Get Ready Restaurateurs! Here are 3 trends to watch out for in 2018!
2018 is here and you know what they say, “in with the new and out with the old.” Time to see what 2018 has in store for the restaurant industry! Trends play an important part in shaping the way your business works and the direction that it will steer in. Unsatisfied customer reviews, overworking your staff at peak times and slow table turns worry you as a business owner? If you answered YES! to any of those then you will definitely want to leverage some of the following trends to help you navigate the new year.
1. POS System
This year, your POS system will go from being just a payment taker to an efficiency booster! Your POS can be integrated into your Kitchen Display system to ensure that everything is cooked to your specifications arriving at the right table at the right time at the right temperature. Integrating your kitchen display and POS system can get orders in quicker and more efficiently and boost your customer experience points. I mean who doesn’t love great reviews for their business? Your POS also has many features that can help track and prevent theft in the work place by ensuring that voids and complimentary items cannot be processed without the correct authorization just to name one example. Putting in those few extra dollars into upgrading your POS doesn’t sound so bad after all as it can lead to a high return on investment. Especially with the mobile wallet payment features which is a growing trend in the millennial market and something you do not want to lack in your POS!
2. Self-order kiosk
Self-order kiosks are making their way into the mainstream! In 2017, McDonald’s restaurants rolled out their self ordering kiosks to all their franchisees in an effort to increase visits, offering customers faster and more convenient service, According to the 2017 restaurant technology report, 49% of diners say that they enjoy using ordering kiosks as they improve their ordering experience and 73% of restaurant goers think technology helps improve their overall dining experience! 39% of restaurateurs find that ordering kiosks actually improve their restaurant’s efficiency as staff can get orders in quicker and turn their attention to other tasks around the restaurant. According to Mauricio Chaco, the Senior Product Manager of Epson America, “In some cases, customers are using a self-ordering kiosk and ordering larger meals [super-size] because they do not want to be judged by a person behind a register.” To stay competitive against large fast food chains, small to medium quick serve restaurants are predicted to follow the trend of the implementation of self serve kiosks.
3. Online ordering tools
With so many online ordering applications available and consumers spending more time online and on their smartphones every day, online ordering makes buying take out much more common and convenient. More and more restaurants are jumping on this train to cater to a generation of consumers who grew up in the digital era and growing numbers of urban young adults who work long hours just wishing to get home after work to a nice hot meal. A restaurant technology survey from Fortune Magazine discovered that online food orders topped phone orders by almost 7% last year. Anyone who brings in this technology should be prepared to get the speed of service that they didn’t have before. In addition, your POS can be linked to your online ordering platform saving you that extra step of inputting and cashing in the incoming order. This tool can help restaurants save on labor costs while getting more orders through everyday just by offering customers a quicker and more convenient method of ordering their food.
Making the investment to take advantage of these trends will definitely reward your business in the long run. Restaurateurs should continuously be seeking new ways to attract new customers and impress existing ones. Using sleeker and smarter restaurant solutions will improve everyday operational efficiency. See how you can improve your business today.
