In a Nutshell
pros
- First dedicated iPad POS system
- More than 300 features
- Works with businesses in 93 countries
cons
- No Android POS system
- Not suited to non-hospitality businesses
Ideal For
- Restaurants and coffee shops
- Bars and breweries
- Food trucks
- Concession stands
- Cafeterias
Why Go With Lavu
Most food and drinks businesses still use legacy point-of-sale systems with clunky, outdated hardware and software. But not users of Lavu, which has a POS system for iPad that caters directly to restaurants, coffee shops, and other hospitality businesses. Everything about the Lavu POS is designed around the unique demands of food and drink businesses – from sending orders directly from the customer’s table to the kitchen, to breaking down menus into logical groups, to monitoring inventory levels.
What’s On Offer
The Lavu POS system includes 300+ features, many of which can be grouped into the following categories:
- Real-time sales and labor reporting
- Real-time inventory management and alerts
- Menu and layout customization
- Accessing reports from on the road
- Management of labor and food costs from one easy system
- Synchronizing data from multiple restaurant or franchise locations
- Special integrations designed for your type of business
- 24/7 customer support by phone, email, or chat
Ease of Use
Lavu works with restaurants, bars, and other types of food and drink businesses in the United States and 92 other countries. To find out more about how this POS system can help your business, contact Lavu to schedule a demo. One of the great things about using Lavu for your point-of-sale requirements is that it’s super easy to get started. The software can be downloaded from the App Store, just like any other mobile app. Lavu provides 24/7 support, including the option of paying extra for an onboarding service plus escalated support. Lavu also offers a free trial to new customers.
What’s Unique About Lavu?
Lavu was the first dedicated restaurant POS system for iPad to appear on the App Store. Although many other dedicated mobile POS apps have since arrived on the market, Lavu continues to stand out with its 300+ features.
Perhaps the most unique thing about Lavu is that it has features for all different types of food and drink businesses. Lavu was founded out of the realization that restaurants have specific needs that differ from other businesses like hotels or retailers. Over the years, it has developed and integrated features that cater to businesses like coffee shops, ice cream stores, and food trucks. Each of these businesses needs different features, and Lavu is there to save the day.
As an example, here is how Lavu serves bars, nightclubs, breweries, music venues, and similar types of businesses:
- Servers or bartenders can take orders on an iPad or other iOS device.
- If the business has a kitchen, orders can be sent directly from where the customers are sitting or standing to a printer or display system in the kitchen.
- Bartenders can process payments from where the customer is located, saving the customer the trouble of having to go up to the bar or register.
- Servers can also use Lavu’s preauthorization feature to create bar tabs when a customer or group of customers place their first orders.
And here’s how Lavu serves the rapidly growing food truck industry:
- Gives your business the ability to take orders from customers while they are waiting in line.
- Includes other time-saving features like emailed receipts and electronic signatures.
- Adds customer names, phone numbers, and email addresses into customer database, helping build lasting customer relationships.
- Lets you access reports and records from anywhere with an internet connection, including a breakdown of sales in different locations.
- Lets you track all inventory in one place, including purchase orders and quantities, plus notifications when items are running low.
- Lightweight equipment that takes up a minimal amount of space.
- Offline mode allows food trucks to keep operating if the Internet goes down.
Customer Support
Lavu US-based team offers 24/7 customer support. Business owners can connect with Lavu by chat, email, or phone. The Lavu website has a comprehensive knowledge base with detailed instructions on everything from setting up and customizing your software, to day to day operations, to integrating third-party apps.
Pricing & Discounts
Lavu offers 3 types of plans: Starter, Growth, and Optimize. Plan prices depends on whether you sign up for Lavu Pay Cash Discount Program.
The Cash Discount Program is a rewards program that helps restaurants cut fees by including non-cash adjustments in bills or providing a cash option for customers during payment. When customers pay with cash, they will get a discount on the bill total and offset your credit card processing fee. You can try this program with no risk or contract.
Lavu plans include access to hundreds of integrations and features like:
- Bar management
- Digital menu boards
- Events management
- Gift and loyalty programs
- Kitchen display software
- Online ordering
- Payment processing
- Restaurant management
Lavu also offers add-ons to every pricing category like:
- Additional terminals - $50/each/mo
- MenuDrive Online Ordering - $99/mo
- DoorDash Order Sync - $70/mo
- Kiosk - $50/mo
- Kitchen Display System - $30/mo
- Third-party payment processing - $20/mo/per terminal
Refer a Restaurant
The company offers a great referral program that can help make a dent in POS costs; For referring a new restaurant to Lavu, you will receive a $500 cash bonus.
Contract Terms
Despite having 1-year and 3-year contract terms, Lavu offers great discounts upon signup. For 1-year contracts, pricing runs standard. For 3-year contract, you can expect to get 0% no-interest financing on hardware. You can also pay upfront for your software and hardware and get a 10% discount.
Since Lavu is used in over 65 countries across the world, they even offer subsidies for your contract terms depending on where you're running your business.
Like other POS systems, it’s worth weighing up your equipment requirements before signing on. If you’re only planning to use the app, then the start up and exit costs are low. But if you’re planning on purchasing other equipment, such as a physical terminal, then it can take some time to make a return on investment.
About Lavu
Andy Lim founded Lavu in 2010 after eating dinner with a friend and noticing how frustrated the restaurant owner was with his POS system. He based the company in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and it quickly expanded to more than 90 countries all around the world. In 2015, Lavu received a $15 million investment from Aldrich Capital Partners, the largest Series A venture investment in New Mexico state history. The next year, Lavu partnered with PayPal to provide restaurants with low rates. As a result, Lavu has helped its customers make significant savings on transaction costs.
Physical Address
Lavu, Inc.
201 3rd St NW, Suite 600
Albuquerque NM 87102, USA
