In many ways, the restaurant business is all about operating ‘on the fly’. Whether it’s reimagining your business model to adapt to a global pandemic, jumping behind the bar to sling drinks when your head bartender is weeded, or reworking your signature dish to suit a picky customer’s tastes, most restaurateurs are masters at rolling with the punches.
As important as being able to make game-time decisions is, your restaurants’ profitability often comes down to thorough planning and data-driven choices.
Luckily, it’s 2021, and restaurant owners are increasingly turning to business intelligence and analytics software that’s designed to take guesswork off the menu.
Do a Deep-Dive into Every Sale
Looking for ways to increase sales isn’t revolutionary, since it’s an inherent part of every owner’s core goals. However, analytics software does do something revolutionary by breaking down complex sales data into digestible information. Imagine being able to track sales by item or category, as well as by revenue center or meal period—and the impact that would have on your profit margin.
This allows you to see which items you should try to get in front of every guest, as well as which ones shouldn’t even be on the menu.
Once you know what’s selling and what’s not, you can adjust your prices and stock accordingly. Plus, you can incentivize your staff to sell profitable drinks and dishes, and to push items you need to move out of your inventory.
A Smarter Way to Upsell
Since Craftable’s Analytics platform uses POS sales data, it captures insights from every single sale, modification, add-on, and upcharge. If data shows that most customers are asking for a specific ingredient to be left off a dish, you can cut costs by not including it in the first place. If most customers say ‘yes’ to adding a certain side, you can train your servers to suggest the option every time.
Though getting a feel for what’s working based on customer and staff feedback will never be obsolete, it should only be a piece of the puzzle. Incorporating analytics into your sales strategy can increase average check sizes by up to 30%.
Make Every Item a Recipe for Success
What’s the difference between that 15-ingredient cocktail that looks great on Instagram, and a simple, batched cocktail that’s equally as appealing and delicious?
The cost.
Accurately monitoring recipe costs is a key way to drive profits and keep expenses in check. Common knowledge tells you that some ingredients are more expensive than others, but analytics accurately calculates the costs of all the components of a menu item, and allows you to see the overall price of the recipe as a whole.
Staff Support Beyond Pre-Shift
Software will never replace a good old-fashioned pre-shift staff meeting, but it can help you support your team by providing insight into their individual strengths and weaknesses. Knowing how to leverage your team’s talents can help you cut labor costs, and it’ll keep you from having too many (or too few) hands on deck.
Understanding exactly how many people you need in the kitchen and on the floor for a busy Friday night service shouldn’t be based on your intuition alone, which is where analytics comes into play.
Analytic software clues you in on your servers’ performance, which can help you identify where extra support is needed. For example, if you notice some of your servers are falling behind on wine sales, you can boost their confidence and knowledge with an informational tasting.
Comps and voids don’t magically disappear. Understanding which staff members tend to take items off customers’ bills can shine a light on where additional training is needed, as well as sounding the alarm on theft.
Inventory Was an Art—Now It’s a Science
Before business intelligence software, knowing how much inventory to order was based on a mix of experience and attempted fortune telling. Thankfully, you can put the days of placing an order and hoping for the best behind you.
Now, you can set your business up for future success by using software to analyze past variance.
This means you can accurately predict sales and costs with robust automated reporting that works just as well for restaurant groups as it does for single locations. Since you’ll know what to expect, you can stock your inventory
strategically, and seamlessly integrate inventory costs into the rest of your game plan.
Every Service Should Serve Your Business
In today’s data-driven world, knowledge is power. Craftable’s Analytics platform gathers information from your current tech stack including POS, labor, and accounting. This way, you’ll never overlook an opportunity to boost sales, control costs, and make more informed decisions.
When you need to make a choice on the fly, it should still be backed by data. With the right software, you can stay agile and prepared. Analytics by Craftable is a powerful tool that will help your bar or restaurant run like a well-oiled machine—even during the busiest rush.
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