A couple of days ago I had this huge craving to have something different and decided to head out. I finally pencilled on this restaurant, located in a lively place, after a search on Google and Zomato. The atmosphere and interiors looked great on online photos and the menu was drool worthy. So without any second thoughts, along with a couple of friends, we headed straight over to this restaurant for dinner.
The atmosphere of the restaurant lived up to our expectations and we were welcomed by well-mannered and courteous staff who helped us out with the table and directed us through the menu. After some long discussions amongst ourselves, we finally decided on the order.
The steward duly took our order on a notepad as we explained a few changes in the style of preparation and customisation in the order. But when the dishes were served we couldn’t find anything we asked for, because the changes were not communicated to the waiter and the chef, resulting in total chaos.
You might have understood the reason behind this problem by now, despite spending heavily on the interior, menu, location, and branding, the restaurant made a serious mistake by sticking to the traditional manual KOT method instead of going for a much more convenient steward order taking app to punch KOT’s.
What are the current trends across restaurants?
According to HUBSPOT, an overwhelming 95% of restaurant owners say the use of technology improves the overall efficiency of their establishments.
An industry report shows that nearly 70% of restaurant operators view steward order taking app to be helpful for improving the overall efficiency of their establishment, while 61% of diners agree with the statement.
It’s pretty clear and obvious from my experience and industry insights that a mobile/tablet order taking application is the need of the hour at restaurants to evolve digitally and offer customers top quality dine in experience.
Here are the top three reasons why restaurants need Order Taking Applications
1.Kitchen and Stewards Operate Independently:
By using a steward order taking app, operations are carried out efficiently, as the kitchen is automatically intimated as soon as the order is taken by the steward using the application.
Also if there are multiple sub-kitchens, as in the case of a multi-cuisine restaurant, orders are directed to the respective kitchen counters for preparation, ensuring that the kitchen does not miss out on an order.
If you want to completely remove the need to print KOT’s in the kitchen, you can get a kitchen display system, also known as KDS, through which all the orders are routed directly to the screen immediately once the steward places the order. Thereby reducing the usage of paper in the process.
Global fast-food chains, including McDonald’s, KFC and Pizza Hut, use KDS and save on the use of paper in the process, ensuring a greener world.
2.Improve table turn around time
One of the biggest problems that restaurants face is improving the table turnover rate. Maintaining a table turnover rate that is sufficient enough to allow guests to enjoy their dining experience, but short enough to ensure that new guests do not have to wait long to be seated is a crucial factor.
“Restaurant owners will not say no to extra business which can be achieved by a quicker table turn around time”
With a steward order taking app to take orders, stewards can now save up to 10 minutes per order as all the details that the customer may request about the items on the menu, customization on the orders and prioritization of serving can be done through the application itself. Ensuring that the stewards do not have to go back and forth to the kitchen, which saves time and helps improve the table turn around time meaning more business.
3.Delightful Customer Experience:
Today’s lifestyle is fast-paced and customers dining at your restaurants become impatient even if there is a slightest of delays that happen in getting their order on the table.
The majority of the 3 or 4-star reviews about restaurants would involve “our food was great but it took so long for the food to arrive on the table”. Upserve’s online review statistics show that one in three guests reads a review about other visitors’ dining experience in a restaurant and make a decision about whether to eat there accordingly. Nowadays, people trust online reviews on platforms like google and zomato as much as they trust recommendations from friends.
So serving your guests delicious food in a quick span will help you satisfy your guests better. This also helps you win more 5-star reviews increasing your restaurant’s visibility on the internet meaning more customer footfalls.
GOFRUGAL’s mobile KOT taking application, ServJoy offers robust functionality. Stewards can now check on the guests ordering history, favorite dishes, note down any customization, take, prioritize and check on orders, send KOT to the kitchen, merge tables and convert a bill and more all without having to leave the table and reaching the kitchen or billing counter.
This article would have definitely given you a clear picture of why your Restaurant needs a steward order taking application like SERVJOY. Share your views below and stay tuned for our next blog post on how SERVJOY can help you manage your operations better and boost your business