Revamped Restaurant POS Systems Put Payments Choice on the Menu

Consumers, accustomed to the easy convenience of digital ordering, have come to expect frictionless payment experiences not only when purchasing from restaurants online but also when visiting their physical stores. As such, restaurants are challenged to seek out point of sale (POS) options that enable consumers greater choice as to how they would like to pay.

Business software giant Oracle announced Tuesday (June 28) the launch of its Oracle Food and Beverage Payment Cloud Service, which accepts a range of contactless payment options, including mobile wallets.

Read more: Oracle Debuts Restaurant Payment Tool

According to data from PYMNTS’ 2022 Restaurant Friction Index, created in collaboration with Paytronix, nearly one in four diners (23%) reported that they would be more inclined to purchase from restaurants that offer the ability to pay with digital wallets. The report, which drew from a survey of more than 2,100 U.S. consumers, also found that a similar share (24%) said the same of the ability to pay in-store with contactless cards.

See more: Loyalty Programs Best Way to Get Diners to Spend More

Additionally, the study’s survey of more than 500 restaurant managers across the country found that 60% of restaurants offered the ability to pay with digital wallets, and 58% offered the ability to pay in-store with contactless cards.

The restaurant POS space is growing increasingly competitive as existing POS providers diversify their offerings to provide unified suites of ResTech products and as software companies that operate in other spheres launch their own POS systems. For instance, the Oracle news comes just a day after Vivid, a provider of software for restaurant operations and payments processing, announced the launch of Vivid POS, promising quick and simple transactions.

Read more: Restaurant Software Provider Vivid Adds POS Offering

“Our goal is to challenge the industry’s established players, and Vivid’s flexible solution empowers restaurants to start small and scale, and to select the best-of-breed solution components that ideally suit their business,” Vivid Co-Founder and CEO Derek Henmi said in a statement. “Our methodology for customer solution scoping and implementation is the industry’s most cost- and resource-efficient approach, and we provide retailers with the customized solutions they need, not a ‘canned’ vendor solution.”

At the same time, leading restaurant POS providers have been broadening their offerings. Square, for one, announced last month the launch of a set of solutions for restaurants meant to improve tableside service and order management with its new Square for Restaurants mobile POS.

See more: Square Launches Mobile Restaurant POS Platform

“Square is dedicated to building the most robust ecosystem of products and services for restaurants of all types and sizes — from multi-location FSRs to QSRs, bars, breweries and everywhere in between,” Bryan Solar, head of Restaurants at Square, said in a statement announcing the software suite.

Square competitor Toast, for its part, also announced a new offering last month, Toast for Hotel Restaurants, meant to integrate with hotel property management systems, enabling more connection across the hotel’s offerings.

Read more: Toast Unveils Tool for Hotel Restaurants

“Hotels are adding more curated food and beverage experiences, but they often lack the ability to let guests order and pay on their own terms across hotel properties,” Toast Presdient and Co-Founder Aman Narang said at the time.