The rise of food trucks has improved countless lives. People have gained access to fast food that’s healthy, high-quality and available in urban areas. Chefs who are passionate about food have become business owners and have found a way to share the food they love with their communities. Food trucks benefit everyone, and if you’re a food truck owner you deserve a little help in serving the public and achieving your dreams.
There’s software available that can help make running a food truck a lot easier. Using the right mobile point of sale (POS) system can help solve a lot of the problems you face on a daily basis, especially if you spend too much time on administrative tasks. The restaurant industry, as everyone knows, is hard enough. On top of this, food trucks face their own unique challenges.
Choosing the Best Mobile POS System for Food Trucks
A food truck is a small space to cook in, to keep clean, and to serve customers from. It can get hectic, especially around lunch or dinner time rushes. Not to mention that sometimes you need to pack up and move the whole operation to a different location! Anyone can get bogged down with so many daily responsibilities, and if you’re using poorly implemented POS software (or worse, no point of sale system at all), you could be wasting a lot of time and effort.
The best mobile POS system for food trucks is one that makes a hectic day easier. As you shop for the right POS system, think about what makes your food truck unique and what problems you wish you could solve. If you could build the perfect POS, what would it do? Would it make closing out your day faster? Do you have any plans to expand to a physical location someday or add more food trucks down the road? Asking these kinds of questions isn’t just daydreaming. It’s how you determine the set of requirements you have for your software, which helps you weed out the options that won’t work.
Imagine life with your ideal POS system. Taking orders and payments would be easier, which would make the line move faster. It would have mobile access so that you’re always connected no matter where you are. You could take swiped payments on a tablet, even if you’re offline. You could change the menu or prices instantly.
You’d never lose transaction history or data, and you’d gain better business mobility when you see which menu items perform well in which locations. It would be cloud-based and allow you to access your business’ data anywhere. And it would be offered by a customer-centric solution provider that had 24/7 customer support and flexible pricing options.
Sure, it may sound like a tall order. But don’t settle for anything less.
Features Your Mobile POS System Should Include
There are a lot of mobile POS systems on the market, so invest in the best one. If you choose a simple or cheap POS you could be missing out on advanced capabilities; such as the ability to create analytics and deep insights that you can use to make smarter business decisions. Here’s a list of the key features a comprehensive POS system should have. If you’re considering a certain POS system for your food truck and are unsure if it has any of these features, be sure to ask a sales representative before making a commitment.
The #1 feature for a food truck POS is that it has to be mobile and cord-free. This means that it should run on a tablet that can connect to the internet with just a cellular connection. Also, the system should be able to connect to a printer wirelessly (like Bluetooth).
- Order management: You can quickly print orders and have the order history saved so you’re able to quickly review which items need to be made first.
- Menu management: You should be able to make menu changes and price adjustments on the fly.
- Discounts and offers: Your POS system should enable you to help improve sales by making it easy to offer discounts or promotions. Debuting a new menu item? Set up a limited discount for the first handful of customers to test it out. Partnering with a local food truck festival? Offer specials while you’re working the crowd!
- EMV security: Ensuring transaction security is essential for earning your customers’ trust. Make sure your modern POS system protects card data using robust EMV authentication and encryption technology.
- One-tap tips and signatures: Choose a system that enables customers to tap through check-out screens, where they can instantly adjust tip amounts, sign, or even skip giving a signature for small purchase amounts.
- Sync orders across all your devices: By synchronizing all your devices in real-time, everyone stays up-to-date, even when there’s a long line. An order can be changed from any device and automatically shared with every other user. This is a great feature to have if you own multiple trucks as it allows you to see the overall performance in real-time.
Need Help Choosing the Perfect POS? Talk to an Expert.
If you’ve never implemented a POS system, adopting one can feel like a big change. Or, if you’re currently using one that doesn’t have all the features you need, it’s a good idea to confirm that the solution you have in mind really does have all the functionality you want. What if you have a business need that we haven’t discussed? There’s probably a solution out there that can offer the specific capability you have in mind. You may simply need help in locating one that will help your job, and your food truck, roll more smoothly.
When you need an expert’s help to identify and implement a transparent POS solution, talech is here to help. We take the time to identify your business challenges and work with you to apply a solution that brings you to the top of your game. With a wide range of customizable features and flexible hardware options to choose from, you can feel confident knowing the system you’re implementing gives you the results you desire. Reach out to us today to sign up for a demo and to learn more about how talech can be your valued POS partner.
