Category: POS Features

Aug
18
2011
August 18th, 2011 by Mike Spence

Not interested in doing a traditional “punch” card system?   Looking for something different than “buy 10 get 1 free”?   Try one of these alternatives that other SelbySoft customers have used and passed on to us. 


Buy a gift card, get a drink… Pretty standard but still a great way to get around doing a punch card at all.  If I buy a $30 gift card then I get a free drink (up to $3.00 value) right then and there.  This can be great because it eliminates a customer being “owed” a drink at a later time.  You get the money and they get the drink.


Surprise a customer… This actually IS a punch card system but you don’t tell anyone about it.  Instead of customers keeping track of points, your POS reminds the crew member that it is time for the customer to get a free drink.  The biggest catch is that it is not something that happens with the customers knowledge – you only track it internally so it is a surprise.  It’s a very effective way of saying Thank You to your existing customers.


Surprise a customer #2 (gift card) . . . Create a gift card account that you load every day or week.  Allow your employees to use this gift card to buy a drink for your customer.  This is a great way to help your employees feel empowered at the store.  Be careful that it is not only being used for friends or for the same customers and it can be an awesome way to make a customers day.


Surprise a customer #3 (lottery)… Keep track of the points for your customers.  When a customer has ordered 10 times, have your POS prompt to record the visit.  Every week enter all the customers that have ordered 10 times into a lottery for free or discounted product. 




There you go. . . A couple ways to reward customers without duplicating what you competitors might be doing.  If you have a different method you use, let us know! 






Contact us at:
SelbySoft
Mike Spence
800-454-4434
Sales@SelbySoft.com
WWW.SelbySoft.com
8326 Woodland Ave. E
Puyallup Wa 98371

Posted in Gift Cards, POS Features, Uncategorized Tagged with: ,

Aug
11
2011
August 11th, 2011 by Mike Spence
Random Competitor Receipt



I pay attention to customer receipts.  It’s part of my job and I always like to see how different companies present a customer receipt.  

Recently I received a receipt from a store that was using one of my competitors.  I was a little shocked at how bad it looked.  The prices don’t line up, the quantity field has 1.00 instead of whole numbers (after all you are not selling 1.25 scones).  I’ll hope that the receipt is partially a reflection of the way that company setup that particular location.  Maybe, just maybe they have some switches that will allow them to reconfigure the receipt to look better.   


Seeing this receipt made me realize that many people don’t really consider how a receipt might look when they are shopping for a POS.  I think that the receipt can be very important as it is a reflection of your store and your professionalism.  It’s also a reflection on the POS company.  Nobody is perfect but receipts should look good.   


For example, the receipt I’m referring to has the quantity as 1.00.  The reason this is a poor reflection is that it shows a lack of thought in programming.    It makes sense to take it out to two decimal places if the item being sold is weighed and sold by the ounce / gram etc.  This company choose to mark every quantity to two decimal places, even if the item is not something that is weighed.    It was most likely done this way because it was easier from a programming standpoint.   


We have the same ability to sell by weight.  We choose to add the extra lines of code to insure that weighed items are taken out to two decimal places and other items just show the whole number.  It just makes sense!  

SP-1 Receipt



















Contact us at:
SelbySoft
Mike Spence
800-454-4434
Sales@SelbySoft.com
WWW.SelbySoft.com
8326 Woodland Ave. E
Puyallup Wa 98371

Posted in Marketing, POS Features, Uncategorized Tagged with: ,

Aug
04
2011
August 4th, 2011 by Mike Spence
There is a lot of talk about cloud based computing, storage and POS in news over the last year.   Did you know that we are on top of this and have been for a while? 


Cloud Based Backup Service.  SelbySoft offers, free of charge, a cloud based backup service for every customer on an annual support plan.  What this means is that we have the ability to backup all of your data, tickets, customer files to a central server outside of your store.  This is a great option that allows you to be safe and have peace of mind when thinking about your data.  Did  we mention FREE? 
P.S. We introduced this cloud based backup to our customers in 2007!


Best of Both Worlds.  With SelbySoft you get the best of both worlds.  Secure, controllable data storage at your site and the cloud backup.  What this means is that your data is never held hostage and no internet connectivity problems will interrupt your operations at the store.  


Gift Cards.  You are probably aware that we have a free, built in gift card system in SP-1.  This is stored locally in the POS and does not even require an internet connection to operate.  Now, with the cloud backup you are secure offsite as well.  Interested in cloud based gift card systems?  We do it!  Two different methods of having your gift card systems stored and processed out of the store.  Oh and both are free!


Corporate Reporting.    We can’t forget that our corporate and multi-store operators are taking advantage of our cloud based options when accessing their data from their laptop, home or corporate office!




Contact us at:
SelbySoft
Mike Spence
800-454-4434
Sales@SelbySoft.com
WWW.SelbySoft.com
8326 Woodland Ave. E
Puyallup Wa 98371

Posted in POS Features, Reporting Tagged with:

Jul
07
2011
July 7th, 2011 by Mike Spence
Over the last couple weeks our developers have been working on new enhancements to SP-1.  Along the way, there have been some improvements to the gift card system!


To recap more about how the gift card system can be used, check out my previous blog
 7 Cool Things About Gift Cards.  


Now that we remember all the current cool things about SP-1 and our gift card system, here are some of the new changes!


The balance is now displayed when loading a card.   If you are loading a card with a balance, we now display what the current balance (before load) is.  This was designed to provide all the information on one screen.







When a card is loaded the ticket reflects the previous balance.  If you have a current balance on a card and add an additional amount to it, then we are now showing that on the ticket.  The circled item on the ticket below shows that the card had $25.00 on it and we are currently adding $5.00!













Gift card balance is shown when a customer is selected.  If you assign gift cards to customers, this new option will be helpful. As soon as you start a ticket with a customer that has a gift card, you will see their balance on the screen!  This helps eliminate the need to inquire about a card!









Contact us at:
SelbySoft
Mike Spence
800-454-4434
Sales@SelbySoft.com
WWW.SelbySoft.com
8326 Woodland Ave. E
Puyallup Wa 98371

Posted in Gift Cards, POS Features, Uncategorized Tagged with:

Jul
05
2011
July 5th, 2011 by Mike Spence
When talking to owners of food and beverage locations, I’m often asked about credit card processing. 

Usually the conversation revolves around if the owner should integrate the credit card processing into the POS or continue to use a terminal for processing.   


So what does integration have over terminals?  Quite a bit . . . 
  • No equipment needed.  Since it is working through software only, you get to free up space on your counter.
  • Ease of use.  Your employees already should know how to swipe a card!  Plus you have the card swipe for employee clock ins and gift cards already.
  • Less mistakes.  When credit card processing is integrated through SP-1, your employees don’t have to enter any information beyond the card number (and that is handled by swiping the card on the side of the monitor!   Unlike a terminal, the employee does not need to enter the total dollar amount (eliminating those typos).
  • Compatibility.  We work with virtually every credit card processor out there.  No issues with having to re-program a terminal.
  • Flexibility.  Have multiple stations? With the credit card integration you have the ability to take credit cards on all computers running SP-1 with no additional cost. 
  • No additional phone line.  Since the credit cards are run through an internet connection, you don’t need an additional phone line.



Contact us at:
SelbySoft
Mike Spence
800-454-4434
Sales@SelbySoft.com
WWW.SelbySoft.com
8326 Woodland Ave. E
Puyallup Wa 98371

Posted in POS Features, Uncategorized Tagged with:

May
19
2011
May 19th, 2011 by ssadmin
Theft is an ugly subject but it’s one that we all have to address.   If you are in the food and beverage industry, then you know some people steal. 

Let’s tackle five ways to help reduce (or at least find out about) theft.  Be warned – some of these require SP-1!

1)  Cameras – Common sense here, theft usually occurs when no one is watching.   A good camera system can help reduce the opportunity to steal.  They can also have the positive impact of providing much needed security for your staff and even your customers.  If you want to take it to the next step, look into integrating into SP-1 so the transaction detail shows up on the camera system. 

2)  Require a receipt – Put it on a sign in front of the register or SP-1 that states you should be offered a receipt from the employee on every purchase.  This works as a safeguard to ensure the transactions (especially cash) are being entered into the register / SP-1. 

3)  Pole display or Order Confirmation – This is the next level after requiring a receipt.  A traditional pole display will show your customer a description of the product with the price.  A more attractive way is to use an Order Confirmation monitor.  Theft is reduced through the fact that the customer expects to see their total on the screen.  That helps eliminate orders being pocketed.  Another bonus with the SP-1 Order Confirmation monitor is that up-selling is accomplished easily and you can promote product or events.  




4)  Require a make or barista ticket – This is a great method for restaurants or anyone with a kitchen.  Require a printed kitchen ticket for every item made.  This helps eliminate employees handing out product without ringing it in.  If the kitchen does not have the slip, they don’t make it.  SP-1 will handle the printing to make your staff more efficient as well as cut theft. 

5)  Load the drawer – Here is a very low tech way to see check honesty.  Throw an extra $20 bill in the drawer at the beginning of a shift.  If the employee reports that they are $20 over at the end of the shift, then chances are you have some level of trust.  If the employee comes out even on the drawer count, then they took the $20.  

6) Multiple cash drawers – For those of you with multiple fingers in the drawer the toughest issue is what to do if the drawer is short.  Who do you blame?  If you have SP-1, use multiple cash drawers.  SP-1 allows you to setup up to five cash drawers per station.  This allows you to assign a specific employee to each drawer and still have cash accountability. 

7) Fingerprint ID – Don’t forget about time theft!  Some statistics show that up to 25% of all employee theft is time and wage theft!   A fingerprint id eliminates the ability to clock a friend in. 

8) Get rid of the punch card – Paper punches are an open invitation to theft of product.  Employees will double punch for friends on a regular basis.  Move to an electronic gift & loyalty and get far more value as well as a more secure system.   Ours is free so chances are you will cut some costs there as well. 

9)   MobileDash / Audit Tracking – One of the features that we offer through our SP-1 POS is the ability to have a full audit trail on what happened.  If an employee reduces a ticket after the fact (assuming they have security to do so), the audit tracking is updated and, if you are using MobileDash, an alert to your smart phone showing that the ticket was reduced.  This is a fantastic way to stay on top of employees that are voiding items or tickets. 

There you have it, a couple ways to help get a handle on what may be going on in your location.  If you have any other ideas, be sure to comment and let us know!  







Contact us at:
SelbySoft
Mike Spence
800-454-4434
Sales@SelbySoft.com
WWW.SelbySoft.com
8326 Woodland Ave. E
Puyallup Wa 98371

Posted in POS Features, theft Tagged with: ,

Apr
14
2011
April 14th, 2011 by ssadmin



Have you heard about our new “sticky” thermal receipt printer?  This is a great option for passing along a food or drink ticket to the appropriate person.  


The printer uses a special roll of thermal paper that has a “post-it note” gum on the back of the paper.  This provides a liner-less thermal ticket that leaves little to no residue! 


We have already seen uses for sticking this to a cup when passed to a Barista and on sandwich and pizza boxes! 


Call us for more information. 






Contact us at:
SelbySoft
Mike Spence
800-454-4434
Sales@SelbySoft.com
WWW.SelbySoft.com
8326 Woodland Ave. E
Puyallup Wa 98371

Posted in Hardware, POS Features, Uncategorized Tagged with:

Apr
12
2011
April 12th, 2011 by ssadmin

Do you have a need for barcode scanners in your store?   Typically we get the request for one of two reasons:




Retail:  If you are carrying a lot of retail items, then a barcode scanner may make sense for you.  The barcode scanner in conjunction with our retail control system will give you the option of increasing your accuracy and speed when selling retail items.


With the barcode scanner, you simply scan the UPC (or user generated barcode number) and the item is instantly added to the ticket!  

Gift & Loyalty:  A barcode can be used as a customer id / gift / loyalty card.  The advantage of this is that you can then use a key chain style gift card that your customers can conveniently carry on them. 










Contact us at:
SelbySoft
Mike Spence
800-454-4434
Sales@SelbySoft.com
WWW.SelbySoft.com
8326 Woodland Ave. E
Puyallup Wa 98371

Posted in Hardware, POS Features Tagged with: , ,

Mar
17
2011
March 17th, 2011 by ssadmin
Clock Out Options for Servers

If you have servers in your restaurant,  you will be interested in this.    I have occasionally heard from our customers that one of the issues they run up against is a server forgetting to close a table before their shift ends.  Now, the server collects the money but leaves that table on hold.  

This can throw a wrench in closing out the servers and reconciling the end of day paperwork.  

After thinking about this, our development guys decided to work on a new way of preventing this from happening.  


There is now a new feature in SP-1 that will allow you to prompt a server during clock out if they have tickets that have been left on hold.  This message will appear when you attempt to clock out.  





If you have a security level applied, a password will be required to select the “No Clock-Out” button.




Contact us at:
SelbySoft
Mike Spence
800-454-4434
Sales@SelbySoft.com
WWW.SelbySoft.com
8326 Woodland Ave. E
Puyallup Wa 98371

Posted in Order Entry, POS Features, Uncategorized Tagged with: , ,

Mar
01
2011
March 1st, 2011 by ssadmin
How Order Types Work


Order types are an interesting concept in SP-1.  Basically they give you the ability to assign a station to the type of order that will normally be accepted on that station.

This really comes in handy in environments with multiple stations.   For example, in a typical shop you may have:

















In this scenario, you have two stations for the front counter and two stations that are used to take phone orders.  By using a default order type we can help speed that service.  So, the phone stations would automatically be set to show the caller id or phone number screen and at the end of the order the type would be pre-set to “Pickup” or “Delivery” (depending on the type of business).    The order type can be changed on the fly as well.









Contact us at:
SelbySoft
Mike Spence
800-454-4434
Sales@SelbySoft.com
WWW.SelbySoft.com
8326 Woodland Ave. E
Puyallup Wa 98371

Posted in Delivery, Order Entry, POS Features, Uncategorized Tagged with: ,

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