Restaurant Manager POS

Restaurant Manager POS Review

My Restaurant Manager POS review will explore one of the most widely used point-of-sale platforms in the industry. Various notable restaurant brands trust this unique service in the United States. Is there a reason this point of sale product is so popular with other restaurant owners? Let’s find out!

Overview of Restaurant Manager POS

Restaurant Manager POS is a point of sale system powered by Shift4 — a large payment technology company that owns several other POS brands, including Positouch, Future, and Harbortouch. As the name suggests, Restaurant Manager POS software is built for the hospitality industry. The platform boasts many reputable clients such as Relish, Scrambler Marie’s, Canyon Burger Company, Happy Days, and Pascal’s Bistro.

Restaurant Manager POS is known for its basic and easy-to-use interface that helps improve efficiency in the workplace. You’re able to perform all typical commands that you find in other POS platforms, including splitting tabs, importing menu items, building restaurant layouts, and other essential functions.

At Restaurant Manager POS, you’ll benefit from touchscreen hardware, restaurant-specific features, an easy-to-use interface, extensive data reporting, and a host of other excellent features. Restaurant Manager POS will work with you to customize your point of sale system for your restaurant’s requirements.

Restaurant Manager POS also makes it easy to build a loyalty program and issue gift cards to customers. The backend of the software allows you to analyze performance data quickly and generate reports. The cloud-based nature of the system helps you access critical data from off-site locations.

Some web users complain that Restaurant Manager POS doesn’t provide extensive information about its hardware and credit card processing options. We do know that Restaurant Manager POS has touchscreen hardware, but the pricing is unclear.

Shift4 is the MSP or merchant services provider for all Restaurant Manager POS users. Restaurant Manager POS also avoids publicly advertising its overall pricing model. Still, there are plenty of other components in this software that make it attractive to business owners — let’s explore them in more detail!

Pros vs Cons

Pricing

You won’t be able to find any publicly available information about pricing at Restaurant Manager POS. Unfortunately, this is a company that prefers to keep its pricing model under wraps.

But we won’t let that dissuade us; we found out that RM POS pricing ranges between $99 and $150 per month for each terminal. However, there are potentially other costs, such as installation fees. You’ll have to speak to the sales rep to determine the actual price of its POS platform — make sure to ask about any additional fees or charges.

I prefer to work with point-of-sale providers that are direct about their pricing schemes and are easily accessible online. If you can’t find much information about the pricing of a product, this might mean that there are some fees or costs that the company is trying to hide.

Restaurant Manager POS also has a range of local POS resellers that distribute the product throughout the US. This may mean that you pay a different price depending on what you’re able to negotiate with your reseller. Regardless, it’s always a good idea to seek pricing clarity directly from Restaurant Manager POS so you don’t end up making a financial commitment you can’t handle.

Case Study – Union Jack’s British Pub

Key Features

If you want to understand a point of sale system, you need to understand its core features. Let’s dive into some further details about the key features on offer at Restaurant Manager POS.

Data Reporting

Data reporting options are becoming much more extensive. You no longer look at a simple breakdown of sales and items — you can access a ton of great information that can help you improve your business’s performance.

At Restaurant Manager POS, you can gain access to real-time sales data and inventory tracking. This can help you better analyze your business and determine if you’re running low on crucial ingredients or need to order more food products.

Deployment Type

Strangely enough, the traditional Restaurant Manager POS platform is not cloud-based. While Restaurant Manager POS now offers a cloud-based option, this doesn’t appear to provide you with the core restaurant management features you find in the traditional platform.

I prefer to work with cloud-based systems. Not only does it allow you to access your point of sale system from different locations remotely, but it also keeps your data secure. Also, it makes it much easier to update your software when new developments arrive.

Industries Served

Restaurant Manager POS is specifically built for the restaurant industry — the name gives it away! But there is also a range of different niche specifications and features that help gear it towards certain establishments. At present, you’ll find that Restaurant Manager POS has specifications for pizza shops, bars, traditional restaurants, coffee shops, quick-service restaurants, and delivery restaurants.

Business size at Restaurant Manager POS is also very flexible. While this is suitable for smaller establishments, there’s no doubt it has some features that can help large restaurant owners. If you look at the company’s client list, you’ll find plenty of large establishments that successfully use this platform to manage their point of sale needs.

Ease of Use

While some other users claim that the interface is outdated, it’s certainly easy to use. You can navigate through menus and items without any complicated processes. In addition, the restaurant layout feature allows you to manage your restaurant visually without having to waste time on complex commands. The tableside ordering features also help staff take quick orders without any added hassle.

In fact, Restaurant Manager POS claims that its “easy-to-use” approach helps you cut training costs. You won’t have to spend as much time onboarding new staff if you have an intuitive platform that’s easy to teach and learn.

Hardware

Restaurant Manager POS doesn’t offer much clarity on its hardware options. While there appear to be multiple touchscreen options, the company doesn’t provide pricing or compatibility information. It appears that you have to speak to a POS reseller who can help inspect your current hardware and determine if it’s eligible for use.

The agent may also recommend specific in-house hardware that you can use with the Restaurant Manager POS system. The company also advertises mobile devices that allow you to take tableside orders and process transactions on the spot.

Either way, this is a bit of a red flag. If you were planning on bringing your own hardware with you, or you want to have a clear understanding of costs, it’s better to work with a company that is transparent about its pricing.

There are plenty of competitors that offer flexible hardware options.

Integrations

Unfortunately, you won’t find an extensive list of third-party integrations at Restaurant Manager POS. The company doesn’t advertise its compatibility with any external software products. It would be best to inquire with your reseller about whether there are any plans to change this in the future — third-party integrations can help you drastically improve your point of sale system.

Fortunately, there are a few in-house ‘add-ons’ that perform some of the functions you’d typically see in third-party integrations. You can use these add-ons to gain access to guest paging, gift cards, online ordering, customer loyalty programs, and reservations. It’s a great way to upgrade what you’re able to offer to your customers.

RM POS does offer delivery POS software; however, it’s unclear if any 3rd-party takeout and delivery services are integrated.

Payment Processing

Restaurant Manager POS doesn’t advertise much information about its credit card processing compatibility. I assume this is because Restaurant Manager POS’s parent company (Shift4) offers payment processing and payment gateway services.

After some additional digging, I discovered that Restaurant Manager POS does encourage you to use its in-house payment processing solution, RM Payments. While other payment processors are compatible, Restaurant Manager POS charges so many fees that it reduces the value of using another payment processor.

Unfortunately, this is another strike against Restaurant Manager POS. I prefer to work with point of sale platforms that give you the flexibility to choose your own payment processor. You shouldn’t be punished for using a processor that offers you a better rate.

Customer Service

You’ll have access to 24/7 customer support at Restaurant Manager POS. This means that you can contact a support staff member after hours — it’s perfect if you run a bar or late-night establishment. Restaurant Manager POS has both a phone number and contact form for customer support. Alternatively, you can also contact your reseller for assistance.

Customer satisfaction is also a critical component if you want to choose the right point of sale system. Restaurant Manager POS does have some excellent customer feedback, but there are also a few issues that have been highlighted:

• Lagging: One complaint that seems very prevalent is that the system lags a lot. Many users report problems with freezing. This could be a significant issue if you’re trying to run a busy restaurant.

• Payment Processing Fees: Some customers say the payment processing fees are too high. It’s worth noting that independent agents could potentially alter pricing, so it’s best to be very careful before you sign any contracts or commitments.

• Outdated Interface: Some customers complain that the interface is outdated. It’s hard to argue against them when you compare Restaurant Manager POS to other modern providers.

It’s also important to note that the parent company, Shift4, has a notoriously bad reputation for being slow at responding to customer requests. Many users claim that Shift4 leaves critical questions unanswered. However, Shift4 does continue to respond to complaints and maintains an A+ rating with the BBB.

Our Verdict

At the end of the day, Restaurant Manager POS isn’t transparent enough about all its services. You can’t find reliable information on its pricing, processing commissions, extra fees, or hardware options. This is always a bit of a red flag in my book.

Still, Restaurant Manager POS is trusted by a long list of clients for a reason. It is certainly easy to use, and there are some great features built into this platform. But I think you can probably find better feature lists from other competitors on the market — many of these rivals are also much more transparent.

If you’d like to try out Restaurant Manager POS, make sure to contact the company directly to get in touch with a reseller. Or, if you’d like to see alternative Shift4 products, check out our comprehensive reviews of Future POS and Harbortouch POS.

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