Overview and Background
Almost without exception, every customer that comes into a restaurant drinks something with their meal, and the challenge for the restaurateur is to get paid for the beverages that are served. Unfortunately, all too often this is an area where the restaurateur does not collect all the revenue for the actual number of beverages served. It is astounding how much revenue can be lost due to server oversight and/or pilferage of non-alcoholic beverages.
In many cases, the servers fill their own soft drink orders, while the alcoholic drinks are prepared by bartenders. Generally, the bars are equipped with printers and order chits that provide an audit trail for the alcohol items ordered and, unless there is a collusion between employees, this is a good method to control this profit center in the restaurant. Unfortunately, this particular environment leaves little control on the soft drinks, and this is where the Aloha POS software provides an invaluable service.
Aloha software allows restaurateurs to establish certain guidelines when it comes to what is required to be rung up as a part of the order. In the case of beverages. Aloha will insure that every entree ordered or guest is accompanied by a beverage. The server can neither print nor close a guest check until the requirements for the beverages versus entrees or guest are met.How It Works
When the database is designed for the restaurant we establish a direct relationship between categories within the system. In the case of the drink category we link it directly to the entree category. This link requires that an item from the drink category must be rung up for every item rung up in the entree category or for the number of guest.
Depending on the settings chosen by the restaurant, the system will count entree items versus beverage items to ensure an equal count (beverage item >= entree items). Or the number of beverages must equal the number of guest. The server will be notified of the inequities when he/she tries to print the guest check. As mentioned, he/she can not print or close this check until the requirements are met.
In some cases we realize that it is possible that no drink will be ordered with a meal, or that water might be the only beverage consumed. In both cases, this is allow by adding the appropriate items in the drink category to provide the required count.
When combined with our Performance Measures (Described in another Feature, Feature) the Aloha software platform closes the loop for restaurateurs by reporting on the ration of Drink to Entree. By using the required category feature, this ratio should equal to at least 100% for every server in the restaurant.
Example: | Unacceptable Transaction | Acceptable Transaction | | Entree $10.00 | Entree $10.00 | | Entree $10.00 | Entree $10.00 | | Entree $10.00 | Entree $10.00 | | Drink $1.50 | Drink $1.50 | | Drink $1.50 | Drink $1.50 | | | Drink $1.50 | | Subtotal $33.00 | Subtotal $34.50 |
With the unacceptable transaction, the Aloha will prevent the server from finalizing the transaction. This forces the server to order more beverages until the requirement to match drink to entrees has been met..
The Justification
In a restaurant that charges $1.50 per non-alcoholic beverage, with a bar cost of 25% (a high figure for non-alcoholic beverages) and an average of 15 servers per day, the following cost justification would apply:
Number of additional beverages per server per day 3
Additional Revenue Per Day $67.50
Additional Profits Per Day $50.63
Additional Profits Per Month $1518.90 Important Note: The following information is intended only to inform and not to be a substitute for the reader's seeking legal or accounting counsel. Any information given here should be examined by the reader's attorneys or accountants as to such information's applicability. |
