Lavu POS Review: Is Lavu Right for Your Business?

Lavu is an iPad POS that has been supporting restaurants since 2010. This competitively priced restaurant POS system combines excellent built-in ingredient-level inventory, online ordering, and tons of third-party integrations. With payment partnerships that include PayPal, you can customize Lavu to fit a variety of restaurant types.

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What We Recommend Lavu For

Lavu combines low cost with a high degree of customization at an affordable price point. Lavu frequently ranks as one of our top restaurant POS systems.

In particular, we recommend Lavu for:

• Restaurants that want a customizable iPad POS: Lavu uses iPads and other iOS devices to create an incredibly customizable POS ecosystem. It is an incredibly full-featured iPad POS.
• Small restaurants that want inventory control: Lavu’s built-in inventory module consistently ranks as one of our favorites and offers robust functions at an entry-level price.
• Restaurants that need online ordering and delivery: Lavu owns the online delivery management software MenuDrive, one of our top choices for a free-standing online ordering app.

When Lavu Would Not Be a Good Fit

• Restaurants with weak internet access: Lavu is a mobile POS, so if you don’t have a reliable internet signal, you won’t get the system’s full use. For this reason, Lavu is not one of our favorites for food truck POS systems.
• Restaurants that want QuickBooks integration: This POS has a ton of third-party integrations, but QuickBooks is not one of them. You’ll need a Shogo account to connect Lavu POS with QuickBooks. If direct QuickBooks integration is important to you, check out ShopKeep by Lightspeed.
• Restaurants that want to place vendor orders through their POS: Lavu’s inventory is pretty robust, but it cannot communicate directly with vendor order platforms. If your busy restaurant needs this function, Upserve is a better bet.

Need more options? See our ranking of the top POS for small businesses to find your best fit.

Lavu POS Overview

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Lavu Pricing

Lavu pricing starts at $69 per month for a single terminal. This price requires paying for a full year of software fees upfront. At one time, this was a very competitive price point, but in the aftermath of COVID-19, competitors like Toast have lowered their entry-level price. Now, $69 per month puts Lavu in line with competitors like TouchBistro, Lightspeed, and Toast.

Lavu also has a unique month-to-month software subscription. For a higher monthly fee (Lavu’s sales team once quoted me $79 per month), you can sidestep lengthy service contracts. In my experience, this month-to-month rate is like a secret menu item—the sales team doesn’t advertise it; you have to ask about it directly. If you can get it, a monthly subscription allows you to experience Lavu before committing long term. It is also an excellent fit for seasonal restaurants that need a POS for only a few months at a time.

Lavu Payments

Lavu is flexible when it comes to payments. You can use LavuPay or opt for a third-party processor. Lavu integrates with popular payment gateways Vantiv, Moneris, and Heartland. LavuPay says that it offers the lowest processing rates, so it is a good idea to get a quote from other processors to negotiate the best rates for your restaurant.

Adding gift cards to your Lavu POS via LavuPay requires an additional monthly subscription. You’ll need to contact Lavu sales directly to get a custom quote. However, you don’t have to be a LavuPay customer to issue and redeem gift cards, as it can accept gift cards hosted by integrated processors like Heartland.

Lavu is compatible with built-in EMV-compliant tap, dip, and swipe card readers and mobile readers. As such, you can accept contactless near field communication (NFC) payments and mobile wallet payments like Apple Pay. The system also supports online payments for orders placed via the MenuDrive module. Meanwhile, PayPal integration allows small restaurants to start receiving payments with only a PayPal merchant account.

Lavu Hardware

Lavu runs on iPads, iPhones, and iPod touch devices that run iOS 11 or later. Since you can download the software directly from App Store, it is easy to use Apple devices you already own. The Lavu support website walks you through the steps to configure compatible devices. You can use iPhones or iPod touch devices for tableside ordering and mobile card readers to process tableside payments. Its KDS operates on iPads or Epson monitors with bump bars.

Lavu is a streamlined iPad POS.
(Image from Lavu)

To customize your POS configuration, Lavu also sells these peripheral hardware components:

When you purchase hardware directly from Lavu, you have the option to lease rather than buy. The lease program can make a POS system more accessible for small restaurants, though hardware leases come with a long-term service contract. The lease contract can last up to three years and be incredibly difficult to cancel. Many negative online reviews of Lavu are from hardware lease customers who regretted enrolling in a hardware lease.

It’s also worth noting that Lavu no longer supports the Lavu Local Server (LLS) installation, which provided better offline functionality, particularly for KDS setups.

Lavu POS Features

Lavu contains a wealth of restaurant-supporting functions like ingredient-level inventory with order management, online ordering, and employee scheduling. The system also includes foundational restaurant POS functions like seat and course numbers, check splitting by item or seat number, pre-authorized bar tabs, multiple modification menus, and customizable floor plans.

Lavu accepts gift cards and party deposits and allows you to create promotional menus for events like happy hours. Lavu’s POS software, KDS, and self-order kiosk tools can all be downloaded directly from App Store. With the addition of more than 100 third-party integrations, you can configure Lavu to do any imaginable restaurant-specific task.

We’ll explore Lavu’s mobile ordering, inventory, customer management, customization options, and reporting below. In addition to those features, Lavu also supports:

• Workforce management: Lavu POS allows customizable employee permissions, logs staff hours, and has a built-in scheduling module that supports digital shift trades. This system can also automate your tip pools and tip outs based on employee roles, hours worked, or even split.
• Online resources: Lavu’s online employee portal allows your team to view their schedules and make shift trades. Searchable Server handbooks and Manager handbooks on the Lavu support site bolster your training operations.
• Integrations: This system hosts over 100 third-party integrations and continually adds more. You can find an integration for any restaurant task the POS itself lacks, from reservations management to employee sales contest tools.
• Accounting: Track and identify costs and sales in a general ledger (GL) report. Attach relevant account numbers to specific line items in the GL to streamline accounting processes.

Lavu Mobile Ordering and Delivery

Lavu owns the online ordering and delivery management software MenuDrive. This tool works as the native online ordering solution for the Lavu POS and is also a free-standing tool for non-Lavu restaurants. MenuDrive helps you design vivid, branded menus that fit your restaurant design. The platform is so easy to navigate that many MenuDrive users can get online ordering set up in a single hour.

The MenuDrive module allows you to create custom delivery zones and set delivery fees for them. The delivery routing tools integrate with your customer database to store customer delivery preferences and information. In the Lavu dashboard, you can assign deliveries to drivers and email turn by turn directions with delivery information to your drivers’ smartphones. An integration with DoorDash delivery allows you to use third-party drivers for a flat-rate fee.

Lavu stores customer delivery information for quick order processing.
(Image from Lavu  )

In MenuDrive, you can also create customer categories and use them to tailor promotions and email campaigns. Lavu does not list the price for adding the online ordering module to its POS (the Lavu website directs you to get a custom quote). The free-standing MenuDrive app is priced at $149 per month, but I would imagine POS subscribers could negotiate a lower rate.

Lavu Inventory

Like competitors TouchBistro and Lightspeed Restaurant, Lavu includes ingredient-level inventory in its baseline POS software—though Lavu’s inventory is slightly more automated than those systems. Lavu’s inventory module allows you to build orders in the POS, but it cannot place orders directly with vendors.

You can organize your orders in Lavu and create POs for them, but you’ll still need to contact your vendors directly to place the orders. The PO function keeps your orders organized and saves you time entering new products as you receive them. When you enter ingredients into Lavu inventory, note where they are located in your restaurant and create categories for easy inventory counting.

Lavu alerts you to low stock in real time, directly in the POS.
(Image from Lavu)

Additionally, you can customize the weights and units of measure to track raw ingredients the way you use them. When it comes to inventory reporting, you have the option to figure your Cost of Goods Sold (CoGS) based on the average price you paid for an ingredient for a certain timeframe, or set reports to calculate First In/First Out (FIFO) style. FIFO calculations will use the price of the oldest stock you purchased to figure your costs even more precisely.

Lavu Customer Management

Lavu’s customer relationship management (CRM) and customer loyalty features come at an additional, custom-quoted price. Enabling this module prompts your staff to enroll customers in your loyalty program when they place orders. You can issue loyalty cards or use customer telephone numbers as member numbers. Once enrolled, customers can use loyalty numbers across multiple locations.

You can also customize discounts to apply when customers reach a pre-set sales threshold, and your staff can apply the discounts directly on the payment screen. User permissions allow you to choose whether manager approval is needed to process loyalty discounts.

Alternatively, you can build your Lavu loyalty system on a third-party integration like Wisely, which can also organize your dining room seating. According to the Lavu website, nearly a dozen more loyalty apps are on deck for integration in the coming months.

Lavu Customization

Lavu’s essential POS functions are excellent support for streamlined small restaurant operations. If you want to extend the POS functionality, you can choose built-in modules for loyalty, online ordering, self-order kiosks, and digital menu boards. Lavu easily accommodates the massive number of modifications a pizza restaurant needs with a separate modifier category for pizzas, specifically. You can activate the pizza modifiers with a couple of clicks in the manager dashboard and create options for various crusts, sauces, and toppings.

Lavu integrates directly with more than 100 third-party apps that provide reservations, employee scheduling, third-party delivery, and inventory. Restaurants that host a large number of private events will find integrations with event management software, like event Rental Systems.

Lavu could improve one major integration category, though: accounting. Currently, Lavu does not host pre-built integrations with QuickBooks, Xero, or other popular small business accounting software. While the system does integrate with the comprehensive restaurant management platforms Restaurant365 and Compeat, those tools are more robust than small restaurants need. If you are a QuickBooks user who wants to automate your accounting, you’ll have to build the integration yourself via Lavu’s open API or create a Shogo account, which requires an additional monthly subscripton.

Lavu Reporting

For an affordable cloud POS, Lavu’s reporting functions are excellent. The filter and sub-filter menus run along the top of the report screens and feature multiple dropdowns to support quick report customization. You can drill down to precisely the sales or cost data you want to see for the precise time frame you want to analyze. You can easily export reports in CSV files to share with bookkeepers or create spreadsheets for more in-depth analysis.

Lavu’s management dashboard shows your restaurant’s performance at a glance.
(Image from Lavu)

Lavu’s management dashboard shows sales and stock trends in dynamic charts and graphs. While it stops short of competitors like TouchBistro that allow you to set and display daily and weekly and targets, Lavu’s dashboard helps you identify where to make changes that will affect your bottom line. The navigation menu on the left side of the control panel lets you easily move to dashboards for inventory or workforce management to gather more in-depth information. You can also create POs based on your low stock alerts and adjust your employee schedule from the control panel.

Ease of Use

Like most iPad POS systems, Lavu is easy to navigate. Checks scroll on the left side of the screen, with order buttons on the right. You can attach images to menu items to speed orders and use forced modifiers to build combos. This is a little granular, but I like the faint notebook-style lines that appear on Lavu’s order screen; it helps you see errors before sending orders to the kitchen.

On the kitchen side, Lavu keeps it simple. The POS uses industry-standard Epson printers and iPad or Epson KDS screens. The KDS is vibrantly color-coded, distinguishing between in-house, take out, and delivery orders.

Lavu’s KDS is low-frills, which some kitchens really love.
(Image from Lavu)

Managers will like the Pilot reporting app, especially the built-in schedule features. The baseline system keeps all your scheduling in the POS and also supports online shift exchanges, ensuring that your desk won’t be covered in easily lost Post-it Note requests from your team. Lavu’s online staff training handbooks and searchable support site help you design comprehensive training programs. The ability to download the software from App Store lets you add features when you need them without waiting for an installation team.

Customer-facing kiosks and online order screens are excellent. They allow customers to take care of themselves while they are steeped in your restaurant’s branding. Combo building and menu descriptions within the online ordering module is exceptionally intuitive.

Overall, the system is streamlined and easy to use. However, there is one major caveat. Lavu was designed to be a mobile restaurant POS, and the system’s great features do not function well offline.

Restaurant Software Alternatives

Between built-in functions and third-party integrations, Lavu has most bases covered. There are, however, a few circumstances where you might be happier with a different POS.

What Users Think of Lavu POS

In positive Lavu POS reviews, users mention how easy it is to get started with the system. Many users also note the low cost and the incredible number of included features. Industry experts also find a lot to applaud in this system, though the user review scores are lower than many Lavu competitors.

• Finances Online: The expert-based Smartscore rating gives Lavu an 8.9 out of 10, while an aggregate of Lavu user reviews rates the system as 4.3 out of 5 based on 26 reviews.
• G2: Lavu earns a rating of 3.5 out of 5 based on 81 customer reviews.
• Capterra: Lavu earns a rating of 3.25 out of 5 based on 88 user reviews.

A survey of online Lavu reviews performed by Finances Online gives the system a user satisfaction rating of 88%. This rating is lower than many comparable POS systems, so it’s clear that not all Lavu users are wowed. Negative Lavu POS reviews mention long wait times for customer support and glitches with the mobile reporting app. Some users who have signed onto hardware leases also wish they had explored Lavu more deeply before committing to a three-year contract.

Bottom Line

Lavu POS offers a ton of restaurant supporting features at a reasonable price. It is mobile-optimized and operates on iPads, iPhones, and iPod touch devices. You can download the POS software directly to iOS devices from App Store. This highly customizable system does require regular administrative attention, but if you have the time to spend, Lavu can be an excellent addition to many different types of restaurants.

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