Why integrated hospitality software is better for business

You don’t need us to tell you that running a restaurant is fast-paced – and even at the best of times – unpredictable. And when you have one EPOS system, another to track your inventory, another for reporting, and another for delivery management – you could be adding to the chaos, instead of making things crystal-clear for you and your staff. 

Let’s take a closer look at how disconnected systems could be impacting how you run your restaurant, and – let’s face it – your bottom line. And how integrated hospitality software can help you run things more efficiently.

The real problem with disconnected hospitality software 

Inaccurate inventory info means sell-out mistakes

When your inventory isn’t plugged into your restaurant’s EPOS,  your stock levels aren’t going to be up-to-date. For your wait staff, that means they don’t know what’s sold out in real time – and that has a knock-on effect. It leaves customers disappointed when their order is taken only for them to find out five minutes later that their favourite item on the menu has sold out.

Manual data entry means errors and delayed service

If you and your team have to manually input delivery orders into your POS to be processed and sent to the kitchen, you’re not only slowing down service, you’re running the risk of incorrect orders. However careful you are, relying on manual data entry increases the chance of human error. And if online orders for delivery are a key part of your business setup, incorrect orders can have a direct effect on customer loyalty and lead to bad reviews – that last thing any restaurant wants.

Disconnected customer history makes marketing tricky

If a customer’s purchase history and your promotional plans don’t sit in the same system it becomes tricky to connect the dots when it comes to pushing out marketing emails. Take, for example, a young family who brings their kids into the restaurant after school on a Friday afternoon. Your front-of-house staff see them on a regular basis and know they’re having their end-of-week treat. But your marketing manager doesn’t have their details in her database, so when she promotes your brand new weekend family brunch deal, your regulars are none the wiser. That’s an easy upsell opportunity missed.

Fragmented reporting slows down the day-to-day

Disconnected systems create their own pools of isolated data, making it much more difficult to get a clear picture of performance across all areas of your restaurant. You’ll have your supplier management right here, and your inventory tracking over there, making it much more complex to keep track of waste ingredients and over-ordering.

It may seem small in the grand scheme of things, but on average the financial impact is 6% of total sales lost, just through food waste. And that’s just one example of how fragmented reports make it difficult to keep an eye on what’s working, and what’s not, across the business.

Why integrated hospitality software is better for business

Your hospitality software needs to do so much more than just adding up sales figures at the end of the day. It should be powering every part of your business, from stock and suppliers to orders and payments, right through to financial reporting and accounting. And the easiest way you can do this is by ensuring all your restaurant operations and payments are fully integrated in one central system, giving you a single source of information across the business.

Here’s how integrated hospitality software sets your restaurant up for success:

• You get a better view of supplier costs and inventory so you can keep track of margins
• Minimise manual data entry and reduce errors with automations keeping customer orders on track 
• Improve marketing comms with customer data linked directly with your CRM
• Gain a clearer picture of performance across your business making it easier to drive profits and scale when you’re ready

A better way to manage your restaurant

When you’re managing multiple systems and suppliers, you need clarity, especially if you’re managing more than one site. Investing in fully integrated hospitality software will help you run every cover faster, keep your back office in order, and give you the data you need to spot new business opportunities. 

With TISSL EPOS you get a complete hospitality solution, with embedded payments and market-leading integrations that you can use to your advantage. Want to find out more? Get in touch with the team to talk through your options.