The beverage service industry has for decades been struggling with the rampant problem of shrinkage. Most establishments lose somewhere around a quarter of the alcohol they dispense (and often more) for all sorts of reasons: overpouring, theft, bartender generosity, bartending scams, etc. Inevitably, inventors tried to apply technology to the problem. They came up with some ingenious solutions, all of them somewhat flawed.
Most tried to take inventory by measuring the liquor as it came out of the bottle, but this usually involved ungainly, expensive pour spouts that measure the flow. The problem with this approach, aside from the cost and the cumbersome need to attach the spouts to the bottles, is that bar patrons hate them. Most feel that they lose the personal approach that a bartender can offer if the mix of their drinks is basically regulated by a machine. As one bar owner told us: "If we put those on our bottles, we'd lose all our customers." And, as mentioned, your manager must spend valuable time securing these spouts to every bottle that crosses your bar.
Plus, such pour spout systems only tell you part of the story, giving you a theoretical inventory instead of an actual one. If a bartender is pouring three drinks and charging for two, the spout would tell you that. If he's slipping a bottle of your best wine into his coat on the way out, you're on your own. And if he has poked a hole in the hose leading up to your liquor gun, as has been known to happen, he could siphon off your profits by the gallon. (For more on bartending scams, many of which can be uncovered with thorough, regular physical inventories, click here.)
Other systems give you the physical inventory that is so essential to a bar, but they make you jump through some serious hoops to get it. A common approach in this vein is attaching a scale to a computer, then weighing every bottle to get the true volume of the bottle. Another system makes you attach (and pay for) a label on every bottle. Either of these is very accurate, but so tedious and time-consuming that many places don't get around to doing their inventories regularly. It's kind of like repainting your house: Despite how obvious it becomes that it needs to be done, the pain involved in doing it makes you put it off.
AccuBar's developers took all of this into account: We give you a system that allows you to take inventory quickly, frequently and in a way that saves you time and increases efficiency by getting your bar manager out of the stockroom and into your bar. And it gives you detailed, timely info, even if you're in another location entirely, that can pinpoint shrinkage, track specific bar losses, tell you what you need to reorder and deter those wanting to relieve you of some of your inventory.
If you need more information, contact us or call 800-806-3922.