5 reasons why the digital revolution is good news for hospitality SMEs

The digital age has brought many changes, and for the hospitality industry, some of those changes have been challenging – including reduced footfall from commuters and increased competition from home delivery services, all against a backdrop of labour shortages and the squeeze of pandemic recovery.

Open a typical newspaper, and you might find it full of doom and gloom, but that’s not what you’ll get here. Because while digital transformation brought new challenges, millions of small businesses, including yours, can now benefit from this revolution in digital technology – saving time and money and creating better customer experiences.

Here are a few examples of hotel, bar and restaurant management tools.

1/ Kitchen management and supply

Are you still managing your restaurant’s inventory manually? Even for the sharpest mathematical mind, using a spreadsheet or old-fashioned paper and pen is time-consuming and often inaccurate. One thing can lead to another: poor stock control can mean weak negotiation conditions, higher purchase prices and food waste – and who wants any of that?

Digital stock management tools give you more than a little upgrade. Orders can be placed directly with suppliers online, and you can automatically feed your inventory. With a connected EPOS, you can update quantities according to sales and check stock levels at any time on your tablet or a smartphone.

Tracking expiry dates precisely means you can reduce food waste. And that’s not the only way you’ll save money. The tech will amass data and allow you to compare the terms offered by suppliers over any given period or for specific products, giving you an edge in negotiations.

For help getting started, check out Easylis, the web-based, multi-site management software that allows you to manage recipes and orders and reduce waste.

2/ Personnel management

The catering sector is currently undergoing a labour shortage and a high staff turnover rate, jeopardising business continuity and profitability. In this landscape, personnel management takes up so much time. Hiring, preparing pay slips, terminating a contract and staying on top of legal requirements can be a nightmare when you have a busy restaurant to run!

But fear not, specialised digital recruitment platforms will take the pain out of people's problems. With automation helping you manage contracts and payments and software that can put you directly in touch with candidates, you’ll save time and find a balm for your staffing headache.

Plus, you can streamline your restaurant’s organisation with digital work schedules and give real-time information to employees via instant messaging. Monitoring hours and absences, as well as clocking in and out, becomes easy. And this data can be automatically transferred to your payroll software or accountant. 

It also makes your employees’ lives easier, as they can book shifts, request leave or notify absence online in just a few clicks.

Look at Skello, an app that simplifies team management, contracts, payroll and absences.

3/ Reservation and order management

Manual reserving tables and rooms run the risk of error and the consequent loss of business. They are time-consuming, requiring staff to answer each phone call, and they’re also a missed opportunity to gather vital data for future promotions. 

Good communication between the dining room and the kitchen is also essential to the smooth running of your restaurant. Traditional order taking can be a source of complication and significant error. Digital methods improve the whole process and can afford customers additional ways to order and pay.

ServedUp is a mobile order and pay platform dedicated to the hospitality industry which can revolutionise your EPOS, customer ordering experience and more.

4/ Delivery management

More and more people are using click and collect or home delivery. While you can offer delivery or takeaway on your website, hooking up with a delivery platform allows you to reach a larger audience. It will also take care of the logistical aspects of delivery and collection. 

Online solutions allow orders to be centralised in a single point, whether from your delivery platform, website or on-site takeaway. All online orders appear directly on the EPOS without re-entry, eliminating the risk of error. At the same time, integrated dashboards offer a global follow-up of all current deliveries, with geolocation and delivery times updated live, making your life easier.

Deliverect offers an order integration system that synchronises with stocks and online menus.

5/ Managing the company

Managing the financial and administrative side of a restaurant is no easy task. Studies show that most managers spend 10 hours a week on administrative tasks. And every hour your head is in the books is one less hour you can dedicate to running your restaurant—and those kitchens don’t look after themselves!

Online solutions can save precious time by automating the most time-consuming processes. Many accountants and bookkeepers provide their clients with digital solutions that allow them to automate exchanges. The data is integrated automatically into the accounting system.

Libeo automates the payment of supplier invoices in a few clicks, saving an average of 3 days per month, and integrates with your existing accountancy software.

Request-to-Pay is a new and more efficient method of collecting payments from customers.