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OUTBACK: CHANGING LABOR
Company Profile
Outback Steakhouse is an Australian themed restaurant offering guests a variety of different meal options such as steak, chicken, ribs, seafood, and pasta dishes along with its famous bloomin’ onion appetizer dish. Located in the suburbs of Seattle, Washington, Outback Steakhouse at Southcenter serves dishes using fresh and high quality ingredients.
Challenges
With the minimum wage requirement continuing to rise in the state of Washington, Kevin Manderscheid, Outback Steakhouse’s managing partner, needed a solution to help reduce operational costs. Furthermore, Manderscheid wanted a solution that would improve his staff's efficiency, increase sales, and enhance the overall customer dining experience.
Before the integration of the Presto tablet, Southcenter’s total cost of sales for front-of-house operations was at 10.5 percent. After the Presto tablet was deployed in the restaurant, Southcenter’s total cost of sales dropped to 8.8 percent, leading to a savings of 1.7 percent.
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Benefits
- Reduced Cost of Sales for Front of House (FOH) Operations: Before the integration of the Presto tablet, Southcenter’s total cost of sales for front-of-house operations was at 10.5 percent. After the Presto tablet was deployed in the restaurant, Southcenter’s total cost of sales dropped to 8.8 percent, leading to a savings of 1.7 percent.
- Improved Employee Retention: Manderscheid said, “Because the Presto tablets helped lower the total cost of sales for front of house operations, I can now pay my cooks more. This has reduced our employee turnover rate and improved employee satisfaction.”
- Increased Table to Server Ratio: Before the Prestos were installed, the table staff ratio was four to one. Manderscheid noted that for some of his servers, the ratio is as high as eight to one with the Prestos. It was also important to Manderscheid that customers were served in an efficient manner but also given the same quality dining experience everytime. “Since introducing the Prestos, we have been able to maintain our high standards of service and increase our overall customer satisfaction scores by 17 percentage points. This has been huge for our business," said Manderscheid.
Since introducing the Prestos, we have been able to maintain our high standards of service and increase our overall customer satisfaction scores by 17 percentage points. This has been huge for our business.