How To Use Toast POS System
Whether you are entirely new to the wonderful world of POS systems, or are thinking of switching to a different provider, the prospect of getting used to a new system can be pretty daunting.
No need to worry - we'll explain the features of this restaurant POS solution and the benefits that it could bring to your business.
Continue reading to learn all about Toast POS!
What Is The Toast POS System?
Toast offers an all-in-one point-of-sale system for all types of restaurants and eateries, from fine dining establishments and hotel restaurants to food trucks and cafes.
Like many modern POS systems, it is cloud-based and can be accessed from anywhere an internet connection is available.
You can also adjust menu items for the entire restaurant on a single platform, and take tableside orders and payments using a tablet.
Because it features an offline mode, you can take orders, process payments, print food tickets and receipts even if your internet connection fails during business hours.
Toast POS uses an Android operating system and works with Android POS tablets and Android mobiles, but not on iPads or other iOS devices. And with restaurant-grade hardware, there's no need to worry about spills or grease.
Getting Started
Once you have decided that the Toast POS system is the right point-of-sale solution for your eatery, there are a few things to sort out.
Choosing The Right Price Plan
There are various price plans depending on the size and needs of your operation, and some plans require you to contact Toast for a quote. They also offer customer support if you want to know more about the other price plans.
Make sure that all your business information is at hand, as you'll be asked how many POS terminals you require, the number of staff members or user accounts needed, and so on.
Toast Starter kits
This price plan is for restaurants who only need one to two POS terminals to get started, within a single establishment or location.
The Pay-as-you-go starter software package is free, costing $0 per month! While the features are quite limited, you'll still get table and order management, menu management, reports and analytic features as well as their full customer support package.
Some POS hardware items are included, such as the Toast Flex POS terminal, Toast Tap card payment device, and router.
The credit card processing fee for this plan is 2.99% plus $0.15 per transaction.
The Standard Starter Kit is a step up from the Pay-as-you-go package, which costs $69 per month and $799 upfront for the hardware, but has a lower credit card processing fee of 2.49% plus $0.15 per transaction.
Additional POS software features and hardware are available for Starter Kits at extra cost.
Toast Essentials Kit
This price plan costs $165 per month and is designed for businesses with up to 15 locations.
In addition to the features that come with the Starter Kit, you'll also get Toast's Digital Ordering features which include delivery, takeaway, and online ordering services - all the tools needed to grow sales online.
You can customize your POS setup with this plan, as well as add on various software and hardware elements for additional fees.
Toast New Restaurant Basic Plan
Currently, Toast has a special offer available for new restaurants. For $110 per month, new restaurant owners will receive all the features of the Starter Kit plus Team Management features and third-party API integrations.
Toast Custom Plan
The Custom Price Plan is our top recommended enterprise POS system plan. It works exceptionally well for businesses with large numbers of locations.
This includes the complete Toast platform and fully customized POS hardware. Pricing for this plan is done by quotation only so you'd need to contact Toast.
Toast POS Installation & Setup
If you are comfortable and confident with technology and are going for a more basic software plan, then it may be possible to set up the Toast POS system yourself with the help of Toast customer support.
Large establishments and those with multiple locations that require lots of POS hardware may be better off hiring Toast to complete the installation. The cost of this service is done by quotation.
Toast POS Features
Once you have Toast POS software installed and hardware setup, you are ready to go! Let's review this point-of-sale system's top features.
Payment Processing
The most basic function of a point-of-sale system is to take payments. The Toast point-of-sale system lets you process payment in various ways, including cash, cards, and digital wallets.
Toast POS delivers fast, secure, reliable in-built card payment processing with transparent pricing and no hidden fees.
There are multiple hardware devices that enable you to take payments including the Toast Flex POS terminal. The Toast Tap device allows you to take contactless card payments while the Toast Go® 2 lets you place orders and take payments using one portable, handheld mobile POS system device.
The Toast Digital Ordering pack has all the tools to allow online ordering and payments. It also features an offline mode. Should your internet connection drop out unexpectedly, you'll still be able to accept payments.
Order Processing
As one of the highest-rated POS companies, it's no surprise that Toast offers multiple hardware options to take orders with.
A few taps of the touchscreen Toast Flex POS terminal is all that's necessary for taking orders.Their mobile POS device lets you take orders on the go, and orders taken tableside will be sent directly to the kitchen. The kitchen display system shows orders clearly to the kitchen staff, minimizing communication errors between the front-of-house staff and the cooks.
At the front-of-house, a customer-facing display is ideal for quick service restaurants, allowing customers to see and confirm their order before it is sent. Toast also has self-service kiosks if you'd like customers to place and pay for orders themselves, speeding up service and improving order accuracy. It's actually one of the best kiosk POS systems on the market.
Online Ordering
Boost your sales and drive more repeat business with Toast's Digital Ordering features. With online ordering services, customers can order food through your website, and the Toast TakeOut mobile ordering app opens up even more online ordering possibilities.
Toast Delivery Services™️ opens up a network of local delivery drivers to deliver food orders from your eatery.
Menu, Inventory & Table Management
Create and amend the menu on your POS terminals. Since Toast is cloud-based, all changes made will automatically apply to the entire restaurant, and you can even do this on a smartphone in the comfort of your own home.
Toast provides a countdown on the menu, helpful if you have limited numbers of certain dishes. Your wait staff can see the number of dishes left, preventing the overselling of items that are running low.
You can also keep track of your inventory and set low-stock alerts. Never run out of critical ingredients mid-service again!
Use Toast to organize your tables and floor plan, as well as take reservations. Since everything is incorporated on a single system, there is no risk of double booking.
Multiple Restaurant Management
If you have several restaurant premises, you can standardize your whole operation on the Toast dashboard.
Set the same menu for every location, or create different specials at different locations with this useful feature. You can compare how dishes and menu item sales differ between restaurants. You can also view overall sales and sales by groups of locations.
Create settings to ensure consistency between your restaurants. For example build a workflow template for kitchen operations, set rules for discounts and reasons for voiding sales.
Employee Management
Use Toast's POS solution to process all new staff members. When you have employee details saved digitally, you can wave that bulky filing cabinet goodbye. And, employees can create a profile and select how they prefer to be paid, all by using their phones.
There is a staff schedule organizer, and the timesheet feature allows staff to clock in and out using the POS system. Toast Tips Manager synchronizes the tips on the POS with the payroll tool - no need for complicated spreadsheets!
Toast can simplify the payroll process with no need for manual uploads, plus it files your local, state, and federal taxes. The HR Toolkit by Mineral provides useful HR features such as templates for employee handbooks and new regulation alerts.
Customer Relationship Management
Connect with your customer, driving repeat visits to your eatery with the Toast POS email marketing tool. It sends automated, targeted emails, and you can use the reporting tools to view the effectiveness of these marketing campaigns.
Offer rewards to regular customers and those who spend a lot at your business to help strengthen their loyalty. You can also email past customers who haven't eaten at your restaurant recently to entice them back.
Setup loyalty or rewards programs to encourage repeat visits. If these are linked to customer credit cards, the customer gains points each time they pay with that card. This eliminates the need for customers to remember to bring a separate rewards card each time they visit.
The loyalty reporting features offers insights into your regular customers' spending habits.
Reporting & Analytics
Toast point-of-sale back office tools let you streamline your behind-the-scenes operations on a single platform.
You can get reports and data on every aspect of your restaurants such as payroll, labor, sales, and inventory.
View real-time reports from any device since it is a cloud-based system, plus you can opt for daily automatic emails of your preferred reports.
Third-Party Integrations
The Toast platform is an all-in-one system, compatible with the majority of popular restaurant third-party integrations.
Widely-used POS integrations include accounting software e.g. DAVO Sales Tax, mobile payment solutions e.g. Rooam, analytics e.g Tenzo and Opentable, as well as online ordering platforms e.g. Uber Eats and DoorDash.
Staff Training
Toast offer 24/7 customer support, and staff training can be done at your convenience using their on-demand guides.
There are a series of '101' training videos, articles, and lessons on features such as online ordering, reporting, cash and menu management, front-of-house tools, and management skills.
Toast also offers live classroom sessions run by one of their experts remotely. These cover all the basics and more, enabling your entire restaurant staff to become trained up in no time.
Point-Of-Sale Hardware
Toast has restaurant-grade hardware designed to withstand spills, heat, grease, and dust. They offer stylish-looking hardware to suit any restaurant decor.
An extensive range of POS hardware inventory is available, and they'll be able to supply your whole operation with exactly the right elements, allowing it to run smoothly.
From traditional countertop POS terminals and receipt printers to self-service kiosks and customer-facing displays, you'll have all the specialist restaurant point-of-sale gadgets you need!
Toast Financing
If you are strapped for cash, Toast even offers loans for eligible customers. Get access from $5,000 to $300,000 to help develop your business.
The repayments are automated, as a fixed percentage of all your card transactions each day, and no fees will be incurred if you choose to pay off the loan earlier.
Leasing a POS system is yet another option.
Final Thoughts
A point-of-sale system can streamline business processes and boost sales. Toast specializes in restaurant point-of-sale systems and offers complete POS software and hardware packages for eateries of all sizes.
Now that you know exactly how Toast's top features can benefit your business, and what to expect from the multiple packages they offer, it's time to decide if this easy-to-use POS system is right for you!
Tim Postlethwaite
Contributing Author
