November 2017 - inresto

How to increase Sales at your Restaurant?

Posted on 24/11/201711/11/2020 by inrestoblog

The festive season is here, and along with it comes the huge trail of diners lined outside your restaurant eagerly waiting to party over dinner and drinks. As the peak hours increase, sales at your restaurant increase, and with that increase, the chances of chaos, frustration, and conflict. No diner likes to wait, and eventually heads over to another restaurant.

Your job here is to carefully strike a balance between keeping your diners engaged and happy while ensuring that you serve as many tables as possible and rake in as much revenue as you can from this time. We have some great ideas on how you can make that happen.

1. Manage Tables Digitally to increase Sales at your Restaurant

The maximum footfall restaurants encounter is usually between 8 pm to 11 pm. If you could save 10 minutes on an average for seating the diner, placing the order, and then clearing the bill. This can help you save up to 30 minutes a table, allowing you to add one more table to your service during peak hours. This can give you a 30% increase in revenues during peak time alone and an increase of 10% to the overall business.

That can be quite a significant part of your growth strategy in the long term. But it’s easier said than done. With the help of the inresto Guest & reserve app, you can do that & here’s how-

Reservations & walk-ins can all be managed from one single app.
The waiter can assign tables in real-time directly from his tab by getting an overview of the table status digitally. He does not have to physically go at every table to check the availability status to assign them to diners. This saves a lot of time.
Any special requests made by the diners like a table by the pool are efficiently managed.
The Guest & Reserve app also records diner data like their name, age, phone number, and their frequency of visits, so that the next time they visit the restaurant, you know which ones are the priority customers, which ones prefer which table, etc. and tables are assigned accordingly for maximum customer satisfaction.

2. Digitize the order taking process

Nothing is more putting off for hungry diners than waiting for waiters to come to their tables to take the orders. Working out a strategy that helps your staff operate hassle-free with effective management of tables at the restaurant can save a lot of time. inresto DineIn helps the diners place their orders digitally by scanning a QR code placed on their respective tables. This saves a lot of time for both the diner and the waiter. As soon as the diners place an order from their phone, the chefs are notified in the kitchen. The turnaround time reduces, and you can serve more diners in a day.

3. Keep your menu interesting, compact, and online.

The longer your menu, the longer is the time taken by your diners to make a decision. Give them options in the form of specials but keep the menu short, helping them land on a decision quickly. You could even consider digital menus, which provide the customers with the ease of ordering their meal on their smartphones. Decisions can be made quickly with the help of images and reviews by other diners. Moreover, digital menus give customers the liberty to decide their order while still waiting for their table. Then, they can order as soon as they are seated, without even having to wait for the staff. This can speed up your service significantly.

We admit these strategies are a lot to handle. They take time, attention to detail, and scrutiny of a wide range of factors.

However, there is an easier way. The inresto product suite – especially inresto Guest & Reserve and inresto DineIn – help you manage rush hour queues, handle walk-ins & table reservations, analyze waitlist data, speed up the ordering process, and much more, to effectively increase the overall productivity of the restaurant.

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Why We’re Excited About The Fast Food & Cafe Convention!

Posted on 16/11/2017 by inrestoblog

The QSR industry in India is an aggressively growing industry but the obstacles that it faces today are also equally challenging.

As per NRAI’S India Food Services Report 2016, the size of the QSR market was estimated at 9,125 crores in 2016. It is expected to grow at a CAGR of 22% to reach 24,665 crores. The QSR segment is expected to pick up the pace as foreign brands are constantly entering the market, but will this growth be a good one, and will it be sustained?

Although the Indian market is a growing one, there are a lot of factors contributing to the QSR industry’s stagnancy.

Firstly, since more sophisticated restaurants are propping shop, consumer preferences are getting refined.
Secondly, consumers might not prefer fast food options, opting for healthier ones.
Lastly, the trend of eating out, in general, has also declined in recent years.

Expansions on the rise?

These days, it seems big brands shutting are down their outlets all over the place. It seems that expansion has also taken a hit, and brands haven’t been able to meet their targets. If we look at brands like Jubilant Food Works Ltd, Domino’s and Dunkin’ Donuts, they are growing at a very slow pace. Domino’s will only open 40-50 outlets this year as opposed to the target of 150, and Dunkin’ Donuts is only looking at about 3-5 new ones.

Reports suggest that other brands like Johnny Rockets and Carl’s Jr are also far from achieving their targets. Some of the reasons attributed to this trend are demonetisation, high rent, corruption, high supply as compared to demand, to name a few.

Which brings us to the need of the hour – The Fast Food & Cafe Convention.

The Fast Food & Cafe Convention on 29th November in New Delhi is being organised to bring together the best minds in the QSR business today to share their knowledge and insights.

How are they facing these challenges on a daily basis? How does India react to newer forms of fast food? What is the right expansion strategy in the current business environment? We are excited to hear from Alok Pandey from Domino’s, Kabir Jeet Singh from Burger Singh and Raghav Verma from Chaayos and many other established players.

Technology – The only route to GROWTH 2.0

The QSR industry is heavily dependant on technology. With orders being a huge pie of their revenues and with ordering in being majorly accepted by Indian metro audiences, it is imperative to put in place today a mechanism that helps streamline a brand’s daily orders.

An interesting session to look out for will be by Sahil Jain, Co-Founder & Product Head at Dineout who will throw light at everything new & latest in technology solutions for QSR brands in India and the world.

Conquering the Ordering Game

Playing a major role in the QSR industry, online ordering can get very tricky at times. Now that there has been a rise in mobile ordering, third-party deliveries and various online ordering platforms, managing high volumes can be a real challenge. Can technology intervene and smoothen things out? All this and much more to be discussed at this much-awaited event.

The most definitive event in the world of QSR, this one is a must attend.

inResto is the official Food Tech Partner for Fast Food & Cafe Convention 2017.

Follow inResto for updates about the event.

Make Your Restaurant More Profitable with Restaurant Management Software

Posted on 16/11/201729/06/2021 by inresto

Covid-19 has caused a major blow to the restaurant industry all over the world. By hook or crook, restaurants want to cut down the unnecessary expenses and boost profitability.

In this scenario, implementing a modern day restaurant management software would be the best solution to increase the profits at your restaurant. As per the study by Grandviewresearch, the global restaurant management software market is projected to reach USD 6.94 billion by 2025, expanding at a CAGR of 14.6%.

Functions that benefit from restaurant management software

Order management

As soon as the waiter takes order from the customer, the order details are displayed on the monitor in the kitchen (Kitchen display System). It helps the chef and kitchen staff clearly understand which department should look into a particular order. Unlike the conventional system, there is no need for the waiter to note down the order on a piece of paper, walk to the kitchen and communicate the order details. The software optimises your kitchen’s turnaround time and helps meet customer orders quickly.

Sales

Wastage of food materials is one of the major issues faced by restaurants. Thus, you need to devise a clear plan about food preparation. The digital restaurant management software such as inresto POS provide valuable insights on the sales figures and the peak business hours at your restaurant. The data on fast moving and slow-moving items helps you tweak the menu accordingly.

Inventory management

Overstocking of inventory burns a hole in your pocket. At the same time, if you fall short of food materials, you run the risk of facing a disappointed customer. The software alerts you on minimum threshold quantities and helps maintain the optimal stock levels. The system leaves no scope for theft, and your supplies and raw material are quite secure. Once more major benefit is that you can track the inventory levels live from anytime, anywhere.

Procurement and vendor management

Procurement of food materials play an important role and you cannot afford to compromise on quality. With the help of the platform, now you can manage procurement effortlessly. Streamline the vendor management process by comparing the various vendors and the rates quoted. You can achieve major cost savings as the restaurant management system fulfils all the requirements from the central kitchen. Optimum use of kitchen resources cuts down the overall grocery cost and requirement.

Employee management

Evaluating the performance of your staff members is quite easy with the inputs provided by the platform. It provides various metrics, such as the time taken to serve the food and the performance of the staff during peak hours. Deliver adequate training to your staff members to overcome those shortcomings. Recognise the efforts of the efficient staff members and reward them in the form of awards or appreciation. Such small steps lead to increased productivity and a loyal employee base.

Loyalty programs

With the help of Inresto, customise the loyalty programs based on the number of visits or the amount spend at your restaurant. Customers can redeem these points for discounts, freebies or points. Track the impact of the loyalty program and make changes wherever required. You can assess the impact based on customer repeat rates and Return on Investment (ROI).

Marketing

Social media ads and digital marketing have replaced the traditional marketing techniques. With restaurant management software, you can engage and interact with your diners. Identify your target audience and launch campaigns through various communication channels such as SMS, E-mail or push notifications. The biggest advantage is that these campaigns can be automated and scheduled in specific time intervals. Run multiple campaigns simultaneously with personalised content for each audience segment.

The insightful reports help you assess the impact of the previous campaigns. Tweak the marketing program wherever required. The target marketing efforts lead to increased footfalls and more revenue for your restaurant.

Parting Words

Restaurants are struggling to deal with the challenges posed by the pandemic. In the new normal, profits have become wafer thin and there is a sharp decline in the number of walk-in diners. Restaurant management platforms help you achieve a drastic reduction in manual efforts. It not only boosts your profits but also increases efficiency significantly.

10 ideas on how to reduce your restaurant inventory cost

Posted on 10/11/201729/06/2021 by inresto

Globally, restaurants are reeling under the losses caused by the outbreak of COVID-19. As per CNN.com, about 17% of America’s restaurants have already closed permanently in 2020. The best strategy to overcome this tough phase would be to cut down your restaurant inventory cost.

What is Inventory cost?

The term inventory cost refers to the amount of your working capital that is being held up in stored goods. It can be the fresh stock of raw materials, frozen foods, cutlery and employee uniforms. In short, inventory includes all those items purchased for use at your restaurant. However, if the inventory is lying idle or unutilized, it will cost you dearly.

Why inventory is important?

If the sale at your restaurant for a week is way lower than the money invested in inventory, then you are in trouble. It’s high time to realise that you can utilise that money in marketing or other avenues that increase sales. By assessing the inventory costs, you can free up your inventory and achieve major cost savings.

Let’s delve deep into the 10 ideas that help you cut down inventory costs.

Organise your inventory space

Stock the new products behind the existing ones and make sure that the items are stored safely. Place the heavier products on the lower shelves. Develop a storage map that makes it easy for employees to find out the various items. One of the major benefits of organising inventory space is that it becomes easy to take the count of stock.

Protect expensive items

As per the study by National Restaurant Association, 75% of restaurant inventory shrinkage in the Unites States happens due to employee theft. Hence lock away the expensive items such as alcohol. Installing closed circuit cameras can also help curb inventory theft to a great extent.

Stay away from excessive stocking

Purchasing in bulk may help you gain initial savings. However, always keep in mind that the dead stock is eating away your savings. Especially in case of seasonal items, limit your purchases as you require those materials only for a specific time period. For eg, the sale of frozen drinks declines during winter. Hence avoid overstocking of items that will consume a major portion of your shelf space.

Cash in on technology

Replace legacy tools such as spreadsheets with modern day inventory management systems. With cloud based, digital inventory management platforms such as inresto SCM, live tracking of inventory is now possible from anywhere, anytime. The other benefits include alerts on minimum threshold quantities, minimising wastage and pilferage, and optimum use of kitchen resources.

Free flow of communication

Irrespective of the number of people involved in inventory management, ensure that there is proper communication. Never make assumptions such as a team member has identified shortage of an ingredient or everyone knows how to push an overstocked item.

Deliver adequate training

It’s always better to keep the count of people handling inventory to the minimum. Invest in detailed training as even a minor mistake can cost you a huge amount. If a person with prior experience in inventory management joins your restaurant, train them on how the system is managed at your restaurant.

Plan in advance

With valuable insights provided by platforms such as inresto, you can determine the exact amount of inventory required at various seasons. It frees you from the hassles of under-stocking and overstocking.

Limit wastage

Make it a point to utilise the food items before the expiry date. If there is a surplus, co-ordinate with front of the house and kitchen staff to push those items.

Be creative

Make use of the unutilized food items effectively. If there is an extra stock of alcohol, serve cocktail to some of your loyal guests.

Have a word with suppliers

Maintain a cordial relationship with your suppliers and have discussions with them. They are the right people to offer suggestions regarding your ordering process. Work closely with them to make adjustments to your inventory.

Parting Words

In the post pandemic world, cost cutting has become inevitable for restaurants. The above 10 ideas will definitely prove to be helpful in cutting down your inventory costs.