By Karishma Pal & Priya Pachisia
Restaurants across the globe have observed nearly 80% dip in sales over the last month. Fear of shortage in manpower, payments, ingredient procurement and ultimately — sales would be prevalent.
As customers are discouraged to dine out due to the fear of transmission of the virus, F&B businesses are seeking out ways to operate. Many are focusing on contactless home delivery; some have come up with their own restaurant website to save money, while some have sold pre-tickets to keep their businesses afloat. If the trend of delivery sets in, the idea of a dine-in experience would become more remote than ever.
Restaurants, bars, cafes and other social gathering venues are considered easy grounds for the spread of the coronavirus, so we must prepare for the post-lockdown scenario. With the right plan of action, long-term damage can be avoided and faster recovery can be achieved.
Here are 5 simple ways in which restaurants can be ready for the customers
- Top-Notch Safety Preparedness — Customer and Employee safety should be the priority. Sanitizing the entire space, cleaning the cutlery with soap-solution, disinfectants or alcohol rub, and placing them in containers away from contamination, having pump-dispenser hand sanitizers placed at each table for the customers to use, using infrared thermometer to check the body temperature of every person before they enter the outlet and conducting time to time swab tests are essentials measures to be taken post the lockdown.
- Social Distancing — Enforce social distancing at the outlet by increasing the gaps between tables by 4 feet to reduce the pax capacity and avoid overcrowding. Make the process easier with our Guest Management System that gives real-time data about the service, wait-time etc. This will let the customers feel safe to enter the outlet and dine peacefully.
- Training for Staff — Sensitive and defined training guidelines for the staff about their body language and way of addressing customers would be required. Staff should be trained to maintain appropriate distance, practice breathing, sanitize their hands and wear masks and gloves at work.
- Contactless dining experience — Paperless operations at the outlets will be the norm. eWards is empowering businesses with contactless solutions such as Digital Menu, automatic routing of orders to the Kitchen Display System, eBill, and so on. With these advanced solutions at your disposal, quality of the food served should be of paramount importance.
- Transparency — Showcasing the cleanliness and safety measures taken during the preparation of food on a TV screen of the outlet or having a live kitchen option can drive home a sense of safety amongst the customers. You must also ensure that all food safety, hygiene and health license documents are updated and that all staff are informed and trained as necessary.
The restaurant industry being in such a flux can only find innovative and viable solutions and implement them to mitigate these problems to survive. With the optimistic thought of overcoming the situation, restaurateurs should be ready to accept the ‘new normal’ and be flexible enough to plan how to thrive and up their business game.
eWards is helping F&B businesses step up and rise to the challenges in the post-lockdown situation. Find out more- info@myewards.com
