The Top 15 Features Every Bar & Nightclub POS System Should Have

If you are in the hospitality industry, you know how challenging operating a bar or nightclub is. 

What is Bar POS Software? 

Before discussing the ideal POS software for your bar or nightclub, we need to explore what POS software is.

First, POS is an acronym for point of sale.

In the past, point of sale systems primarily referred to POS terminals - a place where a customer completed payment for goods or services.

Today, bar and restaurant owners expect point of sale systems to do much more.

A point of sale system serves as the central component of a business. It’s the hub where everything merges - sales, inventory, customer management, and more.

For example: 

• A florist may depend on their POS system to tell them if an arrangement is still onsite, out for delivery, or was delivered. 
• A restaurant owner may use their POS system to manage reservations and assist with table flow. 
• A bar or nightclub owner may use their POS system for pour control to manage profits more efficiently and keep a close watch on bar inventory. Plus, it can help them make consistently incredible drinks - no matter who is tending the bar. 

Every POS system should have software and hardware components that make running any bar’s daily operations more straightforward and faster.

However, not all POS systems are created equally. Beyond that, POS systems are designed for different uses. For instance, a grocery store owner would require other POS features than a nightclub owner would.

So what features should bar POS software include?

Let’s take a look!

What to Consider When Choosing a Bar POS System

Bar POS software should make running your business easier. 

Here a few things your POS system should offer to your bar or nightclub:

Bar POS Software Should be Reliable

There’s nothing worse than having your POS system crash in the middle of a busy night. 

The results affect your bar in more ways than one: 

1. Your employees are upset because they can't be successful in their work. 
2. Customers turn angry because of the inconveniences a broken POS system causes, like not paying their tab or ordering a drink.
3. Training new employees and losing customers costs you time and hurts your profit.

Reliability is always important but is especially significant for bar or nightclub owners. 

Why? Because your POS system has to be working all hours of the night! 

Bartenders tend to juggle a lot in a hectic, loud environment late into the night, and they want to know they have a workhorse POS system that performs consistently.

Bar POS Systems Should be Intuitive

Why are items that pre-assembled more attractive to consumers than products they have to build themselves? 

Because they can begin learning about the product and using it right away, pre-built POS systems make the experience and benefits more valuable to them!

The same goes for good nightclub POS systems. They should be easy to use so employees can begin understanding them and using them to their full potential right away. 

When your point of sale system is not intuitive, training becomes a long, arduous effort, and it’s more likely your employees will make mistakes.

Plus, employees use valuable energy figuring out how to complete or memorize simple tasks. That means your employees have less energy to focus on their most essential duties. 

On the other hand, a simple, intuitive user interface allows employees to learn quickly, minimize mistakes, and feel confident in serving customers.

It’s a win-win!

Bar POS Systems Should Help You Manage Your Business 

Good POS software should help you know what is happening precisely in your business while simultaneously making it easier to manage. 

For example: 

Nightclub POS software should include robust business analytics and reporting systems that allow you to gauge your establishment’s health with real-time reports. 

The best bar POS systems should include business analytics features like these: 

• A dashboard that shows sales, inventory, labor, and profitability
• Sales comparisons between locations or across time periods
• Peak performance by day of the week, holidays, and promotions
• Trends of sales vs. guests by day and top-selling item reports
• Tracking club member's monthly spending
• Providing an end of day house account report
• Allow remote troubleshooting by sending station error log files to an ftp site for secure access from the POS technical support team.

With the knowledge that comes from reports like the ones listed above, you can take your bar or nightclub to the next level! 

Bar POS Systems Should Improve Employee Satisfaction

One of the most important things to consider when making a business investment is your employees’ satisfaction.

Take it from us: disgruntled employees are bound to work the bare minimum. They have no reason or desire to give their best in helping a business succeed. 

On the other hand, employees that are content and fulfilled at the workplace stick with you for the long haul and add value to a company. Happy employees are up to 20% more productive than unhappy employees. 

While investing in an exceptional POS system doesn’t guarantee employee satisfaction, it does help. After all, when workers feel successful, the chances of them being satisfied dramatically increase. 

And the best part? 

Happy, long-term employees help to encourage satisfied, long-term customers! 

A bartender who is knowledgeable, good at their job, and fun to be with will keep customers returning to your establishment. In contrast, an inexperienced or unhappy bartender will turn people away. 

Practical Features To Look For In a Bar POS System

Ok - we’ve covered some big picture ideas regarding quality point of sale software.

Here’s a quick review of the concepts we covered: 

• Your POS system needs to be reliable.
• Your POS system needs to be intuitive.
• Your POS system needs to help you manage your business.
• Your POS system should make people happy.

Now, let’s take those big ideas and apply them to the practical features a nightclub point of sale system should have.

We’ve gathered these features from actual successful bars across the United States. In other words, these are proven and reliable POS features that bar and nightclub owners love. 

Feature #1: 24/7 Customer Support

You need your point of sale system to be reliable. But, even the highest quality systems break or malfunction on occasion.

Since your establishment is likely to open late into the night, you need to make sure your POS provider offers 24/7 customer support through your Authorized Dealer or your POS Provider.

That way, you can solve a problem when it comes up - no matter what time it is. 

Does your POS system have a built-in link for On-Line Support?

When you work with Total Touch, you can have the peace of mind that comes with US-Based support. Contact us and our dedicated support team will work closely with you until your problem is resolved! 

Feature #2: Process Payments When Internet Is Down

There are few things as terrifying as an internet outage that abruptly end your ability to accept credit card payments. 

The ever-growing line of customers and the huff of dissatisfied patrons is enough to rattle the most experienced bartender. 

Thankfully, some bar POS systems offer a way around this dilemma: a POS offline mode. (Total Touch is a reliable hybrid POS system that works even if it's not connected to the internet, and gives you the ability to manage your bar or nightclub remotely.

While an offline mode inhibits many functions in your system, it still allows you to process credit card payments - and for that reason, it is an invaluable feature that every POS system should include!

Feature #3: Pre-authorizing Credit Card Tabs

What is bar tab pre-authorization? Pre-authorization allows bartenders to:

• Swipe a customer's credit card.
• Securely save that information as to their bar tab.
• Verify that the card is real.
• Make sure it has a preconfigured amount of funds on it.

Why is this important?

The most common question bartenders ask – aside from "What are you having?" – is “Do you want to start a tab?”

The ability to set up a tab is convenient for your staff and the customer. It also incentivizes guests to stay longer and spend more during their visits. 

Additionally, without pre-authorization, there is a risk that the customer’s card could be invalid or unable to cover their bill.

Quick tip: Look for a payment acceptance feature for accepting payment for a “split” off of a table-check, without logging out.

Feature #4: Easy Quick-Tip and Gratuity Reconciliation

Tips are an important part of the food industry. They act as an incentive for employees, and believe it or not, increase customer loyalty. 

In fact, the best POS systems provide tip suggestions on the credit card slip to make it easy for customers to figure tips and increase tip amounts.

However, gratuity reconciliation can be a significant headache for owners or accountants. 

Some POS systems have long, complicated processes for gratuity reconciliation - and that’s what you want to avoid. 

Instead, find software that is easy and intuitive when it comes to gratuity reconciliation. It saves you time, money, and lots of unnecessary headaches!

Feature #5: Quick Access To Top-Selling Drinks and Food

There’s a high chance that you have a row of bookmarks at the top of your screen when you open your internet browser. 

Why? Because you visit those sites so often that you want to be able to open them with the click of a button, saved links save you more time than you might think. 

The same idea applies to bar POS software. 

Every establishment has its special drinks and food that they sell over and over. It’s what makes them unique and brings people back again and again! 

Your point of sale system should allow you to prioritize the drinks and dishes that are popular at your bar or nightclub. That way, you can access them with a simple click or tap. 

Here are two ideas that bar owners love when it comes to quick access to popular food and drinks: 

• A speed menu button that allows you to navigate to a popular menu page.
• A home screen designed for easy access to popular beverages and food. 
• The ability or option to print an online order by printing on the remote printer(s) a tag that reads, ON-LINE ORDER.

Feature #6: Logical On-Screen Organization For Bar Tabs and Food Orders

Bill Watterson is the creator of a witty and insightful comic strip, “Calvin and Hobbes.” 

In one of the comics, Calvin, a six-year-old rascal, searches for his coat. 

He looks under the couch, behind his bed, and on the kitchen floor. Finally, he finds his coat hanging neatly in the closet. 

His response: 

“Who put my coat in the stupid closet?” 

We get a good chuckle out of Calvin’s illogical idea of where his coat belongs. We know that the best place for the coat was in the closet. It makes sense for it to be there, and that is where you should look for it. 

You also want your POS software to be logical - especially the on-screen organization. The last thing you want is to spend minutes looking for valuable information, only to finally find it and  wonder - “Who put it here?”

Feature #7: Round Up Ability

Your system should have the ability to round-up items like checks and bar tabs to the nearest whole amount. 

For example, A beer that totals $2.21 with tax is “rounded-up” to $2.25.

Rounding up allows you to avoid lower change amounts and saves you the nuisance of dealing with coins or getting change at the bank. 

Feature #8: Convenient Inventory Management and Tracking

Proper inventory management is crucial at any retail store or food establishment. You can take an “all eyes on the shelves” approach and ask employees to alert you when supplies dwindle, but that strategy is hard to trust completely. 

A much better idea is to use POS software to do inventory management for you.

You simply have to receive various stock items into your POS inventory as you order them. The good POS system can then run a report telling you exactly how much material you have in stock. 

Some systems even allow you to sort inventory reports by category. 

For example, rather than sifting through pages of inventory, you can run a report on “drinks” or even reports on items received from a specific vendor like “Michelob.” 

This allows you to be efficient in your reordering and avoid ordering twice from the same vendor in a short period of time. 

Feature #9: Complete Remote System Access

As an owner or manager, you should be able to access the POS system for your bar or nightclub anytime, anywhere. 

This is particularly important if you are involved in multiple locations or have other businesses. 

With complete remote system access, you can visit your bar in another city while receiving real-time data on the performance of your home bar or nightclub. 

It’s almost like being in two places at one time! 

Feature #10: Accept Multiple Payment Options

Here’s a simple notion: the more ways you accept payments, the more customers you will retain. 

Why? Humans like to do things the way they want to do them. It’s the way we are.

Older folks may want to pay with cash, while the younger generation might push for contactless payments. Make them pay in a way that’s unfamiliar or uncomfortable, and they’ll walk away disgruntled. 

We suggest making sure your point of sale system accepts EMV and contactless payments. 

After all, roughly 40.5% of U.S. consumers have downloaded at least one mobile payment app to their phone. 

If you’d like to take a deep dive into contactless payments, make sure to read our blog: EMV & NFC: The Differences, Benefits, and Uses.

Feature #11: Pour Control

Humans are phenomenal creatures. We are creative, intelligent, emotive, and sensitive. Truthfully, we are far greater than anything we will ever make with our own hands. 

However, we must admit that sometimes a computer or machine can complete a particular job better than we can. And when it comes to making the perfect drink every time, machines are essential. 

Some restaurant POS systems include a pour control feature, which eliminates human error in making drinks. It can also help you manage inventory and keep a close eye on the profitability of your bar. 

It’s quite simple: 

• Upload a recipe.
• Allow the software to regulate alcohol and ingredients.
• Produce the same drink every time regardless of the bartender!

This allows your employees to focus on offering quality customer service while the machine does most of the work to make a consistent drink. Plus, the simple consistency keeps bar profits healthy and helps you minimize shrinkage.

What Is The Best POS System For A Bar?

We’ve laid out several principles every POS system should follow, and eleven features POS systems should include. 

Now for the million-dollar question: 

What is the best POS system available for a bar? 

Of course, we know there are many excellent options available for managing your bar, restaurant, or nightclub, yet we highly recommend you check out Total Touch POS. Our bar management software is designed specifically for nightclubs, restaurants, and bars of every size and is packed with features to make running your establishment easier. 

We can’t list all the features here, but if you’d like to learn more, please read 17 Features Every Efficient Restaurant POS System Needs. 

All the features listed in that article come with the Total Touch POS system. 

No matter what we choose, we hope you can find a nightclub POS system that works perfectly for you! 

Conclusion

The job of running a successful bar or nightclub may feel unattainable, but by investing in a quality POS system, you will take a big step towards achieving your dreams. 

If you are considering a new or upgraded POS system for your bar, contact Total Touch today. At Total Touch, we provide a complete bar and nightclub POS system that is powerful, simple, and backed with great features. We also offer 24/7 support in the U.S. 

Total Rouch received an award from the CIO Review for being one of the 20 most promising POS solutions in 2019, and we are ready to help you start getting results. 

Contact our team today; we look forward to introducing you a better way to manage your bar or nightclub and maintain profitability!