How to boost restaurant profits: A 5-step guide

The hospitality industry is one of the most diverse markets to date and competing for customer attention isn’t easy. There are several tried-and-tested ways to help restaurants increase profits through upgrading backend operations, introducing innovative tech and investing in customer service.

1. Improve your customer service

Well-treated and satisfied staff should make for happy customers, and this can be achieved through various different business methods. Owners can implement a set of mandatory procedures for staff to deal with customer complaints as well as team dynamics. A short-staffed restaurant will be flooded with requests and unable to deliver sufficient customer service, both in speed and quality.

Customer service is one of the biggest contributors to word-of-mouth referrals, making it a priority when addressing the question of how to increase restaurant profits. Consumers will usually trust a positive review of a close acquaintance over impersonal marketing campaigns. Simple patterns of recognising repeat customers, remembering order histories and building rapport can have a large impact on retention and upsell.

2. Introduce a point of sale system

A restaurant till system runs on powerful software, offering a range of business capabilities. This includes automating everyday tasks, processing orders and payments with ease, offering customer loyalty tools and insightful data and reports on key performance metrics. Such data allow businesses to identify growth opportunities, carve out a way to respond to customer needs and understand and analyze their target audience based on their buying habits.

3. Expand with mobile ordering

Consumer behaviour is rapidly changing with convenience becoming essential in the hospitality landscape. For restaurants, adopting a standalone mobile-ordering platform or POS-integrated delivery system can allow them to keep up with ever-changing circumstances.

For consumers, this offers them a seamless ordering experience, while restaurants can cut queues and automate tedious processes through handy automation, increasing sales and reducing pressure in-store.

Mobile ordering platforms such as Goodeats ensure that merchants are able to cater to more consumers with less effort. Restaurants increase their online visibility, receive greater engagement and promote their offering on mobile-ordering apps to those ordering in their local area — a move that can pump sales by up to 20%. 

4. Build your online presence

The world is rapidly moving online, and your customers are a key part of this change. Building a website, creating a menu to view online or using social media platforms like Instagram to make your business stand out can have a significant impact on your bottom line. 

This also allows restaurants to create long-standing relationships with their customers without the need for face-to face interaction; you will be able to promote offers, exclusives and freebies to incentivise customers to opt-in on push notifications whenever restaurants have something to shout about.

5. Refresh your pricing

Whether you’re new to the restaurant industry or a long-term veteran, it can be difficult to ascertain menu pricing depending on the kind of food you offer as well as the average price range implemented by restaurants similar to yours. It’s not uncommon to overprice or even underprice items, both of which will lead to a significant dip in profit margins. 

Identifying your target audience plays an important role in this, whether you are managing a quick-service restaurant or offering a fine dining experience; the pricing will vary significantly. You can find out how your clientele, demand for your offering, location and competition plays into your pricing here.

Goodeats by SumUp

Cater to more customers using our powerful mobile-ordering platform Goodeats. Whether you’re running a restaurant or a cafe, boost your sales and reach new customer bases by getting your business online. Reduce your in-store queues and process more orders through your app, all-the-while updating your menu and offering special offers to your customers.

SumUp Point of Sale

Whether you’re running a hospitality or retail business, navigating all of the different elements of your day-to-day operations can be tricky. With a flexible, all-in-one point of sale system, you can make it simple. Manage your stock, menus, employees and customers and always accept safe and secure payments. You’ll also have access to useful insights that can help you pump up your sales.

If you think SumUp Point of Sale could be a fit for your business, get in touch with us via the form below.