As today’s pubs, bars and restaurants step up to the tough challenges of gritty 2019, hospitality software has been evolving fast to support them.
The savviest establishments are now using bar and restaurant management systems to cut costs and waste, increase revenue and even control stock, labour and allergen risk more effectively.
One popular choice is Aloha by NFS, our highly-regarded restaurant POS software. We recently partnered it with the innovative Kitchen CUT – cloud-based, scaleable SaaS technology that delivers complete control over F&B operations in more than 55 countries.
The combination gives pub and restaurant owners valuable control over areas ranging from cost reduction to ingredient selection and allergen warnings.
It allows chefs to create menus within tight cost controls, and reveals any potential allergens in ingredients, so they devise dishes in the confidence of total control right down to individual ingredient level.
The live information pulls through to every sub-recipe, recipe and dish where the ingredient is used, which makes allergens totally traceable.
Front of house serving staff using tablets or dedicated devices with Aloha restaurant POS software to take orders at tableside can access allergen information from Kitchen CUT’s spec sheets and menus.
Staff can send orders are sent direct from the Aloha handsets to the kitchen, avoiding error, for speedy delivery – and payment can also be made at tableside.
The creator of Kitchen Cut is Michelin-starred chef John Wood, who says: “There are several key areas in a pub, bar or restaurant where technology can prove invaluable.”
8 ways technology improves operations and the customer journey:
1. Transactions:
- Having a reliable restaurant POS system such as Aloha is fundamentally important so you can make sure all transactions are recorded swiftly, simply and accurately
- An automated self-depleting stock/ inventory management system is critical to ensure you have full transparency of your stock levels.
- It means you can see at a glance where there are variances and take action – stock loss is a common issue in most hospitality businesses.
3. Ordering:
- A fully-integrated purchasing system can really help reduce time and inaccuracies in ordering and ensuring you capture every invoice and credit mote electronically is a great way to have better cost control.
4. Waste management:
- This is an area that that most businesses do not take seriously enough.
- Whether you want to reduce food and beverage waste for ethical or financial reasons (or both), understanding the reasons behind your wastage, will allow you to gain control, make the relevant changes and ultimately reduce wastage.
- Technology helps track wastage, find trends and assist in locating the areas where changes need to be made.
5. Allergens:
- With a rising customer base wanting to know about allergens, having an automated system that pulls allergen and nutritional data directly from your suppliers minimalises the risk of a severe customer reaction.
- An automated approach is vital – anything else will be error laden and leave your business and customers exposed.
- The use of technology such as Kitchen CUT to manage allergens will ensure you are 100% compliant with current legislation.
6. Costing:
- The only way you can make sure gross profit is being accurately controlled and maintained is by using technology.
- It gives you accurately costed recipes and menus, links to live pricing, alerts for when menu items are not achieving your targeted margins are just a few ways technology can help.
- With financial uncertainties over the next 12 months in Europe, product prices are bound to rise, and having full control with live costed recipes and menus will help you manage this better.
7. Customer satisfaction and loyalty:
- Competition is increasingly fierce in the hospitality business, as some recent high-profile closures have shown.
- Restaurant POS technology helps make the customer experience seamless, from online reservations and ordering to quick delivery of orders and rapid payment.
- It creates a satisfying experience that encourages customers to return – and the system’s data capture means the bar or pub owner, or restaurateur, can design targeted email offers and promotions that are bound to appeal.
8. Reporting:
- Hospitality businesses are notoriously complex and hard to view, but restaurant POS systems can provide comprehensive real-time online reports that give owners and managers an end-to-end view that supports good decision-making.
- John said: “With prices and business rates rising and labour scarce, hospitality businesses are up against it, there’s no doubt – but technology such as Kitchen CUT and the Aloha restaurant POS system from NFS is really making life a lot easier for pub and restaurant owners.”
