Likelihood to Recommend Aloha POS is well suited for any kind of full-service restaurant, from high volume establishments to low volume, intimate fine dining settings. The universality to the system makes it an asset for any operation. I don't see much need for Aloha POS when it comes to fast casual, or fast food establishments, as Aloha POS is geared more toward constant communication and planning between the front of house service and back of house prep. For counter service, I believe this would be underutilized, and these establishments would be fine with a simpler service.
Read full review Square POS is by far the easiest POS software to use at events and train additional team members on - even with temporary or first-time employees. It's easy to see how each event is doing in live time. It gives the event manager a real-time view of revenue earned. Its really easy to create/manage/delete users to keep the platform secure.
Read full review Pros Extremely user-friendly. The layout and simplicity of the program made for fast, accurate transactions. This was an easy system to learn for all of our users and made training a much more streamlined process. Versatility - even in the largest of transactions, my options for payment were wide-ranging (from charging to house accounts to accepting check, cash, or card). My ability to update price keys and users was extremely helpful where other systems have proven to be difficult to navigate. Great support. As we transitioned to newer versions of Aloha, we always had a great line of communication with customer support, and fast, friendly service. Read full review Mobile transactions (not like from a phone, but in terms of the ability to physically relocate rapidly). Simple setup. Generally uncomplicated pricing. Widespread customer familiarity: because it's so regularly in use in our industry (musicians/entertainment professionals), people know and trust it in a way that you might not with a different provider. Read full review Cons Sometimes you need tech support to help add or delete tabs. The programs are always growing and updating so sometimes you need assistance. The tech support isn't always available or takes time for them to respond. Read full review Too much going on for simple users. There are so many different apps and pages now that I get lost almost every time I log onto Square The high percentage of fees taken from sales The difficulty in changing default settings The layout of the “website” you can create is truly a nightmare Read full review Likelihood to Renew I don't really foresee anything being able to dislodge Square from our organization—we're not evangelists or anything like that—it's just the best solution we've found for our use case. Being able to quickly handle transactions from customers and then track all of those sales for analysis/bookkeeping later on.
Read full review Usability Overall, Aloha POS's usability is phenomenal. The interface is extremely easy to navigate through. All buttons and tabs are easy to add or delete. Having a piece of software that is easy to toggle through creates a much more efficient workplace. I love the ease of use. A brand new employee can jump right into the system and use it with no issues.
Read full review Once set up, Square POS is very easy to use. I feel it is a little too easy. Many other solutions have some layer of complexity to them but Square POS is pretty straightforward and this makes it the ideal POS solution in my opinion. If a solution can remove the barriers to use and allow end users to get on with their tasks without being slowed down, then it is a winner. This is what we were able to achieve with Square POS.
Read full review Support Rating There were a lot of instances where I had to call back or a problem wasn't resolved, specifically with Aloha loyalty.
Read full review An admission - I have NEVER had to use Square POS support. The system is seamless, it just works! I have never had any queries about how the system worked as everything is so clearly laid out. I have never had any problems with payments. If their support systems are anywhere near as good as their software, I think we'll be in good hands.
Read full review Alternatives Considered Aloha is much better than
Revel and MICROS.
Revel is not set up to handle very large volume of transactions & use. Aloha has many more features than the other two, with more thorough reports, etc. I personally have used ALOHA at several restaurants through the years, but I have never been a part of the implementation process.
Read full review We only used Square POS while we were getting set up with
Authorize.Net . It isn't as flashy or recognized by the general public, but in our industry, that isn't a priority. We do very large transactions so the higher rates and fees from Square add up insanely quickly making the lower rates and fees from
Authorize.Net the nail in Square's coffin for us.
Read full review Return on Investment Through reprint, we were able to identify an issue around drink sales and create a plan to increase them. We were able to speed up the check-out process, allowing us to move people through faster. Read full review The opportunity cost of waiting for payments and manually bringing them to a bank means that we don't have to visit our bank branch. That alone saves us several hours each month. We can use ordinary computers and mobile devices with Square instead of paying for expensive software or terminals. Our clients appreciate not having to process payments to us, and anything that helps our clients and makes them happy carries more import than I can explain in this space. Read full review ScreenShots