3-minute read ---

​The Aldelo Express Interactive Multimedia Customer Display provides restaurant owners with endless possibilities for improved customer engagements. From order details to video-based marketing displays, this free native software integration from Aldelo Express helps restaurant owners improve checkout processes and order accuracy, especially in noisy environments.

Customer-facing displays at countertop POS terminals provide colorful displays of transaction details and marketing media, complete with text, audio, images, animations, and video.

4-minute read ---
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In the modern restaurant era, there are many things a restaurant needs to be successful. They need both indoor and outdoor dining, on- and off-premises services, and digital payments that expand customer reach and convenience. As a result, many restaurant owners are turning to point of sale solution providers to implement these services and stay relevant in their local market.

Restaurant owners that use Aldelo Express Cloud POS not only benefit from a full-featured cloud POS solution suite, but also enjoy the freedom of managing their business from anywhere through a cloud back-office environment.

As many restaurant owners take on additional responsibilities, many are leaning on POS technology for relief and maintaining a fluid schedule that takes them in and out of the restaurant. With cloud back-office management, restaurant owners embrace the ability to efficiently and effectively manage their operation regardless of where they are, enabling them to be successful in today’s demanding market.

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​Customers are always looking to celebrate. As a result, restaurants commonly turn to fun and engaging celebratory days that increase customer engagement and orders for their restaurant or bar.

This June, restaurants are preparing to attract customers with Father’s Day specials, attracting customers with limited-time discounts, free menu items, and loyalty/rewards credits. In addition, the National Basketball Association will be hosting the 2022 NBA Finals bracket competition, providing the ideal setting for watch parties and basketball themed promotions.

​Here are other celebratory days for the month of June to use in themed campaigns and promote new menu items.

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​As POS technologies continue to rapidly develop, today’s “modern” POS capabilities are continually outgrowing today’s hardware. In Q3 of 2021, Microsoft released their latest operating system, Windows 11. For many restaurant owners, this brought on the time-consuming task of determining if their Windows-based POS hardware could support the new upgrades, or if they had to make the expensive investment into new POS hardware.

However, many restaurant owners discovered an even better solution: moving to the cloud and utilizing point of sale hardware with less stringent specifications versus that of Windows-based hardware requirements, saving them thousands of dollars on costly new hardware and upgrades over the life of the system.

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​For many business owners, switching to a new point of sale system is an expensive, but necessary, investment. Learning a new restaurant technology and management system brings a learning curve for both managers and employees. Generally the losses and delays associated with implementing a new POS system are justified with enhanced operational efficiency and overall system cost-effectiveness.

Owners/operators that make the switch to Aldelo Express Cloud POS, on the other hand, deploy a complete restaurant technology solution in minutes, and receive unparalleled POS value over the life of the system. Plus, with familiar user interfaces (UIs) across all devices, restaurant staff transition to using the iPad- and Android-based system in just days, not weeks, saving the business time and money.

3-minute read ---

​Themed charity events are a very successful method of fundraising for community and non-profit organizations. In-person fundraisers allow organizations to promote their cause in-person, directly engage with benefactors, and increase donations with entertainment, great food, and drinks. This provides the perfect opportunity for local restaurants and caterers to “put their best food forward” and expose their menus to the broader community.

Amidst spring and summer weather, restaurants taking the opportunity to host and/or cater outdoor charity events immediately increase the number of guests experiencing and enjoying their services, inspiring them to visit the business for more.

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​Labor is easily the most controllable expense a restaurant has towards achieving daily profitability. By utilizing digital solutions for managing and communicating employee labor schedules, timecards, and reports through Aldelo Express Cloud POS, restaurant owners monitor and properly manage staff hours based on the needs of the business. The benefits of implementing a simple labor control system are immediate by reducing average hourly wage costs and increasing profitability.

3-minute read ---

​In the world of western cuisine, sandwiches are almost as old as sliced bread … almost. Though an ancient Jewish rabbi called Hillel the Elder ate fruit, nuts, and wine between two pieces of flatbread in the 1st century B.C, the sandwich as we know it today was not popularized until the 18th century when the Earl of Sandwich John Mategeau opted for his lunch to-go between two slices of thick, leavened bread. Today, sandwiches are an easy, packable solution for picnics, sporting events, beach trips, and the office. Served hot or cold, sandwiches remain an irreplaceable part of restaurant menus and homemade meals alike.
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As summer approaches, the peak season for outdoor events and packed lunches, here are some non-traditional ways restaurants can engage customers with improved sandwich menus, using seasonal ingredients, topping combinations, and flavor profiles that customers may not think to make at home.

​For many business owners, switching to a new point of sale system is an expensive investment that takes time and commitment. Owners/operators that make the switch to Aldelo Express Cloud POS receive unparalleled value and deploy a complete restaurant technology solution in minutes.

​The cloud-based POS system is the result of over 20 years of point of sale software development for restaurants of all types and sizes. With secure data encryptions and automatic data syncs on both iPad and Android devices, owners confidently manage single- and multi-store operations from a single back-office environment. This includes settings for kitchen display systems, remote handheld devices, online ordering, and digital payments.

3-minute read ---
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Today’s era of restaurant dining is hallmarked by digital self-services. Businesses of all sizes are using online ordering, digital payments, and digital communications to interact with customers both in-store and online. Each one of these solutions provide customers with greater convenience, and restaurant staff with improved front-of-house communications that contribute to increased productivity.

But alongside mainstream demand for customer-facing ordering and payments is a growing expectation for real-time communications sent from the restaurant to customer smartphones.

3-minute read ---

​Labor is one of the most controllable costs business owners have. With the right visibility, managers know when to prepare for an influx of orders, and conversely, when to reduce purchases and related inventory levels. Having proper insights into the operation allows managers to properly staff and control labor costs.

​In addition to these reporting features, modern restaurant point of sale technology provides a means to nimbly manage expenses based on the current needs of the business. By implementing digital services that include ordering, payments, and digital receipts, businesses become less reliant on physical labor. Additionally, these businesses reduce costs related to managing guest services such as printable receipts, legacy gift card, loyalty, and coupon programs. By going digital, restaurant information becomes readily available to operators in order to make important business decisions that protect the bottom line.

3-minute read ---

​People enjoy resorts because they are exciting getaways from ordinary work and daily routines. The best resorts and parks have great food (that guests don’t have to prepare), great hospitality (that make guests feel like celebrities), and great entertainment for guests to enjoy.

In these types of environments, people are constantly moving around and making purchases as they go. There is an expectation of VIP service and luxury experiences throughout, so the faster and more convenient transactions are, the more satisfied customers will be as they roam from poolside bars to restaurant dining rooms, multi-level clubs, seaside bars and snack shack bungalows. Being able to serve in fluid, mobile environments means shorter lines and less congestion for customers getting and other services, providing overall enhanced customer experiences and providing more physical space.

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Beverages are a restaurant’s most profitable menu item. With virtually endless combinations of flavored syrups, sodas, spirits, juices, and toppings, the possibilities for creating enticing beverages are only limited by the imagination. Like any menu item, drink trends come and go, but these often require purchasing new and/or novelty ingredients. However, a recent social media trend provides business owners an engaging and profitable beverage solution that is easily created with ingredients in every restaurant's kitchen.

“Dirty sodas” are soda-based beverages that feature soda poured over ice with cream, flavored syrups, fruit chunks, and other non-alcoholic add-ins. The combination of bubbly soda and cream is reminiscent of ice cream floats, but is enhanced with additional item mix-ins and flavor combinations. 

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While the coronavirus pandemic accelerated the adoption of digital restaurant solutions, customer-facing point of sale technology had already been making its way into the industry, beginning with online ordering for in-store pickup and delivery services. To accommodate today’s digital market, 91% of restaurants want online ordering solutions, 66% want table side QR code-based ordering, and 74% want curbside pickup capabilities. Aldelo referral partners exceed these merchant expectations with natively integrated remote POS solutions, providing essential customer digital services at no additional cost to merchants, saving them hundreds of dollars per month.*

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​​Opening a restaurant is challenging enough. Having a solid plan and mastering that plan as quickly as possible has a direct impact on revenue and the success of your business.

Every restaurant provides a unique contribution to a city. Restaurant operators that network with other small business owners in their community accelerate their learning experiences by gleaning tips from those familiar with the area and customer market. Experienced business owners, especially those native to your area, offer other owners/operators invaluable lessons from their years of running a restaurant, engaging the community, serving customers, and working with third-party suppliers.

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​There are two primary goals of businesses in the hospitality sphere: to make guests feel “at home” while simultaneously providing a VIP-level experience with customer-centric services and amenities. This is especially true for hotels, which often promote a “like home, but better” mentality when welcoming guests and serving them throughout their stay.

To meet this high-level standard of comfort and convenience, many hotels offer room service to guests, providing food and drinks directly from the hotel’s kitchen or from partner restaurants located on or near the business premises. With increased QR code usage for restaurant online ordering, takeout, and delivery services, hotels are also beginning to use QR codes to enhance in-house and third-party food and drink services.

3-minute read ---

​As inflation and supply chain delays continue, restaurants are challenged to maintain a profitable business while providing consistent food, drink, and customer service quality. To do this, owners and managers must use insights from back-office data to make changes to food and drinks on existing restaurant menus.

Restaurants using native inventory and digital menu solutions from Aldelo Express make changes to digital menu configurations based on item inventory, navigating ever-changing prices using surface-level and detailed sales reports and inventory logs accessed through a cloud back-office environment. With these tools, restaurant owners compare sales performances to food costs to determine popular and high profit items that attract hungry customers and increase revenue.

3-minute read ---

After water, tea is the most popular beverage in the world. In 2021, over 150 million Americans drank tea every day. This year, preferences for age-old brews are surfacing in new menu categories and trends that include afternoon “tea time” happy hours and tea-flavored baked goods. * Because teas provide wide profit margins for restaurants, restaurants, bakeries, and coffee shops are embracing the 2022 tea trend and seeing instant improvements to their bottom lines.

Even though per ticket averages may slightly lower during tea time periods, these types of events enable restaurants to draw more customers into the business and serve food and drink items with higher margins, allowing customers to see and experience other menu items and influencing them to make return visits.

3-minute read ---

​Food aside, rather than establishing a restaurant’s brand on atmosphere, services, and overall dining experiences, in the last few years ghost kitchens have revolutionized the food service landscape with a heightened emphasis on superior food quality and customer services. These food service businesses are designed for and rely solely on remote orders, processing ordering and payments remotely before preparing, cooking, and packaging customers’ food and drinks for pick-up or delivery. With no front-of-house costs for service, maintenance, and overhead, ghost kitchens collect revenue from a completely digital customer base, utilizing online ordering, payment, and smart kitchen display systems (KDS) to support seamless transaction processes and order production from start to finish. This includes capturing order histories for quick and easy menu item recall and reorder through unique customer profiles available on staff terminals for phone orders as well as customer-facing online ordering solutions.

5-minute read ---

​For restaurant owners in today’s market, running a restaurant means employing and training a nimble and versatile staff capable of assuming a variety of roles. It also means selecting a state-of-the-art POS technology platform and online ordering solution that works in concert with customers for efficiently managing transactions and services from anywhere. This means utilizing mobile handheld POS devices to expand the restaurant’s reach in and outside of the store, improve customer convenience, and provide faster service. And best of all, these increase revenue.

Mobile handheld devices make it possible for restaurants to proactively engage customers instead of waiting for customers to come to them. This creates a smooth and convenient method when serving customers at fairs, concerts, festivals, stadiums, golf courses, theaters, concessions, farmers markets and a variety of other events.

4-minute read ---

​The United States consumes 3 billion pizzas per year, with a total of $38 million spent on one of restaurants’ most popular menu items.*

Pizza is one item that rarely “gets old.” Whether your main customer base is fueled by high schoolers down the street or a mix of all demographics, most guests love a fresh pizza pie.

National Pizza Party Day gives guests a reason to celebrate with family and friends at their favorite local restaurant, or at home with food from their favorite pizza menu. Restaurants celebrating this day easily increase awareness of their venue for summer events and local gatherings by hosting a pizza party that guests can enjoy with their family and friends. Restaurants that don’t have a traditional pizza oven may participate in this specialty event by serving pizza variations including pizza bread, pizza sandwiches, pizza casseroles, and more.

​​Whether your restaurant offers pizza items regularly or are introducing limited-time offers, hosting a pizza party provides a unique and engaging opportunity to attract and retain local customers.

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​Aldelo has spent over 20 years developing restaurant technology solutions fit for any operation. With each innovation, the company’s mission has remained the same: to provide restaurants with unparalleled access to the most economic and ​state-of-the-art cloud POS platform.

To help meet this mission, Aldelo establishes strategic relationships with selected resellers across the US that are passionate about providing local restaurant owners with a robust POS solution that includes everything required to successfully operate a restaurant today and tomorrow. Merchants can retain their current payment processing service or select from a variety of supported ultra-competitive payment processing options. Aldelo employs a simple and straightforward POS sales model that eliminates complexity and confusion making it extremely easy for merchants to make a confident and quick POS decision that is in the best interest of their business.

5-minute read ---

​​Five years ago, typically only pizza places and a few full-service restaurants offered delivery of their food and drinks. Today, restaurants of all types and sizes are engaging with native and third-party delivery services to reach existing customers and expand their customer base.

Determining the best combination of native and third-party delivery platforms can be a difficult and confusing process for business owners. Do they hire additional staff to deliver items purchased through their online ordering platform, or partner with popular ordering and delivery services to increase their brand exposure?

Because each business and local market is different, there is no right or wrong answer. However, owners and operators must conduct a serious cost-benefit analysis to determine the best investment for their business. This depends on (1) what will bring the most value to the business; (2) the flexibility of the online ordering and delivery platform; (3) the cost of the program; and (4) the ease of managing the program for a single or multi-store restaurant operations.

4-minute read ---

​​Restaurant owners seeking to acquire a new point-of-sale solution tend to struggle to make confident decisions. This is because solutions and features beyond basic POS functionality are often priced separately or intertwined with varying (and confusing) credit card processing rates and fees. And if this isn’t confusing enough, many POS providers tout “free” POS hardware that is often bundled with the entire solution, making it difficult for merchants to quickly and accurately compare one POS solution to another.

Merchants purchasing a new software solution may believe they are getting a better deal up front when they choose a POS system with “free” POS hardware. But, in the long-run, they tend to pay much more than the fair market value.

​Restaurant owners that reconcile their “free” hardware with increased costs often believe they are simply amortizing the cost of the hardware over a period of time at a fair rate. However, the actual cost of “free” hardware often ends up costing the merchant much more, since they are really paying for their hardware through higher credit card rates, monthly POS payments, or feature and service fees. Eventually merchants conclude that there really is no such thing as “free” POS hardware.

6-minute read ---

​Modern cloud point of sale systems are a descendant of the traditional cash register, which was created to prevent profit leakage, manage transactions, and effectively secure the business’ bottom line. Today, with the emergence of cloud-based point of sale systems, each one has its own combination of traditional, remote, and mobile services. But the primary function of a point of sale system remains the same: to effectively manage transactions and secure the business’ bottom line.