For the restaurant business, the past year has been a frenzy. With over a million restaurants in the United States alone and a market value of over $899 billion, the restaurant industry was impacted harder than any other during the COVID-19 pandemic. Below, we’re taking a look at some of the challenges restaurants are facing, how they’re dealing with them, what to expect in the coming year, and how you can plan for the future.
1) Inventory Depletion and Waste
Restaurants waste a lot of resources if they aren’t managed properly. Waste from food scraps, spoiled items, the mismanagement of drinks, and the use of paper placemats or menus can all result in lost income. The pandemic also had a significant impact on restaurant inventory, with the disruption in supply lines being the main cause.
Solution: You can minimize waste by establishing a good POS system. Using a POS terminal or a mobile tablet to take orders you can eliminate the need for paper tickets. At the same time, inventory tracking becomes automatic so you can keep a closer eye on your products. Take a look at some of the best POS systems designed especially for restaurants.
2) Reduce Face-to-Face Contact
It’s evident that social distance will be relevant for some time. Your customers will undoubtedly remain health-conscious even after the threat has passed, but there are options to make them feel at ease.
Solution: You can limit cash payments by adopting contactless payment alternatives. Also, laminated menus can be replaced with a QR code menu option.
3) Labor Costs are Expensive
Labor is one of the most expensive aspects of running a restaurant. To make up for the money lost the previous year, restaurants are searching for ways to make better use of their employees.
Solution: You can consider putting up self-service kiosks as a solution (with proper sanitization protocols). Your customers may submit their orders, which are sent to the kitchen. By doing so, face-to-face interactions will be limited and order accuracy will increase.
4) Employee Turnover Is High
Employee turnover has always been high in the restaurant industry, and you can’t afford to lose workers today more than ever.
Solution: Open communication between employees and management is critical in every partnership. You can conduct staff meetings regularly to provide complete openness in managerial choices and to check in with personnel.
5) Customer Service Issues
Restaurant operations have been changed by social distancing, which has had a negative impact on the customer experience.
Solution: Your customers have come to appreciate the ease of purchasing online from anywhere. You can offer a branded website or mobile app so that the customer will be enticed to order with ease. Not many business owners understand the importance of custom software development.
You can also provide delivery services, which eliminates the need for consumers to come out for pickup.
2020 hit the restaurant business hard, but the benefit to this situation is we managed to learn what works, what doesn’t, and what any owner can do so that his restaurant can thrive during these constantly unsure times.
