Do you know, in numbers, whether your restaurant made or lost money last week, and why? If the answer is a feeling rather than a number, you are running it by gut. The fix is indicators (KPIs): simple numbers that turn feelings into decisions. Here are five essentials.
What a KPI is
It is a number that measures an important part of the business and that you follow over time. The value is in the trend: is it getting better or worse? With indicators you stop firefighting and start anticipating problems.
1. Average order value
How much, on average, each customer spends per order. Raising it by a few euros, with no extra customers, directly lifts revenue. See the article on average order value.
2. Purchase frequency
How regularly customers come back. Someone who comes four times a month is worth far more than someone who comes once. It shows whether loyalty is working, and if it falls, some customers are drifting away.
3. Share of direct orders
What slice of your online orders comes through your own channel, and what slice from marketplaces. Every point that reaches your channel is margin and customer data of your own. The goal isn't 100%: marketplaces keep bringing new customers.
4. Labour cost as a share of sales
The percentage of revenue that goes on wages, one of the biggest costs in any restaurant. If it rises without sales rising, something is off in efficiency or rotas. This number comes from your accounts or management system.
5. Waste
How much product ends up in the bin. Waste is profit thrown away. Whoever controls what is bought and what is left over spends less. This indicator comes from your stock records.
What to check every day
Five glances in the morning tell you where you stand:
- today's sales, compared with the same day in previous weeks;
- number of orders and average order value;
- direct orders and marketplace orders;
- new customers and returning customers.
One screen with a few numbers you actually look at beats twenty nobody opens. And look at them in time to act, not at month end when the accountant sends them.
How GetFoodies helps
The dashboard brings your channel's orders, sales, customers and deliveries into one place, so you can see average order value, frequency and direct orders without adding anything up by hand. Staff costs and waste come from your own records.
Start with one
Pick one indicator, average order value is a great start, and look at it every week for a month. Just seeing it moves you to act.