Essential Digital Tools for Restaurateurs

Digital technology has made its way into most industries, and the restaurant industry is no exception. In recent years, we have seen a growing awareness among restaurant owners, as well as the emergence of digital solutions that meet their needs in both...

Even though this industry isn’t likely to become 100% digital—since human interaction is essential—digital tools have their place and are even becoming necessary for building and retaining a customer base. Most customers themselves go online or use apps to choose a restaurant, make a reservation, and then rate it, as they’re becoming increasingly demanding about the dining experience they receive.

We have therefore decided to provide you with an overview of the essential digital tools for restaurant owners, focusing on six key aspects of their daily operations.

Recruitment

To recruit staff, restaurant owners can use traditional online job sites, but these aren’t always well-suited to their needs. Due to high turnover and strong seasonality, restaurant owners’ staffing needs are often urgent and temporary. During certain holiday weekends, summer vacations, or even when a server is sick, restaurant owners may need immediate staff reinforcement. However, posting a sign on the door or having an ad buried on a job site does not allow for quick hiring.

To address this issue, Brigad and Extracadrabra have launched a platform that connects restaurant owners with staff (waiters, cooks, etc.) for short-term assignments. Brigad even promises to provide restaurants with extra staff within an hour!

HR Management

Beyond recruitment, teams in the restaurant industry are often quite large and must be managed effectively. Indeed, the restaurant industry operates on a different work schedule than traditional office hours, with very long shifts. This means that staff schedules must be managed while taking into account each employee’s constraints and availability. Schedules often vary from week to week, and it takes managers an enormous amount of time to constantly update them.

Several startups have entered this market, including Skello, which allows users to manage schedules and staff online. Their software enables users to automatically generate a schedule with just a few clicks, taking into account the specific rules and constraints related to staff members and their contracts.

Reservations

Reservations, which used to be made by phone, are now primarily made online. It’s important to note that one in two French people make restaurant reservations online. Conversely, one in two restaurants now offers an online reservation service.* Having an online reservation system is therefore becoming a necessity.

Beyond that, it allows restaurant owners to secure more reservations and save time by centralizing all bookings, ensuring none are missed, and better planning table assignments in advance.

Several companies offer reservation systems to restaurant owners, and ZenChef is one of them. This startup provides a comprehensive service that helps restaurant owners create a website—if they don’t already have one—and integrate a reservation system into it. This reservation system also helps restaurant owners build customer loyalty, as it allows them to collect information about their customers, better understand their needs, and communicate with them.

Point-of-sale or payment solution

With a continued focus on saving time and ensuring customer satisfaction, digital point-of-sale and payment solutions are becoming essential for restaurant owners. Digitizing this process enables faster order taking—without any oversights (orders for tables of 12 aren’t always easy)—and faster payment processing, including features such as the ability to split the bill, and more.

Finally, this type of tool generally makes accounting easier, since everything is tracked in the same system, and allows you to generate analyses of the actual figures.

Several companies have developed this type of tool, and we’ve selected two: Tiller Systems and L’addition, both of which specialize in the restaurant industry. Their features are very comprehensive and are constantly being expanded. For example, Tiller Systems has developed an additional ordering and delivery module connected to the POS system, allowing restaurant owners to offer an easy-to-manage online ordering option. L’Addition, meanwhile, offers an inventory management feature within the tool, allowing real-time tracking of dish availability in the kitchen and items to be ordered.

Management of the facility

Beyond payment processing, it’s essential to keep a close eye on overall inventory management, deliveries, food costs, and so on. All of this takes time and requires excellent organization to maintain profit margins and ensure that all ingredients for the dishes are available every day.

This management process can become more efficient thanks to digital restaurant management tools. One such tool is Easilys, which allows you to monitor every step of the process, from procurement to service. This includes managing supplier orders with just a few clicks, managing recipe files, tracking stock and inventory to improve product traceability, and managing monthly expenses and revenue. It is a comprehensive solution that centralizes the entire process, boosting productivity and profitability. It also enables the management of multiple locations simultaneously.

Along the same lines, there is FoodMeUp, which is a more specialized tool: it is a product sheet management tool for restaurant owners that allows them to catalog all information related to the ingredients they use and how they are used through recipe-specific sheets. The team plans to expand their solution with additional features, such as one-click ordering of ingredient lists.

Supply

Restaurateurs often prefer to source their ingredients directly from producers or, at the very least, to use high-quality products to ensure excellent cuisine. However, this is very time-consuming: on the one hand, finding these suppliers is difficult given the wide and diverse range of options available, and on the other hand, managing relationships with them to restock, stay informed about available products, and so on.

86%* of restaurant owners even say they would like an app that allows them to buy directly from local producers. FoodTech companies have recognized this need and developed solutions. By consolidating the supply chain and reducing the number of middlemen, restaurant owners can consistently find high-quality products at competitive prices while saving time.

When it comes to sourcing ingredients for the kitchen, we’ve found two startups with different approaches:

• Califrais: This startup lists various suppliers from Rungis on an online platform, where restaurant owners can select the products they want. All products are delivered at the same time and billed as a single invoice, even if they come from different suppliers, thereby streamlining the process.
• Terroir Mon Amour: This company offers the option to purchase products directly from the producer, meaning the product is shipped directly from the producer to the customer. The company provides this service to both individuals and businesses, ensuring the products are truly authentic.

Another supply chain, separate from that of ingredients and just as important, is the wine supply chain. Finding good wines at a good price is possible, and the best way is to source them directly from the producer. However, this quickly becomes complicated since a restaurant owner will usually want to serve wines from various regions and therefore from different wineries. This means ordering from quite a few wineries and/or suppliers to have a comprehensive wine selection.

Once again, digital technology has found its place in this sector, particularly with Les Grappes PRO, which allows restaurant professionals to source wine directly from producers through its platform: this also saves time, as producers are centralized on a single platform and there is a single invoice, even when an order includes products from multiple producers.

Discover Les Grappes Pro

You now have everything you need to digitize your business, saving you time and money while ensuring the best possible customer experience!

* Source: FoodServiceVision study, “Digital Dining 2018: Insights from Restaurant Owners and Diners”