Updated on: April 22, 2023
In the quickly evolving world of food service, leveraging restaurant technology to your benefit is essential. Looking to get in on the restaurant tech game but unsure where to begin? Asking yourself three simple questions can set you in the right direction!
Restaurant technology is completely reforming the landscape of the food service industry—today’s customers have unparalleled access to all types of cuisines, dining experiences, and dine-in options. As a result, leveraging restaurant technology to adapt your services to the needs of your customers is crucial.
For the most part, the days when a restauranteur could run a successful business by operating with a pen, paper, and quick wit are gone. As more restaurant owners adopt restaurant technology and consumer demand adapts to a newfound level of convenience, choosing a restaurant tech vendor of your own becomes increasingly important.
If you’re stumped when it comes to finding the best restaurant tech vendor for your business, these questions provide a solid jumping-off point.
1. What Common Problems Am I Experiencing?
Restaurant technology was created to help you solve problems. Are you struggling to keep your walk-in fully stocked? Is monitoring your cash flow proving more difficult than you had imagined? Once you have identified the specific problems you face in day-to-day operations, finding the right tech vendor is as simple as fitting together a puzzle: you have most of it finished already, you just need to finagle the final pieces.
If you have a great staff and a fool-proof cash management system but need to step up your purchasing game, you’ll want to start your search with restaurant tech vendors that specialize in purchasing software and avoid those that try to upsell you on stuff you don’t need and won’t use.
2. How Can I Improve My Guest Experience?
The guest experience is the heart that pumps life-giving blood through the food service industry. Finding restaurant technology that helps you understand your current guest experience and offers insights on how to improve is critical. Seven out of 10 U.S consumers admit they’ve spent more money to do business with a company that delivers excellent customer service—that’s awesome news! Investing in technology that monitors your inventory, assists with menu creation and pricing, and improves employee productivity will allow you to provide an exceptional guest experience and increase your customer retention. If you do it right, people won’t be able to stop talking about your restaurant!
3. Will This Service Help My Business Grow?
In the world of fast-casual dining, all goals lead up to one tangible metric of success: restaurant growth. When choosing a restaurant tech vendor, it’s obvious that you want to choose one that facilitates growth. Do you want to open another (or several) new locations? Chances are you’ll need a tool that reports daily profitability and delivers accurate data you can use when considering expansion.
In the vast sea of restaurant tech vendors, finding that perfect catch might feel like an impossible task. Hopefully, this article can provide some direction in your search for the perfect restaurant technology.