In the fast-paced world of kitchen management, information is power. You know the price you pay for your ingredients, but how do you know if it's a good price? A few cents extra per kilo on high-volume items can add up to thousands of dollars in lost profit by the end of the year.

Guesswork is no longer part of the recipe for success.

PlateProfit's PriceMatch™ Intelligence tool is designed to eliminate that uncertainty. It acts as your personal market analyst, securely comparing your purchase prices against real-time, anonymized data from other restaurants in your local area.

This guide will walk you through, step-by-step, how to activate and leverage this powerful feature to make smarter purchasing decisions and directly boost your bottom line.

Step 1: Activate PriceMatch with Location Services

PriceMatch works by understanding your general geographic area (e.g., "New York City Metro") to provide relevant local data. We never track your specific address, but we do need to know your city to give you accurate comparisons.

1. Navigate to the PriceMatch Dashboard: From your main dashboard, find the "PriceMatch Snapshot" card or go directly to Price-Match from the sidebar.

2. Enable Location: If you haven't already, you'll see a prompt to enable the feature. Click the "Enable Location" button.

3. Grant Browser Permission: Your browser will ask for permission to access your location. Click "Allow". This is a one-time setup; the app will remember your choice.

Once enabled, PlateProfit will automatically analyze your inventory and present the main PriceMatch Dashboard.

Step 2: Understand Your At-a-Glance Dashboard

The top of the PriceMatch Dashboard gives you the four most important numbers you need to know immediately:

Potential Savings: This is the headline number—the total estimated monthly savings you could achieve by aligning your overpriced items with the market average.

Overpriced Items: The number of items in your inventory where you are paying significantly more than the local average. This is your action list.

At Market Price: Items where your pricing is competitive. This is validation that you're getting a fair deal.

Underpriced Items: Items where you're paying less than the market average. This is excellent news and highlights strong supplier relationships.

Step 3: Dive into the Detailed Comparison Table

The real power of PriceMatch lies in the item-by-item breakdown. Scroll down to the "Detailed Comparison" table to see your entire inventory benchmarked against the market.

Each row gives you a clear, actionable summary:

Your Price: The gross purchase price you currently have logged in PlateProfit.

Market Avg: The average price for the same item and pack size in your area.

Price Difference (%): A color-coded percentage showing how far above (amber/red) or below (blue/green) the market average your price is.

Potential Savings: For overpriced items, this calculates the real dollar amount you could save by matching the market average.

Step 4: Take Action on Insights

Information without action is just data. Here’s how to turn these insights into real savings:

For Overpriced Items (Your Top Priority)

An item flagged as "Overpriced" (e.g., +15%) is an immediate opportunity.

Click the Item to Expand: Open the detailed view to see the full market price range (Min to Max) and the number of data sources.

Contact Your Supplier: Use this data as leverage. Call your vendor and say, "I'm seeing market data that suggests the average price for a 10kg bag of yellow onions is around $12.50, and I'm currently paying $14.50. Can you work with me on this?"

Shop Around: If your current supplier can't match the price, you now have a data-backed reason to explore other vendors for that specific item.

Update Your Price: Once you secure a better deal, click the "Update My Price" button directly from the PriceMatch dashboard. PlateProfit will automatically recalculate the cost for every single recipe that uses that ingredient, showing you the immediate impact on your margins.

For Items "At Market" or "Underpriced"

These items validate your current purchasing strategy. It's a great opportunity to reinforce your relationship with that supplier. A simple, "Thanks for the consistently fair pricing on produce this month," can go a long way in building loyalty.

Conclusion: From Reactive to Proactive

PriceMatch transforms you from a reactive price-taker into a proactive, data-driven operator. By spending just 15 minutes a week reviewing this dashboard, you can:

Negotiate better deals with concrete evidence.

Identify inefficient suppliers and find better partners.

Protect your profit margins from "price creep."

Make smarter menu engineering decisions based on true market costs.

Stop leaving money on the table. Activate PriceMatch today and turn market intelligence into your competitive advantage.