Every POS demo looks good, because every demo is run by someone who knows the software, on a menu with four items, with no rush and no printer jam. The system that fits you is decided by things the demo never shows. This topic is about finding those before you sign, not after.
🍽️ Start with what kind of operation you are
The single biggest cause of a bad fit is buying a system built for a different service model. Before any comparison, place yourself:
| If you are | The thing that must work | What breaks a generic system |
| Counter service, fast line | Speed of ringing, one screen, few taps | Table maps and course timing you never use |
| Full service, tables | Open tabs, transfers, splits, seat numbers, coursing | Checks that cannot move between servers |
| Bar | Pre-authorized tabs, fast re-orders, shift reconciliation | Anything that requires closing a check each round |
| Heavy delivery and takeout | Order injection from platforms, prep-time control | Someone re-typing platform orders by hand |
| Several locations | One menu pushed everywhere, reports across sites | Menus maintained separately per site |
Write your row down. In every conversation that follows, that is the thing you make them prove, live, on your own menu.
🖥️ Hardware: what you actually need
Hardware is where the quote inflates. Decide it against your floor, not the catalog:
- Terminals. How many people need to ring at the same moment during your worst rush? That is the number, plus one. Not one per employee.
- Handhelds. Genuinely useful for patios, large dining rooms and bars. A cost you can add later — do not let it hold up the decision.
- Kitchen: printer or screen? A printer is cheap, familiar and silently loses tickets. A kitchen display costs more, shows timing and never runs out of paper. If you have more than one prep station, the screen usually wins within a year.
- Card reader. Whether you can bring your own, or must rent theirs, is a contract question. Ask it in writing.
- Internet. Ask what happens when it drops. Some systems keep taking orders offline and sync later; some show a black screen. This one answer separates good systems from bad ones, and it comes back in topic 6.
- Tablets or purpose-built? Consumer tablets are cheaper and die faster near a fryer. Budget for replacement rather than pretending it will not happen.
🔗 What has to talk to what
The integrations you need are decided by what you already run. List it before shopping:
- Your accounting. A nightly export beats a bookkeeper re-typing totals every month.
- Your own ordering page from the previous course, and the delivery platforms from the one before it. Orders that land in the POS by themselves save a person and a category of mistakes.
- Payroll or scheduling, if the timeclock lives in the POS.
- Inventory, if you intend to count down ingredients rather than dishes.
- Loyalty or gift cards, if you run them or intend to.
Ask for each one in the same words: "Is that included, an add-on with a monthly fee, or something we build?" The three answers have very different prices.
📜 What the contract hides
The monthly software fee is the number they lead with and rarely the number you pay. Ask all of these before signing, and get the answers in writing:
| Ask | Why it matters |
| How long is the term, and what does it cost to leave early? | Multi-year terms with termination fees are common. This is the clause that traps people |
| Am I required to use your payment processing? | If yes, you have bought two things and can only negotiate one. See the next course |
| Is the hardware bought, leased or rented? | Leases often outlive the relationship and cannot be cancelled with the software |
| What does support cost, and what hours? | "24/7 support" is sometimes an upgrade tier. Topic 6 is about this |
| Can I export my own data, and in what format? | Sales history is yours. Confirm you can leave with it |
| What does a second terminal cost, monthly? | Per-terminal pricing changes the comparison as you grow |
| Who builds the menu, and what does that cost? | Setup fees appear late. Topic 3 is what that work involves |
Then do one more thing, and it is the highest-value hour in this course: find two restaurants of your size and service style already running the system, and ask them what they wish they had known. Vendors give references who are happy. Ask the vendor, and also ask someone they did not choose.