Introduction example: Having more staff available in the hall also leads to the rollout of new menu items. It helps reduce labor costs and customer “waiting to order” time. (Wadokoro Umeki)

The low implementation cost was the deciding factor—we wanted to keep labor expenses down for the new opening.

— Please tell us about your restaurant.

I used to run a different izakaya that mainly served tsukemen, but due to difficulties securing staff and the impact of COVID, I closed that place and shifted the business to open an authentic Japanese restaurant. Around the same time, I met a highly skilled chef with 30 years of experience who had also been forced to give up his own restaurant because of the pandemic. I invited him, saying, “Let’s open a place together,” and that became the starting point for this restaurant.

Our menu is especially focused on sashimi, and our chef personally goes to the market to source excellent fish that you don’t often see in circulation. He’s not only skilled with sashimi, but also with simmered dishes like kakuni (braised pork belly) and motsuni (stewed offal). So customers who come in mainly for the sashimi often end up enjoying the simmered dishes as well, and many of them become repeat visitors.

— You implemented Respo Self-Order right from the opening. Could you tell us why you decided to introduce it?

The whole review started when I began wondering if there was any way to keep personnel costs down. These days, especially in chain restaurants, more and more places are introducing iPad-based ordering systems. I heard that this helps reduce labor costs, so I asked several companies for quotes on tablet-based systems, and I was shocked at how expensive they were. Maybe it would make sense to invest that much once the restaurant has been open for a few years and is running smoothly, but at the opening stage we simply can’t afford to spend that kind of money.

In that respect, Respo Self-Order was overwhelmingly inexpensive. Respo Self-Order is characterized by allowing customers to place orders on their own smartphones, but since we wanted to get closer to the image of using iPads in chain restaurants like I mentioned earlier, we used a subsidy from Shizuoka Prefecture to purchase several iPads and set it up so that customers at table seats and private rooms can order using those iPads. At the counter seats, we ask customers to place their orders with their smartphones.

With fewer back-and-forth order trips, the hall staff now have more breathing room in their work.

— After introducing Respo Self-Order, what kind of changes have you seen on the restaurant side?

The fact that we no longer have to make a round trip to take orders and come back has been a major improvement in operations, and where we used to need three to four staff on the floor, we can now manage with just one or two.

When we go to take orders, customers sometimes start talking to us and we end up keeping guests at other tables waiting. We would normally need to increase staff to handle situations like that, but thanks to Respo Self-Order we’re able to keep labor costs down. It also saves us from having excessive labor costs on days when the number of customers isn’t that high, which has been a huge help.

Also,When we introduced Respo Self-Order, we set up two separate printers to output order details—one for drinks and one for the kitchen—so the staff in charge can focus on their respective tasks. Our place can seat about 30 customers, but one staff member can handle almost all of the drink orders alone. Only when the number of customers increases and the kitchen gets busy does the staff member in charge of drinks help out by bringing food to the tables.

By the way, customers who choose private rooms generally want to block contact with others as much as possible and enjoy their own private space. With Respo self-ordering, staff don’t have to come in repeatedly, so guests are able to relax and enjoy themselves at their own pace.

Reduce the stress of waiting for orders and prevent invisible losses

ーーーHow have customers been responding to Respo Self-Order?

Since some customers feel a bit hesitant to place orders with Respo Self-Order because they’re not used to it, our staff respond flexibly and also take orders verbally.

However, more and more other restaurants are also introducing systems where you order using an iPad or smartphone, so I believe people will gradually become more familiar with them. In fact, by deliberately placing iPads on the tables, customers recognize that this kind of system has become common and that everyone is using it, and we’re seeing more and more people gradually get used to using it.

— Thank you very much. Has introducing Respo Self-Order had any impact on your sales?

Since we introduced it right when we opened, we can’t really compare it with how things were before, but based on my own experience seeing other izakayas, I feel that thanks to self-ordering we’re able to avoid losing customers.

People are strange creatures: as long as they can at least get their order across, they’re willing to wait for the food to arrive. Of course, it’s better if the first drink comes out quickly, but even if the dishes take time, we can think, “They look busy, so it can’t be helped,” and sometimes the food shows up while we’re chatting away.

However, if a customer wants to place an order but the staff doesn’t come near them for a long time, or doesn’t come no matter how many times they call, the customer may switch to another restaurant and won’t come back again. Even if the total time from ordering to the food arriving is ultimately the same, having to wait just to be able to place the order in the first place seems to cause more stress.

With self-ordering, customers don’t have to deal with the stress of “waiting to place an order,” so I think a major advantage is that it can reduce their dissatisfaction. If many customers leave the restaurant because it takes too long for staff to take their order, sales will inevitably go down.

— You also introduced Respo Self-Order to your friend’s restaurant, and they decided to implement it as well. What prompted you to do that?

It all started when a friend of mine, who was planning to open a yakiniku restaurant, came to drink at our place and became interested in the Respo self-order system. My friend’s restaurant was also a new opening and he wanted to keep labor costs down, and since yakiniku places get orders very frequently, I thought that with a self-order system the work in the dining area and the kitchen could be made more efficient, so I introduced it to him.

Lately I feel like more and more store owners are becoming interested in self-order systems. You probably won’t know exactly how much you can cut labor costs or reduce workload until you actually implement one, but if the initial cost is too high, it’s hard to even get started. Respo Self-Order is inexpensive and has a low barrier to introduction, and by making good use of prefectural subsidies like we did, I think it’s best to start by trying it out and experiencing it for yourself.

Lastly, could you tell us about your shop and any future plans you may have?

Thanks to Respo’s self-ordering system, we’ve been able to reduce the number of floor staff, so we’re planning to expand our kitchen team and further increase the number of dishes our chefs want to create. For example, one of our chefs has a licensed qualification to prepare fugu (pufferfish), so we’re thinking it would be nice to offer a fugu course menu. In addition to our current course meals, we’d like to launch a reservation-only course that’s a step above our existing offerings.

Our concept is to let people casually enjoy authentic Japanese cuisine made with plenty of seafood and mountain delicacies, so we’re thinking of creating a menu that allows guests to enjoy a full fugu course in a light, approachable way.

Store Information

Japanese Cuisine Umeki / Wadokoro Umeki

Address: 2nd Floor, 5-7-21 Otemachi, Numazu City, Shizuoka Prefecture
Phone number: 055-951-5500
Store details:https://autoreserve.com/restaurants/aubU4f6wMfq9HjsLYXVs

Having more staff available in the hall also leads to the rollout of new menu items. It helps reduce labor costs and customer “waiting to order” time. (Wadokoro Umeki)

The low implementation cost was the deciding factor—we wanted to keep labor expenses down for the new opening.

With fewer back-and-forth order trips, the hall staff now have more breathing room in their work.

Reduce the stress of waiting for orders and prevent invisible losses

We are expanding our kitchen staff and planning to roll out new menu items.

Store Information