In 2023, it seems like every restaurant is utilizing handheld devices. Utilizing mobile devices for order taking and payments can perform wonders for a hospitality establishment. The ability to use modern tech to speed up service has always been a priority for point-of-sale providers. SpotOn’s handheld devices are designed to improve restaurant operations in more than one way.

spoton pos philly handheld
spoton pos philly handheld

Capable of sending orders and accepting payments, SpotOn’s handheld devices are a great way to transition into a modern restaurant environment. Staff love using them in a decentralized setting without having to go back and forth to a fixed terminal. Management can see food cost go down as order accuracy goes up after implementing handhelds. There are a bunch of benefits. Let’s take a look at three major return on investment points that help explain why handhelds would be great for your business.

Faster Speed of Service

SpotOn handhelds are phenomenal for increasing speed of service. Think about the steps that goes into a server when not using a handheld in a table service environment.

  1. Go to table to receive drink order.
  2. Walk back to POS terminal to place drink order.
  3. Return to table to receive food order.
  4. Walk back to POS terminal to place food order.
  5. Go to table to confirm check out.
  6. Walk back to POS terminal to print out check.
  7. Deliver check to customer and receive payment.
  8. Walk back to POS to perform payment.
  9. Return to table with finalized check and return payment.

Handheld devices can eliminate several steps in this process and speed up service. Rather than going back and forth to a point-of-sale terminal, staff can simply place the orders and accept payments table side. In the provided example, a handheld can easily eliminate steps 2, 4, 6, and 8. Consolidating these steps means more time serving more guests.

Let’s say faster speed of service allows a server to sell 10 more $5.00 beers per day.

10 Beers X $5.00 = $50.00 per Day = $350.00 per Week = $18,200.00 per Year in New Revenue

Increased Order Accuracy

Listen, we love our servers, but sometimes mistakes can be made during the ordering process. Some servers even try to remember an order. Ultimately, this can lead to order accuracy depletion and, in effect, higher food costs. Handheld devices allow staff members to take table side orders. Taking the order right next to the customer reduces trips to the fixed point-of-sale terminal and allows servers to have better order taking practices and less costly mistakes.

Let’s say we decrease the amount of plates being sent back to the kitchen to be remade. Assume a plate is $20.00 and we are reducing 10 send back’s per week.

10 Plates Recovered X $20.00 = $200.00 per Week = $10,400.00 per Year in Recovered Food Cost

Reducing Charge Back Liability

There’s nothing worse than a charge back. Busy bars and fast paced environments that are not EMV compliant can be prone to a lot of them. EMV is a set of rules that put in the need for chip credit cards. Taking chip cards is a safer way to accept in-store payments. Restaurants that take chip cards can take a step closer to full EMV compliance. How? With handhelds.

Accepting payments at the table gives restaurants more protection. SpotOn Handheld devices can accept NFC and chip card payments. Staff can now hand the device over to the customer in order for them to perform payment. When a customer performs the payment, their payment card is not leaving their hands. The card is no longer being taken from the customer and therefore in the customer’s possession at all times. This means there is dramatically reduced liability to the restaurant owner if the payment is disputed.

Let’s say you are a busy bar with some …” forgetful” customers. There is a payment dispute on a weekly basis that can take up to an hour of your time. Reducing charge back’s can mean 52 more hours in returned time per year – more than two days!

Take it another step further. How much are those charge backs costing? Assume there is one payment dispute per week. Your average check size is $50.00.

1 Charge Back X $50.00 = $50.00 per Week = $2,600.00 per Year in Annual Cost

Using SpotOn Handhelds can reduce both the overall time commitment and cost to payments disputes.

Overall ROI

These three return on investment points are just a sample of major ways to win with handheld device. It’s time to sum up the total ROI.

Faster Speed of Service: $18,200.00 per Year

Increased Order Accuracy: $10,400.00 per Year

Reduced Charge Back Liability: $2,600.00 & 52 Hours of Productivity per Year

Total: $31,200.00 per Year in New or Recovered Costs & 2+ Days of Productivity

Handhelds are a no-brainer for a restaurant. Considering them for your business? Contact POS Philly and we’ll help you get started.