Quick Summary:Are you running a restaurant? Do you want to keep your online restaurant or dine-in equipped with the latest restaurant technology? Yes, right modern business landscape is very competitive and you can not stay away from restaurant tech any longer. So, we have made it simple for you by bringing some of the top recommended restaurant innovations for you. Let’s explore;
Can you live without your smartphone for a few days? It’s almost impossible for 80% of people. So, how can you imagine that you run a successful restaurant business without innovative restaurant technology? Whether you are running a ghost kitchen, a meal prep business, providing online food delivery services, or running a storefront restaurant business of any type, integrating restaurant technology is the need of the hour.
In this article, we will explore three important points;
Restaurant Technology at Glance?
Why Do Restaurants Need Technology?
Top Restaurant Technologies to Watch in 2023/24
After going through this article, you will be able to understand;
Different technology for restaurants to use in the savvy era and also understand how these restaurants are significant for your online or dine-in restaurant. Besides, you will be capable of selecting the right technologies per your requirements. So, let’s explore them one by one.
Any technology that helps restaurants improve their food and service quality is known as restaurant technology. Let’s take an example of a QR Code Menu: Users can scan and explore the list of menus offered by the restaurant. In fact, users can even place an order by selecting the menu just by scanning the QR code placed on their table. Similarly, there are plenty of technologies, specially built for restaurants including pizzerias, bars, and others. So, technologies that help restaurants provide faster, smoother, and convenient services to consumers and also help improve the quality of food are known as restaurant innovation.
Why Do Restaurants Need Technology?
As we have said, restaurant technologies help restaurants improve their services, and deliver the best food to customers. So, when you improve these two important things, you get the following benefits;
Your Restaurant Gets Competitive Edge
Deliver Excellent Customer Experience
Get Data-Driven Insights
High Efficiency & Accuracy
Your Restaurant Gets Competitive Edge
When all of your competitors are embracing and shifting to high-tech restaurants, limiting yourself to legacy or traditional means will keep your competitors at an edge. Whereas, a little makeover with the top-rated tech advent for restaurants can keep you ahead in this field.
You cannot stay spectators when all your fellow restaurant owners use tech advantages and win the hearts of tech-savvy people. Technology helps your restaurant grow faster, attract people, bring new customers on board, and help you stay competitive. New technology in the restaurant is crucial for modern customers, and they are efficient in giving you an edge over all your competitors, albeit how you use the technology will matter the most.
Deliver Excellent Customer Experience
Modern consumers want faster, smoother, and convenient services. You cannot serve their purposes unless you have innovative restaurant technologies in place.
Get Data-Driven Insights
When consumers visit your restaurant, they leave a lot of data behind. These data can help you improve your services and food quality, increase sales, delivers personalized services, and more. New technology in restaurants will help you get insights and make informed decisions.
High Efficiency & Accuracy
Traditionally, just managing orders was a complex task. You had to involve human resources to manage the order; still, there were various issues. Now, you have plenty of smart technology in the restaurant industry that helps you manage orders and other customer-facing issues without any error.
Top Restaurant Technologies to Watch in 2023/24
You know what restaurant technology is and how it helps you in your restaurant business growth. Now, let’s come to the core points, the top restaurant technologies to watch in 2023 and 2024. These technologies are useful and can keep your restaurant thriving. Whether you are an established restaurant owner or planning to start a restaurant, bar, pizzeria, or others, the list of tech innovations are good for you.
POS System
Self-Order Kiosks
Website
Food Ordering Apps
Digital Menus
Direct Online Ordering System
Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality Dining
Contactless Payments
Data Security and Privacy
Order and Pay at the Table
QR Codes
Enhanced Guest Engagement
Table Booking or Reservation Software
Kitchen Management Software
Loyalty Program
Chatbots
Third-Party Delivery
1: POS System (Point of Sale System)
Whether it is a big restaurant, pizzeria, bar, or small coffee shop, a POS system is crucial for them. Basically, a POS system refers to any products within the restaurant premises that with the help of software allow restaurant owners to be efficient. For example, a POS (point of sale) system facilitates various operations, like order taking, payment processing, inventory management, and reporting. POS systems streamline transactions and enhance overall restaurant management.
Top Features of POS System
Order Management
Payment Processing
Inventory Tracking
Sales Analytics
Benefits of POS Systems in Restaurant
Efficient Order Processing
Accurate Inventory Management
Enhanced Customer Service
Detailed Sales Reporting
2: Self-Order Kiosks
Every modern restaurant provides self-order kiosks. Kiosks are not new technology but 2023 has been crucial for it and 2024 will be the awesome one. You can include this in your restaurant technology trends list. We have selected this technology as we find this innovation playing a crucial role in saving customers time. For example, with kiosks, your customers can browse the menu, place orders, and even make payments with ease. They do not need to stand or wait in the queue. A simple touchscreen terminal can do all these jobs for them.
Top Features of Kiosks
Menu Selection
Customization Options
Payment Integration
Order Confirmation
Benefits of Kiosks
Faster Order Placement
Reduced Queues
Customizable Orders
Increased Upselling Opportunities
3: A Comprehensive Website
Whether you are running a ghost kitchen, a meal prep business, or owning an online or on-premise restaurant, a website is a must-have thing for you. An effective restaurant website serves as a digital storefront for you. It is significant for users as your website plays a crucial role in providing them with important information and driving foot traffic. For example, through a website, your users can explore all the crucial information related to your restaurant, such as menus, location, and address and even place orders if you have a food ordering website. Even if you are not serving online customers, your website can help potential consumers stay engaged with your brand and even improvise your branding.
Running an online restaurant business without a perfect food ordering application is impossible. Mobile applications for restaurants not only help your customers personally stay connected with you but also help you market your restaurant effectively. Did you know that before COVID-19, food ordering apps were popular among celebrated restaurant chains, like McDonald’s, Taco Bell, Starbucks and to name just a few? But, during and post-pandemic, it has become a necessary thing for every new, small, medium, and large restaurant.
Whether you are starting a new restaurant or own an established eatery, having a mobile application is the need of the hour. Nowadays, you have various mobile order app options, such as aggregator platforms, and integrated SaaS based food ordering systems that come with integrated mobile applications, or create one from scratch. No matter what option you choose, they will be highly effective for your restaurant. Mobile ordering app comes with convenience, providing your customers with order food from the comfort of their homes.
Features of Mobile Ordering Apps
Menu Browsing
Table Booking/Reservation Options
Push Notifications
Online Ordering
Mobile Payment
Loyalty and Rewards Program
Online Food Tracking
Order History
Chat/Chatbots/Notification
Benefits of Mobile Ordering Apps
Convenient for Customers
Food Ordering at Their Fingertips
Seamless Reservations/Table Booking
Save Yours and Your Customers’ Time
Provide Important Customers with Data
5: Digital Menus
Whether you own an on-premise eatery or provide online food ordering services, digital menus are must-have stuff. For online ordering, you need to provide a detailed online digital menu that provides comprehensive details for the food your customers want to order. At the same time, you need to have interactive digital displays allowing your dine-in customers to explore and choose their favorite cuisine from the comfort of their own.
Features of Digital Menu
Visual Digital Display of Food, Cuisine & Dishes
Pricing Information with Currency Sign
Instant Updates, Edit, Delete Menu Items
Custom Content for Special Occasions
Easy to Use, Easy to Oder
Benefits of Digital Menu
Make Changes in Menu Easily
Showcase Your Marketing Messages
Promote Special Food
Streamline Ordering
Visual Appeal
Reduced Printing Costs
Eco-Friendly
6: Direct Online Ordering System
Are you running a restaurant online or owning an on-premise eatery? You need to have a faster and smoother online ordering system. The system will ensure your customers order food directly from your website or mobile applications. We have mentioned earlier that you have various options. The two best fits in this scenario are —either building a custom website and mobile applications from scratch or buying an off-the-shelf online food ordering system.
While the former will be a costly affair, the latter will help you save big bangs on the bank. Both come with almost similar performance. However, with custom applications, you will have everything. When you buy SaaS-based restaurant food ordering software, you will save not just on purchase costs, but also on system management, updates, and upgrades as everything will be managed by your service provider.
Features of Online Ordering System
Phone call Ordering
Mobile App Ordering
Website Ordering
QR-based digital Menu and Ordering
Contactless Orders
Benefits of Online Ordering System
Appealing to Tech-Savvy Generation
Makes the Food Ordering Process Easier
Generates More Revenue
Real-Time Expense Monitoring
Free Marketing Option
7: Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality Dining
AR and VR are the most trending technologies used in restaurants nowadays. They are useful in providing an enhanced dining experience to your consumers. With the technology you can help your guests find their way through the hotel, spa, bars, or others. The technology may not be so effective for online food ordering websites, still, your online users can provide interactive menus and virtual table settings using AR technology. With VR, your customers can experience immersive virtual dining environments.
Features of Restaurant AR/VR Technology
Virtual Menus
Interactive Virtual Environments
Visual Previews of Dishes
Immersive Brand Storytelling
Benefits of Restaurant AR/VR Technology
Effective And Efficient Employee Training
Increased Customer Satisfaction.
Engaging And Effective Marketing Materials.
Automation Of Some Tasks.
8: Contactless Payments
That’s trending, albeit it usually comes with an online food ordering system. In some cases, when you are running the cafe, you can use single Contactless payment methods, such as mobile wallets or NFC-enabled cards, which allow customers to make payments without physical contact, providing a hygienic and efficient transaction process.
Features of Contactless Payments
Secure Payment Getaway
NFC Technology
Mobile Wallet Integration
QR Code Scanning
Benefits of Contactless Payments
Faster Transaction
Enhanced Safety
Easy to Make Payments
Multiple Payments Facilities
9: QR Codes
QR Codes in a restaurant is not new but it’s trending nowadays. Picture this, dinners visit your restaurant and find a QR code at their table. They scan the code and find the list of menus available with detailed information. They can explore it and even place orders right from their table. They do not need to wait for the bartender to attend to the order. The QR code menu is popular while it can be used for various purposes.
Features of QR Codes
QR Code Creation
Promotion and Menu Links
Customization
Dynamic QR Code Genration
Benefits of QR Codes
Cost-effective
Easy-to-Access Information
Trackable Metrics
Enhanced security
10: Table Booking or Reservation Software
Table booking software is useful for restaurants as they can offer consumers an easy way to book their table so they do not have to wait when they visit your eatery. They can easily come and grab their seats and enjoy food. This restaurant technology is useful for every small, medium, and large restaurant. Most importantly, you will get this software included when you integrate SaaS-based online food ordering systems.
Features of Table Booking Software
Select Table
Book Table
Select Time
Decide The Number
Benefits of Table Booking Software
Attract new customers
Helps in Guest Management
Provide Insightful Data
Maximize Table Turnover
Provide Excellent Customer Experience
11: Kitchen Management Software
Kitchen management software is the most crucial technology for restaurants of all sizes. It’s an integrated technology system that helps restaurants track every line of operations, communications, and data within the restaurant. With this technology, your restaurant can be more efficient and save you cost and time by tracking stocks and informing you when ingredients are running low.
Features of Kitchen Management Software
Tracking Orders Placed Online/Offline
Inventory management
Provides Optimized Food Service Operations
Menu Planning
Staff Management
Benefits of Kitchen Management Software
Eliminate Errors
Reduced Labor Costs
Streamline Inventory Management
Strategize Process
How Foodiv Helps You in Deciding Restaurant Technologies
We are a top-rated online food ordering system provider in the USA and India with a good understanding of the industry. We know the type of technology you need. We understand that not all restaurant technologies may be suitable for your online and offline restaurants. Hence, we expertly analyze your requirements, understand your needs, and help you make a better decision. Besides, we help you choose the best SaaS-based restaurant ordering system that can help run restaurants online and offline.
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