By Nicole Di Tomasso
Lightspeed Commerce Inc. has debuted new options on its flagship hospitality platform, Lightspeed Restaurant, to assist impartial restaurateurs make data-driven choices that increase effectivity and income. Revamped with modules reminiscent of Lightspeed Superior Insights, Lightspeed Funds and integrations like OpenTable, Lightspeed Restaurant offers clear and actionable insights for operators to leverage, reminiscent of which menu gadgets will flip a visitor right into a repeat buyer.
“We’re all the time fascinated by what insights we can provide to eating places to assist them run extra effectively,” says Peter Dougherty, normal supervisor of Hospitality at Lightspeed. “It’s vital for operators to completely perceive not solely what’s occurring in the back and front of home, but in addition what visitors are ordering and what’s bringing them again.”
Among the many new options is the Magic Menu Quadrant, which organizes menu gadgets into 4 classes: Hidden Gems (low recognition, excessive retention price), One-Hit Wonders (excessive recognition, low retention price), Underperformers (low recognition, low retention price) and Biggest Hits (excessive recognition, excessive retention price).
“The Magic Menu Quadrant is a singular function that divides all the pieces on a restaurant’s menu into 4 quadrants: what sells, what doesn’t promote, high performers and hidden gems,” says Dougherty. “A hidden gem is one thing an operator would possibly assume doesn’t promote nicely, however really drives visitor retention. We imagine that stage of efficiency measurement and skill to convey all these information sources collectively is highly effective and distinctive within the business.”
Lightspeed’s POS system is nicely suited to full-service eating places particularly. “FSR clients can get essentially the most worth out of Lightspeed,” says Dougherty. “After we construct our software program and take into consideration its options and performance, we all the time have the FSR profile in thoughts.”
Moreover, operators can select from three pricing tiers. Dougherty says most clients go for the center plan, which incorporates customizable POS, menu supervisor, flooring plans, superior insights, built-in funds, takeout and supply, single-view reconciliation, on-line and contactless ordering, superior stock administration and extra. For the front-of-house, Dougherty says the POS system is iOS based mostly with a set iPad station. For cell, Lightspeed offers a devoted piece of {hardware} with a terminal in-built that’s centred on an iPhone.
Now out there in Canada, the U.S., the U.Ok., France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Germany and Australia, Lightspeed powers among the world’s finest eating places, together with 5 Guys (Canada), Daniel Boulud Group (N.Y.), Alinea Group (Chicago) and Canlis (Seattle), amongst others.
“We imagine in offering the very best buyer expertise. By implementing the proper working system, it helps us to have higher perception into the day-to-day operations of our restaurant. Having this method in place additionally offers a extra in-depth, customized expertise to every of our worthwhile clients,” says Ricardo Province, normal supervisor and co-owner of Boukan Edible Eats in Toronto.
To guard client information, Lightspeed Restaurant is regulated beneath the EU regulation, Normal Knowledge Safety Regulation (GDPR), which supplies people the proper to ask organizations to delete their private information. “As a result of we additionally function in international locations outdoors of North America, we’ve constructed our merchandise with GDPR compliance in thoughts,” says Dougherty. “We maintain ourselves to a excessive commonplace on the subject of dealing with and defending client information.”
General, whereas there’ll all the time be a necessity for a private contact, embracing know-how is paramount to run a profitable enterprise and preserve a aggressive edge within the ever-evolving foodservice panorama. In Lightspeed’s 2022 International State of the Hospitality Business report, 12 per cent of business survey respondents mentioned they adopted new know-how to streamline shifts (new POS or administration software program), which is a rise of seven per cent in comparison with 2021. Moreover, 21 per cent of restaurant homeowners introduced on-line ordering in home to keep away from third-party charges. The vast majority of quick informal (60 per cent), multi-location (88 per cent), fantastic eating (57 per cent), upscale informal (76 per cent) and cafes/bakery (61 per cent) companies in Canada mentioned they expanded on-line ordering within the final 12 months.
“The restaurant business has all the time been targeted on the visitor expertise. However, the business has been one of many slowest to undertake trendy know-how,” says Dougherty. “For impartial restaurateurs particularly, we now have the instruments, which aren’t too costly, to assist their companies thrive. Roughly 5 years in the past, these instruments have been one thing solely main companies had entry to, however they’ve now utterly remodeled the impartial restaurant area, and we’re excited to be part of it.”