Is Odoo for Restaurants? Find Out What Odoo Brings to the Table
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Marcie Nguyen
Marcie is a skilled writer at Havi Technology focusing on creating content for marketing, eCommerce, point of sales, and ERP solutions. With over 8 years of experience in the retail, eCommerce and ERP technology sectors, Marcie is dedicated to providing insightful answers to business owners of all scales.
An operation management system, such as Odoo for restaurants, connects people and facilities through a single source of truth. That one source can streamline all processes, from purchasing, storing inventory, and managing orders, to retaining staff and customers. This is why the solution is essential for restaurant owners who want to grow efficiently.
Let’s discuss the challenges for restaurants and how Odoo can help to address those situations.
The obstacles to restaurant management
1. Variable and operational costs
Running a restaurant is also about cutting expenses. It does not only impose a huge challenge to restaurant owners but also impacts both the experience of customers and staff. This results from rising prices, including rent, energy costs, insurance, and general overhead. Notably, during the previous 12 months, food prices have increased by 4.8%.
Furthermore, 43% of restaurant owners anticipate an increase in their overall operating expenses. One of the primary causes of the increase is labour cost. According to restaurant owners, increased labour costs are expected to harm their operations.
Read more: Odoo Pricing | How Much Does Odoo Cost? | Odoo Cost Estimation
2. Stock & inventory management
Food and beverage purchases make up around 30% of a restaurant’s sales, which makes inventory control important for reducing costs. The most expensive items are ingredients and raw materials, which also have a short shelf life. Not having enough control over shrinkage and inventory can be extremely problematic. Some restaurants even have franchise locations with warehouses distributed everywhere - which usually makes it hard to be in sync with each other. That’s why the products' traceability has become challenging more than ever.
Without precise information, it is difficult to keep track of inventory control, item locations, material expiration dates, receiving dates, etc. This results in food waste in the kitchen, unplanned buying, and poor planning. Besides, manual data collection methods are labour-cost-intensive, creating a great deal of false information, inventory loss, and manual recounts.
3. Stakeholder management
It is alarming to know that 95% of restaurants faced significant supply delays or shortages in months. Forbes has cited this as one of the results of poor supplier communication management. Every time a restaurant needs different culinary supplies like equipment, ingredients, or furnishings, it works with several suppliers. Therefore, it is incredibly important to analyse which availability level the supplier's goods are at.
In the restaurant industry, turnover is at an all-time high of 75%. For the kitchen’s operation, all aspects need constant management. However, the high turnover rate results in a frequent switch of workers between large kitchens or catering groups based on demand. To get the greatest results in quality and raw material usage, all procedures must be consistent to achieve the most efficient restaurant management.
4. Payroll management
In a recent report, labour management, according to restaurant owners, has become more difficult. Payroll tasks account for 44% of the complexity, while tips and payout calculations make up 18%.
Expected challenges due to increased operational complexity (source: SpotOn)
In restaurants, shift work is typical for staff, and payroll is more diverse than just normal hourly wage. Most of the staff are employed under contract. Sometimes they have to work overtime, such as on weekends, holidays, or when there are staffing shortages. Because there are so many opportunities for error when managing such complicated situations manually, employees often show dissatisfaction.
5. Customer order management
Accurate and effective order management is essential for success in the fast-paced and dynamic restaurant setting. However, manual order entry, slow processing, a lack of communication, and inventory control are just a few of the issues that can arise.
Those problems stem from using traditional order management techniques, which frequently rely on human touch and separate systems. The difficulties can significantly affect a restaurant's earnings by resulting in dissatisfied staff and customers, with inefficient operations. As reported, around two-fifth of consumers who have visited a restaurant with lengthy wait times, or inaccurate orders are likely to leave a bad review.
Why Odoo is a great match with restaurant owners
With Odoo ERP, you can get cutting-edge technology and insightful business analysis to deliver greater customer service. Centralising all interactions and transactions into one place allows you to perform strategic planning, experiment with new menu items, build consumer loyalty and look for new revenue streams like kerbside and virtual brands.
Why consider Odoo for restaurants
1. Optimised and transparent process
Demands from restaurants change as they grow, either naturally or as a result of acquisitions and mergers. Simple record-keeping or basic business software can work well at first. However, they soon become outdated and lack the transparency and adaptability needed for productive operations.
Odoo restaurant management system breaks down the information silos that may exist in your departments. It acts as a consistent “source of truth” for all teams and facilities. From quality indicators to financial data, all of your data is updated and maintained through a single, user-friendly interface.
2. Improve customer experience and loyalty
A majority of customers are willing to spend extra for an improved experience. Apart from functions like order entry, inventory, and accounting management, Odoo also offers sales, CRM, or subscription capabilities. These tools come in handy when it comes to keeping customers and boosting their satisfaction. Your sales team may keep track of customer interactions, store locations, order histories, and more. Other departments, including customer service, can then access this data.
Odoo’s solutions are highly customisable and provide the ability to retain any additional information you would like to preserve for later use. Accessing this data helps your staff understand and serve customers better. Your business will gain a deeper understanding of consumers' demands, purchasing patterns, and other data by tracking and keeping an eye on their behaviour. Moreover, there are other sales features such as self-order taking on mobile which can provide a better customer experience too.
3. End-to-end traceability
As mentioned before, food traceability has always been a problem due to complex supplier management, rising customer demands and stricter regulations. Fortunately, Odoo can help restaurants enhance food safety, cut waste, and improve quality control by tracking food consumption along the supply chain. It is possible to achieve inventory quality control configuration with the Odoo system. For example, the system checks a product's safety information if it needs to meet environmental regulations. When an item is found not eligible, the system notifies staff personnel who can change it.
The traceability solutions by Odoo may capture your specific requirements. It helps restaurant operators to find out not just what ended up in their products but also what surfaces and other materials they might have encountered. This solution is essential in cases when contamination happens and someone needs to know precisely what and where it was contaminated in the process.
4. Stock control and forecasting
To reduce high costs and avoid running out of main items, being aware of what you have and forecasting the demand is a must. With the real-time inventory updates in Odoo ERP software, you can make well-informed purchasing decisions because you already know how much inventory you have in stock.
Powerful forecast tools in Odoo can also help you figure out how to handle upcoming demands most cost-effectively. If your business runs into seasonal fluctuations or weather disruptions, these features will be useful for cutting down on waste and guaranteeing success under any conditions.
Another advantage of Odoo inventory management is the amount of data recorded for every lot that passes through the facility. All the information you need to know about an item - origin, storage, and intended use - is available through the system with just a few clicks.
5. Critical analysis and report
For restaurant owners, it might be very helpful to have a system that can provide accurate reports instantly. In this way, you can leverage every piece of data you have at your disposal to expand the business. The system helps generate comprehensive reports regarding sales, SKUs, COGS, or any other information from your inventory.
What key functionalities does Odoo bring to the table?
1. Odoo POS restaurants
Thanks to Odoo’s Point of Sale (POS) app, restaurants can now operate more efficiently and provide a better dining experience for both customers and employees. Imagine an easy-to-use interface for a system that can effortlessly track inventory, manage tables, process payments, and take orders. They all are included in Odoo POS, eventually reducing food waste, optimising orders and racking ingredients from purchase to the plate.
Odoo POS for restaurants
The app’s key features include:
3. Product procurement
Imagine yourself as a hectic restaurateur who has to manage menus, customers, and the constant stress of having a fully equipped kitchen. The Odoo purchase app can effectively handle invoices, connect you with the best suppliers, streamline the process, and offer insightful data.
The module’s key features include:
4. Accounting module
The financial operations of a restaurant can often resemble a chaotic and high-stress kitchen during rush hour. Nevertheless, what if Odoo Accounting could help you organise your finances so you have more time to focus on the business essentials? As a whole, it offers automated bookkeeping, earnings, outlays, payroll management, tax compliance, and more.
The module’s key features include:
Key takeaways
Owners can improve the profitability and efficiency of their businesses by implementing and using the Odoo for restaurants. Restaurants now may maintain competitiveness, improve customer service, and run operations more efficiently with this open-source solution. Are you ready to take a further step with Odoo?
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