As we settle into the second half of the year, you are perhaps thinking of ways your restaurant business can perform better than it did in the last six months. Well, the good news is….. Introducing technologies for your restaurant operations is one way to ensure your business can thrive in this post-pandemic world.
In the past years, some restaurants have had to adapt to using technology. From online ordering to delivery and pick-ups, you can no longer afford to ignore trends that help your business remain competitive.
So, what technologies and tools are necessary to stay up to date and keep ahead of the competition? Read along to find out.
1. E-Gift card Offering:
While some restaurants offer gift card options, you can be a step ahead by having an e-card option. Gift cards can get gifted for birthdays, graduation, Christmas, or as a nice gesture.
Like physical cards, digital cards are easy to purchase and send to recipients. The e-card can be redeemable either at your physical location or when ordering online. These cards are cost-effective as they do not require you to produce physical cards. It is also an avenue to increase your business awareness. With e-cards, you have the opportunity to bring in not only the buyer of the gift card but also the recipient.
2. Self-Service Kiosks:
Self-service kiosks should be an essential requirement for fast-food chains because they help improve the customer experience. Fast-casual and fast-food restaurants (e.g. McDonald’s, Wendy’s) adopt self-service kiosks to make menus easy to understand and make ordering easier for their customers.
These digital kiosks help your customers control their ordering process, give them the time they need to customize their orders and help restaurants save costs on staffing.
3. Kitchen Display Screens:
The kitchen in almost every restaurant is very hectic and fast-paced, one where lots of manual labour can lead to lots of missed orders. Being able to automate your kitchen will reduce errors significantly. The kitchen display screens are an efficient way of tracking orders and moving things efficiently. Issues like misplaced tickets, incorrect orders, and wait time will reduce drastically. The kitchen staff is more likely to work stress-free knowing orders are entered into the system correctly and efficiently.
4. Contactless Dining and Payment:
This is one of those unique technologies for restaurant operations you should introduce. This trend became popular after the pandemic. Contactless transactions mean no human touch. It is a safer and more hygienic way to pay, aside from being quick and convenient. This technology gives you an edge over your competitors as it lets both your customers and staff avoid unnecessary contact. Customers can tap or swipe their cards or phones to make payments quickly and efficiently.
Contactless dining involves using a QR code-based menu for ordering, and payments proved to reduce queue times and speed up the ordering process. It helps keep customers and employees safe while providing access to online menus, ordering, and paying without contact. QR codes require no app installation, and this kind of technology helped massively in the reopening of restaurants after the pandemic.
Bonus: Updating your POS Software: If you have not updated your POS software in the last few years, there is a chance that you are missing out on a lot. There are multiple benefits to updating your software. Updates usually come with new features provided by your service provider or increased security (your business is less targeted by cyber criminals).
What is Next?
So far, restaurant technology appears to have focused on preparation, ordering, and delivery processes. While more innovations are sure to come, take stock of the areas in your restaurant where an upgrade is needed and focus on how these upgrades can make your business efficient while creating a seamless experience for your customers.