What Common Frustrations Can Restaurant Owners Eliminate With a Mobile App?

TLDR

You walk into your restaurant and immediately notice several operational issues: miscommunication with staff, food waste, and unsatisfied customers. As an owner, these daily challenges can seem impossible to fix. However, technology solutions like integrated mobile apps are streamlining operations for restaurants of all sizes. With features like real-time inventory tracking, guided training modules, and more, restaurant owners are finding new ways to manage common challenges.

‍

What Frustrations Do Restaurant Owners Face With Inventory and Staff Training?

Difficult Inventory Management

Keeping tabs on fluctuating inventory levels and minimizing waste is challenging for restaurant owners. However, with a mobile app integrated with their point-of-sale system, owners can efficiently track inventory in real time, set reorder points, and get alerts when supplies are low to avoid running out.

Tedious Employee Onboarding

Training new staff requires significant time and resources. However, an all-in-one Square POS solution with an integrated white-label app can minimize the hassle. With in-depth help center guides and tutorials, new employees can get up to speed quickly.

Disorganized Operations

Juggling delivery orders, customer data, and order requests can make daily operations chaotic. Per Diem and Square helps streamline everything in one place. Managers can coordinate multi-unit inventories, to-go orders, analytics, and more using the app's rewards and reviews features. Real-time reports and analytics provide insights into how the business is performing so owners can make data-driven decisions to improve operations and the customer experience.

While running a restaurant comes with many challenges, technology and mobile apps are making it easier for owners to eliminate frustrations, minimize costs, and focus on what really matters: keeping customers happy and coming back. With solutions that handle time-consuming tasks, owners can get out of the back office and into the dining room where the action is.

‍

How Can Restaurant Owners Streamline Operations With the Right App?

Reduce wasted time managing inventory

Using Per Diem, bakery and coffee shop owners can implement features that improve efficiency. For example, 86ing items is a common feature that allows staff to mark ingredients or menu items as out of stock. This helps avoid confusion among staff and disappointing customers who order unavailable items. When integrated with your Square point-of-sale system, marking an item as 86ed can automatically remove it from online ordering menus in real-time, further streamlining operations. This simple yet effective feature can save bakery owners significant time and hassle associated with manually communicating out-of-stock items among staff.

Simplify employee training

With detailed guides and tutorials on the website, new employees can learn systems much faster. This reduces the burden on managers to train new hires and ensures staff provide consistent, high-quality service. New employees can review the tutorials and guides at their own pace before starting work. They can refer to the materials while on the job for reminders on procedures and policies. This self-guided training model lowers demands on managers and minimizes the time new hires spend observing and shadowing other staff.

Gain valuable insights into sales and customer data

Analytics and reporting features in mobile apps provide data on sales, customer traffic, and more. Owners can see their busiest days and times, popular menu items, and other trends to optimize operations. They can also collect information like customer emails and order history to provide personalized service.

While running a restaurant comes with many challenges, technology like mobile apps helps to eliminate unnecessary frustrations. By streamlining day-to-day processes, providing data-driven insights, and enhancing the customer experience, restaurant owners can focus on what matters: serving delicious food and fostering community.

‍

What Tools Can Help Restaurant Owners Manage Their Business More Efficiently?

To operate a successful restaurant, owners must ensure efficiency across all areas of the business.

Square Point of Sale

Using Square POS enables owners to process customer payments quickly and accurately. Systems like Square provide an interface for cashiers to input orders, calculate change, and accept credit card payments. Owners can access real-time sales data and analytics to gain insights into best-selling menu items and busiest times.

Inventory Management Feature

Keeping track of ingredients and supplies is crucial for controlling costs and waste. The inventory management feature right in your app allows owners to log items in stock and streamline purchasing. Connecting the inventory system to the POS provides an up-to-date view of what’s selling so owners can make data-driven decisions about what and how much to order.

Employee Scheduling Apps

Scheduling staff efficiently is key to controlling labor costs while providing good customer service. Apps like 7Shifts and Deputy help owners create schedules, notify employees of shifts, track time off requests, and monitor actual hours worked. Integrating scheduling with sales data from the POS system enables owners to align staffing levels with customer demand.

Mobile ordering and delivery integration

Delivery integration allows customers to order food online and have it delivered directly to their homes or offices. Integrating these services into a restaurant's systems can tap into an additional revenue stream and reach more potential customers. While services like Uber Eats, Postmates and Grubhub charge high commissions, integrating with Doordash can save money as it cuts the commission rates when integrated with Per Diem. By switching to Doordash and Per Diem for online ordering and delivery, restaurants can reduce their commission fees and increase their profit margins on delivery orders.

Using technology to gain visibility and control over daily operations helps restaurant owners eliminate frustrations and run a more profitable business. Implementing tools to manage finances, inventory, staffing, and online channels provides data and automation that reduce waste, drive efficiencies, and improve the customer experience.

‍

Final Thoughts

You now have a deeper understanding of the most common frustrations faced by restaurant owners and how a mobile app can help eliminate many of them. By implementing an integrated like Per Diem and Square, owners of big chains like Tikka Shack, Chip City, and Think Coffee have streamlined operations, reduced waste, and improved their bottom line with Per Diem. With the right tools, your establishment can overcome its biggest obstacles and achieve its full potential. The choice is yours - take control of your business now.

‍