A POS (Point of Sale) system is a software and hardware solution that helps businesses carry out their operations more smoothly. The system automatically gathers all your business information, such as customer data, inventory, and timings. The software also tracks and manages your business store’s information.
Furthermore, the system is designed to store useful information and make the process easier for retailers and shoppers. More businesses are using restaurant POS systems instead of the basic cash register. In 2020, the POS global market size was $8.71 billion, and it’s expected to reach $26.61 billion by 2028.
Since the POS system serves as the backbone of your restaurant management, choosing the right POS provider is important. In this post, we have given a guide to the Aloha POS system, its key features, and its benefits.
Overview of Aloha POS System
Aloha POS system is a software and hardware product by NCR technology. It is one of the oldest Point of Sale systems and is well-known for its user-friendly design. The cloud-based System allows restaurant owners to take and manage orders, manage employees, process payments, and carry out several other restaurant management processes.
Besides software solutions, the POS provider also offers hardware products, including handheld terminals and countertops. The company also offers different packages that business owners can choose according to their requirements.
The main functions of the Aloha POS system are as follows:
- Online, digital, and contactless ordering
- Marketing programs to connect you to your guests
- Handheld POS technology that helps serves guests
- POS software that allows integration with your store
- Updating menu items and pricing for restaurant management
- It gives real-time mobile alerts, reporting, and analytics
- Takes offline payments when there’s no internet
Key Features and Benefits of Using the Aloha POS System
NCR Aloha POS system allows business owners to update the menus and prices with its quick service. Additionally, it lets them constantly monitor the development and performance of their organization.
The system is easy-to-use for restaurant staff as it has an intuitive interface and clear display. This also helps reduce labor costs as it can handle complex order processing such as checks by seat or split tabs.
Besides that, there are built-in features like combo ordering and tab payments. When ordered together, certain items have a lower price thanks to the combo ordering feature.
The following are the key features of the Aloha POS system:
Pricing and Plans
The NCR Aloha system offers 3 pricing plans. You can look at each plan and choose the type or edition that meets your business requirements. The following are the three plans:
Aloha Cloud – Starter
The Starter plan starts at $0 and is perfect for a small business that offers casual dining. The Point of Sale system is suitable for businesses that need only one or two devices for their operations. The plan includes:
- Cloud-based Point of Sale
- Email marketing and loyalty
- Hardware configuration for a single device
- Software updates
- Payment processing
- 24/7 customer support
Aloha Cloud – Premium
The Premium plan starts at $175 per month and is suitable for small to mid-sized fine-dining restaurants. The plan includes additional features to help restaurant owners run their restaurant operations smoothly. This plan includes:
- Everything from the starter plan
- Online ordering
- Real-time data and analytics
Aloha Essentials
Aloha Essentials comes with custom pricing. It is suitable for businesses looking for a complete POS system to run their business. This plan features include:
- Fixed and mobile POS
- Real-time data and analytics
- Loyalty programs and gift cards
- Online ordering
- Text payments and QR-code
- Payment processing
- Kitchen production
Orders and Fulfillment
The Aloha POS system allows businesses to take and process orders. The services include table service, quick service, and bar operations. The POS system allows users to manage their menus, prompt sale suggestions, and create food order modifications. Restaurant owners can automate kitchen scheduling, store relevant information, and integrate gift cards and loyalty programs.
Payment Processing
Using the NCR Aloha system, restaurant owners can process payments by cash, credit cards, mobile wallet, and debit cards. Furthermore, the POS system offers next-day funding, which is feasible for businesses that want to receive funds quickly.
Mobile Tools
The NCR Aloha system offers various handy mobile tools that help improve restaurant operations. With this app, the restaurant industry can analyze the performance of their businesses. Users can benefit from various features, including performance and metrics such as employee working hours, net sales by hour, and inventory levels.
Hardware Terminals
NCR Aloha offers various hardware terminals to run the Aloha POS software. The hardware is divided into two main categories, namely, mobile POS terminals and traditional countertop terminals. Besides this, there is additional hardware, including receipt printers and payment processing devices.
How to Choose the Right Aloha POS System
A POS system facilitates business processes with its advanced POS software and hardware solutions. This system has excellent features that can benefit you and your team in various ways. However, it is crucial to conduct some research before making a POS system purchase. The steps you need to take to choose the best Aloha POS System for your restaurant business are as follows:
Talk to Your Merchant Processing Rep About Your Requirements
When choosing the right Aloha POS system, you first must talk to your merchant processing representative about your business requirements. To do so, make a list of the features that will make your company run more smoothly. Once you know all the features and key points you need in your POS system, you can move forward.
Go Over Options With Your Merchant Processing Rep
There are different options available for the Aloha POS system. Therefore, you must go over and research the options available with your merchant processing representative. This is a cloud-based POS system, but there are different choices for small, medium, and large businesses. You should also read Aloha POS reviews to learn more about the company’s performance.
Conclusion
The restaurant industry is widely using Aloha POS as it is easy to use. The NCR Aloha system requires minimal employee training and helps businesses run their operations smoothly.
There are different editions available according to the size of the business. Larger fine-dining restaurants must pay more than smaller restaurants to meet their day-to-day requirements.
We hope this Guide Aloha POS System will help you understand more about the Aloha POS system and choose a suitable one for your restaurant business.
Paul Martinez is the founder of EcomSidekick.com. He is an expert in the areas of finance, real estate, eCommerce, traffic and conversion.
Join him on EcomSidekick.com to learn how to improve your financial life and excel in these areas. Before starting this media site, Paul built from scratch and managed two multi-million dollar companies. One in the real estate sector and one in the eCommerce sector.