Times of challenge create opportunity – and more tech is emerging to help level the playing field for independent businesses trying to compete with large national and international brands. According to a National Restaurant Association survey, one-third of independent operators feel they are falling behind when it comes to using the technology that could support their business. But new products and payment structures are making these technologies more accessible for independents. For instance, Slice, the online ordering platform for independent pizzerias, recently launched a POS system and online rewards system designed specifically for those businesses – many of whom have been slow to adopt technology while the likes of Domino’s are tracking customer preferences, upselling repeat customers and enabling them to know when their delivery driver is on his way. A recent report from Food & Beverage magazine indicated that it’s becoming more common for restaurant technology companies to offer lower up-front costs and subscription fees, as well as leasing options to accommodate operators that can’t afford to make large investments in equipment up front. You may also be able to negotiate deferred payments and contracts that include consulting time. If cash registers and pencil-and-paper ordering is still the norm for you or if you’re simply not getting the kind of real-time information you need from your system, now is a good time to approach restaurant technology companies to see what they can offer independent restaurants. The Restaurant Technology Network is a good source for information and resources including pro bono consulting and you can always ask Team Four for help in getting started too.
Your POS system is the nerve center of your restaurant – and when it’s doing its job right, it can help your business and brand get back on track after a volatile year. Your system should help you drive consistency with your menu, manage third-party delivery vendors and associated costs, and smoothly integrate multiple order streams. It should help you manage the back end of your business remotely and from different devices so you don’t have to be onsite to get a clear view of the business. Finally, after a year when a lot of restaurants have had to make on-the-fly adjustments that haven’t necessarily been on-brand, your POS should unify your brand presence across multiple platforms so the face of your restaurant comes through whether customers are ordering curbside or via your app. Does your system support you as well as it should in all of these areas?
Finally, the restaurant industry is seeing exciting signs of life. So what’s the next challenge? Many operators may experience dramatic shifts in business and demand across different channels as people embrace eating out again, or on the flip side, react to potential infection spikes as states open up. According to a late February survey from the polling organization CivicScience, 53 percent of Americans feel comfortable with the idea of eating at a restaurant, while the remainder are more hesitant. Under those conditions alone – ignoring other factors that affect restaurant business each day – it could be challenging to know how much staff to have on hand or how much food to buy on a given day. The capabilities of your POS system are key to fortifying your business for the new environment. As states open back up for business and warming weather brings people out, make sure your system is, above all, flexible – to different forms of payment, an assortment of order streams, shifting demand within those order streams, and to any new features your restaurant needs to adopt as it evolves. Your system should allow you to oversee business across other locations, whether those locations are similar brick-and-mortar restaurants, ghost kitchens or food trucks. Finally, it should account for varying levels of staff knowledge and training by being easy to learn – and user-friendly when it comes to generating the reports you need to manage real-time business fluctuations.
When you trace the path of a customer order, how many potential directions could it take? How many different devices or people might it pass through? When restaurants are having to manage orders coming from their app, their website, a third-party delivery provider, their drive-thru or even from customers walking up to the store or calling in, they have many dangling threads to sort out. As this Restaurant Business report advises, your tech should integrate those threads seamlessly with a minimum of devices and steps – not just to help you stay on top of what orders are reaching you and when, but also to enable you to more flexibly adapt to new business conditions as they arise down the line.
You know that technology can help you better identify countless areas of inefficiency in your restaurant – but where is the best place to start with it? Using tech to get a precise handle on your prime costs could be it. These expenses represent such a high percentage of your sales – about 61 percent, according to BDO’s “The Counter: Restaurant Industry Scorecard” from 2019. A new eBook from the financial software company Sage Intacct, “Best Practices for Data Driven Restaurants,” says operators should be able to view their cost of goods sold on their dashboard and drill down on specific parts of their inventory and menu categories. This can help them flag potential costs to renegotiate or problem areas to investigate, like an item that is costing too high compared to budget, an ingredient that isn’t being measured accurately, or a menu item that isn’t priced profitably. The eBook also advises the automation of invoice processing – not only to cut back on time-consuming tasks where errors are likely to occur, but also to get real-time insights into food costs.
The technology you’re adopting now to bring efficiencies to your business and minimize contact may have the unintended effect of distancing your guests from your staff – and the service they have come to expect from your brand. As you introduce technology into your business, make sure that it includes features that somehow replicate (and ideally, enhance) your service. When your return customers order food from you online or via your app, are they prompted with information on their past orders to help streamline the processing of their current order? Whenever they are in the vicinity of your restaurant, could you use predictive analytics to send them a promotion they are likely to crave? Using artificial intelligence can help you demonstrate that you know a guest well – and fill any empathy gaps that exist when a guest has less human contact with your brand.
From tech-enabled, touch-free food pickups to streamlined mobile ordering, front-of-house technology tends to garner the most headlines. But how you use technology in the back of house is likely even more important – and should be a key area of focus for operators in the next year. It’s all about efficiency. Your back-of-house systems are the foundation of your front-of-house success: They can help you monitor your inventory; build, price and adjust your menu effectively; place orders based on available supply; and predict demand to help you adjust staffing levels. Identify an area of waste in your back-of-house operation and there is likely technology available that can help you measure, monitor and address it before it becomes a serious concern. And at a time as challenging as the one restaurants are experiencing now, every little bit of efficiency helps.
Is your digital ordering platform up to the challenges this winter will bring? The season will be a test for restaurants everywhere: The days of generating only a small fraction of business from off-premise orders are over – perhaps permanently. So consider this winter an opportunity to get to know your data better than ever before. Andrew Robbins, the CEO of Paytronix, recently told Pyments.com that this winter would be a chance for brands to get to know their guests even better by exploring their customer relationship management systems and – with the help of artificial intelligence – analyzing customer purchasing patterns. “This can lead to long-term changes, like data-driven subscription programs that further cement the relationships between brands and their guests,” he said. Instead of looking at this winter as a period to survive, consider it a time when you can harness your systems to truly understand the data you’re collecting – and then turn it into offers that build the kind of loyal following that will carry you through times like this.
Last year at this time, having an on-trend menu or holiday promotions may have been priorities for you. Fast-forward a year and restaurant hospitality – and the ethics surrounding it – looks much different. One recent Washington Post article mentioned how diners, in general, are going through a more rigorous decision-making process when it comes to determining if and where they will dine out. Criteria that would have seemed outlandish just a year ago – like a restaurant’s COVID-19 protocols, table-distancing measures, neighbourhood and amount of foot traffic – now speak volumes to consumers about a restaurant’s potential risks (and therefore, the quality of their hospitality). If local restrictions fluctuate in the coming months, how will you consistently communicate safety to your guests and off-premise customers? Continue to promote – via your website, social media and in-store signage – that you are committed to protecting the safety of both your staff and your guests. If guests want to access detailed information about how you’re handling COVID-19, provide details on your website. Post your employee sick leave policy, specific cleaning protocols and schedule – yes, recent research indicates that more consumers want to know these details – and what you are doing to protect the safety of off-premise meals as well. Much like restaurants that have developed a loyal following of customers who have food allergies, restaurants that visibly protect guest safety – not just for show but as a deeply felt value – stand to earn guest loyalty too.
Imagine not having to touch your credit card or mobile phone to make a payment. That’s the reality for a number of restaurants and retailers in the Pasadena, Calif. area who recently launched PopID’s facial recognition payment technology – and pandemic-related anxiety about contacting various surfaces may create more demand for such technology. After customers register an account with PopID, they can visit a restaurant and the system will scan their face, which will bring up their past orders, loyalty points and stored payment details. While drive-thru and walk-up kiosks will still require a customer to touch a screen for now, tableside orders and payments can be completely touch-free.
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