Pizza Unlimited

About the store

Stepping inside this quaint little pizza parlor in Rushville, Illinois, you will immediately feel right at home.  The second you sink your teeth into what diners all over the area have proclaimed to be the “best pizza in Illinois”, you’ll know why Pizza Unlimited is so popular among the locals.  However, don’t let the name fool you.  They may have perfected pizza making, but Pizza Unlimited has a pretty extensive menu that doesn’t just include pizza.  “We are more than just pizza,” says owner Shiela Ward.  “We also offer a fantastic salad bar as well as a variety of wraps, sandwiches, and pastas.  We are in a community of 3,000 people and take pride in serving our community and the surrounding counties.”

How Pose has helped us

When I purchased the restaurant back in 1995, we had an older type cash register,” says Shiela.  “We had to keep a list of items and prices and everything had to be looked up and keyed in. We had no way to tell exactly what we were selling.  All I had was a roll of calculator tape with numbers.”

Shiela made her archaic cash register work for several years before switching over to another point-of-sale system.  However, the new system didn’t offer her much more. There was no way for her to print reports, only thermal receipts with purchase history. However, Shiela noticed that the thermal receipts faded and, overtime, she lost all her sales data. Fed up, she began researching a better point-of-sale option for her business.

Moving to the cloud

“Prior to Pose, I had initially gone with another software-based system, but it was very cumbersome and complicated to program.  I ended up sending it back after hours of trying to input my menu items,” she said.  “I decided I needed a web-based system that I could program and access from anywhere, one that would allow me to store reports in the cloud so I wouldn’t have to worry about a machine crashing and losing everything. It also needed to be easy for me to program and for my employees to operate.  When I found Pose, it fit all the criteria I was looking for!”

Updating products is a piece of cake

Shiela found out quickly that not only did Pose offer everything she needed, with all the features baked right in, but that it was also easy to enter her product information and easy to make updates, add specials, delete promotions, and track sales.  “Plus, my employees LOVE using it,” she said.

Being a small business, Shiela was also looking for a point-of-sale that was affordable, but also platform agnostic.  “I wanted something that was web-based, yet I didn’t want to use an iPad or have to purchase other expensive equipment.  I ended up buying a laptop, a cash drawer, and a receipt printer and I was ready to go,” she said.  “I like that Pose is web-based because at any time and from anywhere, I can login and review sales along with graphs that display our sales totals by the hour.  I can also make menu and price changes from home without spending hours at the restaurant.  We also added a second terminal in our back kitchen for deliveries.  When I change a menu item on one terminal, both are updated!  With our old system, I had to program both machines separately.”

A POS with outstanding customer service

In addition to the simplicity and ease of use, Shiela is also thrilled with the support she gets from Pose.

“The support staff has been great! Anytime we have a question, I drop an email and have an answer almost immediately,” she said.  “Pose is always there to help and that is important to me! If I am trying to run a business, I don’t have a lot of time and they know that and are there to help.”

Deciding to go with a new point-of-sale system for a small business can definitely be nerve-wracking.  Shiela’s experience was no different.  “I was nervous about getting everything set up and actually starting to use Pose,” she said.  “However, if I had known it was going to be so easy, I would have done it long before I did.  The employees were able to learn it quickly and we have had very few issues.”

Detailed reports downloaded from home

Shiela went on to say that life with Pose has been so much easier.  “Figuring up sales is simplified because reports can be run so easily. Tracking of menu items to see what is selling and what is not has proved helpful in revamping our menu. If I’m away, I can check sales and close out the daily totals without having to physically be at the restaurant, and I really like that!  Efficiency has improved with Pose due to everything (reports, sales, etc) being right at your fingertips no matter where you are. It saves me lots of time gathering up our sales info, tracking gift card sales and us, tracking sale of specials, etc.  As far as saving money…. time is money!”

If you’re in the Rushville, Illinois area, stop by for a slice!

Learn more about Pizza Unlimited