Essential digital tools for restorers

Updated on December 6, 2022

Digital technology has made its way into most sectors and the restaurant industry is no exception. For the past few years, we have seen a growing awareness among restaurant owners, but also the arrival of digital solutions that meet their needs, both at the table and behind the scenes in restaurants.

Even if this sector is not going to be 100% digitalized, the human contact being essential, digital has its place and is even becoming necessary to develop and retain customers. Most of the customers themselves go on the internet or use applications to choose their restaurant, book it and then rate it, customers being more and more demanding on the experience they have in the restaurant.

We have therefore chosen to give you an overview of the essential digital tools for restaurant owners on 6 key stages in their daily life.

Recruitment

To recruit his team, a restaurant owner can use classic online recruitment sites but they are not always adapted to his needs. Due to a very high turnover and a strong seasonality, the staffing needs of restaurant owners are often urgent and temporary. During certain holiday weekends, during summer vacations, or even when a waiter is sick, restaurateurs may need immediate reinforcement of their workforce. However, leaving an ad on the door or on a job board does not allow a quick recruitment.

To overcome this,Brigad andExtracadrabra have launched a platform allowing restaurant owners to be put in touch with staff (waiters, cooks, etc.) for temporary periods. Brigad even promises restaurants to provide extra staff within the hour!

HR management

Beyond recruitment, restaurant teams are often quite large and need to be well managed. Indeed, the restaurant industry offers a different work rhythm from office hours and over very wide time slots. It is therefore necessary to manage staff attendance schedules and take into account the constraints and availability of each person. The schedules are often different from one week to the next and it takes a lot of time for the managers to constantly re-edit them.

Several start-ups have launched themselves on this niche, notablySkellowhich allows to manage schedules and staff online. Their software allows you to create a schedule automatically in a few clicks, taking into account the rules and constraints specific to the staff and their contract.

Booking

The reservation, formerly made by phone, is now mainly done online. It is important to know that one out of two French people book online in a restaurant. On the other hand, one restaurant out of two now offers an online reservation service.* Having a reservation system on the Internet is therefore becoming a necessity.

Beyond that, it allows restaurant owners to guarantee more reservations, and to save time by centralizing all the reservations, to not forget any and to better plan in advance the distribution of tables.

Several companies offer a reservation system to restaurant owners andZenChefis one of them. This start-up offers a very complete service proposing to the restaurant owners to create their website if it is not already done and to insert a reservation system. This reservation system will also allow restaurant owners to build customer loyalty since they can collect information about their customers and therefore better understand their needs and communicate with them.

Cash register or payment solution

In order to save time and increase customer satisfaction, digital cashiering and payment solutions are becoming essential for restaurant owners. Digitizing this step allows for faster orders, without forgetting (orders for tables of 12 are not always easy) and faster payment, with features such as splitting the bill, etc.

Finally, this type of tool generally makes accounting easier since everything is recorded on the same system and analyses of the figures are obtained.

This kind of tool has been developed by several actors and we have selected two of them: Tiller Systems and L'addition which are specialized in the restaurant sector. Their functionalities are very complete and are constantly being developed. For example,Tiller Systemshas developed an order and delivery module connected to the cash register, allowing restaurant owners to offer an easy to manage online ordering option.The Additionoffers an inventory management option in the tool, allowing real-time management of the availability of dishes in the kitchen and items to be ordered.

Management of the establishment

In addition to payment, it is essential to keep an eye on the global management of stocksdeliveries, costs of the dishes, etc. All this takes time and requires a very good organization to keep the margin and ensure that all the ingredients for the dishes are available every day.

This management can gain in productivity thanks to digital restaurant management tools. First of all, we can mentionEasilyswhich allows to control each step of the process from supply to service. This includes the management of supplier orders in a few clicks, the management of recipe cards, the monitoring of stocks and inventories which improves the traceability of products, and the management of expenses and receipts made per month. It is a very complete solution that allows to centralize the whole process and to increase productivity and profitability. It also allows you to manage several establishments at the same time.

In the same vein, there isFoodMeUpwhich is a more specialized tool: it is a data sheet management tool for restaurant owners that allows them to reference all the information related to the items used and their use through data sheets per recipe. The team plans to add additional options to their solution, such as one-click ordering of item lists.

Sourcing

Restaurateurs often like to source directly from the producer or at least source good products to guarantee quality cuisine. However, it takes a lot of time to find these suppliers because the offer is so large and diverse, and to manage the relationship with them to restock, to know the available products, etc.

86%* of restaurant owners even say they would like an application to buy directly from local producers. FoodTech players have heard this need and found solutions. By centralizing the offer and reducing intermediaries, it is possible for restaurant owners to always find quality products at competitive prices while saving time.

For the supply of products to the kitchen, we have found two start-ups with different approaches:

CalifraisCalifrais: this start-up lists various suppliers from Rungis on an online platform where restaurant owners can choose the different products they want. All products are delivered at the same time with a single invoice, even if they come from different suppliers: the process is therefore simplified.
Terroir Mon Amour Terroir Mon Amour : this one proposes to buy its products directly from the producer, that is to say that the product leaves from the producer and arrives directly at the customer. The company offers this service to individuals but also to professionals and allows them a real authenticity of the products.

Another supply, distinct from that of the ingredients and which is just as important is the supply of wine. It is possible to find good wines at a good price and the best way is to buy directly from the producer. However, this quickly becomes complicated as a restaurant owner will often want to serve wine from different regions and therefore from different estates. This implies ordering from a number of different wineries and/or suppliers to have a complete wine offer.

Here again, digital technology has found its place, notably withLes Grappes PROwhich offers catering professionals the opportunity to buy wine directly from producers through their platform: here too, time is saved since producers are centralized on a single platform and invoicing is unique, even when an order includes several producers.