The Magic Ingredient to Saving 20% off Labour Costs

One of many challenges hospo venue owners face in 2023 is the need to adapt, innovate and keep up with the latest tech. Gone are the days of just being able to focus on the ambience, menu and customer experience. While anyone in the biz will tell you the right point of sale (POS) system is the key to your success, it is also just as important to partner with the right apps and streamline operations to ensure maximum growth.

Porch and Parlour is a veritable Bondi institution, serving up quality coffee and mouth-watering breakfasts and lunches to hungry beachgoers for 15 years now. Priding itself on being more a “home away from home” than a hospitality venue, they dreamed of attracting the creative and curious of all stripes through their door – and with the help of Impos and Doshii, these small business owners are finding it easier than ever.

As venue manager Phill Cooke explains, “the concept of Porch and Parlour is built around getting together in the morning before that ‘work time’. Kind of like an escape. You get your coffee and conversation and sunshine. It’s all about how coffee brings people together.”

This theme of bringing everything together isn’t just about people – it’s an idea that extends to Porch and Parlour’s hospitality technology and Impos POS solution, something Phil pioneered for the business when he originally came onboard.

“I came from that background of restaurants that were very new and futuristic,” says Cooke. “They had all this stuff that we have in place now, like Uber Eats, DoorDash and at-table ordering.

They didn’t have any of that here when I started,” he adds, “and we kind of took on each app as we went. We adopted at-table ordering because of speed and quality of service, so people being able to order exactly when they want.” This quick and efficient ordering process via an integrated point of sale system “takes the stress out of the equation”, according to Cooke, especially as Porch and Parlour tends to “get super crazy on a Saturday and Sunday with loads of people waiting for tables.”

The Uber Eats integration has been a lifesaver for Phil. “We were wasting so much time re-entering all the orders and now it is all automatic! We have managed to cut one shift off each day just from orders being managed by Doshii. Also, as a result of the automatic flow of orders we have zero human errors from re-entering them!”

In addition to saving time, their integration into Uber Eats – as well as DoorDash – has also had a big impact on Porch and Parlour’s bottom line.

“We look at Uber Eats and DoorDash as sort of an extension of our restaurant,” Cooke explains. “Obviously they take a commission, but you don’t pay rent on those seats. On a Saturday and Sunday, we probably get an extra twenty or thirty orders.

“Those twenty or thirty extra covers add up to quite a substantial amount of revenue.”

Integrating all of Porch and Parlour’s food delivery apps and online orders with their Impos POS system through Doshii was Cooke’s personal mission. It’s one that’s paid dividends for the venue operations.

“As we went through connecting Uber Eats and DoorDash, explaining to the owners and other managers why we needed to take each step… I mean, we had the Uber tablet making a noise, the DoorDash tablet making a noise, the table ordering going off in a different place and none of it printing the same receipts. Now with Doshii, everything happens automatically. It’s nice and seamless.”

Cooke believes this new wave of hospitality apps in Australia is resonating with Gen Z customers in particular. “Younger customers aren’t so bothered about the service,” he says.

“They just want quality food and quality coffee. They just want to sit down and order straight away. If our staff can’t get to the tables right there and then, they’ll scan the table right away and place their order automatically. It’s great.”

The ability for customers to order at their own convenience has also led to big savings when it comes to staffing needs with approximately 20% savings in labour costs per shift. “We’re able to have one less member of staff on per day,” says Cooke. “Even on busy days, we just don’t take on as many staff as we used to, which is obviously massively helpful for a small business. It’s been a lot easier to meet our weekly budget.”

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