#1 most frequent
United States of America
90.5%2,110 installations of 2,331
What is Aloha Cloud?
Aloha POS is a point-of-sale software solution with features such as highest market share in the industry and streamline food preparation and delivery.
Categories & Use Cases
Media
Screenshot of Aloha bundle
Who Buys & Uses Aloha Cloud
#2 most frequent
Canada
3.5%82 installations of 2,331
#3 most frequent
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
1.2%29 installations of 2,331
Everything you need for a fair price
Pros
- User friendly--was easy to train new employees on the system.
- Reliable--rarely had issues or went down.
- Great reporting on sales numbers
Cons
- Clunky hardware
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.
Alternatives Considered
Maitre'D
Usability
Other Software Used
Salesforce CMS, Jolt, Zenefits
Say Hello to Aloha POS, the Point of Sale System You'll Never Say Goodbye To
Pros
- Customizability for order placement. With today's clientele, they tend to pick things apart to make it more familiar or are averse to certain ingredients in dishes. Aloha allows for simple and clear modifications, to where the ingredients of the entire dish can be listed out and edited right there on the screen.
- Course timing and ordering. In finer dining establishments, timing is a priority, and Aloha's coursing system works very well, from their item "Hold" actions, as well as configuring the orders to not fire upon input, only until the "Order" prompt is issued. This allows for entire meals to be input at the beginning and fired for the kitchen course by course to allow for perfect timing.
- Splitting checks is another staple with today's clientele. Aloha's system optimizes this system by designating seat numbers that are effective in meal to table delivery, but also in getting a head start in organizing potential split checks. By utilizing the seat number system in the POS for proper communication for table delivery, the system has already broken down the item and total check by seat, ready to be divided up if necessary. Just a few prompts and you'll have a table of ten split ten ways with ease, as well as the option for multiple checks to split the cost of individual items in case a large party all wanted to share an appetizer. These requests tend to bog down the service and slow down the process, but Aloha has streamlined the entire process resulting in minimal interruption.
Cons
- Aloha does has a very comprehensive and intuitive approach to restaurant service operations, but doubles as a timekeeping system for payroll as well. Aloha could benefit from increased functionality from an HR perspective, considering it already utilizes a clock in, clock out, and break functions. Increased employee facing functionality, scheduling, and personalization, with an option for weekly averages, reports, and summaries of total labor and income tracking, and built-in scheduling system would truly make this an all in one POS masterpiece.
- Speaking of personalization, customization for each server could allow for increased efficiency. The system itself already thrives, but by allowing some tweaking from the user for their own POS screen could result in even better communication and speed of service, allowing the service to create a system that best fits their style and technique.
Return on Investment
- Aloha POS has had nothing but a positive impact, as its efficiency allows for more organization and communication for all staff involved, ultimately requiring less staff to operate the restaurant, and allowing for a greater ROI.
- Specifically, with this system, a server can confidently service an 8 table section due with so many duties streamlined. Without this system, a server would have many more steps to take in executing service, and would only be able to effectively service 3-4 tables. This allows for greater ROI in reduced labor for the establishment, and greater ease and income for the server resulting in higher employee satisfaction and lower turnover.
ALOHA means Hello and Goodbye! :-)
Pros
- The setup and ease of use is a huge plus to me. It is very clearly organized, supports high volume use, and gives us a lot of options as servers, to keep track of our schedules, sales, tips received, and tips paid out.
- One cool function that I like is the recipes function. We had ours set up to where if you held down the button of the item you are questioning, for example, if I needed to look up the liquors in the long island iced tea, then it would display the recipe that I am looking for. Saves a LOT of time when you are busy or need an answer quick for a customer. This IS a function that has to be set up with the initial setup, from the back end, which I wasn't a part of but it was great having it available to us for food and drink menu items.
Cons
- Honestly, I have yet to have an issue with any of the functions of Aloha. The only thing that was a little complex was the end-of-day functions, (as we were a 24-hr casino) as if there were any open items, it would just auto-close these and that could get a little troublesome if I was behind in closing out checks. But I am not entirely sure if that was related to how our company itself was set up to run, not the actual Software.
Return on Investment
- None that I am aware of, as I was not in the administrative/tech departments that ran the behind the scene reports and such. :-)
Alternatives Considered
Revel Systems and MicroStation
Other Software Used
Microsoft Azure, QuickBooks Pro, VMware vCenter Server, Oracle VM VirtualBox
Professional Review of Aloha POS
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.
Cons
- Customizing receipt settings, such as messages to be printed on receipts, seemed to be one feature that was lacking throughout the time that I used Aloha.
- A more detailed error message that does not simply provide a code, but also potential troubleshooting tips or a general category under which the error falls.
- The Aloha server was frequently down at a couple of our locations for the entirety of my tenure. The problems would always be resolved quickly, but not without phone calls to our support team, or the Aloha support line.
Return on Investment
- This was used in a large company, so the ability to use the same POS throughout the company surely saved money, and allowed the company to be fully aware of forthcoming updates.
- The primary use was in a traditional restaurant setting, and I still have not found a more cost-effective POS system, that is this user-friendly.
- The ability to track our sales and labor numbers on the back end was invaluable in running a smart and responsible business.
Alternatives Considered
QAMF Conqueror
Other Software Used
Microsoft Office 2016, Adobe Photoshop
Aloha is the easiest POS system to learn
Pros
- Speeds up trainee process during onboarding.
- Able to add and delete buttons for quick updates.
- Export payroll hours into ADP seamlessly.
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.
Return on Investment
- Clean setup and presentation makes for a much more efficient checkout process.
- Easy to put data into daily reports.
- Increase in revenues.
Alternatives Considered
PayPal Payments
Usability
Other Software Used
Zoho Analytics (formerly Zoho Reports), Zoho Motivator, Zoho Mail
