Tips & Tricks
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8 Sep, 2024
When running a restaurant, there's no such thing as too much information nowadays. You can get useful insights from a broad array of sources in order to get a full picture of your business and optimise your operations.
Point of sale (POS) systems - also known as EPOS systems - collect plenty of handy data for restaurants to take advantage of. This data is made easily accessible thanks to POS reports - and amplified when combined with your table booking data.
In our complete guide, we'll explore how your hospitality business can make the best use of POS reports to help optimise operations in your venue. Find out how you can use these reports for all they are worth.
What is a POS report?
POS reports showcase data collected by point of sale systems. They are often produced at the end of the day. Alternatively, they can show data collected over longer periods.
Traditionally produced as a single document, the term "POS report" can now be used to refer to full dashboards with all the data collected by a POS system. This allows you to analyse data in a single convenient view.
POS reports are an easy way to access the impressive amount of data collected and stored by POS systems. They can shed light on many different aspects of your business.
Best of all, you can examine your POS reports alongside other data sources, such as your bookings. This provides a holistic view of everything from sales to employee performance, helping you make the best possible decisions.
Depending on the system you have in your restaurant, a POS report might display the following data:
- Sales data: POS reports can produce detailed information on the revenue generated within a specific period. It can break down sales by categories such as food, beverages, or merchandise. You can also examine data for specific menu items. Sales reports can be generally segmented by time and payment method. If you have multiple locations, you'll also be able to see where sales were made.
- Operations data: You can also gain important information about operations data from your POS reports. For instance, when you integrate AccessEPOS or PowerEPOS from Triniteq with ResDiary, you can access insights including average time per booking. POS reports will also display information like order errors and refunds processed, shedding further light on operations in your restaurant.
- Inventory tracking: POS reports often include inventory tracking. This enables restaurant owners and operators to monitor stock levels and avoid shortages or overstocking. When integrating POS and inventory management systems, these reports can become even more useful with two-way flow of data.
- Customer data: POS systems capture customer information such as order history and spending data. They can even be used to accept feedback. If your POS system is integrated with table management software like ResDiary, this data can easily be linked to customer contact information. This means it can simply be put to use for your marketing efforts or to personalise the dining experience.
How to use a POS report in a restaurant
Curious as to how you can make informed business decisions with POS reports? Here are seven of the top ways you can put the data of a POS report to work. We’ll also show how you can level up your reports by integrating information from other areas, such as your booking data.
7 ways to maximise your restaurant POS reports
1. Analyse your sales
POS reports are one of the most useful tools for understanding sales in your hospitality business. Since every sale in your business goes through these systems, a good POS report should showcase virtually anything you want to know.
POS reports allow you to analyse sales data based on the time of day, day of the week, or over longer periods. It's very clear to see when your busiest times are occurring.
This can show what times of day you need to ensure you have plenty of staff members on your rota. You can also prepare for the onset of busy times of year.
Analysing this data becomes a whole lot easier if you are using a POS system integrated with ResDiary. You can cross-reference sales and booking data for a comprehensive view on customer spend, the busyness of upcoming services and much more.
Another important insight of POS reports for restaurants is finding out which menu items are generating the most sales. It's extremely easy to compare different items on your menu and see how much revenue they are generating. With stark data at your disposal, optimising your menu becomes far simpler.
You can promote your top-sellers to help them perform even better. If a menu item consistently underperforms, it’s likely best to alter it or cut it out entirely.
2. Employee performance
The efficiency and capability of your staff has a direct impact on the bottom line of your business. With a POS report, you can pick up insights on the performance of individual team members.
You may be able to examine data such as the sales generated by different team members and the frequency of upsells. This helps you discover your top performers as well as team members who might require additional training.
With this information, you can ensure that your high performers are assisting and advising other members of staff. This can have a major impact on the effectiveness of your operations.
POS report data can even inform how you go about training employees in your business. If several team members are falling behind in similar ways, organise sessions based on these areas.
3. Operational efficiency
If you're looking to streamline and optimise operations in your venue, POS reports can be a valuable tool.
For instance, POS reports can be used to show trends in table turnover rates. Are there correlating factors resulting in poor turnover, such as party sizes or particular menu items being ordered?
Where and why are order errors taking place in your restaurant? POS reports can enable you to pick up on this information and take swift steps to resolve any issues.
This aspect of POS reports is often overlooked, but it can reveal valuable insights into inefficiencies in your venue. Taken alongside booking data collected by table management systems like ResDiary, you’ll have all the information you need to optimise your operations.
You can use ResDiary’s analytics suite to incorporate data from POS reports. With a comprehensive view of POS data and booking data, it’s easy to identify your bottlenecks and create smooth dining experiences - that'll have first time diners coming back again.
4. Inventory management
POS reports can shed valuable insights on inventory in your restaurant, especially if your POS system is integrated with specialised software. You can track your inventory levels in real time, letting you know when a menu item will be unavailable.
This prevents customer disappointment by avoiding orders being placed for unavailable dishes. These automatic updates save you time outside of service as well. You can refer to your POS reports to swiftly understand how your inventory changed after a shift.
With more streamlined inventory management, your business can reap many benefits. You can minimise the bugbear of food waste, a major issue facing hospitality businesses in the UK and Ireland. The average UK business spends £50,000 on sending food waste to landfills in a year.
If you pick up on inventory management issues thanks to your POS reporting, there are often some simple improvements you can make. Training your staff on inventory management strategies like First In, First Out (FIFO) is a great way to use your stock effectively and reduce food waste.
5. Optimise marketing strategy
Analysing sales data alongside booking data makes it easy to identify the discounts, promotions, and menu items that are most appealing to your customers and most likely to help you attract new diners. If your customers can't get enough of your gelato when summer comes around, it might be a sign to launch a new advertising campaign.
In this area, the power of integrated systems comes into view. You can integrate the ResDiary table management system with POS software like PowerEPOS from Triniteq and Oracle Hospitality.
With two-way data flow between these systems, you can leverage powerful insights into the marketing strategies that are working for your business. You’ll also have the information you need to create promotion successes in the future.
ResDiary can also be integrated with marketing solutions like Acteol and Silverstreet to produce targeted materials based on the data you have acquired. For more information on creating winning marketing strategies in your business, check out our complete guide to digital marketing for restaurants.
6. Maintain security
POS reports are important for ensuring that your cash drawer is being used properly and responsibly by your team. They enable you to monitor for irregularities such as voided sales or excessive cash handling.
You can also track how much money is deposited at the end of the day and whether it is in accordance with your POS report. You or a trusted member of your team should regularly review your POS reports and search for these irregularities.
POS reports can also allow you to track employee access to the system. This enables you to discover potential security issues, as you can see which employees were responsible for voided sales and other actions.
7. Build customer loyalty
POS reports from providers like PowerEPOS can enable you to access data points down to specific customers. PowerEPOS has systems that enable you to identify your venue VIPs based on spending data.
Consider targeting these VIPs with promotions and reward offers to ensure they remain a loyal customer. You might also be able to use your VIPs to better understand the demographics your restaurant appeals to.
Some POS systems are also used to garner customer feedback, allowing users to rate their experience on a simple scale after a transaction.
You can review this information in your POS reports. This deepens your understanding of customer experiences in your venue.
With some systems, you can even examine feedback for specific members of staff. This might inform points to raise at your next team meeting or staff training session.
By listening to your customers and acting on their feedback, you can provide better service and show that you value their thoughts and feelings. This all contributes to improved customer loyalty in your venue, helping your business to grow.
Collect and analyse data with ResDiary
ResDiary integrates with many leading providers of POS software for restaurants. This makes it easy for you to compile POS reports and scrutinise them alongside your booking data and other analytics.
You can also integrate ResDiary with other software providers to collect more data and put it to excellent use in your hospitality venue. With ResDiary's comprehensive analytics suite, the most technophobic owner or operator can easily access vital insights.
