September 07, 2022
Adopting new technology in a restaurant will make some processes at least a little more convenient – a kitchen display system (KDS) like SimpleKDS can do everything from offer a better experience when stacked against an old system to beget substantial change to your ordering and payment processing, especially if you were previously running with minimal tech.
Technology like Clover POS combined with tools like SimpleKDS has the power to create a much better experience for the business and especially, your customers. Here, we’re going to take a look at how.
Clover POS is a key driver to digital transformation in a restaurant
We want to quickly call attention to the centerpiece of any good KDS, the POS!
The physical Clover POS is important but what’s most important is the powerful backend. | Source: Clover
With Clover POS, merchants can easily set up their businesses to accept digital orders. For those coming from low-tech to something modern, it can be a bit of an adjustment.
Fortunately, Clover (and many other systems) automatically calculate order totals and accept digital payments which reduces the time staff spends on these processes.
It also interfaces with custom apps such as the one offered by Cirque Coffee. | Source: Blue Label Labs
So long as you’ve built a modular menu with plenty of customization options, where applicable, staff and mobile ordering systems will have everything right at their fingertips.
Sales are logged which makes EoD processes and bookkeeping simple with much greater accuracy.
Systems are typically configured to automatically send orders to connected receipt printers – while this is one way to do it, using a KDS as your primary way to transmit orders can make things even simpler.
Why a KDS offers a better experience for restaurants
The differences between using printed or hand-written tickets compared to a tablet are pretty obvious. Paper isn’t interactive, it isn’t smart (as far as we know), and can’t grow little legs to walk to where you need it to go.
A KDS also lacks sentience, but it does have the power to automatically display orders in real time.
By using a KDS, businesses gain the following digital transformation benefits.
1. More accuracy means less waste
Though issues can still arise from people forgetting to input items, whether staff or customers using a mobile app, you’ll have an objectively more consistent experience.
You can also configure multiple stations that display certain kinds of orders such as a barista or bartender station for making drinks.
As long as you have a good network setup with proper connections or wireless coverage (we recommend taking advantage of Wi-Fi 6 compatible devices but previous generation equipment is also more than adequate,) orders will always “pop up” after payments are processed.
Orders will always appear promptly which means fewer hiccups because of hurried writing, misplaced tickets, and catastrophic condiment spills that can affect printed tickets.
2. It can mean fewer “freebies” for customers but that comes with a caveat
Naturally, you can’t have staff giving people free stuff all the time: little things can add up and some can be excessive with their generosity.
Depending on certain, specific elements of your operation a modern POS with tools like SimpleKDS can help circumvent the kind of trickery staff can use to fly under the radar with free stuff. However, as you’re probably aware, “hooking up” regulars and customers with good rapport can yield better profit as many will spend more.
Check out apps like Kung Fu Tea, Starbucks, and Chipotle for great examples of well-designed loyalty reward systems. | Source: Blue Label Labs
Another excellent way to accomplish this feat (and in a way that can benefit all your customers) is through a mobile app that uses a good loyalty rewards system the LevelUp system from Grubhub used by Kung Fu Tea pictured above.
When your business is ready for even more transformative changes, you can eventually replace menus with a QR code that customers can use to place orders themselves, thus helping businesses be even more efficient.
While nice, it’s just an option and certainly not needed to get started.
3. It’s easier for the kitchen
People that work in kitchens usually party hard because their job is stressful – reputable, busy locations require precision, awareness, speed, and sometimes, thick skin to meet customer expectations.
There’s physically less to worry about between snatching up tickets and popping them into the tab holder and there’s no creative overlapping required for peak times.
Kitchen staff can easier close out orders with a couple of taps which automatically removes completed orders, plus they can easily scroll to view overflow orders to see what’s coming down the line.
Get started with digital transformation at your business with SimpleKDS
It’s easy to get started with Clover POS and SimpleKDS. Once your business is set up as a Clover merchant, you simply need to find an Android table you like, install SimpleKDS from Google Play, and spend a couple of minutes to get it set up.
