Restaurant Supplies You Need: Technology in Your Business

September 11, 2018

Every business is impacted by technology, and restaurants are no exception.

There are dozens of ways to use technology to build your business, improve your efficiency, and serve customers better.

Sometimes restaurant owners feel like they’re too busy to implement new technology at their location. The truth is, using technology well will save you time and make you money.

Here are some ways to take advantage of technology to manage restaurant supplies, keep food costs down, and track what customers love to order.

 

Manage Inventory With Robust Software

No one wants a product that sits, unsold, and eventually goes bad. At the same time, not all of your inventory can be fast-moving.

Use technology to manage your inventory so that it stays as low as possible while still making sure you have what you need. Without proper software, you may find yourself running with excess stock and wasting money through spoilage. Or, you might find you run out of what you need and have to pay a premium to get an overnight delivery.

Real-time inventory tracking can help you see trends and anticipate seasonal changes. You can use both software for desktops and related smartphone apps, so you’ll know your inventory no matter where you are.

 

Bluetooth Temperature Sensors

Handheld probes with fixed sensors allow you to measure temperatures quickly and easily. You can measure not only the interior temperature of a refrigeration unit, but the specific temperature of food items as well.

The best part is that these sensors can automatically record the readings in the HACCP food safety logs. That eliminates paper logs while keep your records more accurate. With wireless temperature sensors, you can save time, avoid losing restaurant supplies, and keep your customers safe.

 

Optimize Scheduling and Shifts

Filling out a schedule can be time-consuming and difficult. Managers have a lot on their plate and losing hours a week to creating and re-working schedules doesn’t help anyone.

Fortunately, there are scheduling software options that you can include in your restaurant supplies and service equipment. These save untold time and hassle by:

  • Tracking historical staffing patterns to determine how many people are needed
  • Monitoring sales and staffing budgets to reduce overtime and avoid over or under staffing
  • Take into account employee availability, time off, and shift changes
  • Allow you to track if someone misses a lot of shifts and gives you documentation for corrective actions

Take advantage of technology in your restaurant to make scheduling simple!

 

Track Customer Behavior

Data can help every business perform better and be more effective, and restaurants really grow when they really understand customer desires and ordering patterns.

Not only will this help you optimize your menu, you can use it as a very effective marketing tool. Having the right restaurant supplies in your marketing program can make a huge difference.

Track regular customers, offer loyalty programs, and use reservation systems to help you plan your tables and move customers through more quickly.

The more you know about your customers, the better you focus your marketing and the better service you can offer to your existing clientele.

 

Get Your Restaurant Supplies Today

Of course, technology is only part of the equation when it comes to restaurant supplies. You need to have cooking equipment, smallwares, and more.

We have been helping Little Rock restaurants with their equipment and supplies for years, and we’d love to serve you too. Contact us for more information today!

Kitchen Equipment: Choosing the Right Cutting Board

Kitchen Equipment: Choosing the Right Cutting Board

Every kitchen, from a food truck to a large restaurant, needs cutting boards. From vegetables to bread to meat and fish, your chefs and cooks have to chop things every day. Have you put a lot of thought into this important piece of kitchen equipment? Like many other...

read more
Catering to Generation Z

Catering to Generation Z

As time marches on, we continue to have new generations arising behind the ones we’ve already named. Most recently everyone has been focused on Millennials, whose tech-savvy and focus on experiences over things have shifted the face of every industry. Now, there’s a...

read more
4 Ways to Keep Your Restaurant Employees Engaged

4 Ways to Keep Your Restaurant Employees Engaged

You can have everything you need to run an amazing restaurant – a great menu, incredible chef, the best location, perfect pricing, and top-of-the-line kitchen equipment. But even with all of that, you won’t succeed if your employees are disengaged and unprofessional....

read more
Kitchen Fun : Food and the Oscars

Kitchen Fun : Food and the Oscars

Hollywood’s biggest night was February 24th, 2019, and was it ever a show. There were stars, glitz, glamour, and amazing outfits everywhere. There were also cameras catching every moment, from the red carpet to the after-parties. What happened at the show and after...

read more
4 Keys to Successful Commercial Kitchen Design

4 Keys to Successful Commercial Kitchen Design

If you’re opening a new restaurant or renovating your existing kitchen, you probably already have some ideas about how it should look. However, it’s important to look beyond your own ideas and understand the keys to good design in general. This will help you...

read more
Bring Together Your Back and Front of House

Bring Together Your Back and Front of House

Does your restaurant feel like a simmering battle between the back of house (BOH) and front of house (FOH)? Or do both units get along famously? If your restaurant is like many, you find yourself somewhere in the middle. Rarely do you have an all-out war, but...

read more
Commercial Kitchen Fun: Cooking With Mustard

Commercial Kitchen Fun: Cooking With Mustard

One of the things that make owning a restaurant so fun is the ability to be creative with your menu. With the help of your chef and cooks, you can come up with some really fun dishes to serve. To get your imagination going, we’re going to share some fun dishes that...

read more
Drive Traffic to Your Restaurant From Instagram

Drive Traffic to Your Restaurant From Instagram

You have a lot of restaurant equipment that you need to make your location run smoothly. You might think about your point-of-sale system, refrigeration units, cooking equipment, and more. But what about Instagram? That’s right, a social media platform can be one of...

read more
Handling Theft in Your Convenience Store

Handling Theft in Your Convenience Store

Running a convenience store is challenging to say the least. You need to staff it, but not with too many people. Then again, too few and you have a lot of problems – including theft. There are three groups that can be responsible for product and money loss in your...

read more
Kitchen Equipment Spotlight: How Clean is Your Coffee Pot?

Kitchen Equipment Spotlight: How Clean is Your Coffee Pot?

If you were going to rank kitchen equipment based on how much work it does, the humble coffee pot has to be near the top. In almost every restaurant, people order coffee with their meal or dessert. The problem is that because the coffee pot is working so hard, it...

read more
Should You Add a Food Truck to Your Restaurant?

Should You Add a Food Truck to Your Restaurant?

If your restaurant is doing well, you might be thinking about opening a second location. After all, that’s usually the next step when it’s time to expand, right? Before you jump in, though, consider another option. Maybe having a food truck would be a better choice....

read more
Take Advantage of Your Customer’s Technology

Take Advantage of Your Customer’s Technology

Some restaurant owners hate seeing customers snapping photos of food – it means that the food isn’t eaten at its best, and sometimes it’s a sign of a table that’s going to be slow to turn over. Then there are other owners and managers who see an opportunity. The truth...

read more
How to Reduce Turnover at Your Restaurant

How to Reduce Turnover at Your Restaurant

Having the right employees can make or break your restaurant. You can have the best food and kitchen supplies, but tension in the back of the house can cause delays, poor morale, and even the loss of key staff. You can have a beautiful dining room, but surly wait...

read more
Should Your Commercial Kitchen Consider Catering?

Should Your Commercial Kitchen Consider Catering?

As a business owner, it’s important to always be looking for new ways to grow your business. There are a lot of ways to do this, and one of the most common for many restaurants is catering. Of course, catering changes how your commercial kitchen runs a lot of the...

read more