October 2016 - inresto

Importance of Restaurant Inventory Management Software

Posted on 31/10/201611/11/2020 by inresto

The food and beverage industry is one of the confronting businesses when it comes to amending their inventory control. The arduous intricacies involved in controlling an array of perishable components and meeting customer service targets means that powerful inventory management software (IMS) is crucial.

The right restaurant inventory management software (IMS) is key to promoting better efficiency, profitability, productivity for businesses. Food and beverage manufacturers particularly can limit or eliminate unnecessary losses under inventory management. It can also aid in faster and efficient growth that is adjusted to assisting the business scale.

Traceability – The Significance Of Visibility Of The Supply Chain

While handling short shelf-life products, inventory managers should easily trace, track and hold accountability for each inventory item at any time.

Complete visibility into the migration of each inventory item through the supply chain builds a ripple effect that develops greater efficiency along with every node – starting from demand forecasting, purchasing, manufacturing, distribution, and sales. By enabling to locate each inventory item in real-time leads to a reduction in the loss due to any misplaces, mismanaged and mishandled inventory. Inventory can be kept at optimum levels by protecting the business against the risk of under and overstock issues. These issues usually include tied-up cash flow, off-target forecasting & purchasing and missed sales due to stock-outs. A new-age supply chain management system can do away with all the inventory related issues.

Highly Customizability of an Inventory Management System

The capability to modify and refine critical components of an IMS to align and integrate with the business’s supply chain is beneficial in many ways.

With the right inventory management software at their disposal, managers are better able to consolidate their data with their suppliers. This assures that lead times are preserved to a minimum and the communication lines are clear, open and free of misconception. This results in a marked decline in over and under supply of inventory.

Efficiency + Automation = Boosted Profitability

A smart IMS can influence the power of automation to improve the efficiency of production, procurement, distribution, and sales. With no capability to trace, track, and account for inventory from source to sale, managers have no accurate and dependable way to enforce inventory control protocol set by a particular restaurateur.

In particular, loss due to wastage is to be kept within the lowest margin or eliminated as a whole by setting up an inventory flow from purchasing to manufacturing to distribution & final sale in such a way that goods which are more susceptible to wastage are used efficiently.

Product Recall Made Easy

One final advantage for food and beverage setup owners is – the ability to alleviate the probability of a product recall, and in the situation that recall becomes necessary, the capability to carry out the recall as efficiently as possible. The ability to trace, track and account for an inventory in real-time allows businesses the convenience of containing the threat quickly; while planning and acting strategically.

Scale For Growth through Inventory Management Systems

Greater productivity and operational efficiency leads to successful business and growth. Static or fixed IMS can impact a business’s ability to transit to a higher level of profitability. The most vital component of a restaurant inventory management system is the ability to evolve and adapt ahead of the business requirements and needs as it scales.

In the food and beverage industry where every second count and every inventory item has an expiry date, the margin for error when enforcing a powerful inventory management solution is merely tenuous.

How to Choose Right POS for your Restaurant Business

Posted on 26/10/201615/09/2021 by inresto

Whether your enterprise is a restaurant, a delivery kitchen establishment or fast food franchise; POS (Point of Sale) software is a fundamental tool for your business to operate competently. This system aids to record cash flow, sales transactions, manage food costs along with inventory tracking, CRM and other business-related interactions for your F&B setup.

There are distinct POS systems out there and probably the question you’re asking yourself is “how to choose the right one?”. It is an accurate question and the one that you should acknowledge cautiously before making the decision. Here are few must-have restaurant POS features every restaurateur owner needs to look for while choosing the right POS system.

Inventory control

Inventory management/tracking is one terrifying & integral part of the restaurant business the owner has to go through. However, for those who effectively use proper inventory control and reporting, they will mention that it is how they make profits. Certainly, inventory is not the fascinating side of the business but an absolute necessity if restaurateurs are to go neck-to-neck in this intensely competitive space. Inventory that is easy to control and input through a system is priceless for keeping a check on what are consistently thin margins.

Look for a POS system with the feature of inventory management that helps you to keep track of the items and every ingredient sold. This leads a long way to insure long-term success and profitability.

Ease of Use or Usability

The restaurant business is one that needs speed. This usually includes decision making, fire time operations etc. A sluggish system can be infuriating to managers, waiters, or cooks. The assumption of speed in a restaurant POS broadens to an intuitive layout, ease-of-use, along with a fast hardware.

A few seconds here or there makes an immense impact either good or bad on the food, service, customers and eventually the profitability of any establishment.

Marketing Module

Nowadays, marketing solutions for restaurants is considerately based on your online presence (social media). It’s all about a well-maintained website that presents relevant information to your customers which usually include menus, working hours, contact info, offers and links associated with social media sites.

Today’s restaurant POS should possess features that accord restaurateurs the competence to market to the entire database of customers in real time. This helps to make a huge and immediate impact on your establishment.

Business Intelligence Reporting

Each and every business should get litigable intelligence from their sales reports and restaurants are assuredly no exception. Implementing a system where a owner/manager has numeric insight into their business is important. Few of the Key performance indicators (KPIs) that a restaurant POS should be able to contribute are sales by items/category/department, day, hour, item, type etc., labor costs, food costs and the number of customers who have come through the door. Additionally, web-based systems have an advantage in reporting KPIs, as they offer real-time reporting and analytics features from across the world through internet.

Technical Support & Training

The importance of good technical support from your POS provider can’t be emphasized. Web based systems have an extremely large advantage as the support team can look into the system instantly and begin the triage. Reliable and responsive support from your POS provider is a key to a restaurant’s success and its sanity.

The success of your business depends on how well you handle the goods & services that amass to your business profits & losses. Having knowledge that is available at your fingertips will benefit you to stay ahead of the competition. Purchasing and implementing the right POS software and making use of it to the fullest in your business will ensure success.

What is Restaurant Supply Chain Management? A Basic Introduction

Posted on 18/10/201615/02/2021 by inresto

A crucial factor behind the success stories of restaurants all over the world is the efficient supply chain management. This article serves as a guide for understanding supply chain management better and the various aspects involved.

What is Restaurant Supply chain management?

In simple terms, Supply chain management (SCM) is a chain of processes/network that starts with the procurement of the raw material to deliver the final product to the customer. A restaurant has several elements such as buying raw materials, cooking the food items, taking orders, dining, billing and several backend processes.

An effective supply chain management improves your restaurant’s competitiveness and helps you achieve drastic cost savings. With the advent of digital Supply chain management platforms, technology plays an integral role in managing restaurant supply chains.

5 key elements of Restaurant supply chain management

Demand forecasting
Vendor management
Purchase order management
Inventory management
Consumption and Variance management

Let’s delve deep into the 5 major factors involved in managing a restaurant supply chain.

Demand forecasting

The starting point of successful supply chain cycle operations in restaurants is accurate demand forecasting. Based on the customer demand, they tweak items in the menu. Digital supply chain management platforms have made it pretty easy, as it provides valuable insights on the fast-moving items in the menu. It also aids in making optimum usage of your kitchen resources, cutting down overall grocery cost and grocery requirement.

Vendor management

Choosing the right vendor is quite important as it affects the quality and efficiency of your restaurant. The poor quality of food materials supplied can cause irreparable damage to your reputation. Cost is one more crucial factor and hence you need to compare the quality and prices of materials offered by various vendors and finalise the right one that fits your requirements. With the help of India’s leading cloud based restaurant management platforms such as inresto SCM, you can easily streamline vendor management by optimising prices and quantity.

Purchase order management

If you are a restaurant owner who is managing multiple outlets, the replenishment of orders may vary according to the eating habits of customers. The raw materials required for each outlet will be different and the quantity may also differ. The major advantage of using digital SCM platforms is that purchase orders are sent to relevant vendors from the central kitchen. This eliminates the possibility of errors and discrepancies when the purchase orders are raised by different outlets.

Inventory management

It’s quite embarrassing when you run short of food materials and are unable to meet the demands of the diners at the restaurant. Disgruntled customers can tarnish your brand image and lead to drop in sales. To avoid the shortage of inventory, restaurants should maintain sufficient quantity of all the raw materials required in food preparation.

Inresto SCM offers the amazing feature of real-time inventory tracking from any location, anytime. Based on the orders placed, the inventory status is updated automatically and you will receive timely notifications. Alerts on minimum threshold quantities specific to various outlets and locations will help you have better grip over inventory.

Consumption and Variance management

In managing a restaurant, it’s essential to understand the quantity of inventory required in meal preparation and the actual consumption. It is termed as variance where the physical stock (currently counted inventory) is compared with the ideal stock (level of inventory that should be present). Consumption management is vital to ascertain if the restaurant is following the set of standards prescribed in food preparation. Reports can be generated using the digital SCM platforms that provide valuable insights on the stock variance and pilferage.

Parting Words

In a scenario when restaurants are operating on wafer thin margins, an efficient supply chain management can make a drastic difference. Digital SCM platforms have made it possible to have better grip over your supply chain that leads to cost savings and improved efficiency.

What is Restaurant Management

Posted on 15/10/2016 by inresto

Restaurant management is a multifaceted, confronting task and includes varied aspects such as public relations, dealing with staff, inventory, customer service etc. It is always endorsed to stop and analyse what you are doing and look for different ways in order to improve the overall performance.

If suppose you may have a restaurant you’re managing at the moment or may be
lost in the internet world searching more about managing a restaurant and other
things required for a restaurant manager. Either of them, it is always crucial to
know about the basic things that really matter to succeed.

Here is a list of 5 things for effective restaurant management.

Restaurant Customer Service Skills
Managers constantly deal with customers and staff members. If the staff members are not getting along, you will need to know how to assist them to work as a team without any negative attitude.
The golden rule of restaurant management is ‘The customer is always right’. Though you don’t agree with the customer’s complaint, the way you handle will determine whether the customer turns back to your restaurant or not. One should also need to know how to manage difficult customers along with the pleasant customers. Knowing how to accept compliments is as crucial as the way you take up the complaints in a professional and positive manner.

Point of Sale (POS) System Benefits Restaurant Management
The POS systems lets the restaurant owners to track cash flow, sales, food inventory etc. This aids to greatly simplify day-to day restaurant management, track the popularity of the menu and helps out in trimming food costs and payroll. Also, it helps to organise loss and profit statement and taxes.

Ability of Being Approachable to Change and Adaptation
Alterations take place on a daily basis especially in businesses such as restaurants. Policies and procedures are refurbished constantly and as a manager, you must be able to adjust to the occurring changes. One may not like these changes, but it is the responsibility of the manager to comply with these changes and implement it at the restaurant & explain it to the staff as well. Open communication with the restaurant supervisor is crucial to maintaining credibility.

Maintaining Large Amount of Information
Managers must have accurate knowledge on all aspects of the restaurant and its management. One must be familiar with the menu and restaurant-style and have information on all the operations of each and every area. Knowledge about the labour, food costs, checking for food availability, handling money etc is very important. Shuffling all this information every minute is the toughest part in restaurant management.

Understanding the Cash Flow
One of the most crucial aspects of the restaurant business is knowing about the cash flow. It is defined as the amount of cash going out of business to the amount of cash coming in on a daily, weekly and monthly basis. One should understand this basic concept of finances, else you’ll allow yourself to be at higher financial risk.

The things mentioned in this article are just an overview but running and handling a restaurant is not a threat but an amicable tip to what may arise upon starting a restaurant business.

By implementing these five things, you may not face any trouble managing your restaurant working smoothly and staff happy. Just make sure that all the areas of responsibilities and concerns are covered for the successful management of business.

Benefits of Customer Loyalty Programs for Your Restaurant

Posted on 04/10/201615/02/2021 by inresto

In these pandemic times, the customer loyalty programs assume great significance as restaurants are struggling to stay afloat. As per the surveys conducted, 39 percent of all restaurant customers would be enticed to spend more on their food purchases if their restaurants offered loyalty and reward programs. With the help of modern day, digital restaurant Point of Sales System (POS), it’s pretty easy to build a customer loyalty program that makes it attractive for the diners at your restaurant.

7 key aspects of a customer loyalty program

Decide on the criteria

The loyalty program can be either based on the amount spent at your restaurant or the number of visits. If you are running fine-dine restaurants or bars, then you can reward customers with points based on the amount spent. An example is, for every 1000 rupees spent, you can reward them with 10 points. On reaching a certain number, they can redeem these points on the bill amount.

If you are running quick service restaurants or cafes, then ideally the criteria should be the number of visits at the outlets. An example is for every 5th customer visit, you can offer a free drink or a complimentary item. This prompts the customers to make repeated visits at your restaurant.

Keep the program simple

Never make the mistake of designing a lengthy customer loyalty program with too many steps, which is difficult to understand. Customers stay away from such complicated programs, which makes your effort go in vain. Try to come up with a simple loyalty program that is user-friendly and easy to understand. One more important point is that the process of points redemption should be simple. With the help of cloud based restaurant loyalty programs such as inresto Loyalty, it’s pretty simple to customise your loyalty program based on your customer retention goals.

Offer a referral incentive

Any customer would prefer to visit a restaurant which is recommended by his or her friends and relatives. Hence, to attract more footfalls, you can offer a referral incentive for your existing customers. If someone joins your restaurant’s loyalty program through the reference of present customers, you can reward them with special points. This step acts as a motivation for your existing customers to recommend your restaurant to others.

Reward customers for social sharing

As per the study conducted, nearly 50% of the US diners are influenced by social media. Encourage your customers to share the benefits of your restaurant’s loyalty program on social media. It will definitely evince interest among the connections in their network to visit your restaurant and sign-up for the loyalty program. A feature can be added in your loyalty program where customers are rewarded for their social shares. For sharing the experience about your loyalty program, customers can be rewarded with additional points.

Train your staff on the program

As your employees are the ones who interact with the diners frequently, they should be well trained on the various features of the loyalty program. Whenever the customer enquires about the program, they should be in a position to explain how the program works and the benefits of enrolling for the same. The staff should be able to leave a lasting impression in the minds of the customers that motivate them to join the program.

Identify regular customers

Loyalty programs such as inresto offers the feature of generating reports and identifying the regular customers. Repeat visits can be generated by extending special offers to them.

Seek feedback and track program impact – Reach out to customers in the form of surveys and ask for feedback. For participating in the surveys, they can be rewarded with additional loyalty points. Based on customer feedback, you can make further tweaks to the loyalty program. One more important aspect is to check the impact of the program, customer repeat rates and ROI.

Parting words

As the food and beverage industry is going through a tough phase, the challenge is to increase the footfalls at the restaurants. The digital loyalty programs offered by the modern day POS platforms not only attract repeat customers but also lead to word-of-mouth publicity and increased sales in the long run.