November 8, 2024
Written by: The POS Exchange Team
Running a food truck can be tough. You gear up for a busy day, but when the rush hits, it feels like chaos. Orders fly in, and customers grow restless as you scramble to keep up. Your old-school method of jotting orders on paper or a whiteboard isn’t cutting it. Meanwhile, your sales are stalled thanks to a glitchy payment process that’s making customers unhappy. Switching to the best POS system for restaurant will help you get organized and boost your bottom line. This article will help you find the right point of sale to efficiently manage orders, payments, and inventory to serve your customers better, reduce errors, and increase profits.
The POS Exchange offers reliable POS systems to help your food truck run smoothly and achieve your business goals.
Operating a food truck presents a unique set of challenges.
The pressure is on to keep things moving or risk losing sales to the competitor food truck just around the corner. A reliable POS system isn’t just a nice-to-have it’s a must-have. The right POS can help you manage orders quickly, process payments smoothly, and even keep track of your inventory so you know when to restock those fan-favorite fries.
Your food truck is always on the move, and your POS should be, too. You need something lightweight and easy to set up, with wireless connectivity that won’t let you down, whether parked in the city center or at a festival.
Speed is king when you’re working with hungry customers. Your POS system should be super fast. A clunky, slow system can lead to long lines, frustrated customers, and lost sales. Ain’t nobody got time for that.
Cash might be king, but cards and mobile payments are close contenders. According to the Federal Reserve, even cash-preferred customers use cash for only 53% of their in-person transactions. Your POS system should accept all kinds of payments, from credit and debit cards to Apple Pay, Google Wallet, and beyond. The more options you offer, the better.
Running out of your best-selling item is a bummer for you and your customers. A good POS will help you keep tabs on inventory in real-time, so you know when to restock and stop selling an item that’s no longer available.
Your menu will probably change depending on what’s in season, what’s selling well, or what you want to cook. A POS system that lets you easily update your menu and pricing is a lifesaver.
Repeat customers are the best, right? A POS with CRM features helps you capture customer data, offer loyalty programs, and even send promos to keep those regulars returning.
Numbers don’t lie. A POS that provides detailed analytics and reporting can help you understand what’s selling when your peak hours are and how to improve your business. It’s like having a business coach in your back pocket.
Your POS needs to be as tough as you are. From hot summer days to rainy nights, it should withstand whatever the elements throw at you.
Just like your cell phones, you need to choose a point-of-sale system that lasts longer on a single charge.
The POS Exchange brings over 20 years of restaurant expertise, serving 200,000+ merchants and processing billions annually. Our tailored POS system solutions help businesses speed up checkouts by 30%, implement dynamic pricing, and manage customer reviews while reducing overhead. Perfect for:
We offer end-to-end service, from smart consultation and interactive demos to local installation and 24/7 support. Our mobile iPad POS systems streamline operations with features like:
With integrations for business management tools and advanced security measures, we ensure your POS system grows with your business. Trust our expertise to help you avoid the common pitfall that affects 38% of new business owners who choose the wrong POS system. The POS Exchange delivers customized POS system solutions that tell your unique business story whether you're managing:
Book a free demo with POS exchange to learn about our customized POS system solutions today.
The Otter POS system is an all-in-one mission control platform for food truck and mobile dining businesses of any size or type. Otter’s variety of first-party apps helps to eliminate the need for redundant add-on hardware and optimize your food truck’s speed.
With over 100 integrations for third-party apps, Otter POS is also extremely customizable, always keeping your team in control. A range of additional features provides options for SMS notifications, AI Marketing, contactless payments, etc.
POS features range from $19/mo (with 3.19% + 15¢ per order) to $59/mo (with 2.99% + 30¢ per order). Various add-ons are available from $10/ to $99/month.
Recommendation: As an all-in-one POS system, the Otter platform is ideal for food truck owners of any size looking to maximize their revenue without the need for excessive hardware. The platform is built for constant efficiency, and a high level of customization lets food truck owners decide which features are best for their personal needs.
Full transparency throughout Otter’s pricing structure also helps users manage their revenue effectively, keeping profit high on every order sold. Otter is recommended for all mobile eateries looking to grow and succeed!
Table Needs is a relative newcomer, but it was founded by food and beverage experts who operate their own food businesses. As larger POS brands like SpotOn have moved away from truck businesses, it’s exciting to see new brands step in with right-size solutions for truck businesses.
If you find Table Needs cost-prohibitive, try Toast. It has similar features but a considerably lower price tag. Table Needs fills a unique niche for food trucks, offering individualized services to secure permits and licenses. One-on-one personal support can be the difference between success and failure in a new food truck business's first year of business.
Key Features
Pricing Table Needs is the priciest food truck POS on this list. Table Needs offers its software at three subscription tiers. Payment processing is also built into the system, but users with processing fees starting at 2.69% + 10 cents for in-person payments.
Recommendation: Best for mobility
Running a food truck requires you to wear many hats. Zettle by PayPal makes logging orders and taking payments as simple as possible, combining user-friendly software with every POS feature you need to get started.
When we tested Zettle, we found that the POS isn’t as feature-rich as many competitors, with the platform lacking floor planning and table service tools. Zettle does include some advanced capabilities like robust data tracking and employee management. Zettle’s stripped-back feature set may be a setback for full-scale restaurants. It makes the POS more suitable for food truck owners who can do without tools like sales forecasting or delivery options.
While food trucks tend to have higher profit margins than restaurants, demand can vary tremendously, making it wise for owners to keep overheads as low as possible. If it’s a budget POS you’re after, Zettle takes the crown. Zettle’s one plan comes with no monthly fee and the transaction fees undercut Square POS’s similar pricing.
Epos Now is a retail and restaurant POS system with a decent toolkit and customer satisfaction that rivals Square, which is why we think it’s a great option for mobile sellers like food trucks.
Whether you’re after a modest iPad setup or something a bit more capable, Epos Now’s flexible hardware offering will be able to meet your needs. What’s more, Epos Now offers multi-location management tools and several advanced restaurant features, including rounding discounts and flexible payment options. This makes the POS system a cost-effective choice for a large or growing fleet of food trucks, too.
Price plans for Epos Now’s restaurant package start at $299 up-front, making the provider a good option for food trucks that want to minimize their monthly overheads. However, we understand not all food trucks have the privilege of covering the cost in one lump sum. So if you want to split the fee up into monthly payments, you can also opt to pay $39 per month.
We also wouldn’t recommend EposNow for POS beginners, as our team of user testers didn’t find its software as easy to use as providers like Clover and Square. However, for other mobile vendors, Epos Now’s flexible hardware options and feature-rich plans make it worth looking into, especially if you manage a fleet of trucks.
SumUp is another POS system that lets you start without monthly costs. The food truck POS offers many useful capabilities, like multi-location sales tracking, employee management, and item discounts. It also has a particularly user-friendly backend, enabling servers to log through orders without delays.
Payments and POS make it safe for food trucks to start with a more basic setup. The app lets you take payments, transfer the money to your bank account, and even track your sales data with useful reports. With POS apps like Clover lacking basic reporting tools, this gives SumUp a leg up over the competition for food trucks serious about scaling their business.
SumUp also has a reliable support centre that offers customers help through various channels, including a live chatbot. Despite all of SumUp's strengths, it couldn’t appear any higher on this list because it lacks a reliable offline mode, making it ill-suited to food trucks without a stable internet connection. While SumUp lets you start selling for free, it charges 2.% + 10c per sale, the same as Square but slightly more than Zettle By PayPal. We think this is still a very good deal for what you get, especially if you aren’t earning enough to cover monthly overheads.
SumUp’s transaction fees are similar to Square. The POS charges you:
The POS system’s low price, impressive functionality, and streamlined mobile app will make it a reliable option for many food trucks. SumUps' advanced reporting features, which let you measure a wide range of metrics, make the POS an especially great choice for businesses seriously increasing their sales volume.
We recommend using Zettle by PayPal instead of SumUp if you want ultra-low transaction fees. However, you’d have to sacrifice useful sales and reporting options, as Zettle by PayPal doesn’t offer these capabilities.
The Square POS platform is one of the most popular and recognizable payment processing software today, used by food truck owners and customers alike. With Square’s dedication to cross-industry flexibility, your team can be sure that the tools they receive are well-tested and developed by a company with a strong track record of supporting small businesses. Square hardware is also known for its high level of integration support, making it popular even with clients of competing POS suites.
The base price ranges from $0/month (with a 2.65% fee per transaction) to over $35/month (with 3.4% + 15¢ fees per transaction). Higher-tier quote pricing is available upon request.
Recommendation: The Square POS platform is usually considered the industry standard for efficient payment processing. As a POS suite with a large, cross-industry client base, remember that Square’s functionality is not designed explicitly with food trucks in mind, which can limit functionality for mobile restaurateurs (and eaters). Square POS makes a good add-on order equipment, but look elsewhere for a primary order processing environment.
Toast POS’s hardware is often seen in traditional restaurant businesses, and the platform has developed a firm following of owners across various cuisines and eatery types. Though much less common in food truck businesses than in sit-down establishments, Toast POS's feature set still provides value to teams seeking an extensive list of first-party order features. The Toast platform has recently introduced new mobile ordering hardware, further strengthening flexibility in kitchens with limited space.
Core Toast POS features are available from $69/month. Additional features are provided on a custom pricing model and are exclusively quote-based.
Recommendation: While the Toast POS suite is often considered a strong choice for sit-down restaurants, food truck owners may find its functionality lacking in a few key areas. Toast’s hardware is powerful, but it’s known for demanding significant counter space and mid-service attention to clear obstacles in a mobile dining environment. Toast’s quote-based pricing model may be difficult for food truck owners to contend with.
A long-time player in the restaurant POS industry, Revel’s order processing tools have had over a decade of continuous development and are fittingly full-featured and stable. The company prides itself on high flexibility in services provided and order payment models, aiming for a broad, general range of clients. Food truck owners using the Revel platform can expect many features to cover common restaurant necessities and provide their eaters with loyalty programs and digital promotions.
All Revel POS pricing is quote-based. A free platform demo must be completed before pricing is provided.
Recommendation: Revel POS is a familiar name in the restaurant industry. The company prides itself on high flexibility and many eater engagement tools and offers various POS features to meet restaurant owners' common needs. However, the brand’s quote-based pricing model will likely drive food truck operators away. With few support resources, the platform can’t be as easily relied upon as its competitors.
A recent entrant to the digital restaurant space, Korona POS has garnered excitement from several notable industry publications over the past year. Currently aimed mostly towards small businesses, including food trucks, the Korona POS platform displays combined functionality for various POS-specific needs. As a fast-growing company, the Korona team has also been noted for its extensive customer support activities, and platform clients can enjoy 24/7 one-on-one support and hands-on demo opportunities.
Pricing is vague and quote-based, with little information on upfront or processing fees. Personalized demos and free trial sessions are available upon request.
Recommendation: The Korona POS platform has seen plenty of buzz in the modern restaurant industry and is poised to become a major POS competitor over the next few years. Certain food truck owners may be swayed towards this platform based on high client engagement, support resources, and various order management tools. Be sure to keep long-term scalability in mind, though as a still-developing restaurant tech brand, Korona POS is liable to change as it grows, which may require a shift in your own business’s planning going forward.
If you’re looking for a POS system that’s quick and easy to set up, Clover is ideal for your food truck. Clover offers a self-service POS system that can be set up in minutes. It also offers a variety of features specifically for food trucks, including compact mobile devices, such as the Clover Mini and the Clover Flex, which are perfect for food trucks limited in space.
If Wi-Fi goes down, the Flex and Mini have Long Term Evolution (LTE) built in, so you can take advantage of every order. Clover also integrates with numerous third-party apps, such as QuickBooks, to manage your finances from one place.
Notable features
Recommendation: Clover is best for food truck owners or operators who want a quick and easy setup.
SpotOn’s monthly software, payment processing fees, and ability to integrate with third-party hardware make this system an affordable and appealing option. It also offers customizable add-on features such as a loyalty program and team management software. The company also has a strong reputation for its hands-on approach to customer support, from installation and training to 24/7 availability for assistance.
Notable features
A good POS system for food trucks allows for multiple payment methods. Look for a system that can handle:
Consider whether you want a system that doubles as an in-house payment processing company or the option to integrate with a third-party processor. Integrations can be ideal if they save money, but using an in-house option is usually more convenient.
Your POS system must have menu management capabilities, including the ability to customize your menu and accommodate different item:
The ability to track and manage your inventory and out-of-stock notifications is important.
The POS system should be able to take orders quickly and easily, communicate with peripheral devices (like receipts or ticket printers), and allow for:
A food truck POS system needs to be mobile, like your business. It should have an offline mode so you can take orders and accept payments without an internet connection, and it should have multiple mobile hardware options, like tablets and smartphones.
Consider how the POS system handles peripheral connections. Can you connect to a Bluetooth printer, for example, and how and where do you have access to your POS account? NerdWallet’s picks for the best mobile POS systems include restaurant options.
In addition to basic business operations, you can benefit from a POS system that includes employee management, customer relationship management and loyalty programs, analytics and reporting, and third-party integration options.
Look at systems that offer customer support in a variety of ways. This includes direct support via:
Its website also offers self-service resources such as tutorials, FAQs, and community forums. Some POS systems also provide hands-on assistance with setup and training.
You’ll need hardware to operate your POS system, which can be your largest upfront investment. When looking at different POS systems for your food truck, you’ll want to determine what kind of mobile hardware is offered (tablets, smartphones, or hand-held devices), where you can purchase the hardware, whether you can use hardware you already own, what types of other devices are compatible with the core terminals, and overall cost.
The POS Exchange brings over 20 years of restaurant expertise, serving 200,000+ merchants and processing billions annually. Our tailored POS system solutions help businesses speed up checkouts by 30%, implement dynamic pricing, and manage customer reviews while reducing overhead. Perfect for:
We offer end-to-end service, from smart consultation and interactive demos to local installation and 24/7 support. Our mobile iPad POS systems streamline operations with features like:
With integrations for business management tools and advanced security measures, we ensure your POS system grows with your business. Trust our expertise to help you avoid the common pitfall that affects 38% of new business owners who choose the wrong POS system. The POS Exchange delivers customized POS system solutions that tell your unique business story whether you're managing:
Book a free demo with POS exchange to learn about our customized POS system solutions today.
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