Mastering the table turnover rate is essential to maximize your restaurant's profits: accommodating as many customers as possible while ensuring an optimal level of service is THE major challenge to overcome to succeed in the 2023 summer season.
Calculating the average table turnover rate means dividing the number of seated customers by the number of available tables over a specific period. The turnover time of a table is the duration your customer spends in your restaurant, from arrival to departure. Of course, it's interesting to perform these calculations at different times of the day and on different days of the week!
Your challenge during peak hours? Serve as many customers as possible and therefore minimize the table occupancy time without making your customer feel rushed, as their satisfaction is your priority...
TIP 1: Focus on digital tools
With the Popina cash register, you'll be at the cutting edge of technology.
Imagine this: your servers are all equipped with remote ordering devices. An ultra-powerful, robust, and lightweight terminal would allow them to be mobile, more autonomous and responsive, especially during peak hours! They would process orders in real-time, send them directly to the kitchen, the dishes would arrive faster, there would be less waiting and the time spent at the table would be reduced. Order taking and payment would be done on the same terminal. The payment terminal would accept traditional and non-traditional payments: cash, chip and PIN cards, with or without signature, contactless, QR code...
The smoother and faster the process of welcoming, assigning tables, taking orders and processing payments, the more you increase your table turnover. And what's more, your customers are satisfied!
TIP 2: Personalize your application
Thanks to the features of your Popina cash register, you can personalize everything according to your business and save time. Quick to deploy, intuitive, and customizable, the Popina application offers a basic functionality to which you can add many services according to your needs, whether you have a small or large restaurant space.
For example, you can choose to favorite the 3 most used payment methods by your customers to process payments faster. With the next order notification option, you save precious minutes in your service time: as soon as an order is cashed in and closed, a new blank order window automatically appears! Thanks to the on-the-fly option, you can manage customers with ultra-specific requests by adding personalized, non-parameterized comments: 'open calzone', 'no onion, no pepper'; without having to go to the kitchen personally. And finally, with the bill splitting, you allow your customers to pay for their own items or the entire bill with their preferred payment method.
TIP 3: Digitize your menu
Offer a digital menu: as soon as your customers are seated, they have access to the menu and can calmly make their consumption choices, without waiting for a server to be available, without risk to their health: limiting contact points. The digital menu is an easy, fast and secure tool: it comes in the form of a QR Code, placed on the table, and is directly synchronized with your menu. The customer simply scans the QR Code with their smartphone and that's it! No more friction with the server when the customer is in a hurry to order: they manage their time spent in your establishment independently.
The little extra? You can personalize the design of your menu, add quality photos, talk about the different services you offer... a great customer experience in perspective... To be shared, even overused (without moderation) on your social networks!
TIP 4: Accept group reservations
Many restaurants prefer to work without reservations to avoid the potential loss caused by no-shows; but it is an unbeatable way to limit your customers' waiting time - and a security that many appreciate! Online reservations are also an excellent channel for building customer loyalty and collecting their consumption habits for tailored retargeting.
Making reservation taking easier allows you to enjoy invaluable time savings! No need for an employee to be dedicated to taking reservations, our commission-free online reservation module integrates with Google Widget. Depending on your constraints, you can configure the tool to maximize your revenue.
TIP 5: Reinvent the layout of your tables according to your available space
Personalize your floor plan. With Popina, it's simple! You can easily exploit all the available space in your restaurant room and terrace, group tables according to reservation requests and assign a dedicated server to them. Is your restaurant fully booked and you still want to add a temporary table for two people? No problem, it will disappear once the payment has been made.
A tip? Don't let two people sit at a table for 4, you never know if you'll need that table for a larger group of people.
TIP 6: Motivate your team to be even more responsive
Train your teams and prepare them to react correctly when a friction situation occurs with a customer. Unite them! The personal connection between the dining room and kitchen is inseparable.
Optimize their schedules without pulling your hair out! Our app will help you manage your employees more easily. Just configure the app according to your own criteria: enter the type of contract, vacations, days off, diplomas, level of responsibility, availability for each of your employees and create your schedules in one click! A change in the established schedule? Your employees are notified instantly. An undeniable time saver for changing work schedules, without knowing everyone's availability by heart.
TIP 7: Make it even more responsive
Optimize their schedules without pulling your hair out! Our app will help you manage your employees more easily. Just configure the app according to your own criteria: enter the type of contract, vacations, days off, diplomas, level of responsibility, availability for each of your employees and create your schedules in one click! A change in the established schedule? Your employees are notified instantly. An undeniable time saver for changing work schedules, without knowing everyone's availability by heart.
TIP 8: Equip your kitchen to serve your orders on time
You'll be able to handle any rush with the kitchen printer! Your order and preparation tickets will always be sent to the right place.
TIP 9: Offer your customers payment at the table and streamline your service
No one escapes the digitalization of payment methods! And ultimately, whoever tries it, adopts it... Payment in a restaurant is a key step in your customer's experience. So, save time in service with our app!
Your customers can pay directly at the table by scanning their QRCode at the end of the meal via their mobile. They pay by credit card, can choose to split the bill between guests and leave a tip. The customer experience is improved: they no longer wait, no longer desperately try to catch the eye of a stressed waiter, there are no more queues at the counter to pay their bill, your customer feels free from the time spent in your restaurant and your table turnover is optimized.
Not to mention the digitalization of tips and the dematerialization of the receipt!
TIP 10: Act in advance to minimize the number of customers who have booked but do not show up - without having canceled!
What can you do to anticipate this situation?
Limit your reservation slots.
Request a bank imprint during the online booking process, with a fixed 'deposit' amount that you choose according to the standing of your restaurant.
Send reminder SMS to confirm reservations, offering two link choices: confirm or cancel!
In conclusion: avoid negative reviews!
In summary, managing and optimizing table turnover is essential for the success and efficient operation of your restaurant. Using a touch-screen cash register like Popina offers you highly relevant levers for managing your tables, which saves time and allows you to focus on service, kitchen and customer service. With Popina, you optimize your tables quickly and efficiently, you manage orders more precisely and you offer a better customer experience. You monitor your ratios and sales figures, you take into account customer preferences, you build loyalty and offer them a more pleasant dining experience: a varied menu, quality products, a well-kept setting, tailor-made attention, news on social networks...
And even if your customers come to spend a special moment in your establishment: 'time is money for everyone'! The points of friction are generally located during seating, order taking, waiting time for the dishes to come out and the bill!
Waiting time is a key success factor for obtaining positive reviews on the time spent in your restaurant...and gaining new customers. That's why all our tips should be studied according to your type of restaurant.
Go here to request an online quote and optimize your table turnover!
