2.  Click & Collect / Grab & Go

Most cafes and coffee shops will offer a take away option for coffees and most likely food to cater for those on the go. However, you can make this process even quicker for time poor commuters by allowing them to place their orders with you ahead of time, to simply pop in and grab on their way to the station or the office.

Included as standard in our Essentials package is the option to have mobile ordering for your venue. This is a web-based feature, so doesn’t rely on anyone needing to download a specific app for your venue, and allows you to take fast, secure payments.

You can choose to offer your full menu for click and collect, or just specific products. You can also decide what hours you want to allow this option, making them different to your usual opening hours - perhaps just during those peak early mornings.



3.  Take out pricing and tax rates

You may want to offer products at different pricing depending on if they are being enjoyed in or out of your venue. Some products, such as cold food, will also have a different tax rate if sold for takeout vs sit in.

Setting up different products for eat in and take out can slow down service, make it harder to make menu changes, and lead to errors. Our café EPOS has a toggle so you can easily switch between ‘sit in’ and ‘take out’, reflecting the correct pricing across the entire order.

4.  Timed availability

To maximise the potential of their venue, a number of operators are opting for a chameleon trading model, and switching up what is on offer based on the time of day. Perhaps a more café style venue, offers cocktails and simple suppers in the evening.

If this is something you are looking to do, you should look for a system that enables you to set availability times against products. This simplifies the number of products shown as available, and ensures customers can’t order breakfast past your serving time.

5.  Printer & order screen routing

Whether you’re using printers or order screens for baristas and chefs, most good EPOS systems will give you the ability to direct relevant items of an order to the correct person to be made, but systems range by the flexibility they offer.

When reviewing EPOS systems for your business, always ensure the system offer the flexibility for exactly how you route your orders.

6.  Loyalty

There is the expectation from many customers now for a loyalty scheme associated with buying coffees and these can be great for bringing customers back to your coffee shop instead of the one down the road.

Included in our Essentials package, we offer a loyalty points system linked to a membership pass customers can download to their Apple or Google Wallet. You can set up a loyalty points system to suit your business, offering points for money spent, and allowing customers to redeem those points against future purchases. You can even send push notifications of offers and promotions directly to their Apple Wallet if you want to entice them back in with a deal.