Embracing and growing with technology has become a core requirement of the era. The rising number of restaurants that wish and strive to digitalise their presence to reach potential customers has come up as an emerging challenge. To gain the attention of the tech-savvy new generation, competing and setting up the new standards of service has become extremely tricky and competitive.
Smart restaurant owners are now turning towards technology to help them invest and utilise every single penny while simultaneously optimising the best of it. Hence to meet the constantly rising expectations of both, the employees and customers, restaurant businesses have been relying and transforming their performance with the digitalisation of the restaurant industry.
Technology has so much to offer from keeping the customers satisfied and contented by providing a seamless and integrated experience to offer technology investing solutions and bring out creative outcomes.
The restaurant industry in 2022 has become a lot more stable than how it was at the beginning of the pandemic. As per the reports by National Restaurant Association, the restaurants and food services faced a serious downfall as the sales fell by $240 billion as more than 1 lakh + eateries or drinking houses were shut down either temporarily or permanently in the year 2020.
Although, those who adapted and familiarised their businesses with the ever-evolving technological changes and models were able to survive the threat of the pandemic.
The digital transformation of the industries has led to accelerated interactions with guest experiences, store operations, supply chains, and such other innovative contactless digital solutions that offer support.
Moving beyond the traditional measures, technology and innovation has helped adapt to a new reality to improvise operations and promote the restaurant technology trend for the restaurant business in 2022.
So, what are the best trendy technological tools that your business must have in 2022 to always stay a step ahead in the competition?
Abiding by the current guidelines and restrictions to curb the spread of infection, restaurants need to strictly maintain the regulations. To promote a more healthy and contactless service, restaurant owners are now opting for their own online ordering system and delivery apps. As per a recent statistics report, the food industry has tripled as it was since 2017.
Having personal ordering systems and delivery apps make the restaurants more preferred by the customers. Customers prefer to order directly from their favourite restaurant and thus in turn leading to a growing food chain. Hence, restaurants opt for investing in developing their own integrated online platforms and delivery apps.
The digitalisation of the restaurant industry has enabled restaurants to stay connected and updated with their customers. As an outcome, the expecting customers can choose and place orders for what they want to when they want to and from where they want to.
This era of promoting the notion of going cashless, calls for this technological trend. The concept of contactless technology is now prevailing in every sphere. It is not limited to only a few features. Apart from placing online orders, customers can also make new payments via their smartphones, smart-watches or smartcards or even with the help of a touch-less device.
However, the concept of contactless payments is not a newfound invention. Contact-less payments have already gained a major mass momentum globally but have peaked amid the pandemic. According to the research statistics, it is estimated that by 2024, contact-less payments will triple from $2 trillion and reach $6 trillion worldwide.
Allowing your customers to pay for their orders at their ease promotes a smooth, lucid transaction. Adding multiple payment gateways and integrating wallet balance options makes the entire process easier.
Customers who want to use cashless find it super convenient, and the tactile limitation makes it more hygienic, safer, faster, instant and reliable. Therefore, restaurants must adapt to this change by investing in such a digital plan strategy.
Calling up beforehand or waiting in a long queue to book a table has become the tale of the past. Technology values time. Customers can now freely surf through the app to find the number of available slots or make bookings for themselves instantly on the go. Restaurants by using technology-enabled automated reservation systems can now easily manage the seating, check on the waitlists, become familiar with the dining preferences of the customers, identify the regular to promote customer loyalty and also collect the vital details and data of the clients for further future reference.
Also, being an automated system, this system is formulated for those customers who wish to have minimal interaction with the restaurant staff.
Hunger hates to wait and relying on the traditional pen and paper to take down the orders might as well take double the time. Switching over to a Kitchen Display System (KDS) helps to utilise the time more wisely.
A Kitchen Display System (KDS) is a digital order viewer that replaces your paper tickets and kitchen printers in turn monitoring the kitchen data. It plays a huge role in automating and making the process of sending order tickets straight to the kitchen as soon as the order is entered into the system much easier and convenient.
Such display systems are located in a position of your restaurant’s kitchen that instantly updates your staff and management about the new orders.
Integrated with a cloud-based POS technology KDS work remotely. It is basically a smart ordering and information display system that increases restaurant efficiency to boost the restaurant industry in 2022
Being 100% digital, it offers other major benefits such as accuracy, convenience, higher prioritisation, lower customer wait times, better management of inventory, better staff training and easier performance tracking of your restaurant allowing a clearer workspace operation
Automating inventory management implies tracking your inventory of food and beverage stocks by anticipating the quantities and even placing or scheduling reorders without having to perform the tedious task. By implementing such technological trends restaurants can track, minimise and manage food wastage.
With the help of AI technologies and through the digitalisation of the restaurant industry, businesses run more efficiently and sustainably.
And by adding Point of Sale (POS) system software you can easily automate and digitalise your restaurant’s operation. A restaurant POS is a basic software that allows you to scale your restaurant and thus before implementing your point of sale, you need to make sure that it is well integrated with your KDS.
The POS system processes the transactions that occur at a restaurant and initially was mere traditional restaurant billing software that was used to accept orders and generate receipts. However, with the advent of cloud technology in the recent past years, it has evolved to become a complete restaurant management system that is armed with Stock & Inventory Management, Smart Reporting & Analytics, Customer Relationship Management and more.
Having a POS system in your restaurant offers simplified operations with the reduced manual labour of your restaurant. It also adds integration with the other various third-party applications such as Online Ordering, E-wallets and Payments, Easier Table Reservations, Loyalty Programs, etc.
The cloud-based POS software works both online and offline and thus, works even if you don’t have active internet connectivity. It ensures that your restaurant operations never comes to a halt and hence serves as the end-to-end solution for restaurant management.
Enabling an active feedback system serves as the most vital and significant component in the digitalisation of the restaurant industry. It allows you to get honest and unbiased reviews and ratings from those who used your service. Customers can share their views and add honestly how they feel and what improvements can you make to your business to make it even more approachable and better in the eyes of the users.
A well-designed restaurant feedback app section helps to get and capture the core customer insights that in turn offer vital clues related to the customer experience. Using these feedbacks wisely will help you get and enjoy a resourceful increase in your brand awareness, revenue, customer retention and loyalty and maintain the key factors for stable and sustainable business growth driving higher customer engagement
The Feedback channel allows to follow up, connect and respond directly with the customers.
Scanning and connecting with QR codes has become a global concept. This no-touch era is further moving forward with auto-scanning barcodes with the help of the smartphone cameras from the posters, tables, websites, etc, to allow quick connection without the need to touch. When the customers scan QR codes, they are directly brought to your customised site. It enables your guests to pre-order their foods and beverages just by scanning a QR code. It makes it even easier and convenient, making the customer experience seamless.
By simply scanning QR codes, customers can easily access online menus, place orders or make reservations and make payments for the same. The concept of working with QR codes doesn’t even require downloading any app or consuming much data. Thus, QR codes are a must-have for your restaurant in 2022.
With the ease of simple creation and budget-friendly, chatbots have become a new restaurant technology trend that can be easily integrated with different communication channels. The chatbots for restaurants offer a personalised and amicable experience, round the clock to the customers those who have placed online orders or have made table reservations or need answers to the FAQs.
Integrated with smart AI and technology, chatbots may recommend dishes, process your payments, suggest food and drinks combinations, ask for sharing feedback, offer promotions or announce upcoming events.
These chatbots can even help enhance the CRM by improving the guest experience.
Customers are the soul of any business and restaurants are no different. The digital modifications of the restaurant industry in 2022 offer much more than just safer contactless environments and transactions. The digitalisation of the restaurant industry aims to offer a seamless customer experience while they are using your services. Allowing more personalised interactions with the customers enables and empowers the restaurants to operate with data-driven insights.
This includes the facilities of online ordering for pickup and delivery, self-service kiosk, generating digital loyalty and reward programs, along with offering touchless menus and benefits of online payments.
The emerging voice-activated devices are changing the ways restaurants and consumers connect. Consumers prefer using voice-activated devices and hence they often use them for finding dining spaces or ordering foods.
Keeping the ongoing trend in mind the restaurant industry in 2022 must include voice technology for restaurants to make it more useable and convenient for the consumers.
Integrating the services with virtual AI Voice assistants helps to take phone orders, process the voices distinctly considering the voices or dialects and allow customers to more simply review their orders.
The major demanding and challenging situation across the restaurant industry is to improvise the supply chain process.
A number of areas require better supply chain management to ensure the smooth functioning of the restaurant.
One of the most vital points is to ensure inventory management. It can be done by providing real-time visibility into the supply chain beginning from the point of purchase through the time of transporting, storing and using the inventory.
Also, by standardising the supplier management, it becomes comparatively easier to maintain supplier records, record the quality and compliance data
The restaurant industry in 2022 depends on technology for more than just placing orders and processing payments. Technology also facilitates and ensures the safety and compliance of the employees and customers.
By following strict privacy protocols, conducting wellness checks, ensuring food safety measures, maintaining proper sanitation and hygiene becomes absolutely essential for the restaurants.
By following these safety protocols, restaurants can boost their productivity and promote well-being
All’s well that ends well, well every crisis does have its own silver lining and the covid pandemic may have disrupted the normal flow of life and forced some drastic changes upon the operating of the restaurant industry but it also has bought them a few steps closer to connect with their potential prospects to accelerate the tech trends and grow with the changes.
Technology offers unique solutions and helps to operate more efficiently. Thus, whether on-the-campus or off-the-campus, it bring a win-win situation.
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