Growing any business can be a difficult task. However, with the right tools you can find a clearer path to take, and make it easier to figure out how to accomplish significant growth. The most important tool for the growth of a pizza business is the point of sale system.
There is a caveat to this statement: having the right tool means having a point of sale system designed for your pizza business. The reality is that not all point of sale systems are the same. Also many point of sale systems lack the capabilities you need to help your pizza business grow.
For more about the differences in restaurant and pizza point of sale systems, please check out the article here which explains those points in greater detail.
The right technology can make a huge difference in a pizza business. Let’s look at how you can make your point of sale system work for you.
Business Management
The pizza business often requires customizations that are difficult and cumbersome for most restaurant POS systems. A pizza POS system turns a complex order flow into a few touches on the order screen. The right pizza POS can make training, order taking, delivery, and overall management easier and faster.
Does better management make the business grow? Not on its own. But it lays the foundation for you to manage growth.
Think of your business as a boat. If you were to go fishing and wanted catch as many fish as possible, which boat would you want to take?
What would happen if you caught a thousand large fish in your rowboat? Growth without the right tools and systems in place can actually sink your business if you are unprepared to handle the added volume.
Are you seaworthy? Preparation is key.
Lack of sales growth is a common problem for restaurants, but not being able to handle growth when it happens can actually be worse, because you can lose new customers who may never return to give you a second chance.
Better operations management should translate into both better customer experience and more efficient operations. If you don’t have these two things solid, you’ll have a tough time capturing the maximum growth. Your POS system should help you handle the increased volume while reducing your operating costs.
Choose your bait: Smarter marketing with your POS.
Marketing can be key to growing your business. Without accurate tracking, marketing can also be expensive, time consuming, and ineffective. How can a POS system level this playing field? The answers you’re looking for are in the data your pizza POS can provide. Good data on customer preferences, ordering trends, offer preferences, and coupon performance can help you make targeted decisions about where and when to invest in marketing. Your POS can also show you whether your marketing strategies are working or need refinement.
Set the bait: Set up and track coupon offers and channels.
Coupons can be an effective way to attract new customers. Your POS system should be able to show you which coupons are attracting customers and which ones are not. You should also be able to see which coupons bring in the most revenue. The right POS should help you compare coupon usage with product margins. Comparison data can help you can see which offers are most effective at driving profit and customer volume.
If you promote coupons in different places such as newspapers, menu mailers, ValPaks, and on your website, you also need to know which channels are the most effective. You can easily save marketing dollars by discontinuing channels that are not justifying their cost, and then promoting your best coupons through the best channels.
Fish where the fish are biting: A customer heatmap is your depth-finder and guide.
Now that you have your bait (coupons or package promos) you need to know where the fish are biting. A good pizza POS can show you on a heatmap view where your best customers are coming from. If you’re trying to attract new customers, you may want to run your best performing promotions in areas where you have the lowest customer density.
Alternatively, if you’re trying to increase the size of your average orders, you can send out package deal offers or introduce new menu items to encourage existing customers to place larger orders.
Customer heatmaps can also tell you about customer saturation. Perhaps the reason you’re not able to grow significantly is because you’ve already captured the majority of the business in your serviceable area (this is a good thing). In this case, you may want to consider opening a new location in an area you’re currently unable to reach.
Find the best route: Reporting is your compass.
POS reporting is the best way to know if you're making the right decisions. What you learn will guide you towards more effective methods.
Believe it or not, your POS is the source of some of the best customer feedback. You can easily track the results of your marketing efforts, the popularity of a new menu item, or the quality of your delivery service. A pizza and delivery POS can show you clearly whether you’re on the right path.
Learn more about the value of a repeat customer versus a new customer. This can help you determine what types of customers you need to attract. It’s important to understand guest preferences and order frequency, order size and timing, scheduling and delivery efficiency. Know your costs in detail. Robust and flexible reporting is a must if you're going to grow. Granular detail can quickly show the strengths and weaknesses in your operation and marketing strategy.
In the end, a point of sale system is a tool. Like all tools, you need to learn to use it properly to gain maximum effectiveness. It’s one thing to buy the right boat; it’s another to use it like a pro.
What makes a professional fisherman different than an amateur? It’s their experience and technique, and the quality of their tools. Choose the right POS for your restaurant, and then learn to harness its power to grow your business.
Your pizza POS is a tool to help you make better decisions in less time. Learn to use it like a pro. Then apply your experience to streamline your operations and use the most effective techniques to make your pizza business a success!
