Inventory Management Software for Restaurants
Inventory management software for restaurants assists owners in managing their business through tools that control food costs, boost profits and oversee the bottom line. Restaurants have to deal with several factors in their inventory such as raw supplies, menu items and purchase orders. Without a sufficient cloud-based software solution, your business could suffer.
Inventory management software is primarily used to ensure the proper management of all supplies and products in the catering and hospitality industry. For restaurant management, this means making sure handling orders, menu items and stock levels are kept at the standards of the restaurant. Such tangible materials need to be taken into account carefully as improper allocation and organization can negatively impact your revenue.
Before, people took inventory using a checklist after every dinner service. However, this method is prone to human errors. People can miscalculate or lose copies of their spreadsheets. Besides, checking on inventory manually can cause you to lose 30-50 hours per month. With inventory management software solutions, a variety of controls is given to you. The ability to decide which items to track, when to order new stocks and compare each location’s performance has proven to be effective in increasing profit and cut back on losses. As such, some solutions can also offer integrated point of sale (POS) and inventory management capabilities so that all of these operations can be handled by one solution.
As such, restaurants demand constant visibility and management. Without the proper allocation of supplies and ingredients, an increasing amount of food waste can occur. For example, some restaurants make the mistake of using new supplies when there are still stocks available. Problems such as overstocking and employee theft can be avoided entirely if proper inventory management is applied in the workforce.
TouchBistro offers an easy to use POS that helps restaurants to streamline and simplify everyday operations including inventory management, order taking, menu management, payment processing, accounting, reporting, and staff scheduling.
Inventory management software is used in restaurants to accurately manage and keep track of their inventory. This includes ingredients, stock levels and food and recipe costs. To effectively manage all of these levels, restaurants make use of daily inventory reports. However, manually doing this day to day can take up time and energy.
Restaurants often have several locations spread out. Others only have local sites but some can have international reach. As a result, it can be difficult to accurately take inventory and keep track of all expenses. Restaurant inventory management reduces the risk of these problems by monitoring ingredients and supplies thoroughly. It also has a range of other functionalities capable of doing backend operations and streamlining daily processes.
TouchBistro, one of the best POS systems in the current market, is designed largely for restaurant owners. It has several functionalities designed to thoroughly improve customer service, increase sales and provide informed business decisions. In restaurant management, unique needs are met by the software solution since it is complete with food service features.
Other restaurant inventory management software solutions offer capabilities similar to the ones in TouchBistro. They’ve been tailored to thoroughly to ensure key benefits for your hospitality business. These features are:
This feature notifies you regarding low stocks and inventory levels. This comes with real-time tracking features as the last thing you want to happen is to run out of supplies. Some solutions automatically update your stocks for you. This ensures the right amount of ingredients for all your dishes.
Having real-time inventory gives you visibility over supplies and stocks. Any discrepancies or miscalculations can easily be tracked and corrected. In the restaurant business, stocks and supplies are always coming and going. With real-time inventory, you can track all stock levels of the ingredients—including the ones that have spoiled. The FIFO method (first in, first out) method is essential in restaurants.
In managing a restaurant, you need to make sure the prices of your meals reflect the individual cost of each ingredient. This is an important factor as it directly affects the profitability of your business. In the event where the prices change due to the supplier’s decision, it helps to have a centralized location to update each cost. Additionally, this feature lets you store recipes in the cloud, making it accessible for your staff.
One of the core features restaurant owners often look for, vendor management, refers to the ability to locate the vendor selling supplies with the cheapest prices. It is also involved in obtaining information about vendors, getting price quotations and negotiating contracts. However, it doesn’t stop there—this feature also aids in maintaining strong vendor relationships to ensure good business connections and makes sure payments are made on deadlines.
When you’re alerted with low inventory levels, one-click purchasing lets you create an order with just a single click. Typically, this is based on the supplies you have on hand. The system then automatically fills up the ingredients you need. All that’s left is a single click of your finger to confirm the order. This saves up time and energy in manually writing down the supplies you need.
Inventory management software solutions obtain several key benefits to reach maximum profit for your business. Since managing a restaurant can be challenging, especially if multiple locations are involved, owners use software systems to meet any rising demands. Switching to digital methods when taking in inventory allows for automated calculation and easy access to your workers. Any negligence done by the employees can also be tracked and fixed.
Here are the key benefits to inventory management software for restaurants:
Having a complete list of all ingredients and supplies lets you know where your stocks are going. It’s a known fact that food waste is one of the biggest problems most restaurants face, caused by overbuying or spoilage. When ingredients are not used or if there’s an excess of it, it takes a negative toll on your overall sales.
By having sufficient inventory control, you can redirect your surplus ingredients into existing dishes. Furthermore, daily inventory counting lets you know which recipes used the most ingredients or which meals had the most spoilage. This gives you the right information to make critical decisions on which stocks need to be purchased less.
The software solution lets you assign roles and responsibilities to your employees at a given schedule. This is primarily used to address theft in the restaurant. Discrepancies in stocks and pocketing of raw materials can be avoided entirely. Additionally, role-specific tasks and appointments can be created by the system. If there are any inconsistencies, it’s easier to track the inventory manager responsible.
While inventory can be a boring task to finish, it offers crucial information, especially in regards to trends and stock levels. Inventory management software solutions have integrated and comprehensive reporting and analytics functionalities. This allows you to generate reports based on several key factors—sales performance, stock levels and profitability metrics.
Having consistent and accurate reports gives you the ability to make well-informed decisions based on your restaurant’s performance. For example, you can track which dishes are the most popular so you can fill up on its core ingredients. It can also be used to control food portioning to make good use of the supplies.
Inventory management software lets you compare multiple branches according to their profitability. If a location is underperforming, you can reduce its supply and stocks in a bid to cut losses. Additionally, all of your branches are ensured to be ordering from the same authorized supplier. The quality of your food depends on getting the right ingredients from the right people. Without a system to assist you with ordering, it becomes difficult to maintain high standards across all branches.
At the end of the day, you want a software system to improve profitability. If the current method you’re following right now does not yield satisfactory results, it’s best to go digital. A cloud-based solution lets you grow with your business and avoid major losses to your revenue. With restaurant inventory management software, complete control over your stocks and supplies is a given.
