Restaurant Trends

Gift Card Reports Today Sintel Systems is addressing what happens to your money and your reports when you sell gift cards. If you've made any gift card sales today you won't be receiving any of that money when you make your settlement for the night. Gift cards are a liability and should be looked to as a different entity from...

In a recently published article on Entrepreneur.com, the following headline was presented: "Which Point of Sale System Should I Use? I am on a tight budget and opening a retail Christmas and candy shop. What would you recommend for a point of sale system for a small startup like this? What are the pros and cons of using traditional or...

Image courtesy of FastCompany.com of article Starbucks's Shoddy Square Rollout Baffles Baristas, Confuses Customers Are you making plans to open up your prospective business? Sintel Systems understands that clients are always looking for the most cost efficient ways to open up their store by cutting costs where it is necessary. Many times clients come to us describing that they...

Dunkin' Brands CEO Nigel Travis officially announced this Monday that the company plans to launch a new loyalty program later this January. Members will earn 5 points for every dollar spent. Once a member reaches 200 points they receive a medium-size beverage. According to The Wall Street Journal DD article (found here), competitors like Startbucks and Panera Bread have already...

Image courtesy of CapitolHillSeattle.com from Correctto. Are you struggling with a business that is seasonal or only fully operational during certain times of the day or week? Here at Sintel Systems we provide POS service for a wide arrange of customers and we know it can be a challenge to find the perfect mode of operation. We just wanted...

With technology exponentially growing more advanced with each new year that comes along in the 21st century, there are still many shops around that are still using the old manual cash register method (with the phone line credit card processor on the side). Sintel Systems knows that for some, it feels like too much of a major investment to purchase...

Sintel Systems is your one true stop for all POS solutions. We provide you your hardware, software, training, support, gift cards and even business tips for your market. Here at Sintel Systems we know POS, however often times business owners can overlook the importance of fully training their staff with POS before the first day of opening. "I've seen businesses...

Here at Sintel Systems we love frozen yogurt as much we love supporting our froyo POS clients. We love it even more when our customers are innovative with their froyo treats! We're excited to introduce your next dessert obsession: The Hot Fronini. This next best treat is made with smooth, creamy froyo inside warm sweet bread. FroyoWorld introduces the Hot...

Sintel Systems provides the most stylistic and froyo efficient POS systems perfectly custom tailored for any popular frozen yogurt shop. Here at Sintel Systems we pride ourselves in our area of expertise of all things Frozen Yogurt POS. Today we are featuring the delightfully sweet-treat-packed frozen yogurt shop Swirl Bliss in Baldwin, NY. Swirl Bliss not only ventures in the...

Let’s begin with: What is a gift card? According to Wikipedia.com, “A gift card is a restricted monetary equivalent or scrip that is issued by retailers or banks to be used as an alternative to a non-monetary gift. Highly popular, they rank as the second-most given gift by consumers in the United States (2006) and the most-wanted gift by women...

New York City is a relentless trend-setting megalopolis with many eateries that seem to change their appearance every year or two. We spotted a roundup of hot interior design trends for 2013 in Big Apple restaurants and cafes at NYCeiling.com. High demand for eco-friendliness and sustainability means more green spaces around town. The trend has been around for some time...

Ever gone to or walked by a Yogen Fruz frozen yogurt shop and wondered if you could start the next frozen yogurt franchise to be like Fruz?  Sintel Systems, the major frozen yogurt POS (point of sale) partner in the the industry, has incubated POS systems for more frozen yogurt franchises than any other. It was 1986 when two young...

Gift Cards have many uses besides the usual last minute birthday gift. With the right marketing approach they can be utilized in so many more ways than one first begins to realize. Gift/Loyalty/Points Cards can become a great revenue generating marketing tool if you know how to work it. Rewards and promotions marketing helps to drive customers back to your...

While frozen yogurt has been exploding across the globe, there has been an ice cream war brewing in the Northern California University city of Berkeley.

Stronger than ever, frozen yogurt has staged a comeback in 2013, according to "Frozen Yogurt Industry Analysis 2013 – Cost & Trends" report by franchise industry observer franchiseHELP.com. "Although the popularity of the frozen yogurt franchise industry suffered a decline in the late 1990s, the category has been making a colossal comeback in the last decade, with a new generation...

Recently, a new technology has been unveiled that will enable customers at fast food restaurants to pay through an electronic tag on their car windshield much like the IPass. The magazine Business Solutions, recently published an article in their September issue titled, “Solutions Provider Lands RFID/Payment Processing Project”.  One of the major benefits of this technology is that it will...

British chef Robert Irvine, best known for his Food Network Show, Restaurant Impossible, recently spoke with Hospitality Technology to discuss how restaurants can make technology work for them. Irvine spoke about how he feels restaurateurs tend to underutilize Point of Sale Systems. “The systems have many different capabilities beyond just ordering food including helping to manage inventory and can issue...

As the only full-service POS provider, from software development to franchise incubator to ongoing support, part of Sintel's commitment to our customers and industry is to share buzz in the news about the casual chain restaurant landscape. Whether you're a first-time franchise hopeful, a small business owner or an established chain, it's always smart to stay on top of industry...

PLOS One, a scientific journal published by the Public Library of Science just released a study accusing fast food giants McDonald's and Burger King of "potentially misleading" when marketing to kids. According to the study, movies and toys as opposed to the food are predominantly marketed. Dr. James Sargent (one of the six researchers), a professor of pediatrics in Dartmouth...

In a previous blog we talked about the growing number of gluten-free takeout orders . Now the company MenuTrinfo , a nutritional analysis and allergen identification program for foodservice operators, recently added AllerChef to its menu analysis and training certification programs. MenuTrinfo.com describes the program: “AllerChef™ provides training for chefs on how to make gluten-free and allergen-friendly menu items in...

What is Farm-to-Table fare? Farm-to-Table is when food produced locally is then delivered to local consumers. Curiosity.com from the Discovery Channel interviewed several renowned chefs about the “farm-to-table food movement.” Tom Colicchio, Chef/Owner of Craft Restaurants and Colicchio and Sons and judge on Bravo’s Top Chef said this about farm-to-table: “It's really buying food from people who are producing food...

It is a sad fact to face, but customers are a lot less loyal then they used to be. Also, with social media consumers now hold the power in their hands. If they don’t like something about your business or their experience, they can turn to Facebook, Twitter even Yelp to quickly share their story. Because of these two major...

Have you seen a spike in the number of gluten-free takeout orders at restaurants? GrubHub reports “takeout orders containing gluten-free items grew by nearly 60 percent between April 2012 and May 2013.” While only 1 in 133 people has Celiac disease, which is triggered by hypersensitivity in the small intestine to gluten, about 28 percent of adults aged 18 and...

While a company’s social media presence is extremely important these days the company website is becoming popular once again.   An article on Wired.com states: “The comeback is bolstered by new interlinks that make it increasingly easy for websites to suck in and selectively repurpose some of the very social content that diminished the open web in the first place...

Security-minded shoppers, when asked about their most popular future technology choice, would like to have biometric payments such as fingerprint, palm or iris scanners over emerging mobile phone options. Planet Biometrics is reporting on new research, which revealed that nearly one in two shoppers (49%) would like to have biometric payments, far exceeding the popularity of mobile technology options such as...

A new study, titled “Dining Out in America: The Impact of New Menu Items, Value and Nutrition,” conducted by market research firm Placed Insights and quoted in Nation's Restaurant News, concludes that new menu items and value are driving consumer traffic at quick-service and fast casual chains. The study recorded which characteristics of a restaurant were most important including taste, price, nutrition, convenience...

Growing businesses need their tech to grow with them. Entrepreneur.com recently sifted through the clutter to suggest 15 tech plays including computers, displays, tablets and accessories that could help a variety of businesses, including restaurants. Designed to protect your tech assets, the "power tools" specifically selected for restaurants, the Logitech Keyboard K310 ($40) and LifeProof nuud iPad case (starting at $100), were chosen because...

Entrepreneur.com explores the issue of employee compensation transparency in a recent article weighing the related pros and cons. As a business grows, making case-by-case salary decisions may no longer make sense, and may "cause employees to speculate, often inaccurately, and gossip about who earns how much. This dynamic can distract them from doing their jobs." Some entrepreneurs are adopting an...

It is almost one month until The Taste of Chicago! There is nothing like the Taste where you can sample from 35 different Chicago restaurants all in one place. The Taste of Chicago began in July 4th, 1980. They were expecting 75,000 people for the one-day event, but they could have never imagined 250,000 people would show up. The event...

Opening a restaurant franchise in a big city such as New York, Chicago and Los Angeles may sound ideal, but these high volume locations come with a lot of special traits that you may have not foreseen. While in the suburbs, you may be used to large spaces, in a city expect smaller square footage paired with an extremely high...

Brand loyalty is extremely important for every restaurant and retail store big or small. Brand Keys recently released their 2013 Customer Loyalty Engagement Index, which forecasts customer devotion across brands. To make such predictions there is a lot of math involved and highly secretive algorithms.  Brand Keys states they are “the only research consultancy in the world that specializes in...

Employees are a vital resource for every business, retail store or restaurant.  Do you think you have incredible employees? Inc.com  created a list of 10 Things Amazing Employees Do. Willingly learn all aspects of the business Treat the company as if it was their own Constantly network to help the company grow Continually improving things proactively Tell it like it...

Citing the recent release of the annual Chain Restaurant Industry Review from GE Franchise Finance (GEFF), Nation's Restaurant News reports on how restaurants are adapting to economic challenges. It's good news, as restaurants are adapting well to "consumer preferences and economic challenges" — as well as "whatever's thrown at them," said Kimberly Savilonis, Senior Vice President for GEFF and an author of...

Five Coping Strategies for a Sales Slump "Into the life of every business, a sales slump will eventually fall," reports Inc.com. "Customers cancel orders, opportunities get delayed, prospects turn out to be dead-ends. Worst case, you can have a 'perfect storm' where nothing seems to go right." What to do? "Keep your head down and soldier on," and: 1. Don't...

Is PayPal's Mobile Payment System a Good Thing? Mobile Point of Sale Systems is all the rage. The newest company to join the race is PayPal. PayPal is already well known for their mobile payment solutions for Smartphones. At the beginning of this year, they launched a mobile payment version for the iPad. PayPal is targeting small businesses that do...

Restaurant Closing Time: A Moving Target? When does a restaurant really close? In a classic case of "we said, they said," a San Francisco quick-serve restaurateur contacted Inside Scoop at SFGate with a conundrum about how to handle late-arriving diners and perceptions of "closing time." After an incident where diners arrived three minutes before official closing time and then ignored...

2013 Franchise Forecast: Going Strong  The IFA, a Washington D.C.-based advocacy organization, recently released a first quarter update to its economic outlook, which notes that franchise businesses "are expected to employ 8.3 million people in the U.S. by the end of this year and generate $802 billion in revenue." Quick-service restaurant category, which includes Subway and Dunkin' Donuts, shows the most...

Full-Service Casual Concepts Look to Fast-Casual Spinoffs and Experiments Nation's Restaurant News recently published a case study of five casual dining concepts transitioning into the fast-casual sector: Red Robin Gourmet Burgers, Inc., Denny's, Applebee's Neighborhood Grill & Bar, Famous Dave's and Red Lobster. Citing shifting consumer needs and a "rocky casual-dining climate," a fast-casual is an increasingly popular strategy for...

If you're one of the many people riding the frozen yogurt wave and want to open your own Tutti Frutti shop please find your Tutti Frutti POS system here: www.TuttiFruttiPointofSale.comThis self-serve frozen yogurt shop, equipped with the professional point-of-sale system from Sintel Systems, has quickly gained popularity all around the US, serving over 50 flavors and several toppings to residents...