Inventory Control for Restaurants

If you want to gain time and efficiency, cut costs, and optimize your operation, you need an inventory control system for restaurants.

This tool is essential for establishments that want to take the next step and grow their business in an organized, healthy way.

Below you'll learn more about this type of solution, such as its features, benefits, and ways to use it – plus tips on which one to choose. Check it out!

How to choose the best restaurant system?

The importance of inventory control in restaurants

Anyone who manages this type of establishment is probably already familiar with restaurant inventory control and with its importance. After all, it's what sets the pace of the operation and how many items you can sell – and how many supplies you need to buy.

And even though it seems obvious, this inventory management often ends up being neglected. That happens precisely because it can be as laborious as it is important.

So don't let that happen at your restaurant, and always pay close attention to inventory management so you can enjoy the benefits below.

Plan new orders

If you don't know how much of a given supply you have, how can you plan new purchases of it?

With efficient inventory control, you find out exactly how much of each item you have. Assim, pode projetar, com base no consumo médio de cada um, quando será necessário adquirir mais insumos.

This way, you avoid waste (buying something you didn't need) and you also don't run the risk of running out of an important supply on a busy day.

Avoid stockouts and waste

In addition to allowing safe planning for your restaurant's future, inventory management also helps optimize the establishment's present. This shows up mainly in controlling minimum and maximum inventory.

With inventory management – especially combined with an inventory control system for restaurants – you avoid the dreaded stockout. Ou seja: não corre o risco de ficar sem um importante insumo.

This way, you secure your sales and also provide a good experience for customers. After all, there's nothing worse than going to a restaurant to enjoy a specific dish and, once you get there, finding out it's sold out.

In addition, knowing exactly what your maximum stock is, you don't end up buying supplies beyond the capacity you can store, reducing waste and optimizing the establishment's finances.

Understand what's most successful (and what isn't so popular)

By examining your inventory, you can also understand your customers' preferences and the details of your restaurant's performance. Dentre essas informações, por exemplo, estão os produtos mais populares e aqueles nem tão concorridos assim.

That's because you may notice that certain supplies used in a given dish move much faster than others.

In other words: there's clearly one dish or drink that's consumed the most. With that information, you know you need to prioritize those items, since they're a customer favorite.

On the other hand, you also understand which items aren't a priority and can be set aside so there's budget/space left for the more relevant ones. In addition, you can create strategies to increase sales of a less popular item, such as creating combos, for example.

Have security and confidence in your inventory data

Finally, inventory control in restaurants only really works if it's done continuously and reliably. That's how you'll actually be able to count on the information that comes out of this management – after all, an out-of-date inventory is useless, for example.

So taking care with inventory control makes sure that its information is always accurate, up to date, and easy to access. Isso tudo, claro, fica muito mais fácil quando se tem um software para ajudar nessa tarefa

What is an inventory control system for restaurants

And speaking of getting a little help – or rather, a lot of help – from software, that's exactly what an inventory control system for restaurants makes possible.

Unlike simpler solutions, such as an inventory control spreadsheet, this type of tool has more complete features and capabilities that automate inventory management and, in addition, integrate that area with other parts of your restaurant (such as the POS, finance, kitchen, and others).

That said, software of this kind can run installed on the machines themselves (computers) or, alternatively, in the cloud. The second option offers greater versatility and security, since it allows use on different devices.

This type of software helps control inventory by organizing the inflows and outflows and flagging when restocking is needed. In addition, it generally lets you integrate other areas and aggregate information automatically (such as recipe cards and sales volume).

This, of course, speeds up inventory management a great deal because it requires fewer tasks and processes. In addition, it minimizes errors in the records (because the system is the one doing it automatically) and ensures that the information is updated regularly and autonomously.

This way, inventory control also optimizes the creation and tracking of recipe cards – ensuring that the supplies used are accurate and updated frequently.

This way, you not only avoid waste and excess supplies, but also manage to reduce your COGS (Cost of Goods Sold), which, at the end of the day, increases your profitability.

Anyone who wants their restaurant not only to organize inventory, but also to sell more and spend less, should look for a more complete solution.

As for EPOC, for example, you get not just inventory management software, but also ERP, POS, KDS, Finance, Analytics, Digital Menu and Electronic Tab, all in a single tool.

Benefits of an inventory management system

By using software to handle your restaurant's inventory control, you can not only optimize this process, but also add other strategic advantages to your business. Check them out below!

Integration with other areas of the restaurant

A more complete and efficient version of an inventory control system for restaurants offers broad, automated interaction between the various areas of your business.

That way, you get your entire restaurant management with just one solution, instead of having to rely on one tool for POS, another for inventory management, yet another for financial control, a separate solution for the digital menu/tab, etc.

This translates into greater speed and efficiency for the entire operation, cutting costs, maximizing profits and avoiding human errors and mistakes. All with just one piece of software.

Speed in inventory control

This is the main and most anticipated advantage of this type of tool. With restaurant management software, all inventory control becomes easier, faster and more reliable.

With this type of solution, you automate processes, integrate data sources and connect inventory to other areas of the restaurant.

So, for example, whenever you make a sale, the system automatically updates the items that will be taken from inventory. At the same time, bringing inventory and finance together, when you buy and receive new supplies, they are also added quickly and automatically.

View reports and analyses

Finally, restaurant inventory control software can also provide business intelligence (or BI).

In other words: you can gather data about your operation and use it to make strategic decisions and take actions that boost the establishment's profitability.

With EPOC, for example, you get Analytics. Essa funcionalidade permite visualizar relatórios com dados como:

• most consumed products (and which therefore require more attention in inventory);
• employee performance;
• busiest times;
• customers' demographic profile;
• ABC curve of products;
• among others.

Which is the best inventory control system for your restaurant

For anyone who wants to take controle de estoque to a new level, with automation, integration between areas and extra features that optimize the operation, the best option is EPOC.

In addition to being an inventory control system for restaurants, it also has ERP, POS, Analytics, digital menu, online tab and much more – all in a single tool.

Get the complete solution right now that makes your business more profitable, cuts costs and wins more customers. see a free demo of our tool and talk to one of our specialists.