Often, high-volume bartending comes with challenges. Having to serve dozens of customers back-to-back every night can be stress-inducing for staff and create a poor customer experience, both of which can have greater implications for your business.
If your business aims to maximize efficiency in high-volume drink services, you have numerous options. Consider investing in self-pour solutions, effective technology, bar design, and prepped beverages to provide reliable high-volume drink service.
4 Ways to Boost Your Business's Drink Service Efficiency
Below are the four best ways to maximize efficiency for high-volume drink services at your business.
1. Design an Effective Bar Space
Effective bar design is essential, as it cuts down on the amount of time your bartenders have to move around the space, keeps ingredients close at hand, and allows for more room for customers.
Many traditional bar designs have the kitchen designed first, with the creation of the bar as an afterthought. However, this arrangement can often pose more challenges to efficiency and time-saving, as many customers might congregate in a smaller area near the bar, leading to higher wait times and more lines. It might also take longer for employees to serve customers when the kitchen or seating area takes up so much room.
Instead, focus on building a bar-focused area first. Ensure your freezer, carbon dioxide system, burn faucets, shelves, tin rinsers, and bar caddies are well-placed and within easy reach behind the bar. With everything in its proper place, you can ensure the bar is the first thing customers see while also leaving room for employees and guests to walk through without excess lines or wait times.
2. Create Consistency With Prepped Drinks
For those wondering how to work in a high-volume bar where consistency is critical, consider prepped drinks. Preparing drinks creates consistency with syrups, mixes, and other ingredients to reduce preparation time. The less time it takes to make drinks for your customers, the more satisfied and happy they’ll be.
Consider premixing ingredients while adding some extra flairs and additions during the actual assembly process. While you don’t want to pre-make all of your cocktails, consider prepping syrups, sugars, ice, infused spirits, and foams. You can also prepare garnishes ahead of time, such as oranges, lemon peels, coconut shavings, or other sprinklings, to cut down on time spent making the drinks.
3. Lean on Technology
Technology can be vital to improving business efficiency for high-volume drink orders. Instead of relying on manual processes, your business can use technology to its advantage by streamlining processes that can otherwise impact its efficiency and the overall customer experience.
Many restaurants, bars, and businesses use apps to help reduce wait times by creating a quick, first-come-first-serve digital waiting list. Apps can also turn customers’ phones into pagers, reducing the need for additional equipment or technology, so staff can alert them easily when their tables are ready.
Other helpful services can provide analytics so your business knows what to prepare and when based on order frequency.
4. Use Self-Pour Taps
Self-pour taps are an essential piece of technology your business should invest in. They allow guests to serve themselves beers, wines, cocktails, and non-alcoholic beverages on tap while cutting down on lines and wait times.
Many types of drinks can be included on tap, even if your business doesn’t have a bar. From kombucha and coffee to juices, wines, and cocktails, your business can serve any drink you like to meet a variety of customer preferences and enjoy several other benefits, which we describe in the next section.
3 Main Benefits of Using Self-Pour Taps
Here are the three main benefits of using self-pour taps your business should consider.
1. Save Valuable Space
One of the main concerns of a bar space is that it might take up too much room in the business. However, with a self-service bar area, you won’t have to worry about long lines or wait times due to poorly spaced areas.
Self-service walls can integrate into a wall, while self-pour stations can fit snuggly against a wall, allowing easy access and fast pours. You can also separate the self-serve area from the kitchen and seating areas, which helps reduce traffic and allows for easy access to and from the self-pour taps to tables.
2. Cut Down on Staffing Stress and Costs
Many businesses are concerned with reducing staff stress while reducing the costs of high-volume drink orders. With a self-service bar area, your staff members won’t have to serve as many guests at once and can focus on different areas of the business, such as cleaning, serving food, or seating guests.
Self-serve technology also cuts down on staffing costs. When customers can serve themselves, you won’t have to hire as many employees, meaning you’ll save money while increasing the return on investment from your self-service tech. Self-service technology also means an increase in high-volume drink services, as buying drinks is much more accessible.
3. Improve User Experience
The user experience of self-pour technology is just as crucial to the longevity and improvement of your business. When guests can skip lines and pour drinks for themselves, their experience in the bar or restaurant is vastly improved.
PourMyBeer has the technology to provide efficiency and convenience at the same time. Our self-serve bars allow guests to go from the door to a self-pour in seconds while paying conveniently by the ounce. The less time spent waiting in lines for their favorite drinks, the more time guests have to enjoy the space. As a result, they’re more likely to come back for more.
Trust PourMyBeer to Increase Efficiency in Your High-Volume Bar
PourMyBeer offers businesses, restaurants, bars, hotels, stadiums, and more opportunities to offer self-serve beverage systems. Our self-service options allow you to pour whatever drinks you desire quickly and easily, from cold brew or kombucha to beers, wines, and cocktails. Install your self-serve bar in your place of business and let customers pay by the ounce, reducing time spent in lines.
If you want to maximize the efficiency of your drinks business, contact us today to speak to a representative or request a quote.
