Restaurants that are successful require technology that can stay up with the times. A summary of the six most crucial forms of restaurant technology you'll need to run your business more efficiently is provided below. 1.
Over the past decade, the restaurant sector has evolved dramatically and at a quick rate, owing primarily to the introduction of new technologies and the evolution of customer tastes.
Restaurant patrons have altered their eating habits, including what they eat, how they eat, and where they consume it. They want their meal quickly and do not like to be kept waiting for lengthy periods of time. They want to be able to choose between delivery, takeaway, and eating in the establishment. Moreover, people want their meals to adhere to all of their dietary requirements while also exceeding their expectations and meeting their taste preferences.
Despite the fact that restaurants are rapidly incorporating technology as a significant element of their operations, the sector still has space for improvement. Whatever your level of technology experience, whether you were an early adopter or are just getting started, the list below will provide you a summary of the most crucial restaurant technology you need to operate your business more effectively and satisfy your customers.
Touchscreen Point of Sale Terminals
Modern point of sale (POS) systems, such as touchscreen terminals, are available to help businesses boost their efficiency. Their hardware should be strong enough to handle the demands of the restaurant industry, and they should be able to ensure that you and your staff are constantly running at restaurant speed.
Restaurant POS software that is built with an intuitive, easy-to-understand interface powers most touchscreen terminals, allowing employees to move swiftly and new recruits to pick up the skills they need in a short amount of time. Touchscreen point-of-sale terminals streamline the order-taking process, allowing you to handle more orders in less time and earn more money.
The vast majority of point-of-sale systems nowadays, particularly those used by quick-service restaurants, have guest-facing screens that allow customers to follow along as they order, pay swiftly, and tip directly on the screen. This enhances order accuracy and speed, allowing your staff to keep the line running as efficiently as possible.
Order and Pay at the Table
Food safety, expediency, and efficiency have long been crucial aspects of the eating experience for customers. However, in the aftermath of the COVID-19 issue, they have become much more critical than before.
In the Restaurant Guide, there is a section called "Guide to the Restaurant Guest." During COVID-19, 34% of visitors stated that the availability of contactless/mobile payment options had become highly crucial to their dining experiences. In addition, 33% of visitors stated that pay at the table technology is highly crucial to their eating experiences in restaurants.
It is possible for your visitors to order and pay for their meal from their own device, which provides them with the convenience and security of doing so at home. Apart from providing your visitors with peace of mind, it also assists you in improving table turn times, lowering labor expenses, and better understanding your customers by collecting useful data.
Handheld POS (Point of Sale) Systems
Consider the possibility that your servers could close a check with a single visit to the table, rather than the four visits it currently takes to ask a party if they're ready for the check, bring them their check, take the check back to the POS terminal, and bring them their change if they paid in cash. This is made possible by handheld POS systems, which streamline operations by allowing customers to order and pay immediately at the table, from their comfortable restaurant chairs, and simplifying operations even more.
Because handheld point-of-sale devices enable customers to order and pay at the table, waiters may enhance order speed and accuracy while turning tables more quickly. In addition, guests spend less time waiting for their food and for the bill to be processed. Customers can be served and orders can be fulfilled more quickly with handheld point-of-sale systems since they can be carried about with you.
In addition to these operational gains, portable point-of-sale systems enable your personnel to provide a more positive visitor experience. How? Because they can spend more time interacting with visitors instead than concentrating on remembering orders or rushing back and forth to a computer terminal.
Contactless Payments
As we discussed above in relation to Order and Pay at the Table, the availability of contactless payment options is becoming increasingly vital to guests' dining experiences. Almost 34 percent of restaurant customers during COVID-19 indicated that having contactless / mobile payment options available is now highly vital to their eating experiences in restaurants.
Contactless payment systems let you keep your visitors safe and secure by allowing them to pay for their orders by tapping, dipping, or swipeing their cards. The goal is to avoid unnecessary or unwelcome physical contact between visitors and workers during a time when safety and social distance are of the utmost importance.
Self-Order Kiosks
Self-order kiosks are becoming increasingly popular, and they are becoming a significant feature of quick service and fast casual restaurants. According to the 2019 Restaurant Success Report, self-ordering kiosks were rated as either fairly significant or highly vital to their overall guest experience by 53 percent of respondents.
For a variety of reasons, self-service kiosks are becoming increasingly popular. They enable restaurants to exceed their customers' expectations by providing a first-class digital experience and simple-to-use interfaces. They also provide visitors with greater control over the ordering process, making it simpler for them to study the menu and personalize their orders as they see fit.
In addition to improving the client experience, a well-designed kiosk can assist restaurants in increasing average check size (via the use of upsell prompts) and order volume, as well as shortening queues, all while reducing the burden on your team's resources and productivity.
Kitchen Display Screens
Because the restaurant kitchen can be a stressful environment, printed tickets may not be the ideal solution for your establishment, depending on its requirements. The use of kitchen display systems (KDS) is becoming increasingly popular in restaurants nowadays in order to keep things running smoothly in both their kitchens and across their whole establishment.
Kitchen display systems, which are often mounted to the wall (or on a counter stand), allow kitchen employees to see all open orders on a single screen. This makes it simpler for the kitchen to stay organized and to complete orders precisely and on time, while also ensuring that everything runs well at the front of the house. How? KDS gets POS orders in real time, resulting in improved ordering speed and accuracy, as well as a better overall customer experience.
Online Ordering Solutions
Even before the COVID-19 problem erupted, internet ordering and off-premise dining sales were generating significant revenue for restaurant owners and operators. To make matters worse, as a result of the COVID-19 problem, many restaurants are reliant on off-premise eating channels like as takeaway and delivery to keep their doors open.
Customers may order directly from your restaurant for pick-up or contactless delivery using an integrated online ordering solution that is incorporated with your website. Additionally, by utilizing an integrated online ordering system, you may avoid paying third-party delivery costs and have greater control over the visitor experience overall. The advantages of an integrated online ordering system speak for themselves, yet consumers prefer to make orders directly with restaurants rather than through a third-party service.
Conclusion
Tradition has it that the restaurant business is sluggish to accept new technologies and creative digital solutions. As restaurants alter their operations to not just survive but thrive in this new connected and contactless world, technology and innovation have played a critical role in their success, if not their survival. In order to manage a successful restaurant nowadays, you must have technology that is up to date.
