Make your restaurant more profitable with a POS upgrade

For most restaurant or bistro owners, the burning question has got to be how to turn over more profit.

There are lots of suggestions that can be made in response to this question – everything from creating the right atmosphere to adding a take-out offering. But, broadly speaking, the top answers seem to fall into three categories:

• The menu – a well-designed menu and great tasting food is what makes customers come back for more and pass on their recommendations to others. More business and profits for you!

• The stock – a key factor in the profitability of any restaurant is the sourcing of a value-for-money supply chain, managing stock control efficiently and avoiding waste.

• The staff – from welcoming front-of-house to knowledgeable waiting staff, offering great customer service is another way of making your business the eatery of choice in your area (with a positive knock-on effect on profitability).

All pretty obvious really! And very easy to say but perhaps less easy to put into practice.

So, is there something else that can help?

What about the technology that supports your business? Can something like a Point of Sale system also do its bit to improve profitability? Isn’t it just a till, that piece of hardware that processes sales and does a bit of inventory work?

Well, that might have once been the case but times have changed. Innovations in modern iPad based restaurant POS systems and inclusive software has made it possible for this ‘piece of hardware’ to become one of the best and most powerful management tools your restaurant could have.

Probably the biggest innovation offered by these new POS systems lies in their reporting capabilities, which can now provide you with clear insights into areas such as how your sales breakdown, what are the running costs and gross profit, what are your best-selling items, what is underselling and much more. All of this comes in real time so you can know your numbers at any given moment, make comparisons with the past week, month or year, make projections for the future – and crucially adapt your business according to easily identifiable trends.

Sounds good?

But, what about those three key areas for your restaurant – the menu, the stock and the staff?

The good news is that the modern POS system actually supports all of these priorities:

• With a better understanding of what sells and what doesn’t, you can set the right menu for your clientele and make well-informed changes. Knowing accurate operational costs also helps you to set prices at a level that maximises profits without overcharging.

• Improved stock management features in your POS system means you can implement more efficient ordering schedules, spot discrepancies (e.g. those caused by theft) and avoid unnecessary spoilage or waste.

• The impact of a modern POS system on levels of customer service provided by your staff can be huge. Table management and front-of-house messaging features help to initiate a smooth flow from door to table. Intuitive tablet based screens ensure waiting staff can not only take orders efficiently and without mistakes, but also that they are knowledgeable about the menu, can easily answer customer queries and upsell where appropriate. And, as ticket printing goes directly to the kitchen or bar, there’s no wasted or duplication of effort.

Time to leverage the technology of a modern POS system to your restaurant’s advantage? Contact us at The Good Till to find out more.