Why Restaurants Should Enable Their Stewards With An Order Taking App?

Imagine this scenario in restaurant A — steward takes order from a diner on a paper hand book. Then, he rushes to the POS terminal to enter the order. KOT gets generated and the same is sent to the kitchen display system (KDS). During rush hours, s/he has to wait for a long time to enter the order as other stewards might be entering their orders on the same POS terminal. In addition to this, the steward will have to get back to the guest to make modifications or take up new orders. Again, the steward has to run to the POS terminal to enter the new/modified order.

Now, imagine this scenario in restaurant B — here, the steward approaches the diner with a handheld tablet that’s loaded with a smart order taking app. Diner browses through the menu and places order to the steward. The steward keys in the order in the order taking app. Upon confirmation, the order is converted to a KOT and it goes directly to the KDS in real-time. Also, the steward is able to create a modifier, create an open item and also create an open table.

Now which restaurant has the potential to become a darling of diners?

Clearly, the winner is restaurant B.

Globally, over 45% fine dine outlet owners are planning to adopt steward order taking app in the next one year. According to over 70% of diners, such apps improve their dining experience, especially when it ensures faster service. As a matter of fact, today’s diners tend to spend at least 5% to 6% more when they get to place their orders via such apps.

Below are the benefits of implementing a steward order taking application in a restaurant.

1. Report says that steward order taking app saves around 50% to 60% time on steward working time as they don’t have to run back and forth on the floor. This helps the steward to handle increased number of diners.
2. Enhanced guest satisfaction, thus leading to loyal customers. Remember, loyal customers are your assets as they give you repeat business at zero acquisition cost
3. Increase your revenue by upselling food items to diner through the steward app. For example: The chef can send a push notification to all stewards announcing a ‘Dish of the day deal’ or ‘Buy 1 Get 1 Free on a particular drink’.
4. Improve operational efficiency by minimising errors that may cause due to manual data entry
5. Enable the diners to give their feedback on the parameters you would like to measure
6. Ensure better employee retention as such apps help stewards and others to improve their performance

Adopt a steward order taking app and reap all above benefits in no time.