ITWERCS Point of Sale - Blog and News

678-540-4841 info@itwercs.com

Five "Keepers" for MultiUnit Operators

10/3/2019

Keep security in the forefront of your thinking. It will save you money and headaches later. As PCI evolves, the credit card companies and banks will continue to transfer liabilities to merchants when they can. Don’t even talk to a POS vendor who is not utilizing EMV and Point to Point Encryption.
Keep your mind on your processing. Lots of POS companies will take your credit card processing money if you let them. Watch out for “free” or discounted hardware to get you into a long term contract. There are financing options that will cost you much, much less in the long run.
Keep your hearts and minds open. Change is something that very few people process well. Prepare your staff and talk often about the positive points to upgrading your technology.
Keep reasonable expectations. Changing your technology is not like flipping a light switch on success. Phase in projects such as scheduling and inventory over time.
Keep your Long Term plan in mind. Look closely at your vendor’s vision of Hospitality Software. Buzzwords like Cloud, Business Intelligence, Artificial Intelligence and others are catchy, but how the vendor is doing to accomplish these technology goals is critical.

ITWERCS, now a part of Jonas Software, is a leading provider of hybrid cloud Point of Sale. We've been providing hybrid cloud hospitality on the Microsoft Cloud since 2009, and continue to produce cutting edge tools for today’s hospitality operators. Talk to us soon about how we can help you transform your company and grow.

Contact us Today for a Demo!

Lower Cost of Entry and More Profit Generation

11/27/2018

A tip for Restaurant Executives and Operators: When customers utilize their current hardware to implement ITWERCS, their costs of entry are minimized, giving them access to world-class cloud Point of Sale without the hassle and costs of replacing entire systems. We recently converted a customer in Chicago from their legacy software, running on reliable HP hardware over from a legacy software to our platform. In a matter of an hour, they were up and running on their existing terminals, printers and cash drawers. They migrated from a non-EMV, non-cloud solution to ITWERCS with ease, and now are fully utilizing our POS, Scheduling and other modules under a simple flat monthly fee. What could be easier?

Approve Comps and Voids from your Mobile App!

11/7/2018

The life of a restaurant Manager is a busy one. We know it because we have lived it. We strive every day to not only provide the best systems, but also the best systems that enable Management to spend time on what's important.... Customers!
In our upcoming release, Servers will be able to request a Comp (Discount), Void or other transaction approval from the Point of Sale. The request will not only notify the rest of the Point of Sale terminals and tablets in store, but also notify the scheduled manager through the ITWERCS Team App. One click in the app and the Manager Approval can be applied in a secure, auditable form. No more running around to terminals, no more handing out your key card or number!

What's your definition of Loyalty?

10/30/2018

Loyalty: Points? Spend? Visits? Check-ins? What does it really mean to have a loyal customer, and how can you best reward loyalty without creating an entitlement program? Is loyalty something you surface the rules on, or do you "Surprise and Delight" your guests on semi-random events? Through our years we've overseen multiple loyalty plays. Some successful, some a total flop. We've seen programs that absolutely rocked from a data perspective, that through failed promotions created messes that took years to clean up.
Overall, what we learned was that each concept's success in loyalty depended on that concept and also on the commitment of operators and marketers. Having buy-in from all departments as to the definition of loyalty and the measurement of success is critical. What amazes us is all of the loyalty programs we see in locations that don't have enough data behind them to tell whether or not they are actually working.
Then there is the security around those programs. How many points does your server's friend have? How many "points transactions" are actually logged to a guest, and how many redemptions are actual customers and not employees? Does the program have holes in it that are ripe to be exploited?
There are huge bonuses to full-featured programs, such as the ability to link up gift card balances to loyalty accounts, giving even more ways to reward guests seamlessly. Full-featured loyalty also gives restaurants the ability to get a good feel for new menu items by communicating specials to their loyal fans, and rewarding them for their feedback on those new items. The other advantage of a full-featured program is the ability to incentivize purchases on specific items or categories, and be able to control/track those redemptions with no user input.
The biggest reward of a solid, integrated loyalty program is the true benefit to the customer. People love to feel included, whether through communication, reward or just plain acknowledgement for being a friend and customer. The customer that can socialize his or her incredible experiences to their friends, fans and family is one that everyone wants to take care of!
If you're considering a full-featured platform, contact us. Everything we do links to our guests, giving the platform the ability to track loyalty transactions, attribute marketing, measure effectiveness of campaigns, measure recurring guest counts and distribute smart offers that drive sales. Our team can help you get what you are looking for out of your data.

CEOs: This is the Article You Haven't Read

10/18/2018

As a former CIO, I spent countless hours arguing basis points and return on investment. I've always been shocked at how few operators realize the cost of new technology, and how few operators really understand that there is a TON of money still on the table in hospitality. Hey CEO's - ask your teams about this math.....

Your ancient Point of Sale, for which you paid a ton, and for which you're still probably paying 18% (or more) of the initial cost in "maintenance," does not connect easily to other systems. It probably doesn't report sales in real time to your mobile phone (without using another paid service). Its likely that it does not schedule your employees and forecast your sales and item usage. It probably doesn't track each guest and let you know what percentage of your daily guests are new. It puts your customers’ credit cards at risk because it can't process EMV without an expensive "upgrade." It doesn't make you a penny more than it did in 2006 when you bought it. You've since paid for it two times over in maintenance fees since - for the same garbage.

For example's sake, let's say that a restaurant does $150,000 per month in sales, processes about 4,000 guest checks, and has an average transaction of $37.50. That’s a fairly representative table service location.

Some may believe that they just "invested" in a new system that was half-price because of a "sale." But perhaps you didn't read the fine print, and now you’re paying 2.8% processing fees in your second year - instead of the original 2.2% processing fees. In other words, costing you an extra $900 a month. For more on this, check out Jordan Thaeler's blog on ReformingRetail.com.

Why not select a system that was launched in 2007, updated every two weeks, has run billions in transactions, and manages almost every aspect of operations? We're as transparent as we can be about payments and residuals, in fact we'll even help you save money on processing! Why not look at a system that - based on the example above - would only cost you a little more than 3 Basis Points per month, with no software fees up front? For many, you can even run on your existing hardware. For those not in on the jargon, that's 0.3%. Not three percent, but THREE TENTHS of a percent. The most valuable technology player on your team costs a fraction of a minimum-wage earner! We work 100 times harder than the payment companies, and actually do something for you. Oh yeah - the code is written 100% in the U.S., and supported by real live humans. Replacing your interfaces with other systems is easy. Your staff will learn the functions within hours and you will operate better.

So what's stopping you? Who wouldn't spend 3 basis points on systems that have been proven to increase sales and decrease costs? (To the tune of real percentage points, not basis points.)
For more, contact us!

Good article on the state of EMV

9/28/2018

Thank you to our friends at Ingenico! They have published some great statistics on EMV.
Read the article HERE.

The Story of ITWERCS!

9/11/2018

How did ITWERCS Begin and Why?
https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6445306794033188865

Cheers to the Cloud!

9/10/2018

Posiflex has recently teamed up with ITWERCS and Postec to provide a cloud based POS solution to Fadó Pubs, a prominent chain of Irish pubs in the U.S.
Read the release HERE.

Great Stats on how the Hospitality World is Moving to the Cloud

9/10/2018

Great post from Jordan Thaeler, here's a taste of what he's stating:
If we acknowledge that 25% of the market comprises new entrants annually due to churn of previous merchants, and 62% of them prefer cloud, every year 15.5% of the POS market is being moved to cloud. Over 5 years that 15.5% * 5 = 77.5%.
Read the article here.