With Halloween safely in the rearview mirror, the Holiday season is now rapidly approaching and with it comes food and lots of it. You can’t have a holiday without food just like you can’t have Christmas without Santa Claus or Halloween without a Jack-o-lantern. Couple that with the modern lifestyle that has become ever more demanding and you’ll find that families and professionals are increasingly depending on catering services for their Holiday meals.
Source: collegelifestyles.org
In 2013 alone the catering industry brought in $45 billion to the economy. Furthermore according to recent studies all signs point toward further expansion for the catering industry. At this pace some are expecting double digit growth to continue over the next 10 years. Clearly the modern lifestyle is responsible for the catering boom that is currently engulfing the country.
With the holidays rapidly approaching now is the perfect time for you to capitalize on this trend. Of course if you want to make a dent in the catering marketplace you’ll need the menu and the point of sale system necessary to stack up with the competition.
Once you’ve got the menu nailed down here are some catering features you should look for in your POS system to help you claim your piece of this $45 billion pie:
Source: handhmeats.com
Schedule Dates for Cooking, Pick Up, and Delivery
When it comes to running a successful catering aspect to your grocery store nothing is more vital than remaining organized. Especially during the holiday season when you’ll be getting vastly different orders coming in at all hours of the day; and with each order needing to be completed at a different time having the ability to easily schedule dates for cooking, pick up, and delivery within your point of sale system can be the difference between whether you’re getting treats or coal in your stocking this year.
Create and Manage a Daily Task List for Head Chef
In that same vain your staff will need to stay up to date on the latest orders and when they need to be worked on if they’re going to be completed on time. This feature is invaluable when it comes to your manager being able to delegate assignments to the rest of the kitchen staff on a daily basis, ensuring each and every order is not only completed on time, but measures up to the high quality standards of your business. Particularly useful for the holiday season when you’ll need to be completing large party orders on a strict deadline.
Keep Track of Your Inventory at all Times
Keeping track of your inventory is vital to the success of your grocery store all year long, but even more so during the mad rush of the holiday season. With people celebrating at different times throughout the season due to different family traditions you need to stay on top of your inventory at all times to ensure you have the necessary ingredients to complete each and every order.
Customer Profiles Help You Know Your Customers Like A Chef Knows the Menu
Knowing your customers and how you can get ahold of them if an issue arises is a key to success in any business, but even more so when it comes to helping them keep alive some of their most valued family holiday traditions. Creating customer profiles with Cafe Cartel Point of Sale can even help you turn first time holiday customers into regulars with our loyalty program feature.
Suspend Order Payment Until Pick Up
The holiday season is not only a stressful one for store owners and chefs, but their customers as well. Allowing your customers to suspend payment until they pick up their order is a great way to keep your focus on producing the highest quality product possible. From the customer standpoint not having to pay until seeing the actual finished product is a great way to put their mind at ease during a stressful season and will go a long way in turning them into regulars.
These features will help allow your grocery store’s catering department to get the most out of it’s point of sale system this holiday season, ensuring you can focus on creating the memories that your festive food will give your customers for years to come.