Multi-Unit Franchisee Magazine Issue III, 2013 | Page 56

By Eddy Goldberg

POS 2.0+
POS, you’ve come a long way baby!

Once upon a time, not that long ago, point-of-sale (POS) systems were
standalone electronic cash registers, ringing up sales and providing a
place for cash. For today’s young front-line hires, those machines are
ancient history, Model T’s replaced by turbo-charged, cloud-based,
multi-purpose, integrated systems.
For today’s franchisees, POS systems are becoming the central hub
for data on every aspect of their operations—and their customers—
available at a moment’s notice from anywhere in the world. And, like
every other business advance powered by converging technologies,
they can do it faster, cheaper, and better.

W

hen he started in the restaurant business some 14
years ago, POS systems
were “dinosaurs,” says Jason
Ingermanson, president and CEO of JRI
Hospitality Management in Wichita. He’s
a franchisee of Freddy’s Frozen Custard &
Steakburgers and an operating partner for
several other Freddy’s franchisees, and has
signed on to develop and manage 70 more
units in the next 8 to 10 years.
Early in his career, when he was working
at a large burger chain, he says, “We had
a lot more of the technology than momand-pop places.” Still, the POS was limited
to only the things he could do in the store
every day, and corporate had to wait for
paper reports once a week.
“There was not a lot of capability for
you as an operator. Almost everything you
can do as a multi-unit operator today was
nonexistent,” he says. “The things I can do
today, being mobile and trying to run a business with a lot of restaurants and areas—the

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Multi-Unit Franchisee Is s ue III, 2013

POS system is not only a great tool to run
your business, but also to expand into new
markets because I can be on the road every
day. Now I can be in Glendale, Arizona, and
can look at a ticket in the Fairfax, Virginia,
store rung up a minute ago or two years ago.”

When it comes to POS systems in 2013,
change seems to be the keyword. “We are on
the cusp of a major technological change in
innovation,” says Michael Lehman, CIO at
Batteries Plus, which uses NCR’s Counterpoint specialty retail POS in conjunction with

“The POS system is
not only a great tool
to run your business,
but also to expand
into new markets
because I can be on
the road every day.”
—Jason Ingermanson