How to Improve Your Restaurant Operations Using Data and Video Surveillance

The food industry is an extremely fast paced and competitive environment, and restaurant managers face specific industry-based challenges. When you’re balancing food safety, food quality, customer service, managing employees in the kitchen and at the point of sale, as well as maintaining profits, there’s a lot to be done – and a lot you can do to improve your bottom line.

 

A simple way to increase a restaurant’s efficiencies and chance of long-term success is by collecting actionable insights from your video surveillance. By keeping a watchful eye through surveillance solutions, owners and managers can identify ways to improve safety, quality, productivity, morale, retention, customer experience, and profits.

 

Three tips for adding cameras to improve restaurant operations

  1. Choose the right integrated security solution for your specific restaurant or chain. The right integrated security solution can help identify multiple ways to improve within a facility, such as identifying unrealized kitchen efficiencies and safety opportunities, while enhancing the dining experience for the consumer.

  2. Equip managers with an arsenal of smart tools. By combining the data from video surveillance with business intelligence, managers are better equipped to maximize profits and maintain business growth, while increasing customer satisfaction.  

  3. With the use of surveillance cameras, managers can find ways to reduce wait times at the register and drive-thru, improve food prep processes and safety procedures with real-time training through video and business intelligence analytics.

The potential impact to your bottom line

By leveraging surveillance solutions for your restaurant, you can maximize return on investment (ROI) in multiple ways, from safety and training to prevention of shrinkage to improved operational efficiencies restaurant wide. Research from QSR expert Jim Sullivan notes that by shaving two seconds from every drive-thru customer’s wait time, restaurants can generate an additional $12,000 in monthly sales, simply due to improved efficiency and subsequent volume.

 

ROI for surveillance can be measured differently depending on the QSR or retail brand. Some companies focus on the impact of sales, while others are more concerned with drive-thru speed and food costs. It depends on how you measure success for your specific restaurant business model.

Let me share a few examples of the impact we’ve seen restaurant owners have on their business by acting on insights gained from their surveillance systems. After the addition of cameras, one ITech Digital customer saw restaurant revenue increase by an average of $3000 per month. After completing POS integration and allowing for video verification at registers, another client saw nearly $4000 in savings per restaurant location. Additionally, for a third client, drive-thru speed was improved by 20% with added monitoring surveillance.

 

Using data to improve safety, quality, and profits

Surveillance systems have the ability to provide owners and restaurant managers with peace of mind in a hectic competitive environment. The right integrated security solution can provide invaluable data that helps improve safety, quality, and profits. It’s all about identifying the right solution for your specific restaurant or chain.

 

 

Doug Jones
ITech Digital offers experienced security professionals who partner with organizations across the nation to design custom security solutions for industries like retail, restaurants, and commercial properties.
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