The bar and restaurant industry has undergone seismic shifts to the way operations are run. Things that seemed a long time away from being commonplace have been thrust into the forefront to meet the new customer and societal demands of the modern age. While many of these new developments and technologies are now invaluable to any business hoping to keep doors open for a long time, it adds yet another thing to maintain and keep up with. In such a volatile industry, things can slip through the cracks and become another headache to manage.
With so much tech now invading standard operating procedure, it can be hard to know which ones are worthwhile to have around, and which are excess work without much return on investment. The one strategy that most bars and restaurants agree on is the QR code/digital menu. You’d be hard pressed to walk into any restaurant or bar in a major metro area and not be greeted with a QR code at your table that takes you to a menu on your phone. While this was initially introduced to eliminate the need for germ spreading menus in the pandemic-age health regulations, they’ve grown to the point of being a de facto mandatory part of business for most bars and restaurants.
Although QR code menus are an extremely valuable and cost-cutting tool, they don’t come without flaws. First and foremost, QR code menus can easily become out of date in regards to what’s actually in stock in the bar or restaurant. Especially when applied to large menus of wine or spirits. Managing a back bar of large quantities, sometimes hundreds of bottles, requires much more work to update, and nobody wants to explain to an impatient customer that the item they want isn’t available. It harms both the business-customer relationship, and the misplaced customer anger is often taken out on employees who had nothing to do with the issue at hand.
Further, pricing follows the same vein. Menu pricing change has become commonplace as inflation affects the way bars and restaurants do business, and not having an up to date menu causes a massive communication issue between you and your customer base. Again, the choice becomes a menu overhaul that creates more homework for management and staff, or dealing with the vitriol that comes from upset customers. In such a busy, understaffed, and volatile environment, bars and restaurants need to be working to decrease the amount of work staff and management need to undertake. Not perpetually increase it. That’s where BarMinder comes in.
“BarMinder has not only been innovative, they have continued to evolve to meet the industry’s ever changing needs and to become not just a vendor but a true business partner.”
The BarMinder system offers businesses a unique opportunity to both bring their back of house inventory operations into the digital world, and offer a comprehensive menu of their spirits and other alcoholic beverages. With a brand new offering that provides any and all customers the opportunity to see everything behind your bar (even what’s not visible) just with a tap of their phone, the BarMinder system is here to bridge the technology gap between bars and their customers. BarMinder isn’t just effective in theory. The real world application of the BarMinder system is making an impact on bars and restaurants across the Atlanta metro area, and only growing and expanding. Olde Blind Dog Irish Pub Managing Partner, Danny Edmonds, said “BarMinder has not only been innovative, they have continued to evolve to meet the industry’s ever changing needs and to become not just a vendor but a true business partner.” Olde Blind Dog has an extensive backbar of whiskey, keeping over 400 bottles on hand at all times. Without the helping hand BarMinder provides, the organization and inventory of a bar like this is an immense weight of the shoulders of the rest of the operation.
BarMinder Inventory System also tracks every bottle from when it enters the establishment until it goes into the trash. By combining data from the spouts about every drop being poured with real-time counts of every bottle in storage, BarMinder lets you never have to count another bottle of liquor. Ever.
The BarMinder menu experience is a further addition to the system that is helping bars and restaurants modernize their operations. Not only does it improve sales for locations carrying the menu feature, but it enhances the customer experience. Too often, bars get lost in the shuffle of their backbar, and a bottle that a customer is excited to come in and try may be gone or empty, and that customer relationship suffers as a result. With a complete look at your bar and what’s in stock at all times, and being able to offer that to the customer, that potential disconnect is removed. In the digital age, having an all encompassing companion rids of a massive burden that generations past had to shoulder, and that can only be found with the BarMinder digital inventory system.
