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The Proof Is In the POS Mobile payment apps are all the rage, but they aren’t the only answer. Today’s state-ofthe-art POS systems can help restaurants stay on track and succeed. But is there a middle By Steve Simon
P
icture this: There’s an enormous crowd of thirsty customers that have formed a line that wraps around the waiting area, and winds through the front door of your establishment, all before you have officially opened your doors for the day. Sound intimidating? If you’re a restaurant or bar owner or manager, you know how hectic a lunch rush or busy evening can be. You need to have employees in place to wait on and clear tables, seat customers, prepare food, make drinks, and tend to customer requests and needs. As a bar or restaurant owner, you can never be too efficient or know too much about your business. Anxious to utilize recent technology trends, many food and beverage businesses have rushed into using mobile payment app solutions for their low upfront costs and overall simplicity. However, some of today’s mobile payment apps and small-scale POS systems fail to provide the scalability or sophisticated features real hospitality-related businesses need. So we’re left to wonder: Can these two types of payment technologies work together on-premise? Leading national POS systems and merchant services provider Harbortouch (www.iharbortouch.com) and mobile payments pioneer Tabbedout recently announced that they
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ground where the two can meet? have joined forces to deliver a uniquely integrated solution combining the benefits of Harbortouch’s touch-screen POS systems with the mobile payment, loyalty and customer management features developed by Tabbedout. This integrated solution will be deployed to all existing Harbortouch Hospitality POS systems and will be included with all new Hospitality POS deployments going forward, a partnership that means more than 135 million U.S. consumers with smartphones have an instant and secure way to pay bar and restaurant tabs at over 10,000 Harbortouch locations nationwide. It also means merchants who use the Harbortouch POS system will now have the most advanced mobile payment, customer loyalty and marketing solution available today. “Harbortouch has changed the landscape of the POS and payment processing industries, and Tabbedout is revolutionizing mobile payments and rewards,” says Harbortouch CEO Jared Isaacman. “It was only natural for these two innovative companies to come together in an attempt to redefine commerce for brick and mortar businesses. This partnership creates a powerful synergy that will tremendously benefit our current and future customers.” Having a full-featured, state-of-the-art POS system can
June 2013 Bar Business Magazine
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