Electronic Tab for Restaurants: 5 Advantages

Improving service while optimizing your team's operation is every restaurant owner's dream. And that dream can come true with a simple but powerful ally: the electronic tab for restaurants.

With this tool, you let your customers experience modern and even self-directed service, while gaining more speed, profitability and security in your operation.

Keep reading this article to understand how the electronic tab works and learn the advantages of using this technology in your restaurant. Follow along!

What is an electronic tab for restaurants?

An electronic tab isn't very different from its physical version. In other words, it's used to record orders, send them to the preparation area and keep track of what was ordered and how much it all cost (both for the restaurant and for the customer).

The big difference, as you may have already guessed, is in the way all this is done; in the nature of the tab itself.

The electronic tab for restaurants can be used on a smartphone, tablet or other mobile device and includes all the features of its “classic” version.

The digital version does away with pen and paper and, with that, brings major advantages for the operation and for customers.

On it, the server (or even the customer themselves) selects the requested items and, since the tab is connected to the Management system, the POS and the KDS, the order is sent straight to the kitchen.

That's why this kind of tool can optimize the operation, deliver standout service and still save your restaurant money. Read more about it right below!

Also check out: Electronic tabs for bars: how do you use this technology?

What are the advantages of the electronic tab for restaurants?

Serving your customers well and adopting technological solutions were identified by Sebrae as two of the main challenges facing the restaurant industry in 2023.

That's why it's essential to start using the electronic tab, since it achieves both goals with a single tool. Here are five of the main advantages of adopting an electronic tab model in your establishment.

1 – Reduce costs

To start, a benefit every manager likes to see: lower costs – which also means higher profit.

With an electronic tab, you can have fewer people handling service, since it becomes faster and more efficient. In other words: one person can serve more customers in less time.

What's more, you won't need to spend money buying new paper tabs — you just have to get the mobile devices.

2 – Reduce errors

A tab that's practical and easy to read and use reduces errors. That helps your service team get more done and, even more importantly, keeps your customers from having a bad experience at your establishment.

You've probably been to a restaurant and gotten frustrated when your order came out wrong – maybe even more than once. It's essential to keep that from happening to your customers.

With a digital model, there's no way to write something down wrong, no confusion over someone else's handwriting, and no chance of the order getting lost in a stack of paper.

Everything is recorded in the system, and the handoff from one area to another (from service to preparation) happens automatically.

Another strategy that helps in this regard is applying the engenharia de cardápio. Ela faz com que os clientes visualizem os principais itens do menu mais facilmente e, assim, ajuda a otimizar o pedido e evitar frustrações com o atendimento.

3 – Speed up service

Speaking of service, an electronic tab for restaurants also helps make it much simpler and faster. As you've seen, because it runs on a smartphone or tablet, this technology is easy to use and familiar to everyone.

What's more, it offers another feature: self-service – which today is a real differentiator for anyone who wants to serve a customer well.

This means that, with the digital tab for restaurants, customers themselves can browse the menu items, open a tab and place their orders without having to talk to anyone.

And there's more: if you go with a self-service solution, customers can close their own tab and pay online, all securely.

This not only gives customers a modern experience full of autonomy, it also shortens the lines at your register or counter.

4 – Optimize the operation

Better service, connected areas, faster production and efficiency in taking payments. All of this is achieved when your bar has an electronic tab, and it's amplified with a Management system.

That way, you produce more in less time, close more sales and, on top of it all, make your team's life easier. And with a management and automation system, you connect the electronic tab to the Online menu, the POS (Point of Sale), the KDS (Kitchen Display System) and even with a Self-Service Kiosk.

5 – View data in real time

Finally, the electronic tab for restaurants also supports your establishment's business intelligence. With it, you see sales in real time and understand customer profiles, peak hours and popular items, among other relevant data.

That way, you make sharper decisions for your business strategy, because they're based on precise information about how your customers behave.

What's more, this tool helps prevent fraud and even errors in your establishment's financial management.

How to implement electronic tabs for restaurants

Today there are a few solutions that integrate the electronic tab into your restaurant's operation in a simple, intuitive way.

You can go with software that works independently on mobile devices or, alternatively, have a system that brings this tool together with other features.

Of course, choosing one or the other also depends on how much you can invest. But ideally, go for an electronic tab for restaurants that's part of a platform like EPOC. Além da comanda, ele traz:

• digital menu;
• POS,
• KDS;
• invoice issuing;
• inventory management;
• integration with self-service kiosks;
• integration with delivery tools.

To see how this works in practice and understand how EPOC can revolutionize your restaurant's operation, just talk to one of our specialists with no strings attached!

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a tab?

A tab is used to record orders, send them to the preparation area and keep track of what was ordered and how much it all cost (both for the restaurant and for the customer).

What is an electronic tab for restaurants?

The electronic tab is the digital version of pen and paper. It can run on a smartphone, tablet or other mobile device and includes all the features of its “classic” version.

On it, the server or the customer themselves selects the requested items and, since the tab is connected to the management system, the POS and the KDS, the order is sent straight to the kitchen.

What are the benefits of the electronic tab for restaurants?

Improving service while optimizing your team's operation are the main advantages of the electronic tab for restaurants.

It lets you cut operating costs, avoid errors when taking/preparing orders, speed up service and prevent lines, gain productivity and view data on customer profiles and on your establishment's operation.

How do you get an electronic tab?

You can go with software that works independently on mobile devices or, alternatively, have a system that brings this tool together with other features.

Go for an electronic tab for restaurants that's part of an ecosystem. In other words, one that's part of a business management system (also known by the acronym ERP).