Toast is a Point of Sales (POS) software which allows business owners to reduce operational costs, increase staff efficiencies, and improve customer experience. The software can be paired only with an Android tablet and offers no support for iPad at present. The software caters to the needs of several outlets in quick service restaurants (QSR), fine dining restaurants, coffee outlets, bakery’s, pizza chains, and breweries & bars.
Toast POS offers menu management features that include setting up the entire menu including all the groups & sub-groups, customizing menu’s separately for online & offline audiences, and adding time specific pricing for menu’s such as happy hour menu. The product provides a restaurant ordering feature that offers capability to take orders on the fly, sending automatic notifications to the server when the order is ready, and splitting bills & menu items among customers. The solution simplifies payments for the customers & business owners by offering features such as 'pay at the table', tipping servers directly from the tablets, emailing receipts or printing them through integration with an external printer, and the ability to turn payments into loyalty points redeemable on future visits. The product also tracks real-time menu sales and provides users with detailed reporting of product mix across all menus.
Toast POS operates on a subscription based pricing model based on the core software in addition to offering add-on modules such as online ordering, loyalty programs, and digital & physical gift cards. The product also offers bundled hardware with a one-time pricing option. Some of the key customers of ToastPOS include Lakewood Brewing Company, Paris Creperie, Beach Hut Deli, and Fresh City.
Avantages
The front end functionality is pretty good, though not as good as it was sold. Aloha was better. There are features such as drag and drop table transfers that are pretty neat. Splitting checks is very easy.
Inconvénients
I researched Toast very thoroughly and went through many hours of Q&A with the sales team. I feel duped.
I should have dug deeper and gotten more personal feedback from current users.
The platform has certain features that are very good, but not enough to outweigh all of the bad.
Hands down the worst part of it are their service and support after the sale. If I ever get through to support, they typically have to call me back with a solution...which never happens. My account "manager" responds to every communication with regurgitated boilerplate BS and has yet to solve any of my issues.
We have frequent issues with our card readers, and our warranty period is up in November. They won't replace the crap readers with the newer upgrades.
You don't get nearly the functionality and ease of use on the back end that you pay for. The reporting features are weak at best.
The inventory module is terrible. They claim you can use the tablets to do inventory...which is true, but it takes 4x longer to do it that way because you can't select the fields to enter the numbers and then when you do, often times the quantities change. My account "manager" replied to my complaints about this with "Our inventory module may not be as robust as you need, maybe you could add on one of our partner software companies."
Short story: Run from Toast and never look back. I regret the move every single day.
Tony - We're sorry to hear that Toast has not lived up to your expectations. Hardware reliability and support responsiveness are top priorities for us. We recently covered our plan for staffing and additional resources in the Live Q&A with Toast Leadership (watch it here: https://central.toasttab.com/s/article/Webinars-Toast-Leadership). Please note that this video requires a Toast login.
We're committed to making your experience with Toast a positive one. Your Restaurant Success Manager is not a technical expert, but is there to advocate on your behalf. She will work with you to ensure you get what you need out of our product.
With now being in business a full year now, I have and I still am learning pro and cons of doing business. I have worked in restaurants but I have never been on the manager/owner side and it's not as easy as you think it is. When running your own business for the most part you are on your own! I sat down with a computer tech to figure out the best POS system for my business. There are SO many out there and being unfamiliar with them a lot of research was done! I attended the Gordon Food Show a month before we opened and I got to see first hand how Toast worked. I was very impressed with the system and how easy it looked to operate (remember I've never been on this side of the business) and we had decided to work 100% with Gordon Food Service because of their support and looking at our best interest for starting our business. Now a year later, I could't imagine being with another POS system so no regrets here on choosing Toast for our POS!
Avantages
Customer Support! - I rate them 100 on this!! Any questions I have big or small, they are just a phone call away! If my call isn't answered right away or I get busy, they have the feature to leave your number and they will call you back ASAP.
Customer Service - Being a tech and answering some of the crazy questions (I'm one who probably has the most) they are always patient, friendly and very professional when answering questions.
Inconvénients
Credit Card Processing Fees - With other Processing companies out there some are cheaper but overall with Toast, they win. It's the hidden fees you have to watch. Toast fees appear to be higher but what you see is what you get where with the other guys you have to read the fine print.
Avantages
That is super user friendly. Fast and overall a great system. Seriously aside from what I write in the CON section. Toast REALLY is the best software POS system I have worked with. Hands down.
Inconvénients
The credit card processing fees they initially promise you they can match your current rates which they DO NOT its a LIE. Then customer service never gets back to you or passes you on to someone else then someone else and someone else. Never follow through with their promises and never can get ahold of your sales rep and he doesn't reply or follow through when you finally do get him on phone. Beware they will not match your credit card rate like they promise you. They will overcharge you if you don't watch exactly what they are taking out of you bank account. You will get charged for modules they say they will " give you for x amount of months free" and then continue getting charged and have to wait months and months and make a million phone calls to try and get your money back for 'free trials they charged you for and your money back for when you told them you didn't want them at all after "free trail" and they continue charging you. Biggest advice is get your credit card rates in clear upfront writing and sit down and figure it out. Make sure they are not screwing you. Because its not only happened to us but several other businesses.
Hi Theo - It's great to hear that Toast has saved you time and made the business more efficient. We strive to make merchant processing as transparent and straightforward as possible. It's great advice to discuss rates upfront and get the clear rate breakdown. Please work with our Support team to address your concerns. We want to find a solution that works for you.
They grew too fast and lost sight of what they were doing. They have lost control and customers are suffering. We have had the system for 1 year and are in the process of purchasing a new system.
Avantages
There are not many pros to this system. Appears to be easy when watching the demos however the reality is that if you do anything custom in your restaurant this is not the program for you.
Inconvénients
The upfront cost for hardware is expensive compared to other systems. They will sell you on a low monthly charge however if you want to use all of the features that they will sell you on you will pay dearly. Just a simple integration with a scheduling program will add an additional monthly charge. They will tell you that their credit card processor is competitive however do your homework - you will find out they are way overcharging for what most processors charge restaurants. Tech support is almost non existent. They have started using third party re-sellers which has confused the tech support even more. The third party re-seller that we have had to use (after being sold on the product by Toast direct) have made our lives miserable with the "that's a toast problem" or "we will get back to you when we get an answer from Toast support". If you have to go thru a third party do not buy this system, you will no longer be able to contact toast directly for help.
Avantages
We started using toast and to be honest I wasn't in love with it. After two months I genuinely loved the service. As the manager I spent two months daily as the cashier and learned the system like the back of my hand. The better you know your POS the better you know your business. Toast has an extensive FAQ section where they cover almost everything. Their staff is so prompt with responding and if they don't have an immediate answer they will forward you to someone who does. Since I have moved from PC America and Revel at two of our different stores to Toast and the staff have been raving how it immensely helped them do their jobs.
Core Software: $100 per month + $50 per month for each additional device (billed annually)
Enterprise Software: Contact Toast POS for pricing information or a quote
Hardware:
• 10" Hardware Bundle: $1,362 one-time
• Handheld Tablet Bundle: $450 one-time
● Toast POS allows food servers to take orders directly with the POS tablets, avoiding the hassles of them running back and forth between kitchen, terminals, or the serving tables.
● The product offers an intuitive interface with features such as adding or removing menu items, changing interface layouts, marking stock outs, all from the tablet’s interface.
● The solution enables users to pay bills, sign receipts, and offer tip right at their tables using the tablet’s interface.
● Toast POS allows the users to perform extensive customizations on its interface. It provides options to customize the entire menu, adding role-based permissions and automating discounts & loyalty program workflows.
● The product also enables restaurant owners to track staff performance on key metrics by sending daily email digests on the key parameters.
Voici quelques-unes des questions fréquentes sur Toast POS.
Types de licences disponibles pour Toast POS :
À partir de: $100/mois
Type de licence: Licence unique, Abonnement
version d'essai gratuite: Non disponible
Core Software: $100 per month + $50 per month for each additional device (billed annually)
Enterprise Software: Contact Toast POS for pricing information or a quote
Hardware:
• 10" Hardware Bundle: $1,362 one-time
• Handheld Tablet Bundle: $450 one-time
Fonctionnalités du logiciel Toast POS :
Utilisateurs habituels du logiciel Toast POS :
Grandes entreprises, Entreprises de taille moyenne, PME
Langues dans lesquelles Toast POS est disponible :
anglais
Types de licences disponibles pour Toast POS:
Licence unique, Abonnement
Appareils pris en charge par Toast POS :
Android
Applications s'intégrant à Toast POS :
7Shifts: For Restaurants, Findmyshift, HotSchedules, QuickBooks
Ressources d'aide disponibles pour Toast POS :
FAQ, Forum, Base de connaissances, Support en ligne, Support téléphonique, Tutoriels vidéo
The benefits we have gotten are overshadowed by the drawbacks.