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Revel Systems POS is an iPad-based point-of-sale platform designed for scalability and in-depth business management. It offers a suite of tools for inventory, sales, and employee management. In this review, we’ll delve into its features, pricing, and alternatives.
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What is Revel POS?
Revel Systems, the company behind Revel POS, provides a platform that includes an intuitive cloud-based POS for iPad paired with powerful management tools to help businesses improve customer experience, diversify revenue streams, and scale easily.
The Revel POS system offers features like real-time inventory tracking, bill splitting, bar tabs, payment flexibility, employee management, and thorough reporting to monitor business performance. If you’re seeking a comprehensive point-of-sale system to grow your business efficiently, this is one for you.
Revel Systems POS Pricing & Plans
Revel Systems pricing starts competitively, with plans tailored to accommodate the growth and scale of businesses with many customers in multiple locations.
| Plans | Price (lowest price) from | Transaction fee | Recommended for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Entry-level Plan | From $99 per month | From 2.49% + 15 cents | Businesses aiming for multi-location growth |
The entry-level POS plan for Revel System begins at $99 per month, which includes integrations for inventory, employee, and customer relationship management, as well as reporting and analytics capabilities. However, this base-level offering requires a commitment to at least two terminal devices and a mandatory three-year contract.
In comparison to competitors like Lightspeed or PayPal Zettle, Revel’s pricing is on the higher side, especially when there’s no free trial or version. However, you can sign up for a free demo to test out the platform before purchase.
Revel Systems Key Features
Revel’s POS system includes a range of tools to help streamline your operations. These features cover areas like online ordering, staff scheduling, and financial reporting, all aimed at making it easier to run your business.
Revel Systems’ Inventory Management is part of its base system and is designed to provide you with precise control over your stock. The system tracks your inventory in real-time, down to the ingredient level, ensuring that you’re always aware of what’s in stock, what needs reordering, and what’s running low. This granular tracking helps prevent overstocking and understocking, which can reduce waste and increase profitability.
The system also includes features like automatic stock alerts and purchase order generation, making the inventory management system a seamless part of your operations. It’s important to note that this feature comes along with an app that allows you to use your phone as a handheld barcode scanner and retail tool to ensure accuracy.
This feature allows for dynamic menu customization and updates. It supports a range of menu types and can easily accommodate daily specials, seasonal items, and price changes. This flexibility ensures that the menu items accurately reflect the current offerings, enhancing the customer experience.
We like that the system can also handle complex menu structures, including multiple sizes, variations, and modifiers, providing a streamlined ordering process for both staff and customers.
This feature helps with managing bookings and customer flow. It allows for easy reservation scheduling, which can be particularly beneficial during peak hours or special events. The system provides a clear overview of available slots, helping you maximize seating efficiency and reduce wait times.
Revel allows you to digitally map out your dining space, which allows you to efficiently manage seating and orders. In the Management Console, you can customize your floor plan, adding tables and sections to reflect the physical layout of your establishment.
The system supports dynamic management, such as moving tables or adjusting capacity, to accommodate changes in the restaurant’s setup. We also noticed that the system offers the ability to tag tables with specific details, like ‘Wheelchair Accessible’ or ‘Patio’, which is particularly useful for reservations and special requests.
Revel allows for granular control over employee access with customizable roles and permissions, ensuring your staff has the appropriate level of access to both the Point of Sale and the Management Console.
In other words, you can set up roles based on positions like Manager or Server and assign specific permissions to these roles. The system also includes built-in timecards and scheduling tools, allowing you to manage your team efficiently.
Revel offers a payment processing system that integrates with its POS platform, providing a variety of payment methods, including cash, credit, debit, and gift cards. The system supports both card-present and e-commerce transactions, with features like contactless payments and mobile wallet compatibility.
Revel’s in-house solution, Revel Advantage, streamlines the payment process, ensuring efficient transaction handling and rich data reporting for your business.
Revel’s reporting features provide businesses with valuable insights into their daily operations. You can access these analytics on inventory levels, best-selling items, and other key performance indicators, helping you make better decisions.
Revel POS Integrations and Add-Ons
Revel POS offers a number of integrations and add-ons to enhance the functionality of its cloud-based platform. The integrations cover areas like customer relationship management, marketing, workforce management, and analytics insights. For instance, partnerships with companies like 7shifts provide employee management and payroll solutions, while integrations with platforms like Amaka offer customizable accounting syncs with systems such as Xero, MYOB, or QuickBooks.
Revel POS Security Features
Revel POS offers security features designed to protect your business data and customer information. Their system is built on PCI-compliant cloud technology, ensuring adherence to the highest security standards. Transactions are safeguarded with point-to-point encryption (P2PE), and the platform provides rich user access controls to manage permissions effectively.
Revel POS Hardware
Revel Systems’ hardware lineup includes Apple iPads, which serve as the foundation for Revel’s POS system, known for its intuitive and sleek design. The iPads range from the compact iPad Mini, ideal for mobile operations, to the powerful iPad Pro, equipped with the M2 chip for peak performance.
Revel also provides robust stands and peripherals in collaboration with IPORT, ensuring secure mounting, charging, and protection for the iPads. This ecosystem is designed to deliver a superior experience for both staff and customers, with a focus on reliability and quality assurance. Revel’s hardware solutions are pre-configured to work effortlessly with their POS software, offering an efficient setup that supports all business operations.
Revel Alternatives & Competition
Let’s take a closer look at Revel to see how it measures up against its top alternatives.
| Best For | Free Version | Monthly Starting Price | Transaction Fee | Hardware Cost | Built-in Payment Processing | Inventory Management | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revel | Multi-location stores | No | From $99/month | From 2.49% + 15 cents | Quote-based | Yes | Yes |
| Epos Now | Retail and Hospitality Businesses | No | From $99 + subscription | Quote-Based | From $349 for a complete POS solution | Yes | Yes |
| Square | Small Businesses | Yes | From $60/month | From 2.6% + 10 cents | $10 for card reader, terminals start at $299 | Yes | Yes |
| Lavu | Food Trucks | No | From $59/month | From 2.6% + 10 cents | Included in monthly fee | Yes | Yes |
| Vend | Retail | No | From $69/month | The cost varies based on your choice of payment processor | From $99 | No. It offers integrations instead. | Yes |
| Clover | Reports and Analytics | No | From $14.95 for professional services | From 2.3% + 10 cents | From $49 | Yes | Yes |
| SpotOn | Multi-location restaurants | Yes | From $99/month
+$3 per employee |
From 1.99% + 25 cents | Included in monthly fee | Yes | Yes |
| Cake | Customer Experience | No | From $69 per month | From 2.5% + 15 cents | Included in monthly fee | Yes | Yes |
Revel Systems Customer Reviews
Customers have praised Revel Systems for its well-established product, nice POS interface, secure architecture, and useful integrations. The system’s credit card processing has been noted for its cost savings, and the support has received commendations for being first-class.
While the overall rating on Trustpilot is low, most of the ratings are from customers who report problems such as lost orders, horrendous reporting, and overbilling. There have been complaints about failed credit card processing, incompatibility with loyalty programs, daily system reboots during store hours and how it affected customer service. This is pretty standard in the industry as most users who leave reviews are unsatisfied with the service.
“I have enjoyed using Revel in our organic food store. We are a small grocery store and the system runs great. My employees can pick up how to use it fast and understand how to run the basic functions right away.”
Customer review collected from Trustpilot.
“I love how revel systems is easy to operate and how the system makes the reports for you and are easily accessible. I also enjoy the pricing of The product. They do not have fees for the usage of the product. which is great because they show that the product is made for their clients. Their customer service is great too. They are very attentive and they show that they care about the growth of your business. I would definitely continue to grow with Revel Systems.”
Customer review collected from Trustpilot.
Revel customer service offers multiple support channels. Their support team is accessible via 24/7 live chat, and for more complex issues, a detailed support center is available, along with localized phone support for personalized help. In the rare event of poor customer service, Revel encourages users to submit a ticket through their help site.
Revel University is another valuable resource for new users. It provides in-depth tutorials on the setup process and comprehensive onboarding and training services, including hardware installation, software and payment setup, and consultations.
How to use Revel POS - Quick Guide
Log into the POS
The first step is to log into the Revel POS system using your unique PIN number set up on the management dashboard.
Add Items & Customize Orders
Once logged in, you can start adding items to the order ticket. Explore modifiers to allow guests to customize their orders with things like added toppings, temperature preferences, etc. Forced modifiers require a selection before proceeding.
Add Customers, Combos & Discounts
You can add new or existing customers to orders to build a customer database. Easily add combos and discounts by selecting them – things like student discounts or happy hour pricing can be configured.
Take Payment & Manage Delivery
When ready, ring up the order and take payment. You can split the check in multiple ways. For delivery orders, assign them to drivers through the delivery management platform.
Access Management Dashboard
The robust management dashboard allows you to control all aspects of your business remotely, from reporting and inventory to employee scheduling and payroll integration and much more.
To provide our readers with accurate and well-informed recommendations, we test the most popular POS products on the market to find the best options for you. Our methodology consists of the following criteria:How We Review And Test POS Products
How to Choose the Best POS Software
Picking the right point-of-sale system for a business is an important decision that can significantly impact its operations and profitability. Here’s what to look for:
Evaluate the software’s pricing plans and ensure they align with your budget. Consider not only the initial cost but also the long-term costs associated with maintenance, updates, and potential scaling of the system.
Assess the features offered by the POS software and ensure they meet your current and future business needs. Prioritize the essential features and determine if the plan you can afford includes them.
Look for a POS system that can grow with your business. Consider the cost and availability of additional features or functionalities you may need as your business expands.
Gather feedback from users to ensure the POS software is intuitive and user-friendly. A well-designed and easy-to-navigate system can improve employee productivity and customer satisfaction.
Look for POS software that can connect with your other business tools, like accounting and inventory management. This will help improve efficiency and data-driven decision-making.
Assess the quality and availability of the vendor’s customer support, including their support hours, communication channels, and user reviews. Reliable and responsive support can be crucial when encountering technical issues or needing guidance.
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