Keeping ahead of the game is the name of the game when running a restaurant business. Anything that helps keep the business running smoother, and which enhances customer experience, will of course be key in achieving success. That’s why many business owners choose to make full use of the amazing restaurant technology solutions widely available on the market today. To streamlining taking orders, to tracking and ordering supplies, there’s some real nifty technology out there that really packs a punch.
Here we look a handful of those game changing technology solutions that will continue to make it big in 2023.
Self-order kiosks
This POS (Point of Sale) technology has become increasingly popular in restaurants offering fast food and take out services. It really came into its own during the pandemic, when human interaction in taking customer orders was minimized. It seemed alien to use at first, but over time customers adapted to and became comfortable placing their own orders via these touch screen kiosks.
The beauty of this self-serve technology is that it reduces the demand on waiting staff, whilst at the same time putting the customer in charge of customizing their own order to exactly what they want. Payment for orders is all done via the kiosk too, meaning no cash or card handling is required by restaurant staff.
Digital restaurant menus
Again, digital menus are mostly a direct result of the pandemic where human contact and the touching of shared items were both minimized. Away went the hand-out menus, and in came QR codes conveniently stickered to restaurant tables. Simply scan with your phone and your hey presto your menu appeared.
Love them, or hate them, digital restaurant menus are here to stay. Restaurant owners love them because they allow for easy menu changes and also get rid of the expensive costs of printing menus. Digital restaurant menu software is also relative inexpensive to purchase, simply because the market is saturated with competitive software suppliers.
Digital Kitchen Display Screens
This technology has been in use for quite a while, and is on its way to becoming a standard fixture of most restaurant kitchens. Digital kitchen screen displays provide clear, more accurate order information for kitchen staff – provided directly from front of house POS systems.
Forget trying to decipher those hand-written notes taken by servers, or relying on printed tickets attached to kitchen order ticket holders, this technology allows for timely and superior incoming order processing. Captured order data can also be analysed and used to streamline many aspects of restaurant operations too!
Online Ordering
Many restaurants survived the pandemic, not by providing a seating dining service, but offering takeout and delivery service. Online food ordering has been extremely popular for many years, but even more people have now converted to this convenient method of getting meals they love.
What’s not to love about browsing and placing an order from a menu in the comfort of your own home; choose, pay, collect or get delivered – it’s so easy! It’s great to go out and eat at your favourite restaurants now and then, but sometimes being able to have that same food as takeout or delivered to your door is equally nice. Restaurants have already seen this change in pattern of behaviour, so online ordering experiences are only going to get bigger and much better for customers.
Digital Inventory Tracking
For all restaurants, keeping on top of having just the right food and supplies stock levels is no easy task. Get it wrong and you could be out of pocket big time, and maybe lose customers. That’s where digital inventory tracking systems step in to make managing the whole process much more efficient and easier.
This technology, which can be synchronized with a restaurant’s POS system, continually monitors stock levels and indicates the best possible times to re-order supplies. The software can also provide invaluable information on food and supplies demand trends to ensure that stock levels are kept at optimal levels.
CHI is dedicated to keeping up with local and national trends in the Restaurant Industry to help serve our customers better and keep them one step ahead. If you are interested in opening, purchasing, or selling a restaurant CHI Real Estate can help. Get in touch with our team today.