Everyone – including us – keeps talking about AI and being prepared for the next wave of technology. But what does being prepared for AI mean?
Essentially, it’s about using existing tech to change your operations so you’re ahead of the curve. That means automating manual and time-consuming tasks so you’ll be primed to take advantage of all the changes that will happen in the coming years.
At Ordermentum, we’ve got over 39,000 Australian venues and 700 suppliers on our network. We’ve had $3 billion traded on our network, and what we see from our vantage point is that some operators in the hospitality industry are simply more prepared than others for the AI revolution that’s heading our way.
For hospitality and foodservice to be ready, we need to embrace technology now, because it really will lead to a smarter, more sustainable industry that’s also more enjoyable to work within.
The first step: digitise your payments
Whether you’re a hospitality venue or a supplier, ordering and payment is a part of your everyday life – and tech is going to automate everything that’s a repetitive task. What you need to do right now is to make the payment process seamless.
The mainstay of Ordermentum is the ordering function, but the true benefit comes from integrating payments. Historically suppliers received payment through cash or bank transfer, which was time-consuming and often frustrating.
But more and more, suppliers are automating payments so that they increase cash flow, reduce bad debt, and ease the pain of reconciliation. These suppliers are reaping the benefits now, as well as priming themselves for even greater automation in the future.
“ I would have saved easily a day per week”
Anna Rogers, is a Director at Prove Patisserie, an Adelaide patisserie known for their buttery croissants and quality sourdough.
Anna is unequivocal about the benefits of automating ordering and payment. “Ordermentum has removed me as the bottleneck and allowed us to take on more wholesale customers and grow,“ she says.
“[In terms of payment,], all our wholesale customers are debited after each delivery to keep it super simple for everyone. Only the amount that should come out comes out. If someone’s got a last minute change, we make the change, and the invoice automatically updates, which saves everyone time and headaches. Sitting around manually paying bills is not a good use of anyone’s time.”
Prove sells to the public as well as wholesale, so Anna has also experienced automated payment from the venue side. “It’s just so easy from a customer perspective. You can see your order, and payment happens automatically. We still have the piece of mind of reconciling the payments and it all “just happens”, because of the integration with Xero.”
Anna’s found that automated payments has significantly freed up her time so that she work “on her business, not in her business.” Hers is a classic example of what’s possible for a hospitality business that uses tech to limit time-consuming, repetitive tasks.
By integrating and discovering what’s possible now, you’ll reap the benefits straightaway – but, more importantly, you’ll be ready to embrace what’s next.
Ordermentum connects 39,000 venues with the country’s best suppliers, automates operations, increases cashflow, and provides valuable business insights. With over $3 billion in processed orders, Ordermentum’s purpose is to create a more sustainable food and beverage industry by helping suppliers and venues trade smarter.
Find out more about Prove Patisserie and Ordermentum at https://www.ordermentum.com/supplier/stories/prove-patisserie.