Make hay while the sun shines at your venue: how the right EPOS boosts your summer revenue
With heatwaves on the horizon, your beer garden, terrace or outdoor seating area is sure to see plenty of action. While your customers soak up the sun with a cold pint or summer salad, there's no reason for you and your team to feel the heat. The right EPOS setup makes managing the summer surge a breeze.
Here's how using your EPOS to its full potential ensures you get every penny out of those glorious sunny days.
Skip the queues, boost your sales
It's 2pm on a scorching Saturday, your beer garden is packed – you don’t want a queue snaking from your bar to the door. Nobody wants to wait for their drinks when they're melting in the heat – and frankly, you don't want them to either.
Online ordering for outdoor areas is a game-changer. Let customers order from their table and have drinks delivered. They'll love the service, you'll love the higher spend per head you’re likely to achieve, and your indoor bar won't be crammed with sweaty customers trying to get served.
Pop QR codes on your outdoor tables linking straight to your menu, and watch customers order round after round without moving from their spot – while your bar staff focus on what they do best instead of fighting through crowds.
If you prefer the personal touch, arm your team with portable EPOS devices. When table six flags down your server for "five more Cruzcampos, and can we get some nachos too?", your staff can ring it through there and then. No more scribbled orders that the kitchen can't read, no more forgotten rounds, and definitely no more angry customers wondering where their food is.
Handheld devices work better than tablets out here – they fit into pockets which makes it easier for your staff collect more empties.
Menu flexibility that actually works
Summer means change. Maybe you're adding those trendy cocktails everyone's after (Hugo Spritz, anyone?), or perhaps you've got a seasonal barbecue menu that showcases local suppliers.
Whatever it is, updating menus traditionally means hours of reprinting, briefing staff, and inevitably finding mistakes three weeks later.
Our product management tools make menu changes simple, while the recipe management and batch creation tools fine-tune your stock control.
Your team can access ingredients, allergens, tasting notes and cocktail instructions right from the EPOS, so they’ll get to grips with any new additions quickly. Live stock updates means you’ll never have those awkward problems when the last portion of something gets sold to two different tables.
Running a pop-up barbecue or outdoor bar? You don't need your full menu cluttering up the system if you’re only offering a limited range. Assign specific items to your outdoor area, set up a dedicated EPOS terminal (or Mini EPOS), and your team will only see what's actually available in that area. Simple.
The beauty of our Mini EPOS is that it runs on any iPhone – perfect for seasonal operations. Download the app, pay the licence fee for the months you need it, and you're sorted. No expensive kit gathering dust in winter, no lengthy contracts and extra costs to worry about.
Take the stress out of staff scheduling
We all know the British summer is unpredictable. One minute you're quiet as a library, the next you're three deep at the bar because the sun's come out and half of town has decided they need a drink.
Our scheduling system takes the guesswork out of staffing. Weather forecast predicting 28 degrees this Saturday? Look at your sales data from that similarly scorching Saturday three weeks ago, or compare it to the same weekend last year. You'll know exactly how many hands you need on deck.
Our new holiday request feature couldn't have launched at a better time. Your team can request time off through their back office access, and you can approve or decline with a couple of clicks. You can finally wave those spreadsheets into the sunset.
The EPOS clocking system keeps track of those inevitable summer overtime hours too – you’ll know exactly how long staff stayed behind to clean up after that mad evening.
Big groups = big headaches? Not any more
Outdoor spaces are made for large groups. While they spend well, they can be tricky to manage – especially when they're spread across multiple tables and everyone wants to pay differently.
Our table plan system makes this bearable. You can see at a glance which tables belong to the same group, add items as they order throughout the afternoon, and when it comes to settling up, split the bill however they want – equally or by item – with a couple of taps on the EPOS.
Prompts for sides, mixers and extras help your team upsell naturally, and deposits and pre-orders can help you manage busy periods with even more control. Get payment upfront for those big group bookings, and you won't be chasing money when everyone's had a few and can't remember who ordered what.
Promotions that actually drive business
If the sunshine isn't enough to fill your tables, you might need to look at some promotions and rewards. Set up happy hours, two-for-one offers, or
loyalty rewards in minutes through the back office, and staff can manage members, points and digital stamp cards through the EPOS. With the Mini EPOS, your staff can apply loyalty and promotions wherever customers are sitting.
Data makes every penny count
Every hospitality business is feeling the squeeze right now. Rising costs, staff shortages, customers watching their spending – every sale matters more than ever.
Real-time sales data is your secret weapon. See which cocktails are flying out the door, which areas are generating the most revenue, and where you might need an extra pair of hands. Maybe your beer garden's doing twice the business of your indoor seating – time to move more staff outside.
Track performance by area, by time of day, by staff member. You'll start spotting patterns that help you make smarter decisions about everything from staffing to stock orders to special offers.
The data doesn't lie – and in summer, when every sunny day could be your best trading day of the month, knowing your numbers can make the difference between a good season and a great one.
Don't let another profitable summer slip away...
Contact us today to see how our EPOS can help you maximise every sunny day. Our onboarding experts can demo the system and have you up and running within a couple of days, and our support teams are available 8am-midnight every day. Any issues, they’ll respond within minutes, so you won’t have to worry about downtime on those busy sunny evenings.
