and order processing across different channels, including first-party channels like your website and third-party apps like Uber Eats. That’s where POS integration comes in.