The Real Cost of Bar Inventory: Stop Shrinkage, Cut Losses, and Keep More Profit in Your Pocket

Is your inventory system secretly draining your profits?

Most bar owners think their inventory problems come from theft or over-ordering. But the truth is, the real cost is hiding in your systems, and it’s killing your margins quietly.

In this episode, I break down the real numbers behind inventory loss, the hidden costs you’re not tracking, and the step-by-step system to cut waste, stop shrinkage, and keep more profit in your pocket.

No more guessing. No more “eyeballing” your orders. Just a real strategy that works, even if you hate spreadsheets.

What You’ll Learn:

🌟 The real formula for calculating true inventory cost
 🌟 Why shrinkage isn’t always theft and what it usually is
 🌟 How to compare actual vs theoretical usage (without fancy tools)
 🌟 3 ways to prevent inventory loss before it starts
 🌟 How to use tracking to catch problems before they snowball
 🌟 A 3-month inventory system that cuts costs and saves your sanity
 🌟 When to outsource inventory (and when it’s just a waste of money)

 Want to go deeper or get help building your system?

 👉 Join the Bar Business Nation Facebook Group or grab a 1:1 strategy session using the link below in the show notes. 

🔴 Learn More: 🔴

📌 Want a personalized bar growth plan?
Book your FREE STRATEGY SESSION here
→ https://barbusinesscoach.com/strategy-session

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→ https://barbusinesspodcast.com

📢 Get FREE ACCESS to a group that understands the bar business
→ https://www.facebook.com/groups/barbusinessnation

🚀 Snag my book "How to Make Top-Shelf Profits in the Bar Business!"
Learn 75+ strategies to run it more profitably
→ https://barbusinesscoach.com/book/

Transcript

Chris Schneider 00:00  

Today on the bar business podcast, discover why the first 72 hours after guest's visit decides whether or not you'll keep them as a regular match to the experience memory formula to create talk worthy moments and learn a simple, low cost, three touch follow up that lifts second visits 40 to 60%. Hello and welcome to the Bar Business Podcast, where we help bar owners increase profits, attract loyal guests, and simplify operations so you can avoid burnout and finally enjoy your life outside of your bar. I'm your host, Chris Schneider, the bar business coach. Today, we're breaking down the three touches that you should use to turn a first time guest into a committed regular. And what we're going to talk about is a strong on premise moment, a next day connection, and a 72 hour offer. So we're going to talk all through this, setting out our window the experience memory formula and the follow up rhythm that we need to do to not feel pushy. So what is this 72 hour window that I just alluded to? Well, most customers decide within three days of visiting in a restaurant or bar.

Chris Schneider 01:11  

Whether or not they'll return. And they may return. Not because they don't like you, but just because they don't remember you. Right. We have to remember a lot of folks go out to eat in a lot of different places. And so just because they came into our bar today doesn't mean that we're going to see them back, and doesn't mean that we're even in their brain after they leave our doors. So the first thing we need to do is create these three touchpoints, and that's how we're going to stay in their brain during this critical 72 hour window. Now let's first touch point. This needs to happen on premise before they leave the bar. And that is to set a memory in their mind to capture the contact as well. So we need to do something that's going to create a memory for them, or provide them something that's going to create a memory. And then we need to capture their contact information. So when we're setting that memory, that can be things like having a good spot for them to take pictures, giving them photo worthy cocktails, things like that.

Chris Schneider 02:14  

And we're going to go into that here in a minute, because that memory is really going to revolve around the experience memory formula. So we'll set that aside for a second. That first on premise touch. But the other thing we have to do, whether on premise, is to capture the contact, that means getting their name and their email so that you can mark it to them in the future. Now, what are some ways we can go about that? Well, you could have a Wi-Fi login. So if you offer free Wi-Fi, make people sign in on a landing page. In order to access the internet, you could put a QR code on your table tense. And this can be especially good if it's a QR code for a photo gallery. So like, hey, if you took great pictures here, upload them. That could be a way to get emails from folks. You could do a QR code on your receipt or a loyalty program through your POS, so you're capturing the data. That way you can also do a traditional table ten table card that's just like, hey, sign up for our mailing list.

Chris Schneider 03:10  

You can do something with your check presenter in the same way. So there are a lot of different ways we can capture that contact personally for most bars because yeah. Photo gallery. Maybe some of the younger folks pick up on that, but the older folks aren't going to digital receipts. I don't think a lot of people look at them. Where I always tried to grab emails is through a Wi-Fi login, because a lot of people today want to get on your Wi-Fi. So while they're there, we create that memory, which we're going to go into again in a second, and we capture their contact. Then what do we do throughout the rest of this 72 hour window? Well, the next day we need to send them a thank you that invites a reply. It needs to be personalized, right. And it doesn't have to be a long email, but something like, hey. So glad you came in today. I understand it was your first time here. Just want to check with you, see how your experience was and if you have any feedback for us, please let us know.

Chris Schneider 04:05  

Can't wait to see you again! Signed the owner, right? That's personal. It's direct. It's in. It's interacting with your customers. A lot of times is the owner. You want that email to come from you or maybe your GM. But I think it's always better when the email comes from the owner, because that really shows that you care about your customers and that you're trying to grow your business. Now we're only about 24 hours out from when they visit, so what are we going to do a day or two later in that 72 hour window to give them a reason to come back? So we've provided them a great experience. We've captured their contact information. We have sent them a thank you note. And then within the next day or two, we're going to send them a light, time bound reason to return that fits in with our brand. What does that mean? Does that just sound like a bunch of, you know, academic gobbledygook? And what I mean by that is a light, not a heavy email, but something easy, something simple.

Chris Schneider 05:02  

And you can use the same thing every time with every guest or not. You know, it could be a, hey, come in, have a drink and, and and have this appetizer for free. right? But you just want something like that. Some little free incentive that's going to bring them back in the door, whether that looks like a coupon or a discount or an invitation to get something special. Like if you have a VIP experience, maybe you give them the ability to do that VIP type experience for free, and you're going to make that time bound. So what we don't want to say is, hey, come and have a drink and I'll buy you an appetizer. And that's good through the end of the year. No, no, no. We're trying to get them to become regulars. So what we want to do is on that time bound piece, we really want to put it within the next week or two that they have to come back in in order to receive that. Now, quick pro tip before we really jump into how do we create this on premise memory that's so important, make sure that if you're going to implement this the the the key part here, the offer is important to get them to come back in the door.

Chris Schneider 06:03  

But the most important part of this capture their email, send a thank you note. If you do nothing else, try to get to the point where you're capturing people's emails as much as possible, and when you get them logged in to your website or the internet, make sure that you are sending people a thank you note, because that's going to go a long way to show your customers that you actually care about them. Now let's turn back to this experience. So when people are on premise, we want to create an experience. Now this can be true whether they're a first time guest or not. But how do we do this? Well, this is our experience memory formula. Memory equals peak plus personal plus photo worthy plus parting gift. So we have four P's here peak personal photo worthy parting gift. And that's going to create this experience memory that is going to make them want to come back and see you again. So what is peak? Peak is a small signature moment during service. This could be as simple as a favorite off menu recommendation.

Chris Schneider 07:01  

Or if you have a secret menu that your team is out there pushing to kind of make people feel better, telling them what that secret menu item is. It could be a tasting poor. It could just be acknowledging that there are new guests and welcoming them in very closely. But we want to create something probably more than welcoming them. But the off menu recommendations, the secret menu, the tasting force, those go really far in the bar industry. So that's going to create our peak. That's our moment. Now in that moment, we want to be as personal as possible. Use their names, ask people right. Train all your team to ask people what their names are when they sit down, and ask them if they've been there before. That's going to set up a whole system here. In order to get these first time guests into return guests, if they have specific preferences they tell you about, note them, repeat them back to them, right? Use those. Then takes us to our third point photo worthy.

Chris Schneider 07:55  

So one deliberate staged spot. Drink or garnish that photographs well with good light and a visible handle tag. Hashtag. You know something along those natures? So give them a photo where they part of that experience. If you have a place set up so you have an Instagram wall set up so that there's a wall people stand in and it's perfect to make an Instagram photo, invite the first time guest to do it right, push them in that direction because that's going to create another memory and that photo is going to stick with them. It's going to be something they show their friends, something they share on social media. And then the last P in our memory formula is parting gift. So with first time guests, if you can give them a tiny branded token, a card with a QR. Say, say your bartender says, oh, we got a secret menu. Hey, here's something you should try. Let that bartender do you give him a business card with just a QR code that shows the secret menu? Or he can be, you know, a link to a Spotify playlist that are the top items at your bar.

Chris Schneider 08:51  

It doesn't have to be anything that costs you money, but it could be something like I used to do it a lot with ice scrapers in the winter, or I was next to a tire store my bar was, and so when people came over for lunch while their car was getting worked in on and they were getting new tires, we would give them a tire pressure gauge, right? These are cheap, easy to give away. But think of something you can give to a new guest that's going to again, remind them of you. So the photo creates a memory. The gift creates a memory. We're making this personal. We're pulling them in to our bar. We're pulling them in. To want to repeat that experience. So to wrap us up for today, here's the whole thing. Create that experience. Follow that experience with capturing their email. All right. Again Wi-Fi splash page. That's my favorite way to do it. But there are a lot of different ways you can do that. Send that next day.

Chris Schneider 09:44  

Thank you. Write a short text or an email depending on how you get their information. Make it personalized, preferably from you as the owner within 48 to 72 hours. After that, give them that return nudge that off menu item, that Bogo, that deal that is going to bring them back in the door and turn them from a first time guest into a long time regular.

Chris Schneider 10:10  

That about wraps it up for today. If you enjoyed today's insights, make sure you like, subscribe and leave a review. If you are ready to take your bar to the next level, schedule a strategy session with me by clicking the link in the show notes below. Until next time, have a great day and we will talk again later.