Amie Baudoin and her husband, Tommy, operators of Morgan Ridge Vineyards and Brewhouse in Gold Hill, NC, needed a POS to manage their open bar and food tabs, print food orders to the kitchen, and to manage the sale and transactions of their retail merchandise. Ms. Baudoin found the answer in Pose’s mobile POS offering. Despite having a hybrid business that is part retail and part restaurant and bar, the system from Pose, based in Tel Aviv, Israel, allowed the vinters to quickly and easily obtain key sales and daily transaction reports.

“Being able to interact digitally via social media or email gives Morgan Ridge Vineyard an ability to attract customers back,” said Lisa Kilker, Pose customer account manager. “When customers return, Amie can reward them with discounts.  It’s a way to bring in repeat business.”

“Amie was really excited about Pose’s customer loyalty and gift card functionality, because of the special events they hold,” she said. “She wanted to be able to offer this so that customers can buy digital gift certificates and invite their friends so they can come to use them for wine and lunch.

“She can conduct special outreach for loyal customers. Pose enables Morgan Ridge Vineyard to engage more with customers, and customers love good customer experience.”

Seamless integration

None of the restaurant POS systems the Baudoins examined could handle their needs or seamlessly integrate into the QuickBooks accounting system on which they relied. They picked Pose for its versatility and intuitive design.

Pose was built for the average small business that may not have the resources or know-how to implement a point of sale, according to its Web site. Many tools on the market are difficult to install, have minimal capabilities, or are too expensive.

Pose’s POS provides streamlined, highly functional management capabilities to empower small businesses in a difficult market. Besides checking a transaction history, a manager can view all of his open, closed or parked transactions, or orders. He also can send any receipt through email, even after the sale.

Pose also permits the storing and accessing of customer social-media data.  Users also can apply rewards for continued business with loyalty programs that are automatically redeemed.

Pose also appealed to the Baudoins because it enabled them to send and print orders to the bar without needing to install a hardwired Internet connection, a feature they welcomed, given that their WiFi signal can be intermittent to weak.

Pose is designed to optimize around the Chrome browser because Chrome offers excellent offline capabilities,” Ms. Kilker explained.  “So, for example, if the Internet cuts off, all of the sales being transacted are stored in the cache. When the mobile table and computer finds the Internet connection working again, the transactions stored in the cache are moved back into the cloud.”

The system’s intuitive design helped staff at the vineyard to quickly pick up on how to use the online cash register. The color-coordinated item categories helped them do a better job of taking orders and capturing customer information. Customers, eager to be informed about upcoming live music events, were willing to give out email addresses while putting in orders.

Ten years ago, while working in the restaurant industry and dreaming of someday owning a vineyard, the Baudoins planted grapes on Amie’s family farm.

By 2007 they had produced their inaugural vintage. Last year they opened a craft brewing company housed in an old tobacco barn on the property.

They now have a commercial kitchen and event facilities that hold 300 attendees.  They host public live music events, barbecue festivals, and about 30 private events a year.  They serve their own wine, craft brewed beer and food every weekend and some weekdays at their farm.

Using iPads

Tommy Baudoin oversees the kitchen and music events that Morgan Ridge Vineyards and Brewhouse often presents, while Amie manages the farming aspects.

Pose has helped Ms. Baudoin carry out a plan to have employees use iPads for taking orders tableside, especially during music events, when they can be extremely busy and need to fill drink and food orders rapidly.

“Amie wanted her staff to be able to take a mobile tablet and walk around the vineyard or shop and take orders anywhere,” Ms. Kilker said. “The mobile capabilities that Pose offered were very important to enable this key requirement that Amie had for her business operation.”

Final Take

Michael Barris is staff reporter with Mobile Commerce Daily, New York.