Mobile POS provider sees rapid food truck customer growth, provides first-hand market insight
Along with street vending, food trucks are one of the fastest-growing
segments in the hospitality industry. According to the
Food trucks are also one of the fastest-growing segments for NCR Silver, an advanced tablet point-of-sale (POS) system for small businesses. More than just a mobile POS, NCR Silver offers back-office technology to run an entire food truck business – from integrating customer loyalty to automating different tax rates.
“It’s a simple user interface to change,” said
Other food trucks tout NCR Silver’s ability to manage multiple locations as a top draw.
“My favorite part is the reporting features,” said
As NCR Silver has grown alongside the food truck market – which took off in 2008 – the POS team has gained valuable insight into running a successful mobile business:
Know your regulations
Many local governments want to see food trucks succeed. But it takes time for laws that were written decades ago for brick-and-mortar restaurants to catch up.
Adjacent cities and counties can sometimes have different rules on safety, parking and more. Fees can also vary widely.
“Be sure to know each city’s and county’s rules first,” said
Get creative with parking
With a mobile business, location is everything. To combat parking restrictions in certain communities, many food truck vendors are generating additional income by offering catering services.
The industry also is seeing an increase in free market options, such as
“pods” in
Bottom line, know the market options in the communities you serve – some are better than others – to minimize parking hassles and maximize customer reach.
Build – and maintain – your brand
The most successful food trucks have unique brands, which include everything from the menu and logo to truck design. Given the mobile nature of food trucks, letting fans know where you’re going each day is crucial. Social media is a prime vehicle for this, as well as overall customer engagement.
Loyalty programs also help. It’s beneficial for a loyalty program to work seamlessly with the checkout process – automatically tracking rewards with each sale, so customers see what they’ve earned, and have added incentive to come back. Loyalty integration eliminates punch cards and disparate programs.
“You need several ingredients to run a successful food truck – good service, amazing food and passion,” Hotard said. “The element tying all of this together is your brand. Staying consistent with your brand and continually engaging customers increases your likelihood of long-term success.”
For more industry stats and insider views, check out “#GetRolling
America: 2014 Food Truck Facts” infographic
and “Rolling with
To learn more about NCR Silver’s features, visit the website, or call 1-877-630-9711. NCR Silver provides live, 7-day support and access to Silver SidewalkSM, a customer community portal with information and opportunities to connect with other members. NCR Silver tablet POS runs in the cloud, uses consumer-friendly technology, and works on Apple® devices running the latest iOS.
Source:
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Web site: http://www.ncrsilver.com/
Twitter: @NCRSilver
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Source:
Arketi Group
Jackie Parker, 404-929-0091, ext. 220
jparker@arketi.com
or
NCR
Corporation
Tim Henschel, 770-299-5100
tim.henschel@ncr.com