8 Restaurant Technologies That Will Improve Business

Restaurant technology trends are changing the face of the catering industry - is your business making the most of the automation available? Check out our top 8 tech must-haves that’ll improve revenue!

WiFi

It may seem like a slightly odd one, but offering your guests free WiFi comes with a whole plethora of benefits! Not only does it enhance your guest’s experience, it can even encourage more people to visit. Think about business lunches for example - they’re definitely more likely to choose you as a venue if you offer a free WiFi service. And once you attract more customers, you can learn more about them! WiFi technology has the ability to gather additional customer data including how often they visit, how much they use and much more. There are a few things to avoid when providing WiFi, like using an unreliable provider (no-one likes slow internet!) but overall it’s a very beneficial tool to implement. 

Online Ordering

Online ordering is a huge must-have technology for restaurants who have a takeaway option! Gone are the days of picking up the phone and speaking to a human, technology is continuing to pave the way for the future. Does going digital mean the end of great service? With super easy to use ordering platforms like Just Eat and Uber Eats, we don’t think so! The demand for online ordering is on the rise, and restaurants who offer this service will experience higher revenues - as customers can take their time in ordering so are more likely to add extra items - and more accurate orders - none of those bad phone line issues or loud background noises.

Apps

Apps are a fantastic way to boost revenue and positive customer experience within your restaurant. The easy to use mobile technology can provide a varied number of services to your customer, from browsing your menu to ordering their meal. Afterall, if your restaurant is busy, who wants to stand in a long queue or spend half an hour trying to flag down a waiter to take their order? The self-serve revolution is changing the way we need to think about customer service. Convenience is key, which is one of the reasons why self-serve technology is becoming popular!

Loyalty Programs

We all know the ‘get 5 stamps and get a free coffee’ kind of loyalty schemes, but these visits are hard to track and loyalty cards can be easily lost. So whilst we’re on the topic of apps, it’s important to take note of how the catering industry is using them as an innovative way to boost customer loyalty. By including a loyalty program on your business’ app, your customers are far more likely to get involved and continue to re-visit to take advantage of the rewards available. This is an important piece of restaurant technology as it also allows you to track your customer’s behaviour, buying trends and visits which can help to influence your promotions and marketing strategies.

Restaurant Reservation Software

As we all know, almost everything is being done online these days, so is your restaurant optimised with an online reservation system? Whether by app or online booking widget, having a digital way for customers to book at your restaurant or bar is a must! Stats speak for themselves, and research shows that 60% of consumers use a smartphone to make a booking - now there’s food for thought. Not only does it make the booking process easier for your guests, it’s a great way for you and your team to track reservations in-house.  Consumers are ready for mobile experiences, so make sure your business is too!

Email Service Providers

Want to send your latest news, updates and exciting offers directly to your customer’s phone? Email service providers are the answer! This is a must-have piece of technology for restaurants and bars in the modern day, offering you a direct link with your guests to promote what your business has going on right now. Whether you’re promoting an upcoming event or your chef specials for the week, you can create attractive emails to advertise whatever you want. Better yet? It’s completely affordable! Platforms like MailChimp offer great packages that allow you to send and manage your email marketing campaigns easily. 

EPoS Systems

Your EPos System is the technology that glues your business together, and the evolution of EPoS is interesting to look at. With major developments having been made within the past 5 years, it can now offer key benefits including the ability to see your sales totals, track inventory, improve customer service and process credit and debit cards. With these systems getting more and more sophisticated, it’s important to ensure you’re getting the most out of your restaurant technology. Intelligent EPoS Systems can integrate with existing technology to enhance customer experience; for example they could connect with tabletop tablets to allow guests to browse a digital menu or make online payment from their seat.

Back-Of-House Technology

One of the biggest pet-peeves for customers is waiting for their food, so investing in efficient kitchen and back-of-house restaurant technology is a great way to help prevent this. There are numerous benefits to upgrading your front-of-house technology, but it’s important to think of ways to make life easier for your kitchen team too! Many companies, like Zonal, provide fast technology which makes stock & order and kitchen management sectors much easier and quicker for your team. This tech helps aid communication between teams to speed up ordering and food delivery times, making your customer’s wait even shorter!

If you want to connect with the best suppliers of restaurant technology, or just want to learn more about what’s out there, then come along to Restaurant & Bar Tech Live!

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