Pink-restaurant-booths

Scrap the spreadsheets, for good

Cash is so passe. Having a point of sale (POS) system should be a given, but some businesses still lag behind in this department.

POS systems track sales and manage cashflow in ways that old-school spreadsheets just can’t, with everything being instantaneous.

But the best bit about a modern POS is the way it allows a restaurant to track tables and floor plans. As a restaurant owner and operator, this means better optimisation of your space, and probably greater table turnover as your staff become more aware of the comings and goings.

Kounta is a good place to start (and there’s no better time to start), being a POS software that intuitively connects with other software like Liven, and most modern hardware including iPad, Android, Mac and PC.

Because of Kounta’s partnership with Liven, you will also be giving your customers the opportunity to earn digital food currency — outstripping your competition who give nothing but food.

On top of that, a good POS system will easily integrate with accounting software. Depending on the size of your business, you will probably find that MYOB, Xero or Quickbooks best suit your needs. At the end of the day, everything can be exported from the POS into the accounting package to eliminate manual data entry.

Save trees, and write it off

Save trees, and invest in a couple of iPads or tablets for waiters to take orders.

Despite the steep upfront cost, it ends up being far more efficient, and saves you from embarrassing stuff-ups. Plus, SMEs can claim the $20,000 instant tax write-off to relieve these costs anyway, an Australian Government scheme that has been extended for another year due to its popularity.

At payment, an iPad-based system can also cut back on wait time as your till essentially comes to the customer — again, making efficiency the name of this game.

Blast it out

Engage your customer base through an email marketing campaign.

For hospitality more than retail, the less spam the better, but it’s still wise to encourage customers to sign up for updates on the business front and pop-up promotions. Email should also be taken as an opportunity to promote your partners, such as dining rewards apps.

While your email blasts will be small to begin with, it’s a tech solution that will eventually end up giving back in the analytics it provides. You may find that people are particularly engaged with one of your rewards partners like Liven, or they are clicking through to one of your social media accounts and not the other, for example, to then spend more time developing that one specifically.

Treat them right

It’s all well and good to see happy customers, but they may be smiling about something other than your service. Find out for sure by fitting out a tech solution that directly improves the customer experience.

Platforms like GuestBridge are more the domain of fine dining institutions for now, although they aren’t strictly reserved for the upmarket.

Any owner or operator who sees the benefit of staff being able to quickly identify regulars and their preferences should consider adopting guest data technology. Without going ‘full butler’ experience, this will make guests feel like they are properly being waited on as you can more readily offer perks like special treats and preferred seating.

Find out more about Liven and its rewards-based payment platform at liven.com.au.

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