Over the past year, COVID-19 has fundamentally changed our approach to dining out. As people prioritize safety, social distance and healthier living standards, so too has restaurant technology evolved to better handle all of the different, changing needs of the modern consumer.
Cloud-based Point of Sale technology is sweeping the entire industry in part because of contactless dining capabilities that prioritize health and sanitation. The speed and ease of off-premise services have also driven preference toward self-ordering tech. As restaurants try to protect the health of customers and service workers alike, they’re also struggling to provide a taste of normalcy to guests who don’t want to be reminded about the strangeness of this ongoing situation.
A Rise in Contact-Free Technology
Although automation and contact-free technology isn’t a novel concept, advancements have made it easier than ever to integrate a new, more capable Point of Sale into your current operations, including in benefit to your workers—not to their detriment like many assume.
Choosing the right device for your business depends on what you need, the way your restaurant works and what customers expect when they visit. Order-ahead technology is on the rise as guests flock to online ordering platforms and customized delivery apps that route tickets straight to the Kitchen Display Screen for the cooks to get started on immediately. We consolidate all sales channels through the same PoS so you see all your data in one clear, automated report for future analysis.
Curbside pickup services one of the off-premise options that guests have taken a particular shine to. orderOS, an online ordering app that we make personalized for your business so you can accept off-premise orders without paying high third party commission fees, lets customers include instructions like a license plate number or description of their car so couriers can quickly find where they’re supposed to drop off food and ascertain it’s delivered to the right person.
Contact-free is getting creative, too. It’s not just online ordering that’s become a hit, but QR codes as well because guests scan them right from their smartphones which redirects them to a digital menu that’s been optimized for mobile viewing. They can take their time with the menu to ensure they get exactly what they want, then enter a ticket and pay wherever they are. All over, restaurants are finding ways to make a creative, contactless dining experience.
The Future of Food Service
Hospitality and customer service are changing as the world changes, and these trends are likely to continue long past the threat of coronavirus. Restaurants all over the world are coming up with innovative ideas to make food service interesting and safe at the same time; from food lockers for remote order pickup that are easily zapped and sprayed clean, to streamlined temperature checks, outdoor kitchens, and more, food service is moving toward solutions that equally favor COVID-19 safety precautions with customer satisfaction and optimized, diversified sales channels.
In a world of contactless tech, customer service has to get creative. Find little ways to make each order special so your loyal customers know how much you appreciate their continued support. Make sure to reference your PoS regularly to know whether these changes are really promoting cost efficiency like they’re meant to or if you need to to try a different tack for more effective growth.
Trends spawned by COVID-19 won’t go away just because the virus does. Health concerns and all of our new knowledge about how to spread viruses—and the fragility of society when such an overwhelming pandemic ensnares the whole world at once—will likely spur customers to continue favoring fast service, automation, digitization and other, similar trends that have grown since the pandemic started. Tests the bounds of what your restaurant can feasibly handle with new trends, advanced software and positive engagement rates so you can ensure you’re staying relevant with your guests who will see you through to the other side of these trying times.
Schedule a demo with eatOS and learn what powerful restaurant management systems can do for the future of contactless dining.
