Technology has come up in a big way, more so in the last decade. Technology has simplified our lives and is changing the way we lead our lives everyday. When it comes to restaurants, we see a mixed response. While some are investing in technology – restaurant software and marketing automation, some are still apprehensive about the benefits and the Return on investments that can come through it.
In this article, we will be highlighting the various technology tools across all restaurant functions that you should be aware of going in to 2019.
Restaurant Operations
When it comes to operations, data management is key. Restaurant POS machines ensure that the customers details are punched in and orders are forwarded to the kitchen with KOTs. The Cloud POS softwares have become more sophisticated and complete. The benefits of a Cloud POS are:
- Higher data storage and data security: As data is stored on the cloud, data is more secure and cannot get lost, hacked or misused.
- More economic: Cloud POS is more cost effective as there are no high setting up costs, just monthly subscription amount that must be paid.
- Updates on the go: All you need to have is an active internet connection to get updates on the proceedings at your restaurant. You do not need to be physically present at the outlet.
- Central management: Your cloud POS helps you get central view on your restaurant business, across outlets.
- Integrations with CRM, Feedback and Loyalty programs: Your POS integrates with all the other systems – collects data and ensures that all systems work in tandem for optimum results.
Besides the Cloud Restaurant POS, Self Service Kiosks is another form of technology being adopted by restaurants. Some of the benefits of a Self servicing Kiosk are listed below:
- Saves time and energy of restaurant staff
- Provides greater efficiency in order placements
- Helps in upsell and cross selling through the use of interactive dashboards
Over 90% of restaurant owners agree that technology improves restaurant efficiency
User Experience at the restaurant – Customisation and Personalisation
Customer have unique tastes and preferences. Catering to them individually may be extremely difficult, if not impossible. Brands like Subway are popular for custom made items subs where there are ‘n’ number of combinations. Likewise, personalisation allows you to tackle individual customer needs.
Customisation and Personalisation becomes faster with the help of technology. Personalisation & Customisation was voted as a hot preference among a good bulk of restaurant customers. Data suggest that greater than 70% of restaurant consumers expect customization
How can technology aid in customisation and personalisation?
- Data analysis: When data comes in through your restaurant POS software – you can neatly segment current taste and preferences through integrations with Feedback modules, hottest items ordered, to get a sense of what is clicking at your restaurant
- Digital Menus: instead of the traditional menus where a single change needs heavy costs, use of digital menus can be made mandatory to quickly make updates to your restaurant’s menu when you see a specific trend emerging.
- Facial recognition restaurant software: Restaurants are investing in Facial recognition to understand buyer personas of each customer better. This helps personalize a guest’s experience even more.
Restaurant Marketing and Advertising
We will talk digital marketing and ads here. To increase profitability, it is imperative that you have more and more traffic come in through various channels. Revenue can come in through new and old customers alike. Getting found online is important for your brand getting discovered. Tieing up with a Swiggy, Foodpanda or any third party aggregator is good but restricts your branding to an extent, not to mention high rates of commission per order that must be paid out. So having your own strategy is key. Here is how technology can help better your brand marketing strategy:
- Setting up your own online ordering website: Online Ordering Websites helps you establish your brand on the web. Your platform should be visually appealing and capable of accepting online orders
- Setting up your online app: Lot of customers are now using apps to place orders. Apps are preferred as they give more offers/better deals and having one will definitely help boost your brand’s presence online.
- Setting up CRM systems post initial orders – Repeat business is a very important pillar of a restaurant’s revenue. Almost 75% of a restaurant’s business comes through repeat ordering. It is thus important for your brand to set-up automated mailer and text campaigns to your customer. A Restaurant POS is a single point for all customer entries and helps you aggregate and organize data in one place.
Summing up
We discussed how technology has a major role to play across all functions of a restaurant. To succeed in business restaurants must quickly adapt technology or they run the risk of losing out to their competitors.