Running a quick-service restaurant (QSR) chain or franchise requires more than good food and friendly smiles. Success relies upon convenient payment methods and accurate bookkeeping, effective marketing, fluid workforce management … none of which is realistic to do manually nowadays. The right software can set up your QSR to operate efficiently and, ultimately, thrive.
Some important notes regarding which restaurant software companies we highlighted:
- Often, the platforms actually offer more than one management capability. However, we chose to organize the software based on the capabilities for which they’re most known and praised.
- We chose to focus on restaurant software that caters to the specific needs of QSRs or related business models (such as franchises). For certain types of tools—such as those for accounting—there are equally viable options that are intended to serve broader audiences.
- It doesn’t matter how well a software platform performs tasks if it doesn’t faultlessly integrate with the other management tools within your QSR’s tech stack. Ideally, the software company would offer hands-on solutions to setting up and stress testing the necessary integrations.
Want additional software suggestions and tips? Read Franchise Marketing Software - Top 9 Tools and Fresh Marketing Tactics: Quick Service Restaurants (QSR).
Best Choices for QSR Point-of-Sale (POS) Software
Square
QSR software commonly centers around POS functionality, with numerous well-established providers like PayPal and Oracle in the market. However, for QSRs, we believe Square is well worth your consideration.
This POS software stands out for its speed and versatility, reliably operating on numerous devices and integrating well within an existing tech stack. Moreover, despite its extensive range of features, the interface requires minimal onboarding.
Square is particularly practical for smaller QSRs, offering a free version that bundles several operational and marketing features within its platform, making it an excellent choice for restaurants looking to limit software expenses.
The primary drawbacks are that its pricing model becomes less affordable as businesses scale, and emergency support is difficult to obtain for users not on higher-paying plans. However, when comparing reviews of different POS software companies for QSRs, the winner is clear: Square has garnered more positive feedback than any other provider.
Best Choices for SMS Marketing Software for QSRs
Voxie
SMS is transforming the quick-service restaurant (QSR) landscape. Restaurants can leverage this channel for order and pickup notifications, promotions of exclusive sales, collecting customer feedback, and keeping audiences up-to-date on their loyalty program status.
The right software unlocks the full potential of SMS for QSRs. With this in mind, Voxie designed its text messaging platform specifically for franchises and multi-location businesses, offering features that QSRs will find helpful, including:
- Automated list segmentation
- Sophisticated personalization capabilities
- Drip campaign sequences
- Reinforcement of text templates and chains of approval
- 2-Way texting powered by Conversational Intelligence
Marketing teams can monitor SMS performance at both the individual QSR location or campaign level, as well as at a larger scale. Moreover, Voxie integrates with other QSR software—such as your POS and rewards program platforms—to further improve automated interactions with individual customers.
LEARN MORE ABOUT VOXIE FEATURES
Best Choices for Workforce Management Software for QSRs
PNI
PNI can best be described as a human capital management tool geared toward fast-paced small businesses. Many of the platform’s capabilities cater to the day-to-day team management needs of quick-service restaurants and similar businesses, such as:
- Data-backed staffing recommendations based on QSR business trends
- Automated schedule generation and adjustments
- Centralized HR portal for team members
One reason we think it’s among the best workforce management software providers for restaurants? Its easy-to-use interface and nuanced user management levels allow team members to swap shifts, see payroll, receive notifications, and more. All this enables restaurant staff to access information they care about and change shifts without overloading management.
Other reasons this is among the best software choices for a restaurant? PNI’s customer service and onboarding receive glowing marks from users.
To quote one reviewer from G2 - “The system’s flexibility is a significant advantage. PNI*HCM allows us to customize our payroll settings to fit our company’s specific needs, including different pay schedules, tax requirements, and benefits management. This has reduced our time managing these tasks, allowing us more bandwidth for strategic initiatives.”
Best Choices for Accounting Software for QSRs
Restaurant365
While this QSR software offers numerous functions, Restaurant365 truly excels for its accounting and banking capabilities. This tool consolidates diverse accounting functions into its cloud-based dashboard including:
- Unifying of revenue tracking from different ordering platforms
- Automating dispute handling
- POS integration for real-time bookkeeping and enhanced accuracy
- Automatic depreciation reports
- Revenue forecasting
While its accounting and financial management features are undoubtedly comprehensive, reviewers have differing perspectives on the steepness of the learning curve. However, there’s a general consensus that the aggregations and automations within the platform can save QSRs time in the long run.
Best Choices for Inventory Management Software for QSRs
Gofrugal
GoFrugal aims to centralize operations and inventory management into a single software platform, even when managing multiple restaurant locations. This tool makes inventory management realistically scalable by enabling actions such as standardizing recipes, automating inventory ordering and tracking, and facilitating stock transfers.
Other software features sure to win over restaurant owners include automated sales trend analysis, waste tracking, and the calculated recipe costs based on individual ingredients pricing. Additionally, the platform allows administrators to set different access levels for users based on their job role.
Reviewers frequently comment that this QSR software is easy to use and that the support team is proactive and helpful. As stated by one reviewer, “The first benefit one will notice while using this software is its ultra short learning curve with easy to use features and a host of options to choose from. This is just the beginning, pros also include good support from their assure care team and a timely resolution of the reported issues in most of the cases. There is also an added benefit of development support for any customisation or personalisation requirements. The HQ portal consists of a host of analytics and reporting tools to ease MIS and business intelligence needs.”
Best Choices for Restaurant Reservation Software
Resy
We’ll cut to the chase—Resy offers restaurants a lot! Better still, Resy this software company essentially lets you build out your own package, enabling you to skip paying for features already covered by other components of your tech stack.
Software features restaurants may appreciate include:
- Reporting that addresses multiple locations
- Tracks customers’ interactions across multiple visits to establish profiles
- Automated conversion of wait-list entries into reservations when someone cancels
- POS integration that is generally smooth
- Easy-to-use floor plan mapping
- Assign multiple reservation types
- Anonymous survey creation
Ready to Boost Your QSR’s Bottom Line? Learn With Voxie
An SMS designed to meet the needs of franchises and multi-location businesses, Voxie empowers QSRs to both improve and automate SMS promotions. Other reading that can assist with growing your restaurant include:
- Localize SMS for Targeted Marketing
- Optimize Customer Lifetime Value (CLV) - Your Easiest Path to Increased Sales
- Reducing No-Show Rates - Strategies and Tools
- SMS Playbook to Operate and Grow Your Franchise System
Think there’s a deserving QSR software company excluded from the list? Let us know—email