Various Types of Restaurant Back-Office Software Solutions
The food sector has seen several technical changes, from the use of paper calendars and inventory notebooks to the development of custom-coded digital software platforms.
If you’re a restaurant manager or owner who finds it difficult to concentrate on crucial business matters, it’s likely that you haven’t been introduced to cutting-edge restaurant technology that enables operational efficiency.
Restaurant operations and management solutions have been greatly streamlined and automated.
But don’t mistake this remarkable advancement for modernized ovens and cost-effective dishwashers (not even a coffee maker!).
The food company is now increasingly multichannel and digital thanks to the newest technological advancements in the restaurant sector.
Technology in restaurants is not only a fad. You may unwind while sitting anywhere in the world and be aware of everything that is going on in your restaurant, including dining, service management, and even the inventory!
Every day, new systems emerge that can carry out specific tasks with greater accuracy and efficiency than was previously possible.
Business management software shouldn’t be skimped out at your restaurant, whether it be by selecting the greatest POS system or even an inventory management application that saves you hours of stress.
When used properly, restaurant management software is a surefire way to guarantee a restaurant’s success. So, creating a unique restaurant app is a very wise choice if you want to maintain a competitive advantage in the digital environment.
In this blog, we will share types of restaurant back office software you can invest in to help you with restaurant business operations.
But let us first know what id restaurant management software is.
What Exactly is Restaurant Management Software, and Why is it Effective?
Restaurant management software that facilitates the streamlining of business processes for the food industry is referred to as a restaurant management system. Specifically, eating establishments, bars, bakeries, cafes, cloud (ghost, dark, virtual) kitchens, food trucks, or delivery services.
It combines all the beneficial aspects of conventional POS (Point of Sale) systems with tools for managing calls, taking reservations for tables, streamlining inventory management, handling billing, providing actionable analytics, and assisting with marketing initiatives like CRM, loyalty schemes, and establishing an online presence.
These restaurant software solutions can be generalized into-
- Restaurant Front Office Software:
All systems that a visitor might see or use are included in front-of-house solutions. These solutions are designed to enhance the overall guest experience, including meal ordering.
2. Restaurant Back Office Software:
These solutions control how the retail and manufacturing environments are run, including calculating the amount of manpower and raw materials required. It frequently serves as the company’s banking system for the front end.
We’ll go a step further and list the top benefits of restaurant management software. It helps in:
- Reduce the order processing time.
- Automate repetitive work.
- Deliver a great customer experience.
- Determine Profits & Costs
Bottom line, good software allows you to concentrate on important things, such as your business growth, the food, and the client experience.
Now, it’s time to cure your restaurant back-office headaches. It’s time to adopt the new reality!
7 Types of Restaurant Back-Office Software Solutions
When you first established your restaurant, you probably pictured yourself interacting with customers, preparing delectable meals, and organizing your staff for the upcoming dinner rush.
You probably didn’t anticipate having to do as much back office work.
Building schedules is necessary. Payroll requires the collection of timesheets. Checking inventory is necessary. Although these annoying processes are necessary for your company, they really eat up a lot of your valuable time.
Unfortunately, a bustling back office is a need for a successful restaurant in order to have a full dining room. Finding the right balance between your passion and the systems that keep it operating smoothly is the key to success.
And technology is available to assist.
Just like we helped a restaurant business with their day-to-day operations by building a digital suite.
Here are different types of restaurant back-office software solutions to help you run your restaurant more efficiently.
1. Inventory Management Software
The first thing that comes into your mind when we say restaurant back office software is inventory management. One of the most laborious tasks of operating a restaurant is counting and monitoring inventory. Utilizing inventory management software will change how you approach this job.
You no longer need to manually track inventory because it gives you real-time tracking of all levels, from ordering to depletion, at your restaurant. It can be integrated with the systems of your vendor partners, giving you control over the suppliers, goods, and prices made available to the operations team.
Reporting inventory is also readily available with cloud-based inventory management in a matter of seconds.
Must-have features for inventory management software-
- Analytics system to help the firm be organized, and increase the accuracy of inventory orders (never overstock or understock),
- Automating the inventory process saves time, and knowing which products are selling and which aren’t saves money,
- Integrated tracking system for inventories, and
- A software such that point of sale and accounting can be linked.
Tip: A budget should be in mind while selecting an inventory management system because some items can be quite expensive but not necessary for your size restaurant.
2. Restaurant POS System
Your restaurant management system is powered by the POS.
When your customer’s orders are entered, her information is added to your database. Aside from this, your POS handles the major operational tasks of ticketing, billing, and printing.
Now that customer data can be analyzed, you can understand what works for you and make better, more knowledgeable judgments. Additionally, you fuel your marketing with the customer information you gather.
Must-have features for POS system-
- The capacity to compute cash for each order entered throughout the day,
- Create sales reports for different time frames,
- Note the payment methods used by each visitor,
- Calculate payroll information and monitor sales metrics.
3. Costing Food Software
Making sure of profitability is the first priority for a restaurant owner. Knowing the food cost of each menu item is crucial because, in the context of a restaurant, food is the main source of income.
Must- have features that your food costing software-
- Knowing the profit margins for each dish will help you determine its profitability,
- To raise demand, highlight the foods that are profitable,
- Considers the cost of labor and fixed costs,
- Enables you to test out various price points to maximize profitability.
4. Workforce Management
This restaurant back office system helps owners to replace their antiquated excel or paper-based processes with a more efficient, most likely cloud-based service. From their smartphone, tablet, or PC, managers may accept time off requests, make staff schedules, and send alerts about shift openings or significant modifications. The staff members may effortlessly propose, accept, and exchange shifts on their own cell phones, tablets, or desktop computers.
Must- have features that your workforce management software-
- Automated timekeeping system.
- Organize your time more effectively.
- The user-friendly interface for communication between management and employees.
- Can integrate with other restaurant software like payroll system.
5. Cash Flow Management System
Cash is most important in the restaurant business, so managing your cash flow is essential if you want to maintain a continuous stream of income that matches your outgoing expenses.
For a small restaurant, being profitable alone won’t cut it; you’ll need the correct cash flow to make that a reality.
Even though it’s one of the most crucial elements of a stable financial operation, restaurant owners frequently disregard it in favor of other business opportunities.
You can easily manage your cash flow using affordable cash flow management software saving you lots of time and effort.
Must-have features for cash flow management system-
- To monitor and track the flow on a weekly, daily, or even monthly basis as well as project future cash flow,
- The ability to link to your accounting software to examine data seamlessly,
- Integrated Payment and Billing System,
- Export data for external processing.
6. Order management Software
This restaurant back-office software is one of the most essential software for restaurant management.
It’s a good idea to keep track of everything that occurs at your restaurant, both online and offline.
You receive orders from your own restaurant application as well as through online food aggregators like UberEasts, Swiggy, and Zomato.
Your dashboard will now show all the critical information regarding orders and status messages, greatly simplifying your administration process.
In 2022, if you’re having trouble bringing in business, it may be time to consider using online ordering software at your restaurant.
Must-have functions for online ordering software-
- Order management via the website and 3rd party apps
- Integrated Marketing and Loyalty programs tools
- POS integration, and
- Payment integration.
Read to know the costs of developing your own restaurant app for food ordering and table reservations.
7. Reservation or Table Management System
Moving from the “pen and paper technique of restaurant booking” to a restaurant reservation system can make a significant difference for restaurants that accept reservations.
Using this restaurant back office software not only greatly simplifies your daily operations but also improves the user experience for your customers. Visitors can enter their own information through a website interface, mobile app, or web widget rather than picking up the phone and manually entering it.
An easy-to-use table management system will also be included in a good restaurant reservation setup. It enables restaurants to see their restaurant hour by hour and receive reservations in a variety of ways.
Must-have features for the restaurant reservation system include:
- Utilizing time-sensitive push messages to reduce no-shows customers,
- Online reservations feature for a better experience,
- Feature to Enable proper allocation and bill in their account,
- Store visitor data for upcoming marketing campaigns.
Read this blog to know more about features needed to make a reservation app like OpenTable.
A good system should be simple to use and not necessitate extensive training. It should also be scalable so that it can accommodate the restaurant’s future capacity in addition to just its present needs.
We helped a client to build an app for restaurant businesses in managing their orders, table bookings, and payment processing. To get more insights to check our work- Mazmez.
A Win-Win for Passion and Back Office Process
Now you know successful restaurant businesses require restaurant back office software solutions.
This software manages your company and the back office of your restaurant, but they don’t have to stand in the way of your passion. The bottom line, turn your minutes into moments and streamline back-office operations with a little assistance from cutting-edge new technology.
How to choose the best restaurant back office software for your business?
As you can see, there isn’t really a “correct” answer to select; rather, what works for you. These types of integrated solutions are frequently used by restaurants to assist streamline all operations of hospitality-based businesses.
Discussing your problems and requesting a digital consultancy from the provider is the best approach to determine whether it feels good for your firm.
Get in touch with our experts to get the best possible solution for your restaurant business. Your restaurant’s ROI will rise thanks to the appropriate software solutions, and managing the operation every day will be much more pleasurable.