Question 1

What makes Optics different?

Accepted Answer

Optics is built for venues, mobile bars, and caterers who serve event by event, not the same crowd every night. You're serving large groups who consume at different rates depending on the event, and they're choosing from what's on the bar for that event. The variables change every time. Optics tracks those trends, summarizes each event, and builds reports that help you plan for the next one, so you're not guessing.If you serve events, you need a system that can:Track usage, cost, and profitability per eventAccount for packages with open bar tiers, per-person pricing, hour-based serviceAvoid having to stop and ring in drink after drink during cocktail hour rushSpot red flags specific to event service, like an over-pouring or offering package that's bleeding marginPrint documents relevant to their bar team, rather than burying details in a long BEO

Question 2

Who can use Optics?

Accepted Answer

Any business that runs an event-based bar program: wedding and event venues, mobile bar services, and caterers adding beverage service to an event. If your bar pours for different guest counts and different crowds night to night instead of the same regulars, Optics is built for you.

Question 3

What does Optics do that my POS doesn't?

Accepted Answer

A POS tells you what rang up. It doesn't know what you poured, what you're planning for next Saturday, or what your last twelve events say about the one coming up. A spreadsheet has the same problem: it tells you what happened last time, but it can't analyze patterns across past events to tell you what to expect next time, that work falls on the bar manager, if it happens at all. Optics uses your venue's real historical event data to predict future needs, so past events actively inform smarter decisions instead of sitting in a tab no one reopens.

Question 4

How long does it take to set up?

Accepted Answer

Most venues are up and running in 24 hours. Setup is simple:Add your product stock listCreate your package templatesAdd users, and set delivery and pickup schedulesEnter your upcoming events and selections

Question 5

What if pricing on my products changes?

Accepted Answer

Your stock list is always live and editable. Updating a cost only affects future events, it never changes the numbers on past, locked events, so your historical reports always stay accurate.

Question 6

How much time and money will this actually save me?

Accepted Answer

If you're currently managing your bar program on spreadsheets, the real cost isn't just the time, it's everything a spreadsheet can't catch. > A manual, pen-and-paper bar count can take hours to do properly, and most venues are counting weekly. That’s $50-$100 or more per count, and $200 or more a month for a venue counting weekly.> Bars that don't compare what was poured against what was sold typically lose an estimated 15 to 20 percent or more of their liquor inventory to shrinkage, theft, and over-pouring.> A 5 percent improvement in inventory accountability corresponds to roughly a 1 percent reduction in liquor cost. For a bar doing $50,000 a month in sales, that's about $500 a month back in your pocket.> At weddings specifically, roughly 10 percent of what's served, food and drink combined, goes to waste, much of it tied to over-ordering without a clear read on real consumption.Optics starts at $132 a month, less than the labor cost of manual counting alone, before you even account for the margin lost to shrinkage, over-pouring, and over-ordering that a spreadsheet can't catch. For a venue that hosts ~70 events a year, that's just $22 per event compared to the hundreds saved in labor and product.

Question 7

What sort of reports will I have access to?

Accepted Answer

Profit breakdown for every event, cost, margin, and drinks servedPlanned versus poured comparison by eventMonthly overview of total events, revenue, profit, and COGS%Product-level insight into what's popular and what's sitting on the shelf

Question 8

Does it work with my current POS?

Accepted Answer

Optics is built to eliminate the need to ring in every drink, so most venues use it standalone. If you run a cash or consumption bar with an existing POS, you can still enter starting and ending inventory in Optics and match usage against your POS report for a full picture.

Question 9

If I don't love it, can I cancel?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Optics is available monthly or annually, and you can cancel anytime

Question 10

How do I contact customer support if I have questions?

Accepted Answer

Email us anytime at team@optics.bar and we'll get back to you.

Log In

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS