Restaurant Sales Forecasting Software

Forecast Your Restaurant’s Sales Before You Schedule

Replace all the manual estimating and demand planning. Make accurate predictions about restaurant demand, sales, and labor, and schedule your restaurant staff according to these forecasts.

  • Focus on your customers, not schedules.
  • Eliminate under and overstaffing.
  • Keep your operations running smoothly.

Forecast Your Restaurant’s Sales RevenueInaccurate staff scheduling is costing you 10-25% of gross revenue per location

Imagine a busy Friday night when you’re short on staff, resulting in slow service and annoyed customers. On the other hand, think about a slow Monday afternoon with too many staff members with no one to serve, leading to unnecessary labor costs.

These situations lead to dissatisfied customers, stressed employees, and decreased profitability.

Accurate sales forecasts help you schedule employees to meet demand. Start eliminating the costs of understaffing and overstaffing and provide your customers with better service.

“We’ve cut labor costs by $9,000-10,000 a month”

“At one of our beachfront locations, we’ve cut labor costs by $9,000-10,000 a month because we built schedule templates based on forecasted demand in HotSchedules.”

— David Culhane, Operations Director, Sun Pubs

Read the Case Study

Predict Future Sales With HotSchedules

With AI-powered sales forecasting, you can use your historical POS data to predict future customer demand before planning your employee schedules. Incorporate local weather forecasts, and upcoming events, and add your own manual adjustments to achieve optimal labor efficiency for your restaurant.

How It Works

HotSchedules utilizes Fourth’s AI-driven forecasting to accurately predict sales and labor demand. The system analyzes up to 7 years of historical sales data from your POS, considers upcoming events, and incorporates weather forecasts to generate accurate sales predictions. Restaurant operators and managers can manually adjust to account for unique factors, such as promotions, ensuring the forecast aligns closely with real-world conditions

Accurate Sales Predictions

Generate precise weekly sales forecasts using our predictive analytics, constantly improving with each use.

Better Restaurant Labor Planning

Utilize past sales insights for each location and shift to reduce under- and overstaffing, ensuring optimal customer experiences.

AI-Powered Shift Scheduling

Balance shifts to keep employees happy and avoid burnout with our AI-driven integrations.

Seamless Integrations

Integrate your POS systems to access historical and real-time data, enhancing forecast accuracy with HotSchedules.

Real-Time Dynamic Forecasts

Use our sales dashboard to view real-time forecasts and adjust plans quickly with any variable changes.

Enhanced Employee Communication

Empower employees to check schedules, request time off, and swap shifts anytime through the employee app.

What would accurate forecasting models mean for your business

Activity Based ForecastingHave a clear & exact line of sight into what you need to schedule.

In the restaurant industry, many scheduling decisions are made based on intuition. Even with experienced managers, different types of stores and locations have varying labor needs. Labor Optimization brings clarity to scheduling by providing managers with a clear understanding of scheduling needs based on store-specific rules and forecasted demand.

Restaurant Sales ProjectionsForecast restaurant sales accurately using data from the previous year.

HotSchedules allows managers to predict weekly sales by selecting and referencing historical sales data with AI forecasting. Additionally, managers can adjust the percentage for upcoming events such as sports matches, marketing campaigns, or unusual weather to ensure precise forecasts.

Why are Percentage Adjustments Important?

Percentage adjustments fine-tune sales forecasts for special events, using historical data to avoid anomalies. This ensures the restaurant is well-prepared for varying customer demands.

Adjust forecasts for special events to reflect expected changes in sales.

  • Sporting events
  • Concerts
  • Holidays
  • Local festivals
  • Weather conditions (e.g., storms, heatwaves)
  • Promotional events or marketing campaigns
  • Major public events or conventions

Use historical data to refine future forecasts and avoid anomalies caused by specific events.

  • Analyze past sales data during similar events
  • Identify patterns in sales fluctuations
  • Make data-driven adjustments to forecasts
  • Document unusual events and their impact on sales for future reference
  • Compare sales data from similar time periods across different years
  • Monitor and adjust for recurring annual events
  • Incorporate feedback from staff on the impact of past events

“We have seen a 25% accuracy improvement”

— Graham Fenwick, Productivity & Change Director, Pizza Express

Restaurant ForecastingRestaurant Forecasting Meets Employee Scheduling

Labor optimization uses sales forecasts to create optimal shift schedules, balancing labor supply with demand. Key metrics and settings include:

  • Fixed Tasks: Predefined labor requirements that must be met regardless of sales volume.
  • Minimum Staffing Levels: Ensures each job role has enough staff to maintain operations.
  • Variable Workload Rule: Adjusts labor demand based on the number of sales items, increasing staff as sales volume rises.

Auto SchedulingAuto Generate Your Shift Schedules

Automatically creating optimized shifts based on your restaurant’s sales forecasts ensures appropriate staffing levels at all times. This eliminates the need for manual scheduling, improves efficiency, and reduces labor costs.

Demand-Based Shift CreationGet clarity while scheduling shifts

Ensure shifts are only created if labor demand meets a specific percentage threshold. This approach prevents unnecessary staffing, optimizes labor costs, and maintains operational efficiency.

Customizable Shift DurationsManaging Shift Lengths

Configure minimum and maximum shift lengths for each job role. This ensures compliance with labor regulations and aligns with operational requirements, providing flexibility and control.

POS IntegrationAdd Your Point of Sale Data to the Mix

Optimize your staff schedules with actual sales and advanced forecasting that seamlessly integrate with your existing systems boosting efficiency and profitability.

Why Choose HotSchedules?

Your restaurant can save on labor costs, reduce food waste, and eliminate staffing errors, enhancing profit margins.

“We are maximizing our efforts in the right places to increase sales year over year.”

— Amber Ghotbi, Braum’s District Manager

Built for restaurants like yours

  • Quick Service
  • Full Service
  • Cafés & Coffee Shops
  • Bars & Breweries
  • Pizzerias
  • Juice Bars
  • Pubs
  • Bakeries
  • Catering

Frequently Asked Questions

  • What is restaurant sales forecasting?
    • Restaurant sales forecasting predicts future revenue based on past data, current trends, and external factors. It helps restaurants plan for inventory, staffing, and marketing to optimize operations and profitability.
  • Why is sales forecasting important for restaurants?
    • Sales forecasting is crucial because it allows restaurant owners to make informed decisions about staffing, inventory management, and marketing strategies. Accurate forecasts help avoid overstaffing or understaffing, reduce food waste, and improve customer satisfaction by ensuring that the restaurant is prepared for expected demand.
  • How can I use historical data to forecast sales?
    • To use historical data for forecasting, you’ll need software that analyzes sales volumes from the same periods in previous years to identify patterns and trends. Beyond historical performance, you will need to keep an eye out for outliers like unexpected spikes or drops in sales, and adjust your plans based on these trends. For example, if your data shows increased sales on weekends or during specific events, you can prepare accordingly.
  • What factors should I consider when forecasting sales for my restaurant?
    • When forecasting sales for your restaurant, consider:
    • Historical Sales Data: Have you analyzed past sales to identify trends and patterns?
      External Factors: Have you accounted for local events, holidays, and weather conditions that could impact sales?
      Marketing Efforts: Have you evaluated the impact of previous marketing campaigns on your sales?
      Economic Conditions: Have you considered the broader economic environment and its potential impact on consumer behavior?
  • How often should I update my sales forecasts?
    • It’s important to regularly update your sales forecasts to account for new data and changing conditions. For existing restaurants, review and adjust forecasts monthly or whenever significant changes occur, such as new market trends or changes in external factors. For new restaurants, adjust forecasts more frequently as you gather more operational data.