As a bar manager, knowledge is a powerful tool. Knowing how well your products sell and understanding your current stock levels can make you far more effective at running a successful venue. A POS system is an effective way bar managers can keep tabs on the bar's inventory.  

Dig deeper into key metrics and performance indicators to allow you to make changes to increase your bottom line. Use a POS system to see the profit margins of each product and deploy this knowledge to tailor your menu and increase customer spend.  

Adopting a POS system can revolutionize your bar and make venue management much easier. Learn more about this tool and how it can elevate your performance. 

A POS system can be a bar manager's new best friend. Officially known as a point-of-sale system, many widely understand it as an enhanced cash register. It can facilitate transactions - from cash or card - but crucially for bar managers, it can also track inventory and allow you to log how often certain products sell.  

It's a vital tool in managing your inventory, and top-quality POS systems have a lot of functionality. With a POS system, you can complete inventory counts, schedule reservations and bookings, generate sales reports, set prices for items on your menu, and even schedule staff shifts.  

A POS system is effectively a complete bar venue management system, and understanding how to get the most out of it can improve how you do things.  

Reap the rewards of using a POS system. As a multi-faceted software solution, there are many noticeable benefits that you and your guests will experience when you adopt the technology. Using a POS system can: 

• Make you more sustainable - Tracking your inventory and reliably knowing how much stock you have can prevent you from re-ordering too much. This can allow you to decrease wastage in both your kitchen and bar, making you more efficient. 
   
• Increase transaction speed - A POS system can organize all your stock into easy-to-navigate menus, meaning that bar staff can quickly ring up specific items when completing a transaction with a customer. The system can also calculate total costs automatically, eliminating the need for mental maths and ensuring that each transaction is accurate.  
   
• Allow you to see what products are selling the most - Whenever you make a transaction, it's logged on the POS system. This means that at the end of a specified period, you can search the POS system and see the frequency at which certain items are ordered. This can help bars remove unpopular items from their menu, making your stock more effective.
  
• Help you order more products before they run out - If you order your stock through a POS system, it will be able to track how much of certain items you have left in your venue. This means that bar managers can always see how much they have of specific lines. This allows them to order more stock before they run out, making your bar more effective as you limit downtime. 
   
• Total people management - A POS system can help you manage staff and your customers. With the system, you can create a floor plan, making food orders and table service much easier to control. You can also organize staff roles and timesheets so that your venue is always well-staffed. 

A POS system has many benefits, but inventory control is one of the most useful for bar managers. This system can completely change how you manage your stock, making you more effective. You can expect a POS system to facilitate: 

• Quicker stock checks - In the past, inventory checks would involve a manager going around their venue, counting up each item and noting it down with a pen and paper. This is a long process and also one that can be impacted by human error. With a POS system, you can speed up your stock checks, as the system can automatically track how much stock you have at any given moment. This gives you more time to do other important tasks.  
   
• Accurate inventory control - A POS system is far more precise than manual tracking. Counting everything yourself can cause mistakes, and inaccuracies in stock control can lead to your venue losing money. Using a POS prevents these problems and ensures you can always trust your inventory count. 
   
• Prevents food and drink waste - Knowing how much stock you have will help prevent wastage in your venue, making you more sustainable and saving money. Always knowing how much product you have means that your staff can focus on using that before you order more, making you far more effective. 

Adding a POS system to your venue is easy, as the software is designed to be as intuitive and practical as possible. That said, you may need to also install hardware in your venue to implement it effectively.  

The most vital piece of hardware is the POS system terminal. This is the device that the software runs on, and many modern venues use tablets alongside a fixed countertop device. These pieces of hardware are usually kept behind the bar counter or where you want your guests to make their transactions.  

You'll also benefit from having a kitchen display system. This is an extension of your POS system and connects the front of house with the back of house. This helps kitchen staff track orders and stock to make them more effective.  

When adding new hardware or systems to your venue, you will need to dedicate time to training your staff so that they can use these devices effectively. Plan a training session where staff can learn how to use these devices properly, emphasizing the importance of using these features. Bar managers should also train team leaders in more complex functions to properly manage the POS in their absence.  

• A POS system is an all-in-one management tool. It allows you to track stock and inventory, review customer spending, manage staff and timesheets, and a lot more.  
• The main benefit of a POS system is that it drives efficiency. You can spend less time completing manual stock counts; it also helps speed up transactions.  
• A POS system creates more accuracy, allowing you to make more informed decisions within a venue.  
• A POS system is easy to implement; but you do need to invest in the correct equipment, like a POS terminal, and conduct training so your team can use it effectively.