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2022 POS Survey - Key Insights

If you want a lively conversation with a group of restaurant operators, ask them what they think about their point-of-sale (POS) system. You will undoubtedly stir up fervent debate about which system has the best features, which one is the most affordable, or which one is the easiest to use, but no doubt everyone will agree on their dissatisfaction with the support they get from their vendors.

That's what you'll find in the RestaurantOwner.com 2022 POS Survey that is being published this month. (You can find a full summary of the survey results here.)

More than 800 independent restaurant operators from 14 countries shared their thoughts — positive, negative, and everywhere in between — about their POS systems. The information is valuable for operators contemplating their first or next POS system, as well as for POS system vendors, who wish to capture a bigger piece of the market.

About 70% of the respondents had table-service restaurants while another 22% had quick-service or fast-casual spots and a smattering of respondents operated food trucks or other non-traditional dining venues.

Over one-third of those surveyed were POS loyalists who've had their current systems for five years or more. Another 42% changed their POS provider during the COVID pandemic, often moving to cloud-based systems or to hybrid POS systems that can run online or off.

Across all the survey responses we received, restaurateurs told us about their experiences with 106 different POS brands. In a heavily fragmented market like this, it's hard for restaurant owners shopping for a new POS system to choose among all the possibilities.

To help operators make informed decisions about what POS to use, we asked respondents to rate their experiences in working with their POS provider during installation and once the system was up and running, as well as how they liked their systems' functions and features, and to tell us what else they'd like to see from their POS. (To see the overall satisfaction ratings on over thirty aspects of a restaurant POS system, please refer to the charts that accompany this article.)

We wanted to make sure that ratings of the most popular POS brands weren't skewing the survey results too severely, so we calculated overall ratings from just those restaurants using the leading POS brands, as well as overall ratings from all our respondents. In general, the top brands had slightly higher satisfaction scores across the board (except for their ratings for customer support), but this difference wasn't statistically significant.

In addition, about a quarter of the restaurateurs in the survey provided comments to give us even more insight into how they felt about their systems. As any restaurateur knows from looking at online reviews, people who take the time to write comments tend to have strong views one way or the other, so it wasn't a surprise to find that comment writers either absolutely loved or completely loathed their current POS system. By combining the satisfaction ratings with these comments, we could get a fairly detailed picture of what independent operators like and don't like about the systems they are using.

What They (Mostly) Liked

While no single POS feature earned a positive rating from every survey respondent we heard from, there were some POS functions that most operators felt were handled well. (However, the small proportion of restaurateurs who said they were unhappy with these POS functions were very unhappy indeed!) Here are the POS features that received mostly positive satisfaction ratings in the survey.

Order entry. Most POS systems in the study received good ratings on their ability to take in orders. Being easy for frontline workers to use is typically a major selection factor for any POS so it was reassuring to see that most POS systems managed this function smoothly. Any hiccups here tended to come from less common activities like opening multiple checks for the same party as opposed to splitting a check after the meal is complete.

Credit card processing (but not the fees). For most restaurants, the vast majority of guests pay with a credit card. Sure, we are starting to see people using digital wallets and other cloud-based payment tools, but tapping or swiping a physical card isn't going completely away anytime soon. Most survey respondents had positive things to say about how their POS systems handled credit card transactions and associated reporting. Many also said they liked being able to use their choice of credit card processors, although only about half of those surveyed had this option.

Handling of non-traditional transactions. While getting orders and payments through easily might be considered table stakes for a good POS system, how that system deals with the inevitable voids, discounts, comps, gift cards, and loyalty point redemptions is where the rubber meets the road for your front-of-house team.

In general, restaurateurs are happy with how their POS system manages these kinds of transactions. The most popular POS brands like Toast and Square had slightly higher scores here than some of the smaller players, but most POS systems got solid reviews for their ability to adjust transactions in different ways.

Roughly half of those surveyed noted that they were locked into using the POS provider's own credit card processor and, in many cases, this was a point of friction. More than one respondent told us something to the effect of "[the] credit card processing fees are too high. We would like to be able to use our own processor." Some even felt that the POS provider was making excess profits from higher-than-average credit card processing fees, revenue that rightfully belonged to the restaurateur.

Where there were complaints, the issue was usually in managing void transactions. (A void transaction is a transaction that is canceled by a merchant or vendor before it settles through a consumer's debit or credit card account.) Operators didn't like systems that didn't offer management controls on voids or that couldn't readily distinguish between voids and comps.

Integration with online ordering and third-party delivery systems. For restaurants that pivoted to online ordering during the pandemic, having this POS feature was the difference between staying in business or shutting down. The leading POS brands scored well here, partially because many of them were developed with online transactions in mind. Some of the legacy POS brands stumbled with online ordering or delivery service integrations, according to restaurateurs who have had their systems for five years or more.

Pay-at-the-table options. Based on a comparison of the results of this survey with the ones from the last edition of our POS survey which was conducted in 2017, the number of restaurants that have adopted mobile devices in their operations has more than doubled. While taking orders digitally and processing payments tableside is still relatively uncommon in many parts of the US, internationally almost all restaurant transactions are handled this way. The popular new POS systems generally support tableside operations and most operators who have this feature are satisfied with how it performs, although there were reports of awkward or faulty card scanners from some users.

System stability. Most respondents were satisfied with their POS systems' reliability, but 10% reported the frustration of having their systems go down, often at the worst possible moment. Both cloud-based and legacy POS brands were equally likely to get good ratings for system stability.

Ease of installation and upgrades. Restaurateurs have enough headaches when implementing a new operation, so having a system that's easy to get up and running is important. Many respondents gave their POS systems high marks in this area.

Ease of programming. Every restaurant is a little bit different and a good POS system needs to be able to accommodate menu add-ons, bundling, happy hour pricing, and other order variations. A few respondents were unhappy with the complexities of customizing their systems. One wrote: "You need to be a software engineer just to add mushrooms to a burger." That said, the majority of respondents gave their systems a neutral to positive rating for how easy it is to program new items or processes.

Timekeeping and labor tracking tools. Of all the management features we asked about in the survey, the one that received the highest overall ratings was timekeeping and labor tracking. Two-thirds of the restaurants that had this feature in their POS systems were either mostly or very satisfied with how it performed for them.

What They (Mostly) Didn't Like

While our survey respondents generally liked the functionality and most of the features of their POS systems, they were more likely to be unhappy with the terms of their agreements and with the support they received from their POS providers.

Monthly fees. In recent years, many POS providers have moved from charging high upfront costs to a monthly subscription, an approach that makes acquiring the system more affordable, but increases monthly expenses for the operator. The RestaurantOwner.com survey found that these monthly fees have increased dramatically, running almost three times as high as they were in 2017. Not surprisingly, operators are upset by these added costs, especially in light of the very challenging economic environment they've been facing since the first quarter of 2020.

Being locked in to a credit card processor. Roughly half of those surveyed noted that they were locked into using the POS provider's own credit card processor and, in many cases, this was a point of friction. More than one respondent told us something to the effect of "[the] credit card processing fees are too high. We would like to be able to use our own processor." Some even felt that the POS provider was making excess profits from higher-than-average credit card processing fees, revenue that rightfully belonged to the restaurateur.

Most POS systems in the study received good ratings on their ability to take in orders. Being easy for frontline workers to use is typically a major selection factor for any POS, so it was reassuring to see that most POS systems managed this function smoothly.

Technical support. Outside of financial concerns, the biggest complaint from the survey respondents was the poor support they received from their providers. A common irritant was a lack of response to requests for help, or that requests that did make it to the provider were fielded by poorly trained staff who couldn't solve the operators' problems. Another annoyance was support that was only available on weekdays or between 9 am and 5 pm despite the fact that many restaurants are mostly evening and weekend businesses. In a representative user comment, this operator summed up their reaction to their provider as "Software is quality. Support is terrible."

Reporting functions. Perhaps the most important POS function after capturing sales is producing reports. Some of our respondents expressed frustration with the inflexibility of the reports that their systems could generate or the inability to produce reports that they'd like to have, such as sales summaries by table or breakdowns of menu modifiers and add-ons. Many found it anywhere from challenging to nearly impossible to generate back-office reports for cost of goods sold tracking or tip management.

Outdated systems. Legacy POS users really like many of the features of their systems and have invested a lot of time in learning their ins and outs, but are frustrated that their providers have not kept the software up to date or provided features that compete with some of their newer POS rivals. Supporting mobile ordering and payment is an issue here, as are back-office functions like food cost tracking.

Cumbersome features. Everyone likes a POS system that offers lots of helpful tools, but no one likes it when those tools are hard to use. Respondents complained of features with buggy programming, unstable integrations, or tedious inputting. "While it features robust reports, it takes way too many clicks and too much time to show the reports." "Slow & clunky," was one typical comment. Some restaurateurs have taken the extreme step of disabling or foregoing features that they would otherwise like to have had because those features were offered at an additional cost or were just too difficult to get up and running.

Key Takeaways for Restaurateurs

The 2022 POS Survey provides a great snapshot of what operators think about their POS systems. How can you use this information the next time you are in the market for POS? Here are some tips.

Ask some key questions upfront. It's very easy to get caught up in a flashy sales pitch for a sexy new POS that seems to do everything you could possibly want with ease. But start assessing a prospective POS from a firm foundation: does the system work well when your internet connection goes down?

Can you easily and effectively access the system from wherever you are and on whatever device you want? What online or onsite support is available and when? What limitations does adopting this system place on your choice of credit card processor? How long must you retain the contract? And of course, what are the upfront and monthly ongoing costs? How are those costs likely to change over time?

Determine what reports you need for your operation and see whether the system can readily produce them. Can you adapt the system's existing report content or format to your exact needs? How hard is it to do? Can reports be easily emailed or texted? Can reports or raw data be exported in other ways that you might need, like .pdf or spreadsheet-readable formats such as .cvs?

Consider what features you really need and how well your proposed POS system can perform them. Lots of POS systems have an extensive selection of operational and back-office features, but survey respondents told us these were often difficult to use, in some cases so much so that they didn't even bother using the tool in their operations. Don't just rely on the vendor's assurances that a given feature is available – try it out for yourself before committing.

Is it time-consuming or awkward to enter your recipes into the food costing feature? Does the employee scheduling tool support your approach to staffing a shift? How much training is required for the employees that need to use this tool?

Also be realistic about what features you actually need and will use regularly. If you are a small operation, you may not have the time nor the bandwidth to use a lot of the features that the POS vendor is promoting. There's no sense paying for features that won't make your day-to-day operations easier.

Think about what other systems your POS will need to interact with and ask for concrete examples of successful integration. Some sales reps might tell you that their system has everything you need so there's no call for interacting with other restaurant software. That's a big red flag. What third-party delivery services can the system support? What about your existing inventory management or payroll systems?

Finally, save yourself valuable time or extensive research by exploring the Restaurant Owner.com 2022 POS Survey's full results at RestaurantOwner.com. You can learn more about what operators just like you have to say about their POS and, after making the choice that's right for you, hopefully end up feeling the same way this respondent does: "It took a leap of faith to switch to [System X] but it has been the best decision we could have made. The system is awesome."

Wish List

At the same time that we asked restaurateurs to rate their POS systems' features, we also gave them a chance to tell us about features they didn't have presently but wanted as an option. Here are their top picks for features they wished they had from the list of possible features that was presented in the survey.

The number one request was for menu and recipe costing so that operators could more easily track their cost of goods sold. Lots of POS providers do in fact offer menu costing, but our survey found that 28.3% of restaurateurs who have this feature don't actually use it, either because it is too time-consuming to input the necessary information, or they find it just too hard to use. Runner-up requests for operational features in order of demand were:

• Employee Scheduling
• Inventory Management
• Manager's Logbook or Shift Notes

• Menu Engineering
• Tip Pool Management
• Reservations Management
• Loyalty Program Management
• Digital Signage Integration
• Online Order Processing
• Portable Ordering/Pay At Table
• Table Management
• Third Party Order & Delivery Integration
• Other App Integration
• Video Order Management

As with menu costing, these features can be found in some POS systems already, but by no means in all.

Survey respondents also had the opportunity to write in POS features they'd like to see above and beyond the list we gave them. What are these restaurateurs asking for?

• Support for QR ordering and text-to-pay services
• Better sales tax and deposit controls for mobile services like food trucks and offsite catering
• Built-in customer relationship management (CRM)
• Customizable guest checks
• The ability to do back-office tasks from devices other than the POS

POS Provider Take-home Points

For any POS vendors or programmers out there, there are many important insights from the 2022 RestaurantOwner.com POS Survey to take back to your offices. If you can improve your system's performance on any of the following fronts, you could well see a significant bump in market share.

Up your support game. Our survey results suggest that the single most valuable thing you could do to retain customers and attract new ones is to offer best-in-class support. Invest in training your support team and make sure they are available at the times that restaurants need them most: evenings and weekends. Make sure that you offer live phone support as well as online resources via chat – there is nothing more maddening than calling a helpline and being referred to a POS company's website for assistance when a restaurant's internet connection is down.

Keep it simple. It's better to have a simple package that works flawlessly than to have bells and whistles that don't function well or that are a pain for the operator to use. It's also worth remembering that many restaurants are short-staffed or have a lot of new employees. Make their lives easier by having an easy-to-learn and easy-to-manage POS system that saves them time in training and day-to-day operations.

Think like an operator. Speed, reliability and getting good information easily are the things that matter the most to the restaurateurs who use your system every day. Restaurants are dynamic businesses that all run a little bit differently so POS systems need to be extremely flexible. It should be easy to manage menu item add-ons, special orders, 86'ed items and split shifts in the front or back of house.

Operators should be able to choose what information they want to pull into a particular report and have it generated in a form that they can use in other software. If you find yourself saying "Well, the restaurateur will just have to ____________in order to do that" in response to a query for a particular feature or report, it probably means your technology is holding your customer back.

Be flexible. Restaurant owners want contracts that they can change at any time and want the freedom to choose their own credit card processors and third-party delivery vendors. Our industry is challenging enough, particularly now. We are looking for POS providers who will be our partners in achieving success rather than a constraint on our businesses.