Ask your POS's AI which drinks really make money, then cut the ones that don't and hand handbooks and labor-rule research to ChatGPT
Rich Lee, co-founder of Spro Coffee Lab, a San Francisco coffee company with a coffee truck and several cafes, in Fresh Cup's Coffee Tech Stacks series (presented by Square)
Lee asks Square AI, the chatbot and analytics interface in Square's POS, questions about nine years of sales data: which drinks sell worst, which sell best on which days and hours, broken down by location. It showed that some syrup-heavy drinks he thought were popular don't sell enough to justify their prep labor, so he's planning a menu overhaul and cutting them. He uses ChatGPT to update employee handbooks, generate onboarding materials and research California-specific labor rules, and says AI helped him understand staff insurance policy rates and best practices for time-off requests.
Square $0 (free plan; processing fees apply); ChatGPT Free $0; Go $8/mo; Plus $20/mo; Pro $100/mo. We haven't checked which Square plans include Square AI.
Easy · or we set it up for $197
Square, ChatGPT, Square AI
The problem
Menu decisions were made from gut feel, and admin like employee handbooks, onboarding materials, California labor-rule research and payroll tip calculations ate up hours.
What happened
He says asking the data simple questions has been transformational and lets him decide per neighborhood "instead of going off what's in my head." On the low-performing drinks: "The effort is not worth the profit. So throw it out." Payroll tip calculations that took hours now take 20 to 30 minutes. Self-reported. The series is presented by Square, and Square AI is Square's own feature.
Quoted in the source: Rich Lee, co-founder, Spro Coffee Lab. Source: Fresh Cup: Coffee Tech Stacks: How Spro Coffee Lab's POS Data Helped the Brand Grow to Six Locations (2026-05-22) · Added 2026-11-04.
How to set it up yourself
- What Spro Coffee Lab does: the owner asks Square AI which drinks sell best and worst by day, hour and location, cuts the low-profit drinks, and uses ChatGPT for handbooks, onboarding and labor-rule research.
- Open your POS's AI assistant (or export item sales by location and hour to a spreadsheet) and ask for your 10 worst-selling items per location over the last year.
- Next to each, write how long it takes to make. Drinks that sell little and take long to prep are your cut list.
- Use ChatGPT to update your employee handbook and onboarding checklist from your current documents, and check any labor-law answer against your state's official labor department page before you rely on it.
- Rerun the sales questions a month after changing the menu to see whether speed and sales improved.
Copy-paste prompt
Here is my item sales export for {TIME PERIOD} by location and hour: {PASTE DATA}. Here is roughly how many minutes each drink takes to make: {PREP TIMES}. For each location, list the 10 lowest-selling items, and flag any item that is both in the bottom 20% for sales and above {X} minutes of prep. Show your math in a table and don't guess at numbers that aren't in the data.We set up one AI automation in your tools, live within 48 hours of getting access, for $197. No call needed. Founding price for our first 10 customers (regular $297).
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Tools used
Square
Point of sale and payments with AI assistant features.
From $0 (free plan; processing fees apply) (checked 2026-10-31)
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ChatGPT
General AI assistant for writing, research, brainstorming and analysis.
From Free $0; Go $8/mo; Plus $20/mo; Pro $100/mo (checked 2026-11-03)
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Checked prices: Square: from $0 (free plan; processing fees apply) (verified 2026-10-31) · ChatGPT: from Free $0; Go $8/mo; Plus $20/mo; Pro $100/mo (verified 2026-11-03)
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