Proper inventory management for restaurants can be a tedious process that includes everything from counting how many cans of tomatoes you have left in stock to predicting how many pounds of cheese you’ll need next week. The good news is, restaurant inventory management software can make these to-dos less of a headache.
In fact, reducing headaches is just the tip of the iceberg of what TouchBistro Inventory Management can do. This software also reveals insights that help you understand your menu’s profitability, save on unnecessary food waste, delight customers with fewer stockouts, and much more.
Intrigued? In this guide to TouchBistro Inventory Management, we’ll give you the full scoop on what inventory management software for restaurants is capable of and how it can improve your operations. Keep reading to learn:
- What TouchBistro Inventory Management is
- Why restaurants need inventory management software
- How TouchBistro Inventory Management works
- The benefits of restaurant inventory management software
- How to get started with TouchBistro Inventory Management
What is TouchBistro Inventory Management?
TouchBistro Inventory Management is a robust inventory and recipe management platform that integrates directly with the TouchBistro POS so you can stay on top of your current inventory. Equipped with this must-have back of house software, you can stay on budget, manage purchase orders, forecast your inventory needs, and of course, keep track of what you currently have in stock more easily.
Why Do Restaurants Need Inventory Management Software?
Without the right tools, mastering restaurant inventory management can be an elusive goal. You may think you’ve figured out the best way to take care of inventory, but if you’re experiencing any of these issues, chances are you could benefit from inventory management software for restaurants:
- You don’t know how much you’re actually spending on inventory until you take the time to update your spreadsheets – a process that can take hours. By automating inventory tracking, the best restaurant inventory management software ensures you always have accurate data on your spending and can understand your actual food costs, all without having to run the numbers yourself.
- You’re the only person at your restaurant who has access to your inventory spreadsheets, which creates an information bottleneck. Cloud-based restaurant inventory management software with an intuitive user interface makes it easy for any team member with permission to view what’s in stock as needed. Software like TouchBistro Inventory Management even allows multiple managers to count at the same time.
- Each spreadsheet is highly dependent on the other so if there’s a mistake, it’s always hard to locate and fix it, often resulting in costly errors. In other words, it’s difficult to keep up with restaurant inventory best practices. Fortunately, digital inventory tracking virtually eliminates errors.
- Menu profitability is a mystery with manual inventory tracking. With an inventory solution, it’s easy to tell which items are highly profitable and highly popular. These insights can inform promotions, upselling, and when it’s time to make cost-saving recipe adjustments.
- You’re not sure how much of an item you have on hand at any given time, especially because tracking inventory manually takes up more time than you have. With an automated food inventory management system, you’ll automatically know what’s in stock so you can spend less time doing repetitive tasks and more time moving your business forward.
- Your restaurant loses lots of money on food waste. An inventory solution prevents over-ordering, which dramatically reduces food waste and helps to save you thousands each year.
- You’re always running to the store to purchase items mid-service. Ingredients bought at retail prices are costing you a lot and you’re taking precious time you don’t have to make these grocery store trips. And, customers are frustrated when they order their favorite dish only to find out it isn’t available. Data-driven ordering accurately forecasts your inventory needs to ensure you order exactly what you’ll use – no more and no less – keeping your bottom line and customers happy.
- It’s difficult to track inventory when you have multiple locations and you may find yourself making expensive tracking errors. An inventory solution seamlessly tracks inventory transfers, saving you headaches and money.
- You’re feeling the pressure of higher inventory costs at some of your business’ locations, but it’s hard to pinpoint how to control these growing costs. Advanced reporting from a food inventory management system makes it easier to identify patterns to make changes in your business.
The good news is, TouchBistro’s food inventory management solution was designed to ease these pain points. Read on to learn how.
How Does TouchBistro Inventory Management Work?
Simply put, TouchBistro Inventory Management simplifies and streamlines inventory management for restaurants. Equipped with this solution, you can say goodbye to manual spreadsheets, hours of tedious inventory counting, and costly food waste.
Whenever a server inputs an order into your TouchBistro POS or a customer places an order via your TouchBistro Online Ordering platform, Inventory Management updates your inventory count every fifteen minutes to reflect what’s being used up. For example, if a customer orders carne asada tacos and a Coke, Inventory Management will deduct 3 corn tortillas, 3 ounces of skirt steak, 2 ounces of Coke syrup, 1 scoop of ice, 12 ounces of carbonated water, and 1 straw from your inventory.
This data sharing also works in the reverse order. Once TouchBistro’s food inventory management solution updates and there is a stockout, the POS will reflect that so servers can alert diners what’s not available before they order, or the online ordering platform will show that a dish isn’t available.
TouchBistro Inventory Management also reveals what each recipe costs to make, which updates when vendor prices change. Additionally, near real-time sales data from your POS helps you adjust menu prices and promotions on the fly so your business is always profitable.
TouchBistro Inventory Management Features
Now that you understand how TouchBistro Inventory Management works, you’re probably keen to find out exactly how it can help your restaurant. Without further ado, these are the powerful features that TouchBistro Inventory Management is equipped with:
Digital Inventory Tracking
Our inventory management software for restaurants is equipped with automated inventory tracking so you can delete or shred your spreadsheets and say so long to manual data pulling. Instead, you can keep track of what you have in stock online in an intuitive dashboard that your staff can access from anywhere. And with sales and menu data following directly from your TouchBistro POS into this digital inventory tracker, you never have to worry about data accuracy.
Recipe Management
TouchBistro Inventory Management’s recipe costing and ingredient usage tools help you maximize recipes for profitability. You can adjust recipes as prices change week over week or even day to day. Plus, Inventory Management even helps you experiment with hypothetical recipe costs when testing new dishes.
Integration with TouchBistro POS
By integrating with your TouchBistro POS, our restaurant inventory management solution receives menu and sales data every fifteen minutes. With near real-time information, you can better forecast your inventory needs and alert customers when an item is unavailable (before they order it).
Customizable Inventory Tracking Settings
With so many inventory costing methods out there, there’s no one right way to count inventory. TouchBistro Inventory Management gives you the flexibility to create counting settings that work for your restaurant. You can give counting access to multiple team members, assign each item a measuring unit, and assign each item a location in your restaurant. Multiple team members can even count inventory at the same time.
Smart Ordering Suggestions
TouchBistro’s restaurant inventory management software can suggest what you should order from each vendor based on current sales and how much you’ve sold in the past. For example, if you’re selling more spaghetti bolognese than usual, Inventory Management can tell you to order more ground beef, canned tomatoes, and pasta next time. The tool integrates with leading food suppliers to save you even more time on ordering.
Supplier Management
Creating purchase orders for inventory is a tedious process that usually involves opening multiple windows and using a variety of platforms to request the inventory you need to run your restaurant. TouchBistro Inventory Management simplifies supplier management by letting you create purchase orders in a few clicks and email them directly to vendors without leaving the dashboard.
Data-Driven Forecasting
With TouchBistro’s restaurant inventory management software, the days of running out of ingredients mid-service are long behind you. Thanks to accurate forecasting and food prep suggestions from your POS data, you’ll always have exactly what you need in your kitchen.
Real-Time Reporting
TouchBistro’s cloud-based restaurant inventory management software lets you access data about costs, inventory levels, and more from anywhere and at any time. You can use Inventory Management’s intuitive, out-of-the-box reports, or customize your own, to see insights that are specific to your restaurant’s needs.
Multi-Location Support
If you run multiple restaurants, rather than just a single venue, Inventory Management has you covered with features that make it easier to manage your growing empire. You can track inventory for all of your venues in one dashboard, which helps you avoid ordering things you already have in stock. Plus, the software lets you configure different recipes for different venues, assign suppliers to different locations, and even bulk copy supply lists between locations.
Food Waste Tracking
According to the National Restaurant Association, restaurants lose between 4% and 10% of the food they purchase to waste, on average. Tracking waste is one of the best ways to reduce it. Fortunately, TouchBistro’s food inventory management software makes it easy to keep track of food temperatures, waste, and spoilage in one centralized place.
Task Manager
With so many things happening at a restaurant at once, it’s inevitable that problems will arise. An appliance could break, you might need to restock toilet paper in the bathroom, or you could discover that the stock room is overdue for tidying. TouchBistro’s restaurant inventory management tool helps you track maintenance needs and inventory problems that arise during shifts online for greater accountability.
Allergen & Ingredient Database
When a guest has a food allergy or dietary restriction, it’s important for your FOH and BOH teams to handle it well. Inventory Management helps your restaurant avoid fiascos and keep servers, customers, and cooks informed of allergens and ingredients found in menu items with allergen tags and nutritional information.
Benefits of Restaurant Inventory Management Software
As you can see, TouchBistro Inventory Management does so much more than just help you keep track of what you have in stock. Here’s how all of its features work in tandem to benefit your restaurants.
Simplifies Inventory Management
Instead of using spreadsheets to track inventory, you can track inventory digitally through TouchBistro’s cloud-based restaurant inventory management software and access it from anywhere, at any time. And, with accurate, seamless data sharing between TouchBistro POS and TouchBistro Inventory Management, you won’t have to worry about error-prone manual data entry.
Saves Time
Features like purchase order management, automated inventory tracking, and vendor management save you countless hours each week, letting you focus on tasks that push the needle on your business. Think of how much your business could grow if you only had more free time.
Reduces Food Costs and Waste
TouchBistro Inventory Management’s advanced inventory automations save restaurants up to 5% in food costs. How? Accurate forecasting based on POS sales data means you won’t over-order and let food spoil before you can use it. Plus, ordering and food prep suggestions help you use up what you already have.
Improves the Guest Experience
Although Inventory Management was primarily created to make things easier for staff, it also does so much to help customers have a better dining experience. For example, with the help of smart ordering suggestions based on past and current sales, you’ll never run out of ingredients to make your customers’ new favorite dish.
Another way TouchBistro Inventory Management prevents unpleasant surprises is by storing allergen and nutritional information for each menu item. When guests alert servers of dietary restrictions, the kitchen can quickly find allergen information and relay it to servers who can inform guests.
Finally, as some of the best restaurant inventory management software on the market, TouchBistro Inventory Management helps create better consistency between locations thanks to multi-location management features that assist with tracking and transferring inventory, recipes, and data.
Provides Data-Driven Insights
It’s difficult to run a financially viable restaurant when you don’t know how different decisions affect your business. TouchBistro Inventory Management gives you 20/20 vision into every aspect of your restaurant thanks to robust analytics.
For example, recipe costing tools help you decide which menu items are profitable and which ones should be taken off the menu, while real-time reporting gives you insights that let you better control food costs.
Increases Profit Margins
With access to real-time food cost data, you can update menu prices and recipes accordingly to make dishes as profitable as possible. Another way you’ll see margins grow is by always ordering exactly how much food you’ll use up, instead of losing some to spoilage.
How to Get Started with TouchBistro Inventory Management
If you’re intrigued by what TouchBistro Inventory Management can offer your business, here’s how you can get started with this restaurant inventory management software.
If You Already Have TouchBistro POS…
If you already use TouchBistro POS, contact your account manager to get started with TouchBistro Inventory Management.
If You Aren’t a TouchBistro Customer…
If you aren’t yet a TouchBistro POS customer, click the button below to get started with TouchBistro POS and Inventory Management.
—
There’s so much more to your restaurant than just updating spreadsheets. TouchBistro Inventory Management simplifies inventory tracking and gives you key insights about ingredient prices and menu profitability so you can reach the right business decisions, faster.
Katherine is the Content Marketing Manager at TouchBistro, where she writes about trending topics in food and restaurants. The opposite of a picky eater, she’ll try (almost) anything at least once. Whether it’s chowing down on camel burgers in Morocco or snacking on octopus dumplings in Japan, she’s always up for new food experiences.
Download our free inventory template
The right POS should help you increase sales
The right POS should help you increase sales.
