Lavu POS: Venue-Specific Restaurant Solutions

An Overview of Lavu POS

Lavu POS is a point-of-sale system solution for food and beverage establishments committed to understanding the needs of customers and employees to improve products, services, and workplace culture. They offer comprehensive, straightforward, and powerful features tailored to the ever-evolving requirements of this industry, which includes fast-casual locations, pizzerias, bars, full-service restaurants, and so on. Your business needs, from inventory to invoices to employees to restaurant-specific features, including menu planning, ordering, and delivery, can all be customized and managed through this POS solution from anywhere at fair prices. Lavu has provided restaurants worldwide with a comprehensive suite of tools to enhance the guest and staff experience for both full-service and quick-service restaurants, with dedication to innovation and success.

Lavu pioneered the iPad restaurant POS system, an easy-to-use, simple, cost-effective point-of-sale system that all managers need to take their businesses to the next level of success and see significant revenue increases. Their mobile POS guarantees high software security with access control, encryption, policy enforcement, tokenization, and EMV chip card technology to protect the customer’s data, which offers restaurant owners a hassle-free and secure process to run their business.

They receive an A+ rating on the Better Business Bureau (BBB) with a moderate amount of complaints, which they often respond to promptly through private channels. They are well-regarded within their industry and have been on the 2023 Capterra Shortlist™ for Restaurant POS. Lavu also received the Category Leaders on GetApp and was in Software Advice's FrontRunners report, which ranks top products based on user reviews.

Lavu POS Features

Lavu POS offers a variety of features depending on your restaurant’s unique needs, developed to help run your establishment more efficiently and profitably. Lavu's services vary between being separate software and hardware solutions, or bundled together beneficial services. Their standout features include:

• Payment processing: Lavu's system offers a safe and convenient solution for guests, with a contactless QR code payment system that promotes efficiency and hassle-free payment. You can choose between Lavu Pay or a third-party payment processor, and when combined with a Lavu POS system, you get an all-in-one solution. Lavu Pay accepts NFC and mobile wallet payments and offers a cash discount program management: Sourcery, a sub-company of Lavu, offers a scalable solution to owners and executives of multi-unit restaurant organizations to create efficiencies, grow their business, and impact their bottom line. This feature offers accurate and modern accounts payable information and real-time insights into operational costs, saving time and money. For an additional fee, Lavu's POS feature helps you organize invoices and payable accounts, store purchase information, and track invoices. The automation solution integrates with accounting software and restaurant management apps. You get access to a dedicated team to manage vendor relations, invoice data entry, and review statements
• iPad POS: Their user-friendly iPad interface facilitates contactless order management for full-service and quick-service restaurants (QSRs), among many other types. Lavu also integrates a receipt printer, cash drawer, and credit card swiper
• Self-ordering kiosks: Their self-ordering kiosks are meant to be efficient and provide an excellent customer experience. They can quickly take orders or allow customers to serve themselves to ensure a more fluid dining experience
• Kitchen display systems (KDS): It is an excellent tool for restaurants that makes the order-taking process easier and guarantees accurate tickets to minimize paper waste, which will help ease the order-taking and preparation processes and bring back your satisfied customers
• Online ordering and menu management: Lavu makes it easy to integrate online ordering systems with your POS system, allowing you to expand your customer base and improve operational efficiency. With MenuDrive by Lavu, you can offer online ordering and delivery options that prioritize your customers. This feature provides over 100 customizable templates, upsell and add-on marketing features, automated email marketing, a QR code and coupon generator, and in-depth reporting and sales analysis tools. You can use these features to build customer relationships, create loyalty programs, and grow your business
• POS integrations: They will help you grow the capabilities of your point-of-sale system by offering seamless integrations with many frequently used business software. You can easily manage your stock or edit food items using inventory integrations and offer scalable restaurant solutions with payment processing, order management, and app integrations. Lavu lets you create your delivery system and manage online orders while integrating with other tools. It empowers you to have consistent data flow across your business operations, enhancing efficiency and supporting informed decision-making
• Dual Pay: They offer this cash discount program as a feature that rewards loyal customers and can save them money. It rewards customers who pay with cash. Customers can choose the cash price, which applies a discount on the card price. Paying with a card incurs a higher price, offsetting up to 99% of card processing fees

They also have specialized solutions tailored for such venues as pizzerias, wineries, and breweries, with extensive menu customization options and resources for payroll and labor management. For example, if you have a pizzeria, they would offer you a Pizza Creator tool that lets you and your customers customize pies virtually.

Lavu Plans & Pricing

Lavu POS offers three subscription plans:

• Starter: For $99 a month, you receive such features as Lavu Pay, dual-pricing capabilities, the Pilot app, reporting, team management, inventory management, loyalty management, Bluetooth scale plug-in, and their 24/7 support
• Growth: For $149 a month, you receive everything under Starter as well as other cost-effective features, including gift card capabilities, online ordering, API access, DoorDash delivery, QR card ordering, and payments
• Optimize: For $279 a month, you would get everything under Growth as well as Quickbooks and Xerox integration, KDS functionality, tableside ordering, and Sourcery AP automation

You can add more features for an additional monthly fee, such as tableside ordering, self-service kiosks, and contactless pay kiosks. Lavu POS may require a long commitment, so make sure to discuss that thoroughly with your sales agent.

Lavu POS Advantages

• Ease of use: Their robust POS software for single and multi-store retailers will help you manage the servers and backup solutions. Their platform is compatible with touchscreen devices and features a user-friendly interface that allows anyone to generate reports, add products, or sell items
• Data reporting and analytics: Lavu is Google-based, which means all data can run seamlessly through Google Analytics, ensuring you have the pertinent analytics data and complete reports
• Mobile-optimized: You can download their system to your smartphone and use it in conjunction with tablet devices to take orders even when you're not at the counter. Lavu is compatible with iOS and Android
• 24/7 customer service: Lavu ensures a straightforward system setup, and their support teams are always available via live chat and phone or email follow-ups
• Customer incentive options: Not only do they offer your customers the flexibility and safety of paying via many customer payment options and methods, but they also allow you to pass on discounts to them via their Dual Pay program
• Restaurant type-specific solutions: They offer certain types of food and beverage venues specialized products or tools, such as the virtual Pizza Creator for pizzerias or the Quick-Click drink modifier tool for cafes

Lavu POS Disadvantages

• No free plan: Lavu doesn't offer a free introductory plan or trial to test its features, they only have a free demo
• Costly add-ons: If you want to expand into additional services, you will pay extra fees for invoice management, self-ordering kiosks, etc.
• Long commitments: You have to sign a contract, without first trying their services, to get started with the Lavu POS system

The Customer Experience at Lavu

Lavu receives predominantly positive customer feedback online, although they receive their fair share of criticism. Lavu holds a high rating of 4.8 on Trustpilot. They also receive a 4.2 out of 5 on Capterra and a somewhat lower 3.8 out of 5 on G2. As previously stated, they have an A+ rating on the BBB but receive a moderate amount of complaints, which they often respond to promptly through private channels.

Positive reviews

Their POS system usually gets positive feedback for innovation, ease of use, hassle-free navigation, and industry-specific comprehensiveness. Users found their products user-friendly and provided peace of mind at the end of a busy day with their suite of reports and robust integration capabilities. Some complimented the reporting system and the intuitiveness of implementing new technologies with payment options, which serve the ever-changing needs of their industry without the hassle of a lengthy onboarding process for new users.

Critical feedback

Some reviewers were unsatisfied with Lavu’s customer service because they couldn't assist with issues like implementing advanced system functions. Some said it depended on the representative who responded, as not all are similarly knowledgeable. Some clients said they were mistakenly charged after canceling and had to spend some time with Lavu to get reimbursed. A few said they were redirected between many departments when requesting phone service or disconnected during live chat.

With BBB complaints, Lavu responds to critical reviews with short messages. That being said, some clients have confirmed that Lavu addressed the issues brought to their attention.

Customer Support at Lavu

The Lavu support team is available 24/7 for technical support via live chat at their support page or by calling +1(505) 535-5288. If you prefer to access written information or documentation, you can find articles at Lavu Knowledge Base or check out their blog page, where the company’s development is well documented.

Final Verdict

Lavu is an iPad POS system for restaurant management solutions designed to streamline operations, empower your staff, and provide better customer experiences. They help restaurants streamline operations, eliminate errors, and boost profits. Lavu is adaptable to any environment, whether full-service, quick-service, or a franchise. Lavu provides user-friendly solutions for menu, order, inventory management, online ordering, real-time reports, and more. It also has customizable features like messaging and loyalty programs, creating an unforgettable experience.

If you’re looking for a customizable POS system that can grow with your business, Lavu POS may be a good choice. However, if your internet connection is unstable, you can consider a different POS system that is not mobile-operated. Also, their plans can get costly after add-ons, so you have to be sure they can help your restaurant service run smoothly and positively impact your business performance before switching over.

Whether you are a multi-location restaurateur working with an old POS system or just opening your first village cafe, there are many excellent POS system providers that you can consider. Visit our reviews page for other great POS providers, like Toast, and then compare your favorites against each other. If you need help understanding industry-specific standards and jargon, we regularly post blog articles that you may find helpful. Selecting a POS that fits your business can be challenging, but we aim to help you simplify the process.

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