AI Labor Forecasting for Restaurants

Drive profitability and eliminate inefficiency

AI powered forecasting to control your labor costs and aid manual operations.

  • Control labor costs
  • More efficient labor optimization
  • Drive business growth

What is AI Forecasting?

AI Forecasting uses machine learning to supercharge your scheduling by analyzing historical sales data and key labor drivers like transactions, guests, deliveries to predict staffing needs based on anticipated customer demand.

AI Forecasting strengthens scheduling tools like HotSchedules by automating scheduling, enhancing labor cost efficiency, and increasing profitability.

+20% More Accurate

forecasts when compared to other forecasting

+5% Cost Savings

in labor by eliminating overstaffing

+2% Sales Revenue

by reducing understaffing

How AI Forecasting Works for Restaurant Labor Opitmization

Fourth's AI Forecasting ensures unmatched accuracy by utilizing an extensive dataset from over 100,000 global locations and leading restaurant chains.

1. Data Collection

First, we examine your internal and external data, including upwards of seven years of sales, guests, and transactions.

2. Data Preprocessing

Next, our algorithm identifies and eliminates anomalies to enhance the accuracy of forecasts.

3. Data Training

Using machine learning, our AI algorithm continuously optimizes by comparing predicted outcomes with actual results, refining its accuracy with each update.

Chili’s improves retention, labor optimization, and profitability with AI forecasting

“Chili’s saw 20% accuracy improvement with AI Forecasting”

— Jason Noorian, Brinker International’s VP, Asset Management

Read the Case Study

Why Choose Fourth’s AI Forecasting

Drive ProfitabilityStronger demand prediction

AI Forecasting algorithms analyze internal and external data points, consumer behavior, and economic trends to accurately predict demand up to eight weeks out. So, you have accurate intel to stick to your labor budget and eliminate systematic inefficiencies like overstaffing and overtime across all locations with

Gain above store visibilityInsights at your fingertips

Because siloed data is wasted data. Quickly identify employee scheduling and labor trends at the individual, regional, and national level by making workforce management data accessible and digestible.

Our custom KPI dashboards make it easy to access popular reports like:

  • Sales & labor costs
  • Labor variance
  • Proforma

Perfect the instore experienceImprove guest satisfaction

Perfectly staffed shifts make employees happy. And happy employees deliver exceptional guest experiences

Improve your forecasting accuracy

Two Labor Forecasting Options to Suit Your Needs

AI Labor Forecasting

Our AI Forecasting never clocks out, automatically generating and delivering the industry’s most advanced forecasts.

  • Maintain peak efficiency across all locations with an algorithm analyzing economic trends, consumer behavior, and millions of internal and external data points including 7+ years of historical data, foot traffic, promotions, holidays, weather and more.
  • AI forecasting continuously learns and improves its calculation with every new data point, making small, daily adjustments that add up to monumental improvements
  • Managers are served up an accurate forecast irrespective of tenure or experience and free from human biases

Standard Forecasting

Standard forecasting moves managers away from Excel sheets and equips them with the necessary tools, data, and technology to create demand forecasts in minutes.

  • Forecast averages manager-selected weeks of historical sales data to improve forecasting accuracy by 75% when compared to manual analyses
  • Forecasts are generated on-demand and in minutes, saving managers hours of work while improving labor deployment

Fourth’s Restaurant Operations Suite

Get everything you need for your restaurant operations in a single, smart team management platform.

  • Hire
  • Schedule
  • Manage
  • Pay
  • Retain

Hire the best talent, first. Then get them onboarded and ready to delight guests.

  • Reduce drop-off and increase applicant flow
  • Generate increased app volume with Quick Apply
  • Ditch the onboarding paperwork

Access labor-saving tech that forecasts demand and makes scheduling a breeze.

  • Slash admin time with AI labor forecasting
  • Integrate labor and time keeping
  • Schedules from anywhere with our mobile app
  • Stay compliant with labor laws

Unlock real-time visibility into daily operations and staff management.

  • Manage your operations with manager logbook
  • Gain complete operational insight from across stores
  • Maintain brand standards across stores

Run payroll, manage tip distributions, and stay ahead of labor & wage compliance.

  • Offload payroll and benefits administration
  • Eliminate your dependency on cash with tip payouts
  • Reduce benefits and insurance costs

Improve retention and engagement with distinct benefits and solutions.

  • Access competitive benefits
  • Offer your employees earned wage access
  • Bank your unbanked with the Fuego Visa® Card

Hire

Hire the best talent, first. Then get them onboarded and ready to delight guests.

  • Reduce drop-off and increase applicant flow
  • Generate increased app volume with Quick Apply
  • Ditch the onboarding paperwork

Schedule

Access labor-saving tech that forecasts demand and makes scheduling a breeze.

  • Slash admin time with AI labor forecasting
  • Integrate labor and time keeping
  • Schedules from anywhere with our mobile app
  • Stay compliant with labor laws

Manage

Unlock real-time visibility into daily operations and staff management.

  • Manage your operations with manager logbook
  • Gain complete operational insight from across stores
  • Maintain brand standards across stores

Pay

Run payroll, manage tip distributions, and stay ahead of labor & wage compliance.

  • Offload payroll and benefits administration
  • Eliminate your dependency on cash with tip payouts
  • Reduce benefits and insurance costs

Retain

Improve retention and engagement with distinct benefits and solutions.

  • Access competitive benefits
  • Offer your employees earned wage access
  • Bank your unbanked with the Fuego Visa® Card
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Frequently Asked Questions

  • Is Standard Hospitality Forecasting or AI Hospitality Forecasting better for my business?
    • Standard forecasting is great for new businesses or smaller operations relying on Excel sheets or manual equations to forecast demand. Standard forecasting helps automate the process, allowing managers to forecast demand based on historical sales data from manager-selected weeks and their personal knowledge of upcoming events. AI Forecasting is ideal for growing and national chains or any operations with high variability in demand. This forecast will completely automate the entire process for every location. Better yet, it will continuously improve the forecasting calculation, so your company benefits from small but daily improvements on an ongoing basis.
  • What sets Fourth’s AI Forecast apart from other algorithms?
    • Through market leadership in serving more than 100,000 locations globally and 14 of the top 20 US restaurant chains, Fourth has compiled the largest repository of restaurant data to create AI forecasting with unmatched accuracy. Fourth’s AI forecasting performs an in-depth analysis of historical sales data, guest counts, national holidays, and more to provide unprecedented insight into labor scheduling and inventory management. The solution gives restaurants the ability to optimize their operations across all locations with unparalleled accuracy through predictions of customer demand.
  • What is WAPE?
    • The Weighted Absolute Percentage of Error (WAPE) is a way to measure how accurate a forecast is. WAPE considers the difference between the forecasted value and the actual value, as well as the importance of each forecasted value, hence the term “weighted.”
    • WAPE allows you to measure how far off a forecast is from the actual values, regardless of whether the forecast overestimated or underestimated the actual values.
    • The lower the WAPE, the better, indicating the forecast is closer to the actual value.

Conquer the Day

Save time, reduce costs, and increase profitability with Fourth’s intelligent solutions.

  • Reduce labor costs with accurate demand forecasting that eliminates over and understaffing.
  • Eliminate your HR burden with HR and payroll services that manage it for you.
  • Lower your COGS and drive increased profitability with inventory management solutions.

Trusted by Customers Worldwide

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