The restaurant industry has always been a hotbed of innovation and the past decade has seen unprecedented advancements in restaurant technology. Cash registers have been replaced with tablets, customers are paying for meals with their smartphones, and takeout can be ordered in just a few clicks – all changes that have been driven by restaurant point-of-sale (POS) companies like TouchBistro.
TouchBistro is an all-in-one POS and restaurant management system that makes running a restaurant easier. Providing the most essential front of house, back of house and customer engagement solutions on one easy-to-use platform, TouchBistro helps restaurateurs simplify their operations, increase sales, and deliver a great guest experience.
SourceForge recently caught up with TouchBistro Sales Engineer Bruce Macklin to learn more about how the company is helping restaurants use technology to adapt to a new era of hospitality.
What is TouchBistro and why was it created?
The idea for TouchBistro was sparked from a simple question asked by restaurateurs everywhere: “Is there a piece of technology that will make it easier and faster for my servers to take and place orders?”
A lover of technology and restaurants, Founder Alex Barrotti sought to answer this question by developing TouchBistro – an app that would have all of the features and functionality restaurateurs need, housed on the iPad – an intuitive mobile device that any server, manager, or owner could use. In 2011, the app was launched and the first-ever iPad-based restaurant POS was born.
Today, TouchBistro is an all-in-one restaurant management system that includes payment processing, online ordering, reservations, loyalty, and other solutions that support the passion and successes of restaurateurs around the world.
Who does TouchBistro serve?
TouchBistro is designed for restaurants of all types and sizes – from food trucks to full service restaurants. All of TouchBistro’s products work seamlessly with the core POS, allowing restaurateurs to choose the hardware and software solutions that fit their businesses’ unique needs.
Not only does TouchBistro serve a wide variety of restaurants, but its customer engagement products also support the needs of today’s diners. Solutions like TouchBistro Loyalty allow guests to earn rewards for dining at their favorite restaurants, while TouchBistro Ordering Online gives guests the ease and convenience of enjoying a meal at home.
How does TouchBistro make it easier for restaurateurs to run their business and improve the experience of their staff and customers?
TouchBistro helps restaurateurs in three crucial ways:
Increase Sales: TouchBistro helps restaurants boost on- and off- premise orders, increase average check size, drive repeat business, and turn tables faster.
Deliver a Great Guest Experience: TouchBistro makes it easy to deliver a personalized guest experience, guarantee order accuracy, reduce wait times, and reward loyal customers.
Save Time and Money: TouchBistro reduces costs and improves efficiency by making it faster and easier to train staff, place orders, view reports, and identify savings.
What are some of TouchBistro’s key features and capabilities?
The TouchBistro POS comes equipped with all of the features you need to run a successful restaurant, including:
- Floor Plan and Table Management: Customize and edit floor plans on the go.
- Menu Management: Increase average check size with a customizable menu you can take tableside.
- Cloud-Based Reporting & Analytics: Track sales in real-time and make informed decisions with cloud-based reports.
- Inventory Management: Understand food costs and keep track of stock levels.
- Tableside ordering: Take and place orders tableside at FSRs and bust lines at QSRs with a mobile POS.
- Staff Management: Easily manage staff and optimize labor costs.
- Integrated Payments: Enjoy transparent pricing and accept payments of all types.
- 24/7/365 Support: Access round-the-clock service when you need it most.
TouchBistro also offers products for customer engagement, including:
- Online Ordering: Take orders directly from your own website and pay $0 in commission fees.
- Loyalty: Turn first-time guests into regulars with personalized rewards.
- Reservations: Manage capacity and streamline operations.
- Gift Cards: Drive repeat business with physical and digital gift cards.
What makes TouchBistro different from other POS systems?
TouchBistro is also one of the best POS systems for restaurants because it boasts a hybrid architecture that combines a traditional server-based setup with cloud-enhanced data and backup. This means that TouchBistro offers all the convenience and remote capabilities of any other cloud POS, but there is also a hardwired, local connection that acts as a backup when the internet goes down. In other words, if your WiFi is out, your POS terminals can continue talking to one another, allowing you to continue taking orders and sending orders to the kitchen. For restaurants that can’t afford any service interruptions, this kind of reliability is essential.
Beyond its hybrid design, another feature that sets TouchBistro apart from the competition is its robust product offerings. Because TouchBistro was designed by restaurant industry veterans, its core features and add-on solutions have been specially crafted to meet the unique demands of running a restaurant, such as taking orders tableside, processing online orders, and menu engineering. This means that when you use TouchBistro, you get much more than a point-of-sale system – you get an all-in-one restaurant management solution that provides you with all the technology you need to run your restaurant on one easy-to-use platform.
How is TouchBistro meeting the changing needs of the restaurant industry?
In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, an unprecedented labor shortage, and rapidly shifting consumer behaviors, TouchBistro is uniquely positioned to help restaurants evolve and adapt to a changing industry landscape.
TouchBistro is led by a diverse group of restaurant-obsessed, tech-loving people who are constantly looking at trends and evaluating changes in the restaurant technology space. TouchBistro then adapts to these trends by either developing adaptive workflows or acquiring different companies to ensure that it is constantly offering innovative solutions that make it easier for restaurateurs to run their business and improve the experience of staff and customers.
About TouchBistro
TouchBistro is an all-in-one POS and restaurant management system that makes running a restaurant easier.
Providing the most essential front of house, back of house, and customer engagement solutions on one powerful platform, TouchBistro helps restaurateurs streamline and simplify their operations – allowing them to spend less time manually connecting the dots, and more time connecting with guests and growing their business.
Built to meet the unique needs of the restaurant industry, TouchBistro is fast, reliable, and easy to use, and has all of the features restaurateurs need to increase sales, deliver a great guest experience, and save both time and money.
By pairing innovative restaurant technology with an unparalleled dedication to customer support and success, TouchBistro has powered more than 29,000 restaurants in over 100 countries, and is a global leader changing the way restaurateurs do business.
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