Drive Revenue Initiative: Analyze Table Performance
Recipe: 30-40 Minutes + Professional Subscription
Let us walk your through it step by step: Analyze Table Performance
Log into Avero in another tab, then click the link to launch a step-by-step guide to analyzing your Table Performance with Avero.
The Table Performance report reveals the performance of every table in your dining room, from spend per minute to table occupancy. This data allows you to predict customer behavior and optimize the revenue of each area of your operation.
We will show you how you can use data to:
- Analyze turn times - decreasing turn times/increasing table turnover can maximize revenue. Identify when and where turn times are higher than average to mitigate delays and train your staff.
- Determine RevPASH - RevPASH is a commonly used restaurant revenue calculation to contextualize sales. RevPASH means "Revenue per Available Seat Hour," so instead of simply looking at Gross Sales you are taking into account the number of seats and length of the operating hours. This is especially useful for comparing locations against each other.
- Contextualize the Dining Room - Rethink what your "best" and "worst" tables are, instead of relying on your gut and assuming the table by the window is the best and the table by the bathroom is the worst, see what the data says. If particular tables have lower spend per minute and shorter turn times, guests may not like them - create a plan for "bad" tables such as reserving them for walk-ins, or adding to the ambiance around these tables. Give the host team direction to seat these tables last to prioritize the better spend tables for more frequent seating.
- Optimize Occupancy - Use the data to determine if your tables are correctly proportioned for the party sizes and guest flow you get. Times and Tables with low occupancy can then receive corrective action to match your seating demand to your physical space.
Run your Table Performance Report
This report runs for a single business to focus on the team there.
You'll select:
- Date Range: Required we recommend at least 1 month for actionable data and up to 3 months
- Revenue Centers: Recommended compare like to like, so restrict this report to only your Dining Room or only Bar tables, for example
- Meal Period: Recommended compare like to like by limiting to only Lunch or only Dinner
- Order Type: Optional use this to filter out ToGo or Delivery orders, for example
We recommend using the default metrics to analyze the check average, turn time, occupancy, spend per minute, tip rate, and more! Click Go after making your selections.
Exclude Outliers
Avero automatically highlights your top and bottom performers for you based on average check!
The top 20% of included tables will have a Gold Star next to their name. The bottom 20% will have a Red Dot next to their name. This allows you to understand the report at a glance.
Check for Outliers: Outliers can skew your results, make sure there aren't any tables that shouldn't be present such as PDR or ToGo holding tables.
Exclude outliers by checking the box next to the table name and clicking the Exclude button. The number of tables selected will be displayed on the button.
Analyze your Tables
Let's look at the included metrics:
- Gross or Net Average Check (Covers) which means a Per-person-average or average check per guest, and the Average Check (Checks) is per table or check, which is better for counter or bar service
- Gross means discounts and promotions aren't removed, Net means the applied discounts have been deducted from the total sales.
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An average is a helpful way to set a benchmark for performance. Now that the average per-person spend is across all our tables is established, it's time to compare the tables against each other to find opportunities. Difference from Average is calculated for you by comparing each table's average to the average for all tables. Tables with a red, negative value are below-average tables that are great opportunities for improvement. Tables at or above the all-table average may have conditions that can be repeated at struggling tables, such as adjusted capacity or improved ambiance.
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Lost Sales Opportunity is the context you need for creating a strategic action plan to drive your revenue and points you to where your efforts will have the most impact.
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This metric takes the difference from average and the amount of business this table did in the reporting timeframe and shows you a hypothetical: If this table had generated revenue at the average table spend you would have realized this much more in revenue.
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Tables at or above the group average don't have a lost sales opportunity because they met or exceeded the group average.
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The tables costing you potential revenue are where to focus your efforts. Start with the tables that show the highest losses.
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- Tip % - See your averages tips by table - Tips can indicate guest satisfaction, if some tables have a noticeably higher Tip Rate - what do these tables have in common? If these tables are more attractive to guests - booths, by a window, cozy - this might give you ideas for how to improve underperforming tables.
- You can also choose to make sure all server sections include some of the higher tip tables for fairness or choose to group higher tip rate tables together for a section that goes to your best-performing server.
- Table Occupancy % - see our complete guide here: Basics: Table and Seat Occupancy %
- Spend per Minute - quantify the average performance of each table down to the minute.
- Turn Time - how quickly your team is turning tables to be reseated. Longer turn times offer more opportunities to sell to the seated guests and shorter turn times allow for more guests to be seated.
Take Action on These Results
Use this report regularly to develop strategic action plans and ensure your floorplan delivers the sales to keep your business running profitably.
Take a look at your Top Performers - what makes them so successful? Top performers can be leveraged:
- Keep the best sections reserved for the best-selling team members
- Copy the features that make a high-performing table special
- Inform your host team to seat high-performing tables first and frequently
Improve Bottom Performers:
- Mitigate problems like noise, drafts, or ambiance challenges
- Evaluate table capacities and ensure the floorplan serves the party sizes you see most
- Track your efforts to watch the improvement and evaluate which efforts make a difference for your business