Which processes in the restaurant and retail can be easily automated? And why you should do that
Managing a restaurant is not a piece of cake and everyone who has ever had an amazing opportunity to do this knows it for sure. However, there are some ways, not very often exploited by restaurant managers, which make it less time-consuming and arduous task. As what the restaurant managers don’t know is that when you are in the hospitality or retail business you can and should take advantage of technology.
Technology is not a domain reserved exclusively for state-of-the-art start-ups and modern companies. It should also be used by smaller and more traditional service providers like restaurants. With technology you are able to automate processes and this way stay ahead of the competition, develop your hospitality or retail business and be able to constantly fulfil growing needs of your customers. And which processes can actually be automated for a restaurant?
Which process should be automated in a restaurant?
Online table reservation and food ordering
Instead of old fashioned calling you should let your customers book a table through an online booking system or let them order food for a specific time and pay online. You can be sure they will be happy with that solution as it is time-saving both for you and for them.
Self-ordering kiosks
You have probably seen self-ordering kiosks in McDonalds and it is quite obvious that people prefer to use them instead of making a queue for a cashier. It is more comfortable and they are able to make up their mind without being rushed. Pretty nice, huh?
Checkout
Self-checkouts have appeared this and there but rather in stores than in restaurants. However, that’s a huge bummer as they are also an awesome idea to implement in a restaurant. Customers don’t have to wait for a waiter to get a check and feel more at ease when they don’t have to grab the waiter’s attention.
Sales
Using computer to register sales has also gone out of fashion and what you should do is to use cloud-based POS system. It’s even available on mobile devices, both tablets and mobile phones. And also, last but not least, it allows you to streamline your sales data almost in real-time so everything is up to date constantly.
Accounting
Since we talk about systems another area to automate is data entry to your accounting system. If you still enter data manually you should definitely stop. Come on — we are in the 21st century, not in medieval times. Today you are able to automatically synchronize your sales data, purchase orders and payrolls straight from your POS system to your accounting software. And the only thing you have to do is to add Amaka accounting integration to the equation and voila — done!
Data analytics — reports
Since you have already automated your sales, you should take a further step and do the same with data analytics. Did you know that your POS system is a source of priceless knowledge about your company? With the right tool you can simply generate custom POS reports to analyze your sales data. This way you both save time and are equipped with highly valuable information that allows you to develop your hospitality business and grow.
