SkyTab Provides Flexible, Scalable POS Solutions for Restaurants, Bars, and Hospitality Providers

In a Nutshell: SkyTab distinguishes itself in the crowded restaurant, hospitality, and food-and-beverage point-of-sale and payment space by offering better value, convenience, and flexibility than competitors. SkyTab requires zero upfront cost and a low monthly fee for the works: hardware, software, and support, including on-site installation and a lifetime hardware warranty. The platform also includes many wishlist features at no additional cost and provides third-party integrations with providers like Uber Eats, DoorDash, and many business and accounting platforms. Endorsed by hospitality influencer Jon Taffer, SkyTab is the go-to restaurant POS when front-to-back efficiency and a great customer experience are paramount.

The pandemic accelerated already growing demand in the restaurant, bar, and hospitality space for an integrated point-of-sale and payment solution to meet customers where they are. This solution would need to be a frictionless experience able to manage all aspects of the business from the front of the house to the back office.

SkyTab, released in 2021 by global commerce technology provider Shift4, meets and exceeds those expectations. The hardware, software, and support solution can handle online, mobile, and contactless ordering and payments, reservations, waitlists, marketing, and loyalty programs in a flexible, scalable, all-in-one package.

It’s an operating system for restaurants, the SkyTab homepage states. Jon Taffer, hospitality influencer and star of the reality television series “Bar Rescue,” agrees. In 2023, Taffer teamed with SkyTab to launch a SkyTab Rescue Mission contest, helping winners streamline, enhance, and future-proof their businesses through SkyTab.

It’s not surprising that Shift4 built SkyTab considering its wealth of POS and payment space expertise. With more than 25 years of experience, Shift4 processes more than 3.5 billion transactions amounting to more than $200 billion annually. It serves industries including food and beverage, lodging and hospitality, airlines and travel, sports and entertainment, and casinos and gaming with a complete end-to-end commerce ecosystem.

Shift4 Marketing Manager Nicole Walters characterizes SkyTab as the culmination of Shift4’s expertise and a natural evolution from previous solutions. It reaches beyond restaurants to bars and nightclubs, food-service businesses, sports and event arenas, and any place where people are hungry or thirsty.

“It’s a combination of our previous products wrapped up into one,” Walters said. “The coolest thing is that it’s very scalable — we support local mom-and-pop places, quick-service and full-service establishments, and even franchises and large national enterprises.”

The POS and payments space for the market segments SkyTab serves is crowded, so the solution differentiates itself in many ways. For example, SkyTab charges zero upfront costs for the combined hardware, software, and support solution, while many competitors charge for hardware and various add-on features.

This zero-upfront-cost solution bundles all the features necessary to run a food-and-beverage operation, including online ordering, marketing and loyalty capabilities, contactless functionality, and the power to take reservations and maintain a waitlist.

Another value-added benefit is 24/7 customer support, including on-site installation and local support, which Walters characterizes as essential.

“Merchants feel a lot more confident having a professional there to train them how to use it,” Walters said. “We don’t leave them in the dark with an awesome product but no idea how to plug it in.”

A lifetime hardware warranty takes the uncertainty out of working with SkyTab. SkyTab hardware can include a next-generation POS with a modern yet discreet design that fits a variety of spaces. SkyTab also offers a mobile POS to serve guests from table to curbside. The mobile POS solution can accept orders and payments anywhere and includes a customer survey capability.

Other hardware includes SkyTab Glass, purpose-built with a complete POS solution housed within an 8-inch screen. There’s also a kitchen display system with an intuitive interface, a large 22-inch display, and touchscreen controls to connect the front of the house seamlessly to the folks in the back who make the magic happen.

All of this requires a transparent monthly fee. Payment processing pricing options enable cost-competitive credit card processing and additional business integrations. SkyTab also offers an Advantage Program to offset card-processing fees.

“They’re getting a lot of value in that monthly fee,” Walters said.

The not-so-secret sauce that turns SkyTab into a business powerhouse is its ability to accommodate multiple third-party integrations. SkyTab’s POS software seamlessly connects with many of the most popular solutions in various categories to extend functionality beyond operations into management and beyond.

Online order and delivery integrations include the familiar Uber Eats and DoorDash solutions that took root during the pandemic. The system also integrates with DoorDash Delivery, enabling DoorDash drivers to fulfill direct delivery orders.

Beyond those online ordering stalwarts, SkyTab integrates with Menufy to create brand-based ordering websites, TakeOut7 to market around takeout orders, Waitbusters for waitlist management, and Folos, a versatile online ordering system.

As impressive as these integrations are, they’re only the beginning of what SkyTab offers to growth-oriented owners and managers. The kicker is that the strategic use of business integrations through SkyTab allows restaurateurs to build an end-to-end management solution.

Inventory management solutions help teams understand inflows and outflows to make informed purchasing decisions. They include the liquor management solution BarVision and Craftable, a procurement, accounting, and business intelligence provider.

Other inventory management integrations include Orca, Yellow Dog Software, and MarketMan, ensuring SkyTab can plug in quickly to existing infrastructure and make it work better.

Business management integrations enable personalized marketing campaigns and provide tools to improve the customer experience. Some of the biggies in this category include the Mailchimp marketing automation system and the OpenTable reservation platform.

Others include the automated website creator Fisherman, 7Shifts for employee management, and The Call Concierge, an intelligent call and text automation system.

Accounting platforms, including Shogo, DAVO Sales Tax, TipHaus, and Restaurant365, connect with SkyTab to place operations under a single umbrella. Property management platforms, including InnQuest, Ezee, OPERA 5, and OPERA Cloud, do the same for properties.

Integrations help SkyTab expand its reach and deliver a seamless experience.

“The back office also connects to social platforms,” Walters said. “That’s nice because it brings it all into one.”

The pandemic may have spurred the trend toward all-in-one management solutions in SkyTab’s markets, but it’s a tendency that’s not going away. Today’s restaurant, bar, and hospitality patrons expect service and payment capabilities to follow them wherever they go.

“Just from my experience, you walk into a restaurant, there’s a QR code on the table, you pull up the menu, and there’s so many different ways to order and pay,” Walters said.

SkyTab enables that, and customer stories attest to it. A fast-growing pizza-chain customer praised SkyTab’s user-friendly interface, excellent features, and exceptional customer support. A family-built winery chose the platform due to its ease of use and zero up-front costs.

A neighborhood sandwich shop remarked that using SkyTab increased tips and sales. And a coffee shop hiring people of all abilities appreciated the platform’s customizability.

Watch on

The Shoney’s family-oriented chain deploys SkyTab in all its restaurants, and Live! entertainment districts report supercharged operations and an improved customer experience at dozens of locations.

Meanwhile, Jon Taffer of Bar Rescue fame, who operates Taffer’s Tavern in Georgia, Massachusetts, and Washington, D.C., considers SkyTab the best POS solution for growing a food business.

The SkyTab team includes internal and external salespeople, the Lighthouse Business Manager to provide tools and insights to make data-driven back-office decisions, and the InCharge mobile app to transform back-office management into an anytime/anywhere task.

On-site installation support translates into enthusiastic customer survey ratings to underscore the positive customer stories published on the SkyTab website. The SkyTab team plans to continually upgrade the platform and experience to meet customer needs and serve the restaurant, bar, and hospitality public.

“We’re always enhancing our products and services and investing back into the platform,” Walters said. “We want our customers to stay with us over the long haul.”