Best ePOS System for Restaurants for Lowering Food Cost Management

What if there were a technology that allowed restaurants to boost revenue by reducing their food bill? And what if that technology was one the restaurant already relies on for its daily operation? That magical innovation is a cloud-based ePOS system that serves as the foundation for all of the restaurant’s processes.

The best ePOS system for restaurants integrates inventory and supply management in a way that ensures your establishment maintains the optimal level of ingredients and supplies at all times. Automated inventory alerts and product reordering help restaurants avoid the waste that results from oversupplies while monitoring stock levels in real-time to prevent running out of key ingredients.

Like every business, managing a restaurant requires having the right information at your disposal at the exact time it’s needed. As the restaurant industry continues to reel from the impact of COVID-related restrictions, being able to squeeze every extra penny out of the business’s ongoing expenses can mean the difference between thriving and going dark.

Spend More Wisely by Keeping Close Tabs on Restaurant Inventory

It would appear to be a simple equation: How much food is coming in vs. how much food is being served. In the real world, determining the amount of waste resulting from food purchases is anything but simple. Among the unknowns that complicate the calculation are spoilage, clerical errors, inaccurate or incomplete sales records, theft, and waste.

Implementing an efficient, easy-to-use restaurant inventory management system depends on automation and integration, two key features of the best ePOS system for restaurants. These are among the critical functions that are built into modern cloud-based POS solutions:

Track all inventory items in real-time, including tracking by the unit.Support variable pricing, including discounts, bundles, refunds, and incentives.Integrate seamlessly with sales management, accounting, employee management, and customer management functions.Customize and brand all employee-facing and customer-facing interfaces, including online and digital operations.

The goal of an integrated restaurant inventory management system is to track food orders from the initial purchase order through final sale to the customer. An ePOS system lets restaurant managers view in real-time all orders as they arrive, as they are prepared to complete a customer order, and as the customer’s payment is received. This allows the restaurant to calculate more accurately the amount of food it loses to spillage, waste, and refunds.

Another important feature of an ePOS system for restaurants is the ability to break food orders into units for accurate pricing. For example, the cost of a gross of eggs is easily converted into the revenue generated by customers’ orders that include eggs as an ingredient.

The Right Way to Apply Self-Ordering for Restaurants

Many restaurants may hesitate before making the leap to a self-ordering system for their supplies, but the money-saving advantages of automated ordering are difficult for the establishments to ignore. These are the four requirements of a self-ordering system for restaurants:

Food cost and profit management: The ePOS system must be able to track food purchases at the ingredient level for all of its menu items, including dry and liquid measurements in various order-level quantities. The software must also support menu-level costing so the expense of each menu item can be accurately proportioned.Food waste: While it’s impossible to prevent all waste in the course of a restaurant’s operation, reducing waste can be one of the easiest ways for the business to boost profitability. By closely tracking the volume and number of products received and correlating with sales figures, the ePOS system lets restaurants accurately compare the expected and actual cost of goods sold.Vendor order management: The trend toward farm-to-table and other local sources for restaurant food orders places more emphasis on variety and seasonality. The ePOS system is able to accommodate a higher number of individual orders placed with smaller suppliers via its integrated purchase order and accounts payable components. Restaurants can track inventory items from multiple locations via apps running on tablets, smartphones, and other mobile devices.Stockroom efficiency: By improving your stockroom’s organization, the ePOS system reduces food waste and makes employees more efficient because they spend less time hunting around for the items they need. The location of items and the quantity currently in stock can be accessed via the same POS equipment your workers use to complete their other tasks.

Make Efficient Inventory Management Part of an Integrated ePOS Tailored to Your Restaurant’s Needs

Much of your restaurant’s success results from its uniqueness: Your menu, your decor, your entire approach to serving your clientele is one-of-a-kind. That same uniqueness means your inventory management and other operational needs won’t be addressed adequately by a cookie-cutter POS system. Devising, installing, and running the ideal ePOS solution for your business requires an integrated approach that’s tailor-made for your establishment.

How do you eliminate the divisions between the many discrete functions involved in the day-to-day operation of a restaurant? Your ePOS system has to have a consistent approach to data regardless of which part of the restaurant generates it. For example, the money the restaurant spends on fruits and vegetables has to be linked to the menu items the food is used to prepare, and then to the labor and overhead costs associated with their storage,  preparation, and delivery to customers.

A modern cloud-based ePOS system does the heavy lifting necessary to convert purchase orders and sales receipts into the business intelligence the restaurant needs to support its decisions in the short term and long term. The systems provide the features that customers demand, such as a wealth of ordering and payment options. They also make employees more productive by putting the information they need at their fingertips via mobile apps.

The challenge is in knowing how to put all the pieces together in a way that pleases customers, boosts worker productivity, and reduces the restaurant’s costs. That’s where the sage advice of an ePOS expert makes all the difference. Your ePOS vendor will work closely with you to craft the system that meets your current needs and sets you on a path for success in the future, no matter what unforeseeable challenges may arise next.

In a period of change, talech has a number of POS solutions that can help your restaurant adjust operations smoothly. From reaching new audiences to engaging with your existing customers more often, we give you the tools to adapt quickly and with confidence.