Scheduling | KRG Hospitality

Black-and-white photograph of shelves loaded with broken desktop computers and monitors

May 20, 2024by David Klemt David Klemt No Comments

Why We Offer Tech-stack Planning

Why KRG Hospitality Offers Tech-stack Planning

by David Klemt

If your hardware looks like this, it may be time to update your tech stack.

Navigating the seemingly endless restaurant, bar, and hotel technology options available to operators can feel like an overwhelmingly complex task.

This can be particularly true for brand-new operators and those with a decade or more of experience under their belts. For the former, where does one with little to no experience even begin putting together their technology stack?

And for the latter, what tech upgrades are worth implementing, and which platforms are crucial; which are nice to have; and which are unnecessary for a particular concept?

Sitting down and sifting through the platforms within just a few categories can be a significant investment of time. Learning to use each solution and training relevant team members on them also requires considerable time and effort. That’s to say nothing of the initial and monthly outlay of precious monetary resources after making selections.

Of course, there’s also the nagging feeling that maybe the platforms chosen aren’t the “right” fit, or the best in class.

Most operators, regardless of the length of time they’ve been in hospitality, are aware of a handful of tech selections they need to make. They know they need a point-of-sale system, a customer relationship management option, an online ordering platform, a reservation system.

But what about inventory, gratuity management, marketing campaign management, guest feedback, scheduling, catering, website chatbots, AI-enhanced loyalty programs, and even kitchen displays?

According to Brizo Foodmetrics, operators need to consider a dozen tech categories. At KRG Hospitality, we say there are at least that many.

Difficult Choices

Per a new report from Nation’s Restaurant News, people are excited but cautious about the tech available to the hospitality industry. Anyone interested in reviewing the 2024 Restaurant Technology Outlook report can click here to gain access.

Among the report’s insights are the identification of a number of challenges operators face when it comes to tech decisions. The most-significant barrier is still pricing, with 37 percent of NRN survey respondents saying hardware comes with high costs. Further, 30 percent think there’s not enough transparency surrounding additional fees.

There’s also an interesting perception as regards features. While 33 percent of respondents feel the systems they’ve selected are light on functionality, 18 percent say their systems have functions that they don’t even use.

Thirty-two percent of survey respondents identify a lack of knowledge of systems as a barrier to adopting new tech solutions. In some good news, just ten percent of respondents say systems are too difficult to use. Still, ten percent of our industry is a significant number.

Combined, 87 percent of those surveyed will either possibly (24%), probably (33%), or definitely (30%) invest in tech in 2024. That’s an impressive number.

However, 39 percent of respondents were “definitely” going to invest in tech in 2023. That’s a drop of nine percent.

Here to Help

When we at KRG develop a tech stack for a client, it’s with their specific project and needs in mind.

And while we do have preferred partners, we present multiple options. Moreover, each option comes with a synopsis of features and a justification for its inclusion.

If a preferred partner isn’t the best option or the client wants to choose something else, we support that decision. Tech is challenging enough already without being steered toward specific platforms for no other reason than, “We like this one.” These decisions aren’t about us, they’re about what’s best for our clients.

At the end of each tech-stack plan are estimated costs for each option. We include the onboarding fees, monthly fees, and the annual cost. Again, these are close estimates as modules, additional features and hardware like handhelds, and subscriptions can increase or reduce the overall cost.

The hospitality industry tech landscape is transforming from a barren desert to a thriving wetland. KRG Hospitality is here to help you navigate this complex terrain.

Image: z yu on Unsplash

Front of house staff member using SevenRooms

May 3, 2023by David Klemt David Klemt No Comments

SevenRooms Introduces New Tool: Pre-Shift

SevenRooms Introduces New Tool: Pre-Shift

A new tool from SevenRooms will help operators and their teams make the most of pre-shift meetings to deliver exceptional service.

Aptly named, Pre-Shift provides a real-time, data-driven picture of a given shift’s reservations. Operators and their leadership team members will no longer need to hit the office, navigate to the day’s reservations, and print out guest data—assuming they have such valuable information.

Further, this new feature is accessible via the venue’s devices (tablets, phones, etc.). Pre-Shift, then, offers a real-time view of reservations and robust guest data. Well ahead of arrivals, staff will know a guest’s seating preference, relationship with the venue, reviews they’ve left, allergies, and much more.

Intriguingly, Spago has been testing Pre-Shift ahead of SevenRooms’ announcement and launch. Per Steve Scott Springer, the GM of Spago of Beverly Hills, this new tool is a game-changer for restaurants.

Less than two months ago, SevenRooms launched Email Marketing. It’s likely we can expect more new features to roll out throughout 2023.

To learn more, please review the Pre-Shift press release below.

SEVENROOMS’ PRE-SHIFT FEATURE EMPOWERS TEAMS TO STREAMLINE PRE-SERVICE OPERATIONS

New data-driven tool serves as a one-stop-shop for restaurant teams to enhance the guest experience and build guest loyalty

NEW YORK (May 3, 2023) – SevenRooms, a global guest experience and retention platform for the hospitality industry, today announced a new product feature, Pre-Shift, which provides operators with key shift details they can leverage to inform and lead pre-service meetings. Pre-Shift is built to power and simplify pre-service meetings for restaurant operators and their staff around the world.

The new feature provides operators a real-time, unified view of everything they need ahead of each shift and saves employees’ time with an out-of-the-box informational report. Instead of paper print-outs and laborious briefing forms, Pre-Shift allows teams to harness rich customer data with up-to-the-minute information on every guest joining during that shift.

With ongoing labor shortages, Pre-Shift is a crucial tool in helping operators save time on administrative tasks like pulling guest and reservation data to optimize a team’s pre-shift meeting ahead of service with all stakeholders. This allows operators and staff to instead focus on delivering exceptional, personalized experiences the moment that guest walks through the door. Operators have the ability to embrace new consumer expectations to provide an incredible guest journey from start to finish.

By incorporating this tool, staff can utilize SevenRooms’ rich guest data and Auto-Tags to educate themselves on incoming guests. The tool highlights valuable insights such as allergy information, dining preferences, previous experiences with the restaurant, and positive/negative reviews. It also provides a quick snapshot of that day’s notes on menu specials, private events or special requests, making it easy for staff to reference back to quickly throughout the course of service. Whether it’s the maître d, host, server or back of house employees, Pre-Shift enables all staff with the information they need to deliver exceptional service, build guest loyalty, and keep up with diner expectations as they continue to evolve.

Pre-Shift helps restaurants deliver personalized hospitality at scale with invisible technology. Guest and reservation data can be accessed on the fly without double clicks or additional navigation via iPhone and iPads for the utmost convenience. No other reservation management product on the market today offers such a robust overview with automated guest data incorporated into its dashboard, saving operators time as they set up for service.

“The magic of SevenRooms is in the way that we’re able to serve up relevant guest information to restaurants at key points of service. Our new Pre-shift view takes that magic one step further by strategically aggregating the most important guest insights before service even begins,” said Allison Page, Co-Founder & Chief Product Officer at SevenRooms. “We seamlessly take the data available for a shift and serve up key insights that the front of house should be aware of heading into service – for instance, guests with a high propensity to spend, guests who have previously left negative reviews, guests with allergies and more. Pre-Shift provides operators a real-time, unified view that takes pre-service preparation to a whole new level, ultimately providing guests with exceptional, frictionless experiences.”

“Pre-Shift is a great addition to Spago’s pre-service meeting,” said Steve Scott Springer, General Manager at Spago Beverly Hills. “When we began using the group-by server feature, it really was an ‘a-ha’ moment. This is exactly the way every restaurant wants to prep their employees ahead of a shift. We put the entire view up on a screen so our team can see and follow along. This is so much easier than what we used to do – it’s a no-brainer.”

For more information about SevenRooms and its services, please visit www.sevenrooms.com.

About SevenRooms

SevenRooms is a guest experience and retention platform that helps hospitality operators create exceptional experiences that drive revenue and repeat business. Trusted by thousands of hospitality operators around the world, SevenRooms powers tens of millions of guest experiences each month across both on- and off-premises. From neighborhood restaurants and bars to international, multi-concept hospitality groups, SevenRooms is transforming the industry by empowering operators to take back control of their businesses to build direct guest relationships, deliver exceptional experiences and drive more visits and orders, more often. The full suite of products includes reservation, waitlist and table management, online ordering, mobile order & pay, review aggregation, email marketing and marketing automation. Founded in 2011 and venture-backed by Amazon, Comcast Ventures, PSG and Highgate Ventures, SevenRooms has dining, hotel F&B, nightlife and entertainment clients globally, including: MGM Resorts International, Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group, The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, Wynn Resorts, Jumeirah Group, Wolfgang Puck, Michael Mina, Bloomin’ Brands, Giordano’s, LDV Hospitality, Zuma, Australian Venue Company, Altamarea Group, AELTC, The Wolseley Hospitality Group, Dishoom, Live Nation and Topgolf. www.sevenrooms.com

Image: SevenRooms

February 17, 2023by David Klemt David Klemt No Comments

Infographic Shows Massive Tech Growth

Infographic Shows Massive Hospitality Industry Tech Growth

by David Klemt

An infographic from Brizo FoodMetrics puts the explosive growth of the hospitality industry technology landscape on display.

It appears that operators, once largely hesitant to embrace new technology, are seeking it out. So, too, it seems, are guests. Intriguingly, many guests expect restaurants, bars, and hotels to innovate technologically.

In a sign of this change, SpotOn is predicting 2023 to be the year when independent operators upgrade their POS systems.

And that’s just one area where tech companies are innovating for our industry. As their infographic shows, Brizo FoodMetrics identifies ten areas of innovation:

POS systems
Payment platforms
Online ordering solutions
Reservation and waitlist platforms
Inventory, accounting, and purchasing solutions
Human resources and staffing
Delivery, pickup, and drive-thru tech
Marketing, loyalty, and analytics platforms
Artificial intelligence, robotics, and automation
Ghost kitchen and virtual brand tech

Looking just at Brizo’s POS section, they list 48 platforms as part of their “2023 Restaurant Tech Landscape.” That’s four dozen POS systems, and that’s not even every platform available to operators.

Some will be familiar to operators—Toast, TouchBistro, Clover—as they’re basically synonymous with POS systems. Others, like Tillpoint and OVVI, may be less known. However, that doesn’t mean they’re not worthy of research and consideration.

Explosive Growth and Innovation

Again, the Brizo infographic doesn’t list every single available platform. For instance, I don’t see OpenSimSim under the HR/Staffing section. But the fact that there are still dozens of other platforms—more than in the POS section—shows that tech companies finally want their share of the hospitality pie.

This is, of course, beneficial for operators and their teams for several reasons. One such reason is innovation.

On one hand, the established platforms must innovate to fend off competitors. And on the other hand, upstarts must prove themselves to operators. In other words, new platforms must show they’re not vaporware; they have longevity and won’t abandon their own platform any time soon; they’ll update constantly; they’re simple to learn and use; they integrate with other systems; and that they’re worth an operator’s money and time.

We’re just two months into 2023. Imagine what the 2024 tech landscape is going to look like. And bear in mind, this is a restaurant-focused map—there are categories like property management systems for hotels that aren’t included.

If you’re in the market for a new POS system, want to upgrade scheduling, or are just curious about where the industry is heading, check out the infographic below. Select a few brands that are unfamiliar and look them up.

To view this infographic on the Brizo FoodMetrics website, click here.

Image: Possessed Photography on Unsplash

November 9, 2022by krghospitality krghospitality No Comments

2023: Year of the POS Systems?

2023: Year of the POS Systems?

by David Klemt

Image from SpotOn press release

According to SpotOn, the industry could be in for a tech revolution next year as independent operators pursue more powerful POS solutions.

The results of a survey conducted by the cloud-based POS platform are rather revealing. In an effort to better understand where the industry is heading, SpotOn surveyed 300 independent and small-chain restaurant operators.

Both full-service and limited-service (LSR) concept operators participated in this SpotOn survey. Intended to identify the challenges operators face currently, the results reveal much more.

Below, the picture these survey results paint for the industry.

Legacy vs. Innovation

This isn’t the first time I’ve stated the following: Our industry hasn’t been the fastest to implement new technology.

However, we did appear to turn that around in 2021. Now, heading into 2023, our industry may be pursuing cutting-edge tech solutions even more fervently. Today’s guest expects more tech, and your team likely wants access to more modern tech that makes their jobs easier.

Per SpotOn’s survey, 81 percent of independent operators still use so-called “legacy” POS systems. These are “traditional” systems from companies that have been around for quite some time.

It’s not difficult to understand why the vast majority of independent operators continue using legacy systems:

Investing in a new platform requires expenditures of money and time.
Introducing a new POS platform requires staff training.
Staff need to grow adept at using the new system.
It can be daunting to research the available platforms and implementing change.

So, independent and small-chain operators have a choice to make: Stick with the familiar or invest in the future. Change can not only be intimidating, it can be expensive.

However, it seems that most operators are ready to throw comfort to the wayside and embrace innovation.

State-of-the-art Benefits

Should the SpotOn survey prove to be accurate snapshot of the industry, 75 percent of operators will implement new tech next year. According to SpotOn, this is largely in response to growing labor challenges, such as scheduling and retention.

The restaurant, bar, nightclub, and food truck platform found that operators are spending as much as 20 hours per week on administrative tasks. State-of-the-art POS systems can slash those hours by:

streamlining operations;
making scheduling simpler;
calculating tips and payout for payroll; and
managing overtime, an increasingly common task.

More modern POS platforms can automate labor management tasks, saving operators time, money, and frustration. Automation and streamlining give operators something invaluable: time.

In particular, innovative and helpful tech solutions provide an operator with time to focus on growing their business. When weighing whether to keep a familiar but less feature-rich POS system or invest in a modern platform that seamlessly integrates many solutions, ask yourself a couple important questions:

What’s my time worth?
What am I focusing on every day?
Am I growing my business or stagnating?
Is my current POS system helping or hindering my team?
Does my POS system streamline and automate any tasks?

Image: SpotOn

October 19, 2021by David Klemt David Klemt No Comments

Modernize Your Scheduling Today

Modernize Your Scheduling Today

by David Klemt

Scheduling platforms and apps modernize restaurant, bar and hotel team management, streamlining and simplifying several processes.

When it comes to improving communications, the benefits of updating and upgrading how you manage scheduling can’t be overstated.

Of course, in our tech-heavy world, several scheduling platforms do more than just inform your employees about their shifts.

Today’s options handle payroll; assign specific tasks to particular team members; help leadership provide feedback; give staff a platform to provide feedback to leadership; and much more.

Staff Retention

Now, we’ve addressed how our industry has been much quicker to embrace new tech innovations over the past couple years.

We’re bringing up the topic of scheduling platforms for a specific reason. We all make mistakes, and we can learn from those mistakes. And we can also learn from others’ mistakes so we can do our best to avoid making them as well.

On today’s episode of the Bar Hacks podcast, Chef Brian Duffy shares a story about a scheduling issue.

During his return appearance, Chef Duffy explains that his 20-year-old daughter provided two months’ notice about days off she needed to her former employer. “Former” is key here.

It’s clear that the hospitality group property at which she once worked either didn’t utilize a scheduling app, didn’t communicate well, or both.

At any rate, Chef Duffy’s daughter received constant phone calls from management during her vacation. Obviously, that would be infuriating.

Even worse, after she quit that job—she had provided two weeks’ notice—this former employer called to ask if she was coming in for “her shifts.” Well, no—she had quit, with notice.

Clearly, there are other issues with that leadership team beyond a lack of clarity in scheduling. However, a powerful, easy-to-use staff management tool could possibly have kept Chef Duffy’s daughter from quitting this job. A powerful platform, for example, like the four below that are mentioned on episode 53 of Bar Hacks.

7shifts

When choosing a scheduling platform, one crucial element is integration. 7shifts integrates with several major POS systems, such Toast, Harbortouch, Heartland, TouchBistro, Micros, Upserve, and Clover.

In addition to scheduling, which is a given feature for all these platforms, 7shifts offers robust features. Leadership can send one-on-one messages to staff or create group chats. The app itself is a timeclock and handles payroll. And more inclusive packages provide operators with labor budgeting, sales forecasting, labor alerts, and even state-based compliance tools.

7Shifts is free for single locations with up to 10 workers. At the Appetizer level, 7shifts costs $17.99 per month, per location, for up to 20 team members. For $39.99 per month, per location, operators with up to 30 staff can take advantage of the Entrée level. The Works is $69.99 per month, per location, and manages an unlimited number of staff.

HotSchedules

One of the key features of HotSchedules is labor forecasting. Per the platform’s website, HotSchedules “labor forecasts are based on activity, historical data, and specific business rules” to reduce costs and increase revenue.

On the leadership side, scheduling is streamlined and simple to use. Managers can approve—or deny—shift requests with a single click. They can also message individual team members or send messages to a single location.

On the team side, staff can give away, swap and pick up shifts via the convenient app. Staff can request time off, and HotSchedules integrates with their Google Calendars. Upon arrival, staff can clock in through the HotSchedules app and track their attendance and pay.

OpenSimSim

At the surface level, it may seem like OpenSimSim isn’t as robust as the company’s competitors. However, it’s powerful and efficient.

One of the best OpenSimSim features is the open shift invite. Using this feature, team members can be invited to apply for an open shift once one becomes available. In addition, staff can set their profiles up to be auto-approved for open shifts.

Of course, OpenSimSim offers features similar to other scheduling platforms. For example, leadership receives real-time open shift, overtime, and late clock-in notifications. Users can also direct message and group chat via the platform.

Schedulefly

Last on this list solely because I organized these platforms alphabetically is Schedulefly. When you look into this platform, you’ll notice immediately that it’s powerful enough to manage concepts with multiple units.

Managers can quickly and easy navigate each unit in their chain to handle scheduling, broadcast messages for individual locations, message specific team members, and more. Is there a shift that needs to be filled at a specific unit? Schedulefly makes it easy to target the appropriate location and get it filled.

Similar to 7shifts, Schedulefly offers pricing based on staff size. There are no contracts, no fees, and each “level” offers all the same features and services:

19 staff or fewer: $30/month
20 to 39 staff: $40/month
40 t0 59 staff: $50/month
60 to 79 staff: $60/month
80 staff or more: Contact Schedulefly for pricing.

It should go without saying that scheduling is crucial. Understaffing, overstaffing, staffing frustrations, failing to listen to staff about scheduling, and not simplifying the process can increase staff turnover.

Outdated approaches to scheduling also leads to significant decreases in revenue.

At its core, scheduling is a form of communication, a vital one. Commit to improving your communication today by upgrading your scheduling. Your leadership team and staff will thank you.

Image: Gerd Altmann from Pixabay