"How I beat high costs of labour with just QR Code Ordering"
Running a restaurant looks a little different these days. While F&B establishments everywhere have very quickly bounced back into the culinary hustle, many restaurant owners have also realised that it's not as simple as picking up where they left off.
The good news is that we have dining-in opened up everywhere and diners making bookings at their favourite restaurant, eager to gather and have meals together. However despite restaurants operating at full capacity, staffing is an entirely different story. An industry once filled with never-ending applicants is now severely under-staffed as many F&B owners try their best to keep their businesses afloat.
For many restaurant owners settling into new challenges, the solution is clear : automation and technology.
Using technology in restaurant workflow operations like QR Code Ordering has proven to be a lifesaver for many places that want to keep serving amidst a labour shortage. In this article, we interview Jie Wei, the owner at Eat 3 Bowls Taiwanese Cafe, who provides a first-hand experience on the nitty gritties behind using QR Code Ordering at his place.
iCHEF : How did you guys start off in the F&B industry and what was the inspiration behind Eat 3 Bowls?
Jie Wei : We actually started off as a hawker centre stall selling popular Taiwanese dishes at Seah Im Food Centre. Demand grew over time and we had a regular loyal fan base, which prompted us to open a fully-furnished eatery at Crawford Lane. The concept was inspired by frequent trips to Taiwan with my wife.
We both loved Taiwanese cuisine and initially, we were selling our three main dishes (chicken rice, braised pork rice, mee sua) as separate items on the menu when we were in the hawker centre. There were times when the braised pork rice and the mee sua were selling faster than the chicken rice. However we really wanted people to experience the taste of all three favourites of Taiwanese cuisine so we came up with the idea of a ‘sampler set’ where we serve all three dishes in small-sized bowls and that’s how the name ‘Eat 3 Bowls’ came about.
iCHEF : Wow, that is definitely a cool idea - loved hearing that story! Can you share with us how the process of order-taking was done in your outlet before you implemented QR code ordering?
Jie Wei : Before using QR code, our usual process was having an order chit at the table for customers to fill in, and this would be brought to the cashier counter for the staff to key in their orders and send to the kitchen. Customers can then pay afterwards with the receipt generated.
iCHEF : Got that, so after you and your team implemented QR code ordering at your outlet, how did the workflow operations change and were the changes beneficial to your restaurant?
Jie Wei : With QR code ordering, customers scan the QR code on our tables, order on their phones and proceed to make payment via their phones as well. I think one of the ways that this helped us a lot was that the process allowed us to serve customers well with limited staff, making tableside ordering much easier.
It gave the customers the flexibility and power to order whatever they wanted, whenever they wanted, without having to wait for our service staff. Sometimes customers need more time to decide and complete their order, and QR code ordering gives them the freedom with time to place their orders.
Also, previously, we had to ensure that there was always a staff present at the cashier counter to take their orders and collect payment. When customers use QR code ordering, they are able to order and pay via their phones, so we do not need a staff present all the time.
iCHEF : Glad to hear about it! What would you say is the biggest or top advantage for Eat 3 Bowls to use OR code ordering?
“I was willing to pay (but) no one would come for the job.”
Jie Wei : I would actually say that QR code ordering really helped us to deal with the manpower crunch issue in the F&B industry and that would be the top advantage for us. With the recent pandemic, it has been challenging to hire service staff for our restaurant and the wages are also very high. Even if I wanted to hire foreign workers, I couldn’t find any - and there were also the concerns of paying levy and the competitive salary scales required in the industry. I was willing to pay, but the hardest part was the shortage - no one would apply to the job postings or come for the interview. As a F&B business owner I also had to meet the quota, which was also difficult for me.
QR code ordering was initially new to us. When we first decided to go ahead with the workflow operations of customers paying via their phone after placing their orders, we did feel that Stripe’s rates might be a little high for us. However, I would say the benefits that came with this outweighed the additional rates that we needed to pay. The high cost of hiring service staff, especially the levy that needed to be paid for foreign staff, was worrisome for us. In addition to this, when there are lull periods with fewer customers, I would still have to pay salaries to my service staff despite them having lesser work to do.
With QR code ordering right now, I don’t need service staff to be present for most parts of the order-taking process. Customers scan the code, place their orders and pay through their phones, which ultimately saves a lot of costs for me, thus outweighing the Stripe fees that I need to pay.
iCHEF : Thanks so much for sharing your story and insight with us Jie Wei! We enjoyed this interview and hope you had a good time too.
Jie Wei : It is my pleasure and thank you for having me!
Abi Shan is the editor and content strategist at iCHEF Singapore. She manages iCHEF Club, a growing community of F&B owners in Singapore – creating and strategising fresh content, digital marketing campaigns, and the F&B Entrepreneur Bootcamp, the only regular workshop on opening a new restaurant in the country. In her spare time, she loves playing the drums, watching movies, and attending concerts. Her love for fashion runs so deep such that you can can always spot her with new makeup looks ;)
