As juice bars continue to grow in popularity with increasingly health-conscious consumers, shop owners need to find ways to stand out among the competition. Offering refreshing juices and vitamin-packed smoothies with unique flavor combinations is great, but today’s customers also expect efficient and personalized service. Luckily, there are point of sale (POS) apps available —for free —that can accomplish these goals and help you grow your business.
- Self-Order Kiosks
OrderUp is another useful POS app, available for free, which lets you use your iPad POS as a self-service kiosk. Self-ordering can break up long counter lines and increase order accuracy, since customers can enter and check their own specifications. This functionality is great for products that are highly customized and potentially complex. Your staff can devote their attention to order prep instead of transcription, getting that organic turmeric-ginger apple juice with wheat-grass shot on the side made just right.
- Kitchen Display System
Paper-ticket ordering systems are becoming a thing of the past. It’s too easy for paper tickets to get lost or misread, resulting in unhappy customers. Plus, you spend a lot of money on ink and paper, only to end up creating a lot of waste. A kitchen display system (KDS) via the Incoming app will queue orders from several sources (including self-service kiosks, smartphone app or website orders) and send them directly to the appropriate food prep stations. On-the-go customers will appreciate the increased efficiency and accuracy of order fulfillment. And patrons who value healthy, “green” options such as fresh, organic drinks will applaud the eco-friendly aspects of your KDS.
- Loyalty Programs
Loyalty programs can be a significant factor in customers’ buying decisions: they value the personal connection and the sense that their patronage is appreciated. Moreover, they tend to spend more at places that offer loyalty rewards. Regulars is a free POS System that lets your customers accumulate “loyalty cash” (a percentage of their purchase amounts) to unlock rewards to use toward future purchases. The program is easy to manage, and uses SMS text messages to communicate with customers. With Regulars, you can encourage people to make recurring visits to your juice bar part of their workout routines or healthy lunch-break habits.
- Group Coupons
Since fresh juice and smoothies are often spontaneous purchases rather than planned ones, juice bar owners need ways to attract customers. Group-based coupons and special discounts, like those offered on Groupon and other sites, can bring an almost immediate surge of business and reach a wide range of new customers. Instead of using a third-party site that will take half of your profits, though, use VIPz — a POS app for free that allows you to create and manage your own group coupons, and gift cards as well. Set up offers to run during slower periods, such as during colder or rainy weather, to keep the juices — and the profits — flowing.
These iPad POS apps are not only free, they’re offered by the same vendor, SalesVu, so they can be managed from a single account and are supported 24/7. The apps integrate with Square Register and other POS systems. Contact SalesVu to learn more about how these apps can help you improve your juice bar’s operational efficiencies and increase customer satisfaction.
