In this review, we get to dig deeper into Kounta‘s entire POS system, both the hardware, its App, and the integration capacity.
That aside, we get to comprehend whether it's a fairly priced solution. After all, what matters most, is to determine whether Kounta is the perfect match for any business in the hospitality niche.
So let's see what Kounta has in store for us.
What is Kounta POS?
Simply put, Kounta is a cloud-based POS system which is tailor-made to suit the needs of merchants in the hospitality niche.
It's built to manage cafes, bars, restaurants, or even food trucks. What's more impressive about Kounta, is its accessibility via the real-time reports it generates. Your geographical location doesn't matter. You get to handle the workflow from any corner of the world since it's a cloud-based solution.
Most importantly, it keeps an accurate record of all inventory levels. No more guesswork games. Once you're logged in, the dashboard feeds you with the availability status for each item. From this end, making purchases becomes a spectacular experience for the restaurant owner.
You can't go wrong with making purchase orders to your suppliers since you're working with the exact amount of stock.
Interesting enough is Kounta‘s integration capacity. Spoiler alert! We will talk more about integrations later in this review. Here's just a snippet about its proficiency. The POS system syncs to your third-party accounting application anytime in just minutes.
So what does this mean?
Well, you're able to make payments for all purchases and enhance the accuracy of the money being spent. The inventory features are quite distinctive if we put into consideration what other POS systems offer their users. Aside from the items purchased, Kounta keeps a record of the prices which includes fluctuations, if any, and it reflects these details to your stock levels.
Kounta is privy to the fact that merchants who manage outdoors events, or business owners with food trucks, need a mobile point of sale. In view of this, the system allows you to ditch all the tedious efforts of having to do manual entries.
And here's how.
Since you might have to deal with so many orders from suppliers, Kounta lets you sync this information to your accounting software in just a few seconds.
And that's not all. The mobile app gives you a platform to view all incoming orders. This is an intuitive way of managing the received stock and identifying items which are missing.
So let's get into the nitty-gritty. Shall we?
Kounta POS Salient Features
Kounta POS
In all honesty, there's much to talk about its point of sale solution. What seems to be the most astounding fact on Kounta's POS, is its priority to make your workflow as painless as possible. So you better do away with any prior doubts. In the best possible way, the entire system is designed to enhance the ease of use.
Kounta is seemingly not any other ordinary POS system. It allows customizations to suit the size of your business. Say, for instance, your establishment has 40 or more burger franchise and several registers, Kounta lets you manage all these outlets from one central point.
But how is this feasible? Good question.
By use of one account, a user gets to set multiple locations virtually to keep a track of all reports, payment transactions, and prices for each site. Take note, this data is processed in the shortest time possible. This means the business owner gets to work with actual information on the ground.
Flexible registers
The iPad registers come in handy whenever you want to set up several staff accounts. For illustration purposes, let's suppose you run a very busy restaurant across the streets, Kounta lets the staff take orders from their iPads. Just like any other elite POS system, it lets you sync all devices in a bid to scale your business to your desired expectations.
We can't overlook Kounta's device compatibility. From the look of things, choosing the right device to manage all transactions depends on the user's preferences. And fortunately, Kounta is very much alive to this fact. For that reason, there are a couple of alternatives which are open to the retailer. For lack of a better word, this is genius of them since Kounta's team understands that all businesses have different demands to meet.
So let's start off with the Desktop computers. So long as you have a web browser which is up and running and an active internet, Kounta promises not to disappoint. Furthermore, it works perfectly on both Windows and Mac computers. Also, you might be wondering. Is Kounta's App reliable? Absolutely yes.
Kounta's portability is pretty much up to the task, to say the least. If you want to manage an outdoor event or monitor all transactions in your coffee shop at the comfort of your home, Kounta's app lets you take the wheel. You can make good use of the iOS or Android app on your tablet or mobile device.
What's more engrossing, is the manner in which Kounta handles payments from customers. The Albert payment device is compatible with Kounta's app which can serve both as a payment processor, and a receipt printer without any hurdles.
Menu customization
Here's another unique feature which allows you to make adjustments of any kind. This leaves no chance to any errors which your staff are prone to make while taking orders. On the products section, you can include big and high-resolution images alongside the menu items.
On top of that, all variants are well taken care of. Besides the menu items, you can add all variations to include all offers which are available. If let's say, you own a pizza joint, you can include variants such as small, medium, and a large pizza.
It's quite impressive how the virtual menu lets you add modifiers. If you run a coffee shop, this could work best for you. The customization feature lets you add basic modifiers like milk, chocolate syrup, water, or espresso.
And not only that.
Kounta unlocks all possibilities in regards to setting options in the menu list. Any staff can set a selection where a customer gets to choose from. To illustrate, you can set a breakfast package or a dinner deal for specific days. In furtherance of that, you can make an error-free item count for all ingredients in the kitchen.
For some reason, I find it's table layout technique so intriguing and futuristic. It makes it easy for your staff to identify tables and take orders. If we put into consideration the above-mentioned feature, Kounta's point of sale is undoubtedly an ideal tool to handle any event.
Not to mention that you can make changes to the sales screen. To a greater extent, Kounta makes it quite unchallenging. You can sort the images for all menu items into categories. This improves navigation for both the front and house staff.
POS payment management
Admittedly, Kounta's automation is unparalleled and incomparable. The user gets to manage all the prices together with all the variants. You can streamline the payment process by adding discounts and surcharges at the checkout when a specific restriction is met i.e during the Happy hour.
While handling payments, Kounta gives you a wide array of options to utilize in your business. The point of sale accepts all major card brands such as Visa, Mastercard, Maestro among many others. All cash payments are also part of the equation. In addition, you can set Apple Pay and Google Pay as one of the payment options. The POS automatically connects to any printer and prints customer receipts at the click of a button.
POS hardware
Kounta has one of the most far-reaching hardware for table service venues which goes for $2,550 inclusive of VAT. The package includes;
- iPad Wi-Fi 32GB – Space Grey
- Studio Proper Powered Pivot Stand
- Standard Cash Drawer
- Epson TM-M30 Bluetooth & Ethernet Printer w/ USB Charger
- 5 Metres Ethernet Cable
- 1 Box of Thermal Receipt Paper
Well, the price for this bundle might sound a little off the budget. Don't panic though. Kounta has partnered with Prosa pay, a financing solution which allows you to pay for the hardware in installments. The Kounta iPad app connects to the Epson TM-M30 printer which costs $417 plus VAT.
It's suitable for all tablet point of sale transactions and prints receipts either via Bluetooth, or ethernet cable. Its portability can't be put to question. So, be certain that you can use it in your food truck.
POS Integration
Seems like Kounta's POS integration is skillful enough to connect add-ons which optimize your business goals. It links to notable apps in the following categories;
Accounting- Kounta lets you connect to apps like Xero, Quickbooks, and Sage One, just to name a few. These are tried and tested applications which bring on board, real-time reporting. For instance, all orders made on Kounta will automatically reflect on Quickbooks.
They reconcile all the monies which come in and out, revenues, and tips. You get to save all your customer and supplier details at one entry point which is easily accessible. No more space for manual input.
Analytics -In the trendsetting atmosphere, an analytics tool isn't just a sidekick, but a must-have. You can link your Point of sale to the likes of Floodlight, and Silverstar Analytics without any stumbling block.
You must be cognizant of the fact that sharp insights help you to meticulously track the perfomance in your business. As a matter of fact, you can amplify your potential gains by use of such advanced data comparisons tools, to make well-founded business decisions.
Marketing- To make a killing in the hospitality business, you ought to be a little crafty. Merchants often treat marketing as an afterthought. In that case, Kounta strives to emphasize on a good customer relationship via ActiveCampaign, an app which has garnered its popularity due to its email marketing strategies. By use of this integrated application, you get to keep all your contacts in one place.
Online ordering- This is more or less like managing an online storefront. With the prevalence of e-commerce in almost every niche, this is the right way to go. Luckily, Kounta attempts to help you build an online presence by syncing your POS to apps like Mobi2Go, Boppl, and Loke. Such apps allow customers to order ahead and make cashless payments to avoid any delays.
The user can send receipts via email rather than using a printer. Moreover, it's an elite strategy to incorporate a loyalty program in your business as an incentive towards your customers.
ROI Calculator
Making a good amount of profit is unquestionably a common objective for each business owner. Kounta's calculator lets you know if you're actually progressing towards your goals. It's quite evident that a decent return on investment is a good sign that your business is flourishing.
Moreover, you don't need to step in an accounting class so as to grasp all the skills needed to narrow down to accurate figures. In simple terms, this is more of a projected earnings calculator. To analyze your business' ROI, the calculator uses the actual data stored in your Kounta's account. This gives you intelligent forecasts to know the potential which your business has over time.
Data Security Protection
Keeping your data safe is so imperative. Kounta is built to protect your business from all sorts of interruptions due to data loss. As a mitigation strategy, Kounta does a regular risk analysis on your entire POS system. It detects any potential vulnerabilities which could lead to loss of vital information.
Inventory Management
On the odd occasion, handling inventory feels like slavery if you consider all the manual input. We can't assume the human errors your staff is likely to make while doing the physical count.
Worst case scenario?
Working with shoddy numbers to make decisions on what products to re-stock can be a huge disappointment. Worry no more. Kounta's inventory management is designed to resolve such setbacks.
This calls for a reason to have a good inventory system in check. So what can you do with Kounta's inventory feature? First and foremost, it has an elaborate stock count technique which helps one to monitor all costs.
The cost of buying ingredients and labor expenses are inevitable if you want to flexibly operate a business. You need to make accurate deductions of all expenses from your revenue so as to come up with the exact gross profit.
Aside from that, you're able to save all the contacts for suppliers in one central location which is easily accessible.
If you have items which you regularly purchase, you can sync the items to the suppliers' contacts accordingly.
It's like a speed dial which streamlines your entire logistics. The inventory system allows the user to send a purchase order to your suppliers and keeps a track of all pending orders.
Kounta Pricing
Looking at the numbers, it turns out that Kounta is generous enough to meet the needs of all business setups, no matter the size.
The Sell plan is the cheapest one among them all. This plan is ideal for espresso bars, pop-ups, and food trucks. You can utilize the plan's features at only $60 per site, per month. Kounta charges an extra $40 if you add an extra register.
The Manage plan, which goes for $120 per site, per month, is suitable for cafes, bars, and quick service restaurants. So what makes this it step up a notch higher than the Sell plan? It has advanced workflow features.
Unlike the Sell plan, the Manage plan allows you to set table layouts on your tablet. You can make price adjustments on the app as compared to the Sell option which only has basic features.
The most expensive package is the Extend plan which goes for $180, per site, per month. Of course, it has so much more to offer. You can send automatic promotions to your customers and do guest tracking.
Kounta gives a trial version via the lite plan. As a business owner, you get to have a run on all of its basic functionalities before you decide to make any payments.
Regrettably, the insights don't come for free. That's not to say that you don't get what you paid for. Actually, this is premium reporting at its level best.
The insight package which draws the most attention is the Enterprise plan. Its perfomance is exemplary and ideal for merchants who own more than 5 sites. The enterprise plan comes with;
- Detailed reporting. On the dashboard, you can access accurate records for all products in stock and monitor staff perfomance to know whether a delegated task is successfully completed. Besides that, the reports give you real-time updates on all transactions done from each register.
- You can play around with its comparisons feature. Notably, you can easily know which are the best selling items on the menu as well as those which have the lowest orders over a specified duration of time. So how do I tweak the insights to customize my results? Many thanks to the filters which help you to sort data by month, day, week, hour, product, site, register, or staff.
- If you want to share your data to a third- party application, Kounta's Enterprise plan promptly allows you to export a CSV or PDF file.
Customer Support
In efforts to provide excellent customer service, Kounta includes a 24/7 live chat support. A user can also make inquiries via email or mobile phone. If you need more clarifications on its usability among other functions, there are a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) on the support page to give you better clarity on how everything works.
There's a blog section with instructive content which not only gives you expert advice on how to grow your business but also shares new concepts of how you can manage your transactions via Kounta's POS.
What I like most about its customer support, are the video tutorials. You can learn basic things such as how to make a sale or edit an order on Kounta. This means the POS is not limited to tech-savvy individuals. A rookie can jump right in and easily acquire all the requisite skills.
Kounta Pros
- A level headed inventory system
- Smooth integrations with 3rd part applications
- The POS accepts major payment methods
- It has plans for all business sizes
- You can access several sites from a single dashboard
- Reliable 24/7 customer support
Kounta Cons
- The back end for product entry is a bit complicated
- The client registration process is too long
Conclusion
If you're in the hospitality industry, you better give Kounta a shot since it's niche focused. Over and above that, you can utilize it in a number of ways.
It's more like an adrenaline junkie ready to get pushed to the limits. Kounta sells hardware which is sturdy and hardwearing. The entire point of sale system will serve your needs no matter the size of your business.
What's more inspiring, is its cloud-based integration capacity. You can handle tasks such as accounting, marketing and inventory like a professional. Notwithstanding the few flaws, Kounta's POSÂ tends to outshine most of its rivals in the market.
The monthly plans are fairly priced. This suggests that it's suitable for any business. It doesn't matter if you operate a small burger shop across the streets or a medium-sized food truck. Kounta has got you sorted.
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