Food service businesses were among the hardest hit when the pandemic began two years ago. While operations are slowly returning to normal and businesses are welcoming patrons at higher capacities, making up for lost revenue and improving profitability is at the forefront of food service operators’ minds in 2022.
There are several technology-powered strategies that operators can put in place to generate strong results and pleasant dining experiences.
Increase your ordering channels to create new lines of business.
According to QSR Magazine, “53 percent of adults say purchasing takeout or delivery food is essential to the way they live.” As a business, if you haven’t yet implemented this model of dining, you are missing out on revenue.
Whether you want to simply do over-the-phone orders for pick-up, jump on a third-party app like Uber Eats or DoorDash, or develop your own custom app and website to accept and process online orders, implementing off-premise dining can be easier than you think.
Check out our blog post on the Powerful Benefits of Implementing a Digital Ordering System within your operations.
Give people more ways to pay.
By adding the right technology, you’ll be able to accept mobile wallet payments, gift and loyalty cards, and other increasingly popular payment methods. With patrons increasingly seeking contactless payment methods, not providing these options could make your business less attractive and accessible to guests.
If you are managing a dining area that has a largely captive audience, such as a cafeteria or corporate dining facility, enabling guests to pay with their employee badges or cards makes for highly convenient dining – where diners don’t even need to bring their wallets. Programs such as payroll deduction and meal plans are cost-effective and help provide this convenience, while helping you, as an operator, handle fewer credit card and cash transactions.
Leverage Upselling for Increased Revenue:
One of the most effective ways to boost revenue effortlessly is through strategic upselling. By implementing configurable up-sell prompts within your online ordering systems or at a self-service kiosk you can significantly drive sales. These prompts strategically promote complementary items such as drinks, side orders, or dessert options, thereby increasing the average transaction value.
When customers are in the process of ordering, suggestive prompts can subtly encourage them to consider additional items that complement their main order. For instance, suggesting a beverage pairing with a specific dish or recommending a side dish that complements the entrée being ordered. The beauty of upselling is that it not only boosts revenue but also enhances the overall dining experience for customers by providing them with additional options that complement their meal choices.
By seamlessly integrating upselling prompts within your ordering systems, you can significantly increase the average transaction value, contributing positively to your business’s bottom line.
Implement a gift and loyalty program.
It’s no secret that diners love loyalty programs. You can learn more about the specifics of the types of offers you can implement by clicking here, but with loyalty members spending up to 66% more than regular guests, adding a gift and loyalty program to your toolkit is a quick and effective way to help build your business.
Better manage your inventory to help ensure you have exactly what you need when you need it – not more, not less.
Inventory management has become a top priority for many food service organizations, particularly those who struggled to meet demand and plan effectively during the continuous restaurant closures and reopening’s. While full closures seem to be behind us for now, having the correct inventory on-hand to manage both your in-person and online ordering channels is important to delivering a good customer experience now that diners are eager to return in-person.
Inventory management can be as granular as costing down to the ingredient level in each recipe, or as simple as implementing counts on POS screens so serving staff know how much of each item is remaining and pairing this with back-of-house reports that indicate how much of each product was sold. Either way, having a handle on what’s moving and what isn’t ensures operators deal with less waste and encourages serving staff to highlight items on the menu accordingly.
We’re thrilled to see the hospitality industry back in business and are happy to discuss your revenue growth strategies and the technology that can enable them. Contact us at sales@volantesystems.com to learn more about our products and services.
