Liquor Inventory Experts

Wine inventory software

If you a re considering a wine inventory software, it is important your start from the basics and move up. Simple questions you should ask yourself:

• How extensive is my wine list?
• Will I serve wine only by the glass or also by the bottle?
• Does my wine inventory software need to manage multiple wine storage cellars?
• Can the wine inventory software I plan to purchase offer a feature that allows and suggest the best marriages between wine and the meal that is being served?
• Can my wine inventory software not only manage wines by region, color and grape varietal, but also by vintage?
• Can my wine inventory software flag me when a specific variety in inventory has reached its peak and ready to be served?
• Does my wine inventory software consider the purchase price of the wine and with age its update value?

Wine inventory software is a tool that can help you increase sales and decrease shrinkage. Simply know what needs to be ordered and how much needs to be ordered can avoid the sometimes embarrassing scenarios when we are out a variety, but it also helps us control the quantity we are buying. We must consider the following when buying wine, ordering to much wine of a certain variety or vintage can lead to overstocking and that creates a situation where our money is tied up in inventory and not working for us.

That being said, there are some wines that can appreciate in both flavor and value over time, that is where a strong inventory software can help you better manage what can be the most important and profitable facet of your business.

The relationship between cost and price

 A question we often ask ourselves and our liquor, beer and wine inventory consultants is; what should my pour cost percentage be? The answer can be quite simply calculated if we understand and adopt the proper formula.

To start, we need to establish the net cost of our product and divide this by the selling price of the item in our business. The cost percentage portion pays for the ingredients needed to make the drink and the profit percentage is the gross margin we make when a drink is sold. The cost percentage should be in line with the beverage cost percentage that has been established in our budget. Generally, liquor costs run at 20%-25%, while wine and beer can run anywhere from 32% to 50%. Please keep in mind this may not be the right cost percentages for your business. If your establishment is in a high tourism area and you can sell your drinks at a higher price, your pour cost percentage should be lower. Another factor that will have an impact is your cost of goods sold. If you purchase in higher volumes than your typical bar, hotel or restaurant, you may benefit from reduced pricing which will in turn reduce your pour cost percentage.

Here is an examples on how to make sure our selling price and cost percentages are in line with our budgeted expectations.

Selling Price:  Cost divided by Cost % = sales price

                          1.5 oz vodka cost $0.95/15% = $6.35              

When it comes to price mixed drinks, the easiest and most widely used method is using the cost of the prime ingredient. This of course is not as accurate as costing out the whole recipe, but to arrive to a sound price structure, we must look at each drink by itself to establish a cost/price relationship in line with the overall price structure of our business.

Here is a recent article from TBO. It mentions the Scannabar liquor inventory software and how it is helping hospitality owners save money, without any physical handcuffs put on the staff. With the help of new innovative solutions bar owners are able to keep a tight watch on what is going on in there business.

Here are some of the highlights:

"One year ago, Michaud installed a liquor inventory system called Scanabar that tags each bottle upon arrival. Managers each night then use a special scanner that measures fluid levels on each bottle to a fraction of an ounce."

"The scanner then wirelessly connects to an accounting system that checks the amount of liquor sold from that bottle, flags any bottles that are inexplicably low and assigns each bartender a daily accuracy score."

"Sometimes, the system merely shows bartenders mix differently by habit."

"When we first got the system, we had 20 bartender scores all over, so we tested them and found they all made a margarita differently," Michaud said. "They didn't mean to. But sometimes you hire someone from TGIFridays who always made a drink a certain way."

 To read the rest of the article you can by following the link below:

http://www2.tbo.com/content/2010/jan/15/auto-pour-systems-take-power-out-bartenders-hands/