How This Restaurant Added Tableside Ordering and Increased Alcohol Sales by 22%

Goals

Invest in technology for staff

To facilitate cross-training and onboard new staff efficiently, Frankie DiCarlantonio, CEO of Scaffidi Restaurant Group, needed a POS that his staff could adopt quickly. Server-friendly tools are a must-have in today’s competitive labor market, and businesses often need to do more with less. With the restaurant industry facing a labor shortage, DiCarlantonio wanted to find tools that would help staff. However, people can sometimes be reluctant to change, and the staff of Scaffidi’s Restaurant & Tavern was no exception. The idea of replacing paper and pen with new technology was met with some resistance from staff, and DiCarlantonio would need to find a system that would be easy to adopt.

Maximize margins

Rising food costs is also a major concern for restaurants. DiCarlantonio was looking for a way to maximize cash flow and improve sales by using technology that could create a better dining experience. Improved customer service could foster loyalty, increase the average order amount, and boost the wait staffs’ tips.

Streamline order management

When in-person dining turned to off-premise orders due to Covid-19, DiCarlantonio turned to DoorDash Storefront for online orders. But the system didn’t connect to their POS so staff had to manually enter online orders, which took time, and manual entry was prone to errors. High commission fees also made delivery unprofitable, and customers couldn’t use gift cards, discount codes, or loyalty points on the DoorDash platform. DiCarlantonio needed a way to make online orders seamless for staff and improve the overall experience for customers.

Solutions

Since the first restaurant opened in 2009, DiCarlantonio has been driving the business forward. “Don’t be afraid to try something that’s not what your brand is known for,” he says.

DiCarlantonio isn’t afraid of changing things up to help improve the bottom line. The restaurant successfully implemented Square for Restaurants mobile POS as a beta seller. DiCarlantonio transitioned servers from having to crowd around a central POS station to place orders to tableside ordering and payments via tablets.

• Employee skillset growth: Initially the employees were reluctant to change. However, the technology’s intuitive software eased its adoption, helping servers who were attached to pen and paper quickly adjust. especially once they saw the benefit of being able to focus more on expanding their skillsets within the restaurant with the time they were saving and the flexibility of the technology.
• Doing more with less: Some of DiCarlantonio’s servers were already using ipads for tableside ordering and Square Terminal for payments but he saw an opportunity for an all-in-one solution, a single handheld device that was specifically designed to help servers to work faster and more efficiently.
• Simplified order management: The team added Square Online for commission-free online ordering to their Square for Restaurant POS, going live in three days’ time, as well as adding Square Marketing and Square Loyalty. Now Scaffidi’s delivery orders are profitable, their staff saves time on every order, and customers enjoy engaging rewards.

Today, Scaffidi’s uses Square for its POS, online ordering, Square Invoices, Square Email Marketing, coupons, gift cards, and Square Loyalty. It’s all integrated into the Square ecosystem, making a seamless experience for both Scaffidi’s customers and staff members. When customers lapse, they receive automated marketing emails driving the customer back to the brand.

The biggest upside of Square for Restaurants mobile POS has been keeping my staff on the floor more of the time which has led to greater customer satisfaction.”

Frankie DiCarlantonio → CEO of Scaffidi Restaurant Group

Outcomes

Small changes can add up and make a difference on a business’s bottom line. Servers saw an immediate impact on business, smoother day to day operations, and greater accuracy with placing orders.

Instead of scribbling on a pad and then entering the items into a central POS, which left the door open for errors, servers can now enter drinks and food into a tablet at the table and confirm customer selections.

“With the layout of our restaurant, Mobile POS is saving a lot of physical steps, which has increased staff satisfaction and alleviated some of the stress on their positions,” says DiCarlantonio. “We’re seeing a lot of additional efficiency in our operations because our staff are spending more and more time on the floor rather than out of reach putting in orders.”

Scaffidi’s also saw noticeable changes that positively impact their bottom line.

• Increase in sales: When you tackle efficiency and accuracy, it leads to profitability. The improved customer service helped boost sales. In fact, DiCarlantonio says one surprising result of faster ticket times was an increase in alcohol sales. Scaffidi’s Restaurant & Tavern diners ordered additional rounds of alcohol due to the speed of ordering and preparation, resulting in a 22% increase in alcohol sales since implementing the use of a tableside POS. “Our bar service is much faster now that we’re using Square for Restaurants mobile POS,” says Toni Morris, Manager, Scaffidi Restaurant & Tavern. “The server used to have to walk all the way to the back to put in a drink order and by the time they would get back to the table, the Jack and Coke would be diluted.”
• Decrease in voids: The new technology also provides up-to-date information that improved the customer experience. “It’s great to have all the 86’d items updated live during service,” says DiCarlantonio. “With Square handheld POS, you won’t be going back to the customer 10 minutes after taking their order to say, ‘Hey, sorry, we’re out of calzones.’” Because of the ordering accuracy from a tableside POS, Scaffidi’s has seen a 57% decrease in voids due to out-of-stock items. Food and drinks also came out faster, since servers didn’t have to walk to the back of the restaurant to place orders.
• Cross-train staff: DiCarlantonio invests in his staff and cross-trains employees to work in different locations and job types. Employees move from server to bartender to host, and they even assist with delivery. By training across functions, DiCarlantonio helps employees expand their skillsets and become more efficient. With Square for Restaurants handheld device, any Scaffidi’s employee can pick up the mobile POS and be a server for the day. Cross-training and easy to use systems also ensure that one team member’s absence doesn’t impact business.
• Increased repeat customer rate: Since employees no longer have to manually enter orders from third-party services, they’ve gained more than 12 hours per week, offsetting staffing shortages. Customers are also happier because they get the right items, every time — Scaffidi has cut refunds and deliveries that were due to order entry errors by 100%. Loyalty has improved now that customers receive more targeted, easy-to-apply promotions. Their repeat customer rate has increased to 1.9x, meaning that almost every new customer dines with the restaurant two or more times. And now that Scaffidi’s accepts online orders directly, delivery commission rates have decreased from double-digit percentages, making these orders profitable for the first time. 

We used to subscribe to multiple operating systems that do the same thing. They were expensive and took up staff time. In 13 years of business, Square is the most complete ecosystem we’ve used.”

Frankie DiCarlantonio → CEO of Scaffidi Restaurant Group

Satisfied Customers and Staff

DiCarlantonio has been using the Square for Restaurants mobile POS since early 2022, and says he’s already made back his investment with faster table turnover and increased sales. His employees are happy, too, because improved service impacts their tips. DiCarlantonio’s success is proof that being flexible is the key to running a modern restaurant.

“Within the 13 years we’ve been open, we have never done anything that we are not confident in,” says DiCarlantonio. “Whenever we enter into something new, we always make sure that what we currently have is unaffected. The biggest upside of Square for Restaurants mobile POS has been keeping my staff on the floor more of the time which has led to greater customer satisfaction.”

Square empowers sellers large and small with tools that work together, saving time and resources. See how Square can work for your business.