POSitouch Review: Pricing, Features, Top Alternatives

Finding the right merchant services solution for your restaurant can be just as time-consuming as finalizing your menu—and arguably just as important. While there are plenty of options out there for small businesses, a restaurant has a specific set of needs, and it’s crucial you choose a system that understands those needs.

POSitouch is a purveyor of restaurant point of sale (POS) software for restaurants of all sizes. The company was started in 1985 by Rhode Island restaurateurs Bill and Ted Fuller after they couldn’t find a computerized POS system that served all their needs. Today POSitouch is the go-to POS system for over 40,000 restaurants in the U.S., South America, Asia, and Europe–including Cheesecake Factory, which has 210 locations across the U.S.

However, POSitouch also offers solutions for small businesses, making it one of the more flexible restaurant POS systems on the market. Let’s break down everything POSitouch has to offer to discover if it is a good solution for your restaurant business. In this POSitouch review, we’ll go over all of POSitouch’s capabilities and pricing information, plus offer you a few alternatives to compare with POSitouch.

POSitouch sells cloud-based POS software, meaning all your data is stored on POSitouch servers and transferred to your POS system via the cloud. In 2017, POSitouch was acquired by Shift4 Payments, a large payment processing company based out of Las Vegas. Shift4 owns a variety of other merchant services businesses, including Harbortouch POS.

The difference between POSitouch and other Shift4 subsidiaries is that POSitouch serves both small businesses and large enterprises.

“The product can be pretzeled into a single restaurant without much customization but can also support a business like Cheesecake Factory with an expansive menu, high location count, and high transaction volume,” says Jovino Velazquez, vice president of dealer channel and market development at POSitouch. “That is what differentiates us internally from other Shift4 POS systems.”

Along with scalability, POSitouch offers solutions to accommodate full-service and quick-service restaurants. The system is supported on Windows and Android devices, while the mobile app works only on iOS devices. Furthermore, POSitouch supports a wide variety of POS hardware from major industry providers.

Users who sign up for POSitouch have access to over 2,000 different features and capabilities. Let’s take a look at some of the most important tools included with POSitouch:

POSitouch allows you to keep your current payment processor when you sign up, but also offers a bundled deal with Shift4 Payments. The system can support magstripe, EMV, and NFC payment methods. Shift4 credit card terminals also come with point-to-point encryption to help you meet PCI compliance requirements and keep your customers’ information secure.

You’ll pay interchange-plus pricing for processing payments through POSitouch, although the exact fee you’ll pay is quote-based. Generally speaking, the higher your transaction volume, the more generous your credit card processing rate. POSitouch sells the SkyTab credit card terminal, which can accept magstripe, EVMV, and NFC forms of payment. Additional credit card terminals must be purchased through Shift4.

POSitouch offers a countertop POS system and a mobile POS system. Both products are offered through Harbortouch, and only the countertop POS system comes with the full range of POSitouch features. Let’s take a closer look at both your options:

With POSitouch inventory management, you can track and control the raw materials that come into your restaurant, helping you evaluate profits with each guest. Recipes can be created for all menu items, allowing for tracking ingredient usage. POSitouch also offers automatic purchase order generation based upon your inventory levels and minimum order quantities. You can also send and receive electronic invoices from your POS. This feature is available for both full-service and quick-service restaurants.

Source: POSitouch

POSitouch has an employee management feature that allows you to track time and attendance, build schedules, generate payroll reports, validate employee clock in/out, and manage new hires, transfers, and terminations. Schedules can be created based on budget, forecast (historical data), or via a template. This feature is available for both full-service and quick-service restaurants.

Source: POSitouch

POSitouch’s table management functionality features the ability to view a graphical representation of your dining room in three distinct views. Users may view the dining room by:

• Server: See who is assigned to each table.
• Time: View the amount of time a table has been waiting since ordering drinks, appetizers, or entrees. View the amount of time since the check has been printed or since the check was paid. Know how long a table has been at a particular stage in the dining process.
• Section: Know which tables are part of which section. Sections can be changed by day and by meal period. Set up smaller sections for busier periods.

The table management function includes the ability to add names to a wait list or reservation list for the day. This feature is only available for full-service restaurants.

For an additional monthly fee, merchants can use the POSeReserve feature. This tool allows you to account for all online reservations, in-store reservations, and wait lists. eReserve also comes with customer relationship management features, including the ability to track guests’ preferences, past dining history, and reviews, plus send “Thank You” emails and requests for reviews. Guests who make reservations will receive email confirmations and text message reminders through eReserve.

Additionally, POSitouch provides the option for merchants to sell gift cards or create a loyalty program. The loyalty program comes with a text-to-join option and allows customers to earn redeemable points toward future purchases. POSitouch will provide merchants with gift cards to be used in the gift card program.

Note that the loyalty and gift card programs are available for full-service and quick-service restaurants, but the eReserve feature is only available for full-service restaurants.

POSitouch’s tool for managing food delivery orders is available for both quick-service and full-service restaurants and includes the following features:

• Caller ID
• Delivery zone customization
• Order timing
• Ability to have multiple accounts for the same delivery address
• Guest order history
• Database for storage of notes
• Integration with video display units or printers

POSitouch software allows menu items to be sent to the kitchen and specific preparation stations based on the length of time preparation takes. Longer prep items appear first with shorter prep time items appearing a few minutes later. Individual prep stations can view the items they are responsible for by item. When an order is complete, the order will turn green and bump to the head of the line.

POSitouch also offers users an iOS app that comes with the following features:

• View restaurant data in real time
• View check details
• Receive alerts for conditions that exceed your threshold

Source: POSitouch

POSitouch’s back-office capabilities include about 50 standard reports. Specific types of reports include:

• Sales Reports: Know when and what was sold, including server productivity reports.
• Efficiency Reports: Know your top servers and the efficiency of the kitchen.
• Auditing Reports: See your discounts, comps and coupons for a day, week, or arbitrary period.
• Time & Attendance Reports: All your payroll-related information, plus sales-related statistics.

All reports can be previewed, printed, and exported to various formats as well as emailed. In addition, frequently used reports can be preconfigured and named (i.e. Weekly Sales).

As we previously mentioned, full-service restaurants will get on-site installation and configuration of their POSitouch system. Once your system is running, merchants are entitled to in-house customer support via phone 24/7. Note that POSitouch does not have a support center on its website.

POSitouch does not offer any specific pricing information on its website. Instead, you have to contact POSitouch for a quote based on the hardware, software, and payment-processing you require. Note that you may have to go outside POSitouch to acquire some of your POS hardware.

Now that we know what POSitouch provides, here are what we see as the benefits of using this system:

POSitouch is truly a feature-rich system. We were particularly impressed with its meal pacing, reservation, and table-management features. Plus, there are a variety of additional features we didn’t dive into, such as POSitouch’s banquet and event planning function and tip-share tool. In short, you’ll never run short of functionality using POSitouch.

The other great thing about POSitouch is that it’s designed to grow with your business. You could theoretically buy a POSitouch system when you are just starting out and you’ll be able to continue using them as your business grows into a multi-location enterprise. This is made possible due to the customizability of the product—you can sign up for what you want, and not pay for what you don’t need. For growth-oriented restaurateurs, this is an attractive proposition.

While there are some great features to the POSitouch system, here are some drawbacks:

Numerous users report having difficulty learning how to use the various features of their POSitouch system. One user reported that processing a refund is overcomplicated, while another says their system took a very long time to set up. There are also reports of the software freezing and crashing, and the interface being dull and dated.

Not having a dedicated support center on its website is a mark against POSitouch, as not all users have time to call to get answers to their questions. Furthermore, numerous customers have said tech support can be slow to respond and unhelpful when they do.

Here is how customers who have used POSitouch rank it on major review websites:

• G2 Crowd: 3 stars out of 5^[1]
• Capterra: 4.5 stars out of 5^[2]

A majority of POSitouch’s reviews are positive, but the scales are tipped a bit by a few outright negative reviews. In positive reviews, users tout POSitouch’s range of features and customizability, saying there isn’t anything that this POS system cannot do. The negative reviews focus on issues we’ve already gone over in relation to ease of use and customer service.

The tradeoff with Square for Restaurants is fewer features but transparent pricing and more hardware options. The software has 3 plans starting at $0, and there is a 2.6% + $0.10 processing fee on all credit card transactions. For this price you get inventory, menu, floor plan, employee, and customer relationship management tools, a delivery portal, and integrations with a wide array of third-party tools via the Square App Marketplace. Square also sells complete restaurant POS hardware kits that include a credit card terminal, receipt printer, and cash drawer. Pricing starts at $1,074.

TouchBistro is a well-reviewed restaurant POS system that features a powerful combination of POS hardware and software. Unique tools you can acquire through TouchBistro include self-ordering kiosks, kitchen display systems, digital menu boards, and customer-facing displays. What’s more, all of TouchBistro’s hardware can be bundled into the cost of your software and paid on a monthly basis. Pricing starts at $105 per month for this deal, which is one of the best values on the market. Furthermore, TouchBistro allows you to keep your current payment processor when you sign up.

POSitouch is a good option for restaurants that want a feature-rich system. While you might have to pay a bit more than you would with other POS providers, the software can undoubtedly help your business operate more efficiently. However, the advanced features aren’t right for every business. Some of POSitouch’s features may be unnecessary for very small businesses, in which case, another POS system may be the better choice. But if you’re a business with serious growth ambitions, POSitouch is a name to keep in mind.