A POS system is a necessary tool for every eatery, whether it is a large restaurant or a small roadside café. Finding a decent POS that allows you to perform your day-to-day operational tasks can be quite difficult, and there aren’t a lot of options that you can browse through.
Butter POS is one of the rising names among the best café and coffee shop POS systems. In this review, we’re going to explore what makes it a decent option to consider, including its features and pricing.
Let’s get right into it.
What is Butter?
Butter is a Point-of-Sale (POS) software that cafés and coffee shops can use to place orders, process payments, and keep track of their daily sales. It can be installed on the counter terminal, as well as on tablets and any other modern Android device in use in the establishment.
The software can be used by multiple team members and in multiple locations throughout the establishment. If a particular café or coffee shop has multiple outlets, Butter can be used in all of them as one central, synchronized solution.
Here is a link to the official Butter website: https://butterpos.com/
Once you’re done reading our review, you can check it out for yourself as well.
Is Butter Only a POS?
Butter provides not just a POS system, but also a number of other digital solutions for cafés and coffee shops. According to the official website, Butter also offers a KDS, TDS, and CDS, which stand for Kitchen Display System, Token Display System, and Customer Display System, respectively.
Here is a brief description of these three solutions:
- The KDS is used to display new and running orders directly to the kitchen staff so that they can work on preparing and serving customers instantly.
- The TDS is used in cafés and coffee shops to let customers know when their order is ready to be collected. It is essentially a way to inform customers when it is their turn to be at the counter. They can comfortably wait for their turn rather than stand at the counter.
- The CDS allows customers to view the details of their order as it is being entered by the order taker. The customer can see what items are being added as well as their portion sizes/flavors, etc., and the total cost. This helps to reduce errors and improve customer satisfaction.
In our opinion, it’s great that Butter offers all three of these systems instead of fixating on just the POS. That way, restaurants can choose it as an all-in-one solution.
Is Butter Cheap or Expensive?
One of the most important things to consider about any software solution is its cost. Butter, for example, has a subscription model, which means that customers have to regularly make a payment to continue using it.
If you’re reading this as a café or coffee shop owner, the cost will be a significant factor in your mind. Let’s take a look at it.
Here is a screenshot that shows the pricing details from Butter’s official website:
On the left side, you can see that Butter offers a Quick Start Plan, which lets users pay just $1 for the first six months. The Advanced Plan comes in at $49 per month per station.
Considering the pricing models of POS software like Toast and TouchBistro, Butter is much more affordable. The features it offers in return are quite substantial.
Understanding the Availability
Another great thing to keep in mind about Butter POS is that it doesn’t need a dedicated device to be used. As we mentioned above, you need a modern Android device (such as a tablet) and you’re good to go.
This versatile availability allows Butter to be used in all types of establishments, such as a large restaurant where order takers can walk to tables with a tablet in hand, or in a home-run cloud kitchen where a smartphone makes up all the digital assets.
In fact, when testing Butter in order to write this review, we used it on our Android tablet, and it worked quite well.
Understanding Butter’s Ease of Use
Another important factor to consider with any type of digital solution/portal is the ease of use. Let’s look at that for Butter.
When using the POS application, you’ll find it evident that a lot of effort has been put into making it easy to use. The home screen is divided into sections so that users can easily find the menus and sections that they need.
On the top is the information pertaining to business time, global time, shifts, etc., as well as the notification menu, profile menu, and “Sync” button. On the right are the various order types that you can tap on to initiate an order, while on the left are other useful menus, such as Running Orders, Bills, Settings, etc.
The UI is user-friendly, with color-coded elements used for indicating the closing time, occupied tables, due tables, etc.
On a scale of 1 to 10, the user-friendliness of this POS system can be fixed at 8.7.
Notable Features of Butter POS
Moving on, let’s take a look at some of the notable features that Butter offers.
1. Multiple order types, each with unique order flows
Butter lets you create different order types, such as Dine-in, Takeaway, Online Orders, etc. Each order type can be configured in a different manner and has its own unique order flow.
You can adjust settings individually for each order type.
For example, you can configure Dine-in orders to be paid instantly or after guests have eaten. In the former setting, the payment menu pops up after the order is sent to the kitchen. In the latter setting, the payment has to be initiated after going to the Running Orders menu, since guests would pay after they have eaten.
Below is a breakdown of the various order types that you can create, along with their respective features/functions.
| Type of Order | Standout Feature/Function |
| Dine-In | Butter offers excellent table management features for dine-in orders. You can add and organize tables in the POS system in different locations around the café/coffee shop.
You can allocate tables to customers simply with a tap, and then mark each table as Available, Occupied, or Due for Payment. |
| Takeaway | Takeaway orders can be configured to work the same way as dine-in orders, except that there is no table management involved. The order is placed, and when the customer arrives to pick it up, the payment can be easily processed. |
| Delivery | When placing an order for delivery, you can choose from customer profiles to specify phone numbers and home addresses with a tap. You can minimize hassle and make the process quicker for your regulars.
Once you’ve integrated Butter POS with a food delivery app like Uber Eats or DoorDash, you can also track the progress of each order. |
| Online Orders | Butter makes handling online orders very easy. When an order is placed via your café/coffee shop website, it can be seen in the “Online Orders” tab. You can view the accepted and rejected orders in organized lists. |
2. Multiple payment methods
The payment methods supported by this POS system are also quite impressive. You can enter payments as cash, card, online transfers, or with a house account.
The house account is a method of providing services to regular customers on credit.
After the payment has been made, there is an option to send the receipt to the customer via WhatsApp or email (although the WhatsApp feature is yet to be released; the buttons show a “Coming Soon” notice at the time this review was written).
Here is a breakdown of the various payment methods that you can use with Butter:
- Cash: When accepting a payment in cash, you can enter the tendered amount so that Butter works out the change for you. The tendered amount and change returned, etc., are all mentioned on the receipt.
- Card: When accepting a payment with a credit card, Butter makes sure to remind you that you can only enter the specific amount for the order. This feature helps to make sure that you don’t accidentally overcharge the customer.
- Online Transfer: The same happens when you process the payment with an online transfer. Butter makes sure that you don’t enter an amount exceeding that of the order.
- House Account: In order to process a payment with the house account, Butter asks for the manager’s login credentials. This is a safety feature that ensures that the house account method is not abused.
- Gift Card: If a customer wants to pay via gift card, there is an option for that on Butter as well. You can scan the gift card on the attached card reader, or enter the details manually.
Another good feature about Butter is that you can specify tips before the payment is processed.
If a customer wants to give a tip to the staff, you can click on the “Add Tips” button. The total bill is then reflected with the tip included, so that you can charge the full amount even when accepting a card payment or online transfer.
3. Multiple item categories, variations, and sizes
Another decent feature that you can enjoy with Butter is the menu management. The POS lets you create categories for better organization. You can, for example, make an “Italian” category where items like pasta and pizza are bracketed.
On top of this categorization, you can further create variations in each item by listing sizes/flavors. You can choose the required size/flavor before adding the item to the order.
Understanding Menu Types of Small and Large Establishments:
- Creating and Managing No-Category Menus: No-category menus are ideal for small establishments where the food offerings are very limited. In such a setting, instead of creating multiple categories with just one or two items, it’s better to list them all together in one place. With Butter’s, you can easily create and manage such menus for your café or coffee shop.
- Creating and Managing Category-Wise Menus: On the other hand, for larger establishments, categories become essential. Without categories, it can become very difficult to locate all the items. Thanks to Butter’s versatile menu management, it’s easy to build menus for such larger establishments without a worry.
4. Split checks
There’s a native “Split Payment” option in Butter that we found excellent. Instead of collecting the payment as a whole from one guest (leaving them to figure out the division among the group), you can make it easier by splitting the check for them.
In group dining, splitting checks is a common occurrence, and Butter provides a feature that makes it smooth and simple.
There are two ways to split bills with Butter POS:
- Split by Bank: Splitting the payment by bank allows the guests to make the payment from more than one card. This option is suitable for situations where the guests want to split the entire bill among themselves.
- Split by Item: Splitting the payment by item allows the guest to pay for the items that they each ordered. This is ideal for when the guests want to “go Dutch.”
5. Integration with third-party apps
Butter can be integrated with third-party delivery apps and food ordering apps, such as Grubhub and DoorDash.
You can instantly receive orders placed via these apps and process them in the POS. This feature is especially great for home cooks running cloud kitchens, as their business often relies solely on such orders.
Here are the apps that Butter currently supports:
- Grubhub
- DoorDash
- Uber Eats
Not only can you receive orders from these applications directly to Butter, but you can also track the delivery progress until it reaches the customer. You can stay in touch with the customer and give them updates regarding their order in real time.
6. Support for different outlets, counters, and individual order takers
Another excellent feature that we found in Butter is that it can act as a central portal for your entire business.
If you have multiple outlets and branches, you can create just one account in Butter and control everything from there. You can add outlets, users, set timings, view stats, etc., from the cloud app.
The individual counter operators and order takers can use their profiles in the POS application during their shifts.
In other words, Butter is very scalable. It’s not just a solution for one counter or one device. Rather, it’s a whole system that can be equipped for your entire business.
Here is a detailed breakdown of the features that Butter offers in this regard:
- User Management: Butter allows you to add users and manage their profiles with ease. You can assign roles and outlets to each user. You can also add contact details for each user, including their phone numbers and email addresses.
- Role Management: In the “Roles” menu (on the online Butter HQ/portal), you can add new roles, give them different names, and allow different permissions for each. For example, you can create roles such as “Manager,” “Cashier,” and “Order Taker,” and set different permissions for each of them.
- Outlet Management: The “Establishment” menu in the online portal lets you form an organizational hierarchy for your café/coffee shop business. You can specify holding companies and create profiles for various outlets. For each outlet, you can add contact details, adjust timings, and enable/disable integrations.
7. Sales analytics and insights
The sales and payments that you process with Butter are stored so that you can view them later on. These sales analytics and insights help you make informed decisions about your café/coffee shop.
You can, for example, see the quantities sold for each item along with the price. This can help you realize which items in the menu have a higher demand than the others.
To view the various sales analytics and insights, you can use the “Report Master” menu in the online portal. Here are some of the various tabs that you’ll see in the menu:
- Blockchain bills tracking: Offers a detailed and comprehensive pictorial view into the bills paid on a specific date at a particular outlet. Every change made to a bill is visible here, so that you can track the transaction from start to end.
- Bill-wise report: A report for a certain date range that shows the bills of sales made at an outlet.
- Refund Report: A report showing details regarding refunds made to the customers.
There are a number of other tabs/sections as well. The ones mentioned above can give you an idea of what type of data Butter provides.
8. Feedback collection
Guests can leave feedback on the POS system regarding the quality of their service. The good thing about this feature is that you can view the feedback yourself without worrying about it getting altered or toned down in any way when being relayed to you.
There is a dedicated “Feedback Management” tab in the “Report Master” menu on the online portal. Here is what you can do in the Feedback Management tab:
- Set feedback questions: You can specify the questions that the customer is asked, along with the type of answer that they have to give. For example, the answer type can be Star or Text.
- View feedback report: Here, you can view the feedback that your customers have left.
Is Butter Good for Other Types of Eateries?
Yes, Butter is a great POS option for not only cafés and coffee shops, but also other types of eateries and restaurants. The features it offers (and the manner in which they are provided) make it very versatile.
It can be used for a coffee shop, a café, a pizzeria, a food truck, a home kitchen business, and any other similar eatery. The pricing plans have range, and the software itself is very scalable.
Ending Thoughts
Butter is a decent POS software that can be used for coffee shops and cafés, as well as other types of eateries and restaurants. It has affordable pricing plans and is quite easy to use.
With Butter, you can enjoy a number of useful features and functions, which we have elaborated on in the review above.
The one downside that we noticed with this POS software is that the interface looks somewhat dated and patchy. It doesn’t have the sleekest appearance, and there are some loose ends that make it look a bit amateurishly developed.
Other than that, however, we couldn’t find anything in Butter that detracts from its excellence as a POS system.
