Aldelo POS is a restaurant POS for smaller entities, emphasizing simplicity, from the company of the same name in Pleasanton.
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PayPal Zettle
Score 8.4 out of 10
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PayPal Zettle (formerly PayPal Here) is a POS and payment processing system that includes either a mobile card reader or a chip reader (hardware), and is powered by the mobile PayPal Here app. Admins can add up to 1,000 users per account, and the app also includes invoicing, reporting, and inventory management features. The pricing structure for payment processing is: 2.7% per US card swipe. 3.5% + $0.15 to key in cards. 2.9% + $0.30 to invoice. 1% for cross-border transfers.
Aldelo POS is great for small to midsize single location restaurants. Unless you go with the cloud model you're limited to that. Aldelo is great for limited menus and places that do not track inventory in their POS. Once you go with a very large menu, be prepared to spend a lot of time getting it entered and working properly! Multiple stations are no problem and it runs well on older hardware too. Overall, a pretty solid system!
I recommend PayPal Zettle quite a bit, actually. Its flexibility is easy enough to use for people who are not used to technology. Square has good traits, too, but since so many people already have PayPal accounts, it makes it much easier to use. It is perfect for everyday use of bot large and small transactions.
Reports: Live up to the minute data is something that any restaurant manager/owner wants. Aldelo does this well.
Backend store setup (for techs like me) is very easy once you know the system. Setting up the peripherals, station-specific settings and the like - all very easy and intuitive
Support: calling into support has always been a great experience, and perhaps the biggest sell point. I've even received help with expired support contracts. Their team is always at the ready to login or just offer the right advice driven solutions for the current support needs. Great job here!
The PayPal Here hardware connection is very effective, my mobile device recognizes it immediately and the PayPal Here application to receive payments also recognizes it immediately. I don't have to wait a long time like some other POS.
Transactions are made instantly, you just have to pass the NFC chip inside the PayPal Here system, and in a second the transaction will be carried out and it will be shown in the history of the PayPal account registered in the POS.
It is very easy to provide a receipt to the customer when they use their card within our PayPal Here POS system, as it allows us to digitally send a ticket to the customer and also allows us to send the invoice by email.
Credit cards: we've all seen it with the EV revolution. Once that happened, using whatever merchant/payment processor went out the window. Aldelo - to my knowledge - only integrates directly with 4 processors. They need to add a lot more than that IMHO!
Menu setup/rollout: this can test even the most talented veterans. Depending on the menu and the modifiers - this can go easy or be an outright nightmare to setup. A more intuitive process is direly needed here.
Inventory: Well, none of my clients use it. Make it a value addon? Just get rid of it and leave to another solution? Inventory is a job I and of itself. Most restaurants I've dealt with are way too busy and shorthanded to do this properly anyway.
While swiped payments are easy, manual entry of payment information often fails. This is a major roadblock when you are in the service industry because not everyone who is making payment is on site.
In almost every instance of accepting a payment, we have to call in and reverify every piece of information about our business before we are successful.
Whatever system they use to determine how high risk your business is can limit your usage if they get it wrong.
Customer service is inconsistent at best. Sometimes issues are handled quickly and easily, other time you have to jump through hoops.
I absolutely LOVE this system. It is very fast and easy to use, and integrates with my eCommerce platform perfectly. The card processing fees are really low and the money is in my account quickly, even on weekends! I can either keep the funds in my PayPal account and access them with my PayPal business debit, or I can transfer them to my back (or a combination of these). The funds are always in my bank next business day. Also, it was one of the least expensive solutions out there as far as the hardware goes.
Support hasn't been needed in the 2 years of using PayPal but I have received calls from the company in the past asking about my experience with the device that was sent to me and they were pretty helpful with advice. Support is all over the internet if needed but for emergencies, so it is best to contact them during business hours.
From the list above Aloha POS would be the closest to a restaurant POS, it's actually a very good one. As with any software, it does the same basic things, and in all likeliness, this has improved as a platform. It's been a while since I used it, so I don't want to provide out of date info. I listed Counterpoint because I currently manage a busy retail store that uses CP and they are opening a second location that will add bar and restaurant-style services to the CP system. That said, CP is retail first but looks like it will handle the restaurant/bar side of things nicely. Hard to recommend this solution for anyone other than high (HIGH!) end retailers as the upfront and overtime costs can be big. I wouldn't recommend for restaurants.
The main selection criteria were ease of use and the presence of a plugin for WooCommerce. However, in practice it turned out that an important factor is also the availability of the product for purchase in a small batch and at an affordable price. I chose PayPal Zettle because I was able to easily and simply purchase it in my country.
Never been a loss to invest in Aldelo. It pays for itself very fast (software licensing).
If you do the hardware right it can get expensive and take a little longer to see the ROI. All in one touchscreens are pricey, especially for the better brands. The peripherals are specific too: thermal printers, specialized impact printers for the kitchen, etc. They all add up quickly.
The ability to monitor sales and adjust menus accordingly has to be priceless to an owner.
