As part of our ongoing tracking of the industry, the Beverage Information Group surveys our readers quarterly, collecting trends/sentiment data from distributors, on-premise and off-premise operators. For our most recent study, conducted in May 2024, we polled readers about their on-premise and in-store technology use and plans.
When it comes to point-of-sale (POS) systems, Liquor POS is the preferred options for retailers, while more of the bar/restaurant respondents use Toast. Just over 60% of the stores use a hardware local POS vs. cloud-hosted, compared with 50% of restaurants.
The plurality of both on- and off-premise businesses have been using their current POS systems from one to five years. Most respondents — 84% of retailers and 94% of on-premise operators — say that their POS system is not integrated with their social platforms.
What features do operators consider important in a POS system? For stores, inventory control was the most desirable feature, cited by 56%, followed by a customer-facing screen, customer sales retention, customer sales retention, alternative payment methods and mobile app availability. Bars and restaurants were most interested in systems with alternative payment methods (60%), then mobile app availability and inventory control (tied), a customer-facing screen and customer sales retention (also tied).
Here are some highlights from the technology survey. For more information about our surveys and for pricing information to add questions to upcoming surveys, contact Debbie Rittenberg at drittenberg@epgacceleration.com.




Feature photo by Stephen Dawson on Unsplash.
Melissa Dowling is editor of Cheers magazine, our on-premise sister publication. Contact her at mdowling@epgmediallc.com, and read her recent pieces, Brandy and Cognac Trends in 2024/25.
We have found that using specialized reporting helps us track customers buying habits regarding what we should order from the suppliers. A great example is the Market Basket Report and A.I. ordering tool in the Cloud Retailer Liquor Store POS Profit System. https://cloudretailer.com/