4 Key Performance Indicators For The Restaurant Industry

If you’re in the restaurant industry you already know making a profit isn’t easy. And according to a survey by consulting firm AlixPartners⁺, it could become even more difficult as consumers expect to spend 9.1 percent less per restaurant meal this year than they did in 2013.

When surviving in the restaurant industry means maintaining an average or better than average profit margin year after year, restaurant owners and managers are facing increased pressure to control costs and improve operational efficiency. Business intelligence (BI) software is a tool that can help them accomplish their goals. A BI solution not only gather raw data on key performance indicators (KPIs), it presents the data in a way that offers decision makers the critical business insights they need to overcome challenges and drive their restaurant forward.

Click here to download “5 Mistakes Executives Make When Buying BI”This article will take a look at how to report on KPI’s using BI software to: improve your bottom line, identify issues with sales, understand operational costs and identify inefficient processes.

Leveraging Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to Improve Profit Margin

Key Performance Indicators are important metrics that can be derived through Business Intelligence software, and help a restaurant improve its profit margin. With the right BI platform, KPIs can be captured in real-time and displayed via a dashboard that provides an easy to understand, at-a-glance view of KPIs. With the click of a mouse or tap of a screen, drill down capabilities can be implemented to reveal specific details that pertain to the KPI. A few KPIs for the restaurant industry include:

Food Costs:

Food purchases can be measured against food sales. A food cost per head can be determined to establish the profit margin per customer. A trigger can be set to highlight in red if the % goes above a certain amount. The ability to drill down to exact food elements, such as cheeses or sauces can be useful to determine if there is excess usage on particular menu items.

Kitchen Labor:

Kitchen labor can be measured against food sales. Drilling down to hours per section is a great way to report on productivity. You may find you can scale back on labor during certain days of the week or shifts.

Seating:

How often are your tables being turned over? Is high-turnover affecting the customer service? These numbers are great to evaluate all areas of turnover time. Drill down for # of seats, clearing time and cooking time. Perhaps more staff is required to improve the cleanup time.

Basket Items:

Analyze drill down data to see what your morning coffee drinkers order. How many items are evening diners ordering before dinner and after dinner? Is there room for improvement in upselling? Become aware of patterns, capitalize on the profitable ones and minimize those that are detrimental to your profit margin.

These are just a few of the basic KPIs that can help you boost profits. Customized reports, scorecards and alerts can also go a long way toward helping you gain better insights into your restaurant, cut costs and improve sales.

Interested in exploring how Business Intelligence can benefit your restaurant?

It’s one thing to identify your restaurant’s KPIs; it’s another to have access to real-time KPIs, dashboards, and reports right from your laptop or mobile device- so you can make critical business decisions on a moment’s notice. If you’re a restaurant owner or restaurant manager looking to optimize your business with an affordable, intuitive BI solution, we think you’re going to like what Yurbi offers. We invite you to experience Yurbi live right now.

+ Americans Say They Will Spend Less on Dining-out this Year

Click here to download “5 Mistakes Executives Make When Buying BI”