Photo: Getty Images
As many would know the F&B industry in Singapore is cut throat with multiple strong competitors both new and old. In addition to severe manpower shortages, it can be tough for F&B owners to stay afloat.
This article by Thunderquote compiles 5 main reasons why automation can help you and your business. Particularly, we zoom in on automation via the use of e-Menus on tablets and the use of an online reservation and delivery system. If you are already thinking of automating, you may refer to this ultimate guide to automating your F&B business.
- Reduced reliance on manpower
This is an obvious given – as in any business, automation frees up your staff and reduces the need for manpower. With an E-Menu tablet for every table, orders need not be taken down personally, hence freeing up time for your servers and reducing the need to schedule servers during peak hours. Not only would this ease the burden of finding manpower during a labour crunch, but it is less likely that you will need to raise wages to retain your staff.
- Increased order accuracy
With customers keying in their own orders, the probability of sending your customer a wrong order would be nearly negligible. This highly accurate system of ordering food leaves little room for an unsatisfactory service experienced by your customer when they are delivered the wrong dish. As many service business owners are well aware off, customer satisfaction is one of the most important parts of the business. Your brand reputation is at stake, and protecting this through automation is a good way to start.
- Enticing and interactive menu display
Using an interactive E-Menu would help your business in two main ways. First, it would elevate customer experience. With clear HD photos displayed on the tablet, it would allow your food items to appear more enticing. An e-menu could also suggest food items to customers according to what they have been browsing or point them to the more popular dishes for that week.
Photo: Marco del Grande
This allows for a personalized experience that is simple yet efficient. As this point suggests, professional photographs of your food is essential. However, we know how much of a hassle it is to find a good and reliable food photographer. Let Thunderquote handle things for you with 5 free quotations.
Secondly, unlike a traditional menu, costs can be reduced by diminishing the need to reprint menus whenever promotional items are added to the menus. A menu that is easily edited would allow your café or restaurant to be dynamic in your offerings – for example, tweaking your food to adapt any latest trends (salted egg yolk dishes, anybody?) or any seasonal festivities (think Starbucks’ famous Christmas drinks). This would ensure your business is relevant in the ever competitive food industry in Singapore so that your customers keep coming back to try new things.
- Real-time data analytics for your business
Data is vital to any company, and a F&B company is no different. An e-Menu would allow for your business to automatically track which dishes were popular for the week. Not only that, your restaurant could also track at which time of the day specific dishes were popular. Ever faced a situation whereby a dish was so popular that it sold out?
Such data could help you to forecast for such future demand, ensuring that your kitchen has stocked up on the right amount of ingredients for every dish and preventing from your restaurant losing valuable business. This would also cut down on any wastes generated from ingredients not used due to the lack in demand for certain dishes. Hence in the long run, such automation will maximize your resources by purchasing only what is needed.
- Digitized reservation and take-out options
Having an online reservation and take-out system would be highly efficient for you and your customers. Automating the reservation system will allow customers to easily see whether your restaurant is fully booked or not with a few simple clicks from the comforts of their home. This can be easily done from the multiple enterprise system providers that you can get help finding here.
Additionally, a simple online take-out or delivery ordering system would again, reduce the risk of getting the wrong order for your customers and also make the ordering process fuss-free for the customer. This would also reduce the amount of manpower needed to man the phones, thus reducing costs overall once more.
Technology is awesome, and in the face of troubling economic times, businesses should jump at this opportunity to embrace the new and challenge the traditional. It would bring your business a long way by increasing efficiency, reducing costs and improving customer experience. If you are looking into automating your business, head on over to Thunderquote for some help!
ThunderQuote is the most comprehensive business services portal in Singapore, Australia and ASEAN , where hundreds of thousands of dollars of procurement contracts are sourced every month by major companies like Singapore Press Holdings, National Trade Union Congress and more.