The Benefits of Having Integrated Systems

The Benefits of Having Integrated Systems

Today, digital technology is no longer only prevalent in those up-class pioneering retailers, but rather it is a necessity for every business and something worth investing in.

Without the right technology, it is becoming increasingly harder for a retailer to overcome the current challenges faced by the sector. Your customers are expecting a personalised experience, timely and good service, for you to keep their favourite items or dishes available to them when they want them and a good ambience. Plus, even tax has gone digital, so making the move away from traditional paper methods is becoming ever important.

Unfortunately, the only problem with all this digital technology is that it’s very easy to be wowed by impressive new inventions, but these aren’t always right for your business and buying into them could be a costly mistake. It may also make things disjointed if you are simply buying into the newest technology and not giving a thought to how all these solutions are going to work together.

So, what is the issue of having technology from different providers?

For example, if you buy a POS terminal from a hardware store, then get a different EPOS company to provide you with the software so you can use it as a till, and then go to another for a kiosk solution as their kiosk looks all brand new and shiny. After that, you decide amidst the growing trend of online delivery, you need to invest in a delivery app, so you go to another company to provide you with a food delivery app. But oh wait, what about those ordering from a computer? So, you then get another company to design a delivery website for you. And let’s not even begin with who to go to for a digital menu, tableside ordering service or waiter tablets.

All these are fantastic solutions which will help make your business grow, but having them from different providers is likely to cause a few issues, such as:

• You will have a different back office for each product, so you will constantly have to log in, log out and transfer information across manually from each provider
• It will be harder for the solutions to grow with your business as not all software is compatible with old hardware, and some companies are not always up to date with the latest technology
• It is likely to be much more expensive
• You won’t be able to access your live data from across your whole business or instantly change information
• The vendors will just blame one another when an issue arises rather than just sorting it out
• Systems aren’t always fully compatible, leading to slower loading times (and thus unhappy customers)

But I want all of these solutions for my business – what should I do?

The answer is simple. Invest in a fully integrated EPOS system which allows you to observe and control all of these different solutions from just one centralised database.

What are the benefits of an integrated EPOS system?

The most attractive benefit of an integrated EPOS system is that you will have access to all your data, both past and live, from each solution in one single database.

This way, you will know that your data is up to and accurate every time you look. This will help you ensure that stock levels, product information and your customer database are secure, reliable and current. This alone will remove costly errors and admin time across your business.

An integrated system can also help you improve customer service and sales. This is because data is key, and when you can easily access your data across multiple channels, you can unlock your businesses full potential. The information you gain from the data will allow you to personalise your customer experience, offering them dishes or products you think they’d like based on what they’ve ordered in the past, pushing a promotion there and then based on live data and even incorporate loyalty schemes for your valued regulars.

But, most importantly, by having an integrated solution, you will be working with one software supplier. This will bypass any extra hassle of calling each and every vendor when things go wrong or your software solutions aren’t communicating effectively with each other.

Choosing a single supplier will increase the effectiveness of your solutions because you know that they will communicate with each other seamlessly, plus your one stop provider will become so much more than just a vendor. They will become a valued partner in your business, helping you maximise the software’s potential and doing anything they can to help drive your business forward.

At eatPOS, we can provide you with everything you need, making us your go-to one stop solution. From digital menus that alter whenever you make a change to your EPOS; self-service kiosks which can be controlled and instantly altered through your back-office management system and delivery apps which allow you to build your own customer database and provide a completely personalised experience for your customers both in store and out, to the hardware which makes all of these possibilities tangible – we have an unbeatable suite of retail solutions that work seamlessly with one another.

If you would like to find out more about what we offer and how we can help your business, get in touch with our team at eatPOS.