Catering Software

What is Catering Software?

Catering software is a type of event and appointment management solution geared toward the specific needs of restaurant and hospitality catering. Catering software gives businesses an automated platform to handle orders, inventory, schedules, contracts, invoices, payments, and project management in a single platform. Additionally, catering software allows for e-mail and text message marketing, customer relationship management, loyalty program management, and reporting for sales and customer activity.

Catering software shares several features with customer relationship management, event management, project management, and workforce management solutions. Catering software specializes in the everyday needs of the food, restaurants, and hospitality service industries, including real-time inventory management, delivery support, automated restocking, separate dedicated messaging systems for customers and staff, and templates for menus and proposals. Catering software is often used on its own, as it manages almost everything, but some catering businesses (namely those based in hotels) may benefit from using catering software alongside other solutions.

Catering Software Features

These are the most common features across all catering software products:

• Staff scheduling
• Contract management
• Project and event management
• Inventory management
• Online booking and order management
• Order and sales tracking
• Invoicing generation and deployment
• Cost calculation and price quoting
• Payment processing
• Delivery scheduling and tracking
• Delivery route optimization
• Banquet ordering and proposal templates
• Menu templates and management
• Electronic signature
• E-mail, SMS, text, and social media marketing
• Customer relationship management
• Sales and productivity reporting
• Mobile optimization

Catering Software Comparison

When choosing the best catering software for you, consider these factors:

Type of business: While most catering software can be used with any food, restaurant, or hospitality business, some types of software may work better for you based on the type of catering business. AeroChef, for example, specializes in providing solutions for airline catering. Flex Catering and Spoonfed are geared for managing multiple branches and kitchens, making them better solutions for larger businesses.

On-premise vs. cloud: Choosing to use an on-premise or cloud-based solution will be a major consideration for you. Most catering software products are cloud-based, meaning that they can be used from virtually any device that connects to the internet. Caterease also offers an on-premise deployment option, meaning that it can be centralized to a specific device located on business grounds. This may be a better option for catering businesses with a storefront.

Ease of use: Catering software options vary significantly in their ease of use. Cloud-based options tend to have a mobile app that can be used by phones, tablets, and other remote devices, but their optimization may be limited. Calendar management, invoicing, and e-signature features also have to be optimized for the best user experience. Caterease and Total Party Planner tend to provide more control to the inventory, ordering, and menu options, but they can be complicated to use. Conversely, FoodStorm and MONKEY strive for streamlined user experience optimization through simplified interfaces and customizable dashboards but may lack some features compared to other options.

Payment processing: Not every catering management software provides payment processing within their product. Catertrax and FoodStorm offer automated payment processing. Total Party Planner and Caterease do not offer this feature, so make sure they can integrate with your point of sale systems or payment gateways.

Pricing Information

Catering software pricing can be a one-time fee or use a subscription model. At the lowest subscription tier, the average price for catering software tends to range between $69 and $500 per month. Most products have demos, free trials, or free plans with limited features. Vendors should be contacted directly for pricing plans.