Running a restaurant is hard in the modern era. From the increasing price of ingredients to the persistence of labor shortages, it’s a wonder how anyone can stay in business for longer than a few months.
Traversing the complex web of challenges currently facing hospitality businesses is much easier, however, if you have digital systems designed specifically to enrich the customer experience and make your kitchen operations more organized.
With best-in-class systems for both the front-of-house and back-of-house operations, Toast can help accelerate the speed of service, improve overall productivity, and increase your spend-per-head. In this article, we’ll showcase some of these Toast systems, providing real-life testimonials from businesses that use and love them.
Toast Mobile Order & Pay®
Toast Mobile Order & Pay® is designed to speed up your order processing operations substantially. Rather than a waiter taking a customer’s order, writing it on a piece of paper (or memorizing it somehow), and then inputting the order into a POS system on the other side of the restaurant, this solution enables customers to access the menu via a QR code and input their own order, which is then sent directly to the kitchen.
That’s only the first part, though. As the name suggests, Toast Mobile Order & Pay® also allows customers to pay from their seats as well, so there’s no need to flag down a waiter. Just close out via your mobile device, leave a tip (if you choose!), and you’ll be able to go about your day without a second more delay.
The proof is in the pudding that this kind of system is good for business, too. Toast has found that restaurants that use Toast Mobile Order & Pay® solution are increasing revenue by 10% overall. On top of that, check size at those restaurants also increases by 9%, contributing to the long-term success of businesses.
It’s not just numbers backing up Toast Mobile Order & Pay® , either. Everyday users, like Kevin Healy, a restaurant owner, have a lot of positive things to say about it, because yes, change can be scary, but it can also be great for business.
“Speed of service is better for everyone. Not having to wait to do the administrative work of cashing out, that’s better for everyone. Being able to order what you want, when you want – that’s better. Is it exactly the same? No, it’s not, but I believe it’s a better experience.”
Healy noted that guests having the option to order directly from their phones was not only encouraging them to order more, but to tip better as well, leading to increased wages for staff.
“Almost every one of our hourly employees is making 25-30% more this year than they were last year, and we have experienced a 30% sales decline due to the pandemic. To be able to give our staff a raise to that amount during a pandemic is groundbreaking.”
Perhaps more importantly, the Toast Mobile Order & Pay® system allows you to operate efficiently and effectively even if you’re short on staff. Even a small team will still be able to help customers, run food, and bus tables for a large crowd, because that crowd will be effectively taking their own orders.
Toast Kitchen Display System
The only way for guests to order on their mobile devices and receive a hot meal is if the kitchen can somehow receive their order. Luckily, with the Kitchen Display System from Toast, that’s exactly what they do.
This handy device can be set up in your kitchen with a variety of mounting options, allowing your back-of-house staff to stay in touch with front-of-house without requiring face-to-face interactions. You’ll get accurate readings with in-depth item counts, which means your chefs can focus on preparing the food rather than reading a display. Plus, with multiple language support, you can be sure that everyone on your team knows what they need to do.
It may be hard to believe that a simple POS system could have that big of an impact on efficiency and productivity in the restaurant industry. But when you hear about the actual process from those who use it, like John Myers, General Manager at Eventide Holdings, it’s easy to see how this kind of solution could speed things up.
“The order is immediately fired to the kitchen display screen (KDS) for the expeditor and the hot line. With the KDS, the people working the line know exactly how many burger patties and fish filets they need to be prepping at any moment. The expeditor sees that too. It adds a new level of non-verbal communication. As each order is completed, the expeditor taps a button on the KDS, and the guest is notified via text message.”
Like Toast Mobile Order & Pay®, the Kitchen Display System has been proven to make life easier for restaurants that use it. In fact, a restaurant in Dublin City called BANG found that ticket turn time sped up by more than 6% after installing the device, substantially improving customer satisfaction. And if you ask the staff, they’ll tell you how much this POS really does for the restaurant.
“If we could get it to carry our bus tubs… That’s the only thing it’s not doing for us.” – Thelma, waitress at BANG
The combination of Toast Mobile Order & Pay® system and the Kitchen Display System is a no-brainer when it comes to shoring up your restaurant to endure labor shortages. These tools are designed to streamline your front-of-house and back-of-house operations, so your team, no matter how short-staffed, can still keep the customers happy.
