Maximize Kitchen Efficiency with Deliverect’s Snooze Feature: A Step-by-Step Guide

Order backlogs and high turnover from staff burnout are common issues that can impact the overall efficiency of restaurant operations.

An efficient kitchen ensures faster food preparation and the availability of all menu items. However, having too many items on the menu and limited prep time means that even minor delays can spiral into backlogs, missed orders, and frustrated staff.

Deliverect’s Snooze feature is one of the few tools on the market designed to give you more control over your online menu. With this feature, you can temporarily “snooze” items that are out of stock or require extra prep time, automatically removing them from your digital menu. This prevents unfulfilled orders and allows your kitchen to focus on available and fresh items.

In this article, learn more about Deliverect’s Snooze feature and how it can help maximize your kitchen efficiency.

Understanding the Snooze Feature

The Deliverect Snooze feature is a simple yet powerful tool for marking menu items as "out of stock." When certain kitchen items are unavailable or require more prep time, Snooze allows you to temporarily remove them from your digital menu with just a few clicks.

As a result, your guests can easily see what is currently available on the menu and when items will be back. This is typically a response to certain kitchen items going out of stock until they're restocked.

Depending on your user interface for displaying snoozed items, you can choose how to show details for unavailable items:

• Greys Out Items:

  These items remain visible on the menu but are marked as unavailable. For example, a snoozed item can be seen but not selected.

• Show Return Time:

  Provide an expected time for the item's return on the menu. Snooze requests include the duration an item should remain unavailable.

The best part of the Snooze feature is that you can manage products directly from the Deliverect platform on your kitchen menu. The Snooze feature integrates seamlessly with the platform, making it straightforward to add or set up within your existing online order management workflow.

Benefits of Using the Snooze Feature for Your Kitchen Operations

Snoozing is a key benefit of automating the online order process. Temporarily removing unavailable items from your online menus eliminates the need to cancel orders or disappoint loyal customers.

Your kitchen team can stay on top of inventory and focus on producing top-quality food with fewer interruptions. Overall, it simplifies food delivery management and offers additional benefits such as:

• Reducing Staff Stress:

  Marking unavailable items out of stock prevents kitchen staff from handling numerous rushed orders and sudden stock shortages. This reduction in stress helps prevent burnout.

• Controlled Order Flow:

  Removing unavailable menu items prevents the kitchen from being overwhelmed with too many orders at once, leading to a smoother operation.

• Fewer Overloads:

  Kitchens often face bottlenecks when multiple complex orders pile up. Integrating Deliverect’s Snooze feature helps maintain balance, eliminating the need to rush through orders or compromise quality.

How to Implement ‘Product Snoozing’ in Your Daily Kitchen Operations

Snooze is a user-friendly feature that can transform your daily kitchen operations and enhance your online menu systems and food delivery platforms. However, successful integration requires careful planning, such as contactless ordering and other kitchen technologies from Deliverect.

Here are some best practices to make Snooze an effective part of your workflow:

Ensure Clear Communication

Effective communication among all employees is crucial for successfully integrating the Snooze feature into your online food ordering systems. For example, ensure that kitchen and front-of-house staff are informed about what’s snoozed and why so they can set appropriate customer expectations.

Set Clear Guidelines for When to Use Snooze

Establish clear guidelines for using the Snooze feature to minimize confusion and ensure consistent application across shifts. Define major scenarios where snoozing is appropriate, such as:

• Stock Shortages:

  When an item’s ingredients are running low and must be reserved for later orders.

• High Demand Times:

  During peak hours, like weekend dinner rushes, to prevent overload on certain menu items.

Implement Staff Training

A structured training plan is essential when introducing Deliverect's Snooze feature to your kitchen staff. By carefully tracking what works and refining it as you go, you’ll create a smooth training experience that equips your team to use this tool confidently.

Start by training your staff on how to use the Snooze feature in your restaurant's online ordering system. Allow them to perform snooze tests to learn more about managing snoozed items and handling them confidently in real scenarios.

To enhance your staff training, consider the following tips:

• Have a Structured Training Plan: Outline the objectives of your training program. Identify the specific skills and knowledge your staff needs to master the Snooze feature and break down each goal into actionable steps. Track which training methods resonate most with your team and identify areas needing additional focus.

• Include Clear and Detailed Instructions: Your training manual should offer comprehensive guidance, especially for new staff. Essential details to include:

• Using the Snooze Feature: This section provides a step-by-step guide on how to activate and deactivate the Snooze feature, covering scenarios where items need to be snoozed and how to monitor snoozed items.

• Menu & Item Details: Specify menu items that may be snoozed more frequently, such as those with limited availability or requiring extensive prep. This helps staff understand which items to focus on during high-demand times.

• Best Practices for Busy Times: Include checklists for busy periods, providing staff with clear steps for when to snooze certain items. Tips on timing, communication, and workflow management will help everyone stay coordinated and effective.

• Demonstrate for Maximum Impact: Demonstrations are often the most effective way to introduce new tools, and the Snooze feature is no exception. Lead by example—if you’re the trainer, demonstrate the feature’s use in real-time. Show staff how to navigate the Deliverect system, use the Snooze option, and explain the reasons behind snoozing certain items.

Example: Imagine Joe’s Grill, a multi-location restaurant with a robust online order system. During peak hours, their kitchens often became overloaded, leading to delays and frustrated staff. After implementing Deliverect’s Snooze feature, Joe’s Grill could “snooze” certain high-prep items when the kitchen reached capacity. Within a few weeks, they noticed a 20% decrease in canceled orders, a 15% improvement in order fulfillment time, and a notable drop in employee stress.

Optimizing Order Management with the Snooze Feature

Optimizing order management involves balancing kitchen operations to meet customer demand efficiently. It requires tracking current orders, anticipating customer trends, and adjusting for crucial factors such as:

• Prep Times

• Ingredient Availability

• Kitchen Workload

Managing these elements can be challenging, especially during peak hours or high-demand seasons. If your kitchen has too many active orders at once, it can lead to slower prep times, delays, and missed orders, ultimately impacting customer satisfaction.

How the Snooze Feature Can Help Optimize Order Management

Integrating the Snooze feature into your restaurant operations helps keep orders manageable and prioritize quality over quantity, especially during high-traffic times. Here’s how Snooze supports order management:

• Balancing Order Volume: One of the most significant challenges for any kitchen is balancing order volume during peak hours. When orders pile up, they can quickly create a backlog, delaying service and increasing stress. With the Snooze feature, you can control the flow by pausing certain items from the menu, helping the kitchen focus on orders it can manage within its timeframe.

Strategies for Managing Peak Times:

• Identify High-Demand Periods:

  Use historical order data to identify high-demand hours and plan to use Snooze during these times.

• Prioritize Popular Items:

  Keep best-sellers available while snoozing less popular, more complex items during busy periods. This helps maintain a steady order flow without overwhelming the team.

• Improving Order Accuracy:
  When a kitchen is overloaded, mistakes can happen. Miscommunication and rushed preparation often lead to inaccuracies in orders. By managing order volume with Snooze, you give your kitchen team more time to ensure accuracy.

Accurate orders benefit customers, creating a positive dining experience and increasing the likelihood of repeat business. A smoother order flow also means customers receive what they ordered when they expect it.

According to industry insights, operators who offer a solid value proposition for dining out attract more customers.

Enhancing Staff Productivity and Well-being with the Snooze Feature

Carefully planning your menu is one of the first steps to improving your kitchen staff's efficiency. You want to optimize the flow of orders, prevent overload, and create a positive, efficient environment for your staff.

By allowing your team to use the Snooze feature to pause certain menu items temporarily during peak times, you ensure a balanced order load, significantly enhancing your team's productivity and well-being.

The Snooze feature also contributes to staff productivity and well-being by:

• Reducing Stress: Kitchen staff in high-demand restaurants often face significant stress, especially with orders from multiple platforms. Snooze helps alleviate this by allowing teams to pace themselves. Without the pressure of unavailable items on the menu, staff can work more efficiently, leading to a less stressful work environment.

• Decreasing Burnout: Managing order flow helps staff handle peak times without feeling overwhelmed.

• Improving Focus: Focusing only on available items reduces multitasking, helps staff avoid mistakes, and improves morale.

• Boosting Morale: A well-managed kitchen benefits staff morale. When the team experiences smoother, more organized shifts, it fosters a positive work environment. High morale can enhance staff retention. Employees who feel supported and see that their workload is manageable are likelier to stay engaged and perform better.

Monitoring and Adjusting Snooze Settings

Setting up the Snooze feature alone isn't enough. Continuous monitoring ensures it works effectively. For example, an item might still appear on your menu even after snoozing it. In such cases, check the Operations page to identify the reason for the failure.

Here are key aspects to follow up on after integrating Snooze into your kitchen:

Performance Tracking

To truly benefit from the Snooze feature, monitoring its impact is essential. Deliverect offers an analytics dashboard that allows managers to track various metrics, including:

• Order Volume:

  Assess how snoozing certain items affects overall order numbers.

• Order Fulfillment Times:

  Measure improvements in order preparation and delivery times when Snooze is activated.

• Customer Feedback:

  Evaluate customer feedback to determine if Snooze is helping meet expectations.

Continuous Improvement

To maximize the benefits of Snooze, make regular adjustments based on performance data and team feedback. Here are some strategies:

• Adjust According to Demand:

  Certain items might need to be snoozed only during specific times or days. Experiment to determine what works best.

• Get Staff Feedback:

  Encourage staff to share their insights. They’re on the front lines and often know which items might cause bottlenecks or require excessive prep time.

• Stay Flexible:

  No two days are the same in the restaurant industry. Stay adaptable and be ready to tweak your approach as needed.

Conclusion

Deliverect’s Snooze feature is more than just a convenience—it’s a tool that can transform your kitchen operations, improve staff well-being, and enhance customer satisfaction.

For multi-location restaurant operators, the Snooze feature offers a way to keep up with the fast pace of online orders while reducing burnout, improving order accuracy, and boosting productivity.

If you want to transform your restaurant operations, start integrating Snooze into your kitchen’s workflow and see the difference it makes for your team, your efficiency, and your guests’ overall experience.

With the right strategy, you can maximize efficiency and create a more enjoyable, organized dining experience for staff and customers.