As promised in the last installment of this blog, following are a few more mistakes retailers and restaurant operators often make—but can avoid—when choosing and deploying technology solutions.

Everybody makes mistakes—in business and personal life alike. But some mistakes—including common errors retailers and restaurant operators make when selecting and installing technology—can be avoided. Here are some of the most common mistakes we at pcAmerica have seen operators make, and how to avoid them.

Congratulations to Tasti D-Lite on being voted as a Customer Engagement Innovator for their TastiRewards Customer Loyalty Program by Hospitality Technology Magazine! The Award honors restaurant companies for their outstanding vision and achievement in delivering technological excellence to the operation and guest experience.

“Be prepared” is, admittedly, the Girl Scout motto. But given such recent occurrences as Hurricane Irene, which caused problems for retailers and restaurant operations up and down the East Coast this past August, merchants should follow it as well with a few simple disaster preparedness strategies.

With Mobile POS, restaurants will be able to reduce or eliminate a customer’s wait time. Since timely customer service is such an important factor for ensuring repeat business, it is imperative to make sure customers are waiting the shortest amount of possible time.

It seems like every time you turn around, technology is changing. Thankfully, for the retail and restaurant industry, technology is not only changing, but also advancing. With Mobile POS systems becoming the latest trend in the industry, more restaurateurs are turning to mobile solutions to improve operational efficiency and the customer experience.

David Gosman, CEO of pcAmerica was recently featured on a podcast conducted by Integrated Solutions for Retailers Magazine that discussed how retailers can leverage social media to drive sales. During the podcast, Gosman was asked several questions about the advancement of marketing and how retailers are using social media to their advantage.

pcAmerica, a leading developer of point of sale software applications, will be exhibiting at VARTECH 2011 USA/Latin America from August 15-17 in Miami Beach, Florida at booth #431.

Additionally, think about printing the Web address of your email sign-up form on the bottom of point of sale receipts and invoices. Employees can even be asked to collect e-mail addresses over the phone when customers call your store or restaurant.

The first of these features is the option to integrate a security camera and DVR system to record in-store activity. Why is this important? Employee theft—caused by a combination of theft of cash and inventory along with the granting of unwarranted discounts by employees (a practice known as “sweethearting”) is one of the leading causes of retail shrink.