The restaurant industry has had a long and challenging year. With all the havoc wrought by the COVID-19 pandemic, businesses have simplified and bolstered operations to contend with limited capacity restrictions, sanitation regulations, shifting customer expectations, and social distancing requirements set down by their states.
Advancing restaurant technology can smooth over the obstacles caused by coronavirus. From a Kitchen Display System to ease operations in the back of the house to Point of Sales that improve productivity up front, streamlining services, so the entire team works efficiently together helps your restaurant sell more overall.
The Rise of Contactless Technology
Touch-free tech has been on the rise this year because customers were concerned about social distance and sanitation, making contactless solutions much more attractive. The features you get with KDS and PoS systems powered by superior vendors like eatOS will improve inter-staff communication to guarantee that employees are always working to the best of their abilities, with the most up-to-date information and productively together.
QR codes link to digital menus, which allow for self-service. Place the code somewhere convenient and visible. Customers scan and automatically redirect them to a menu optimized for mobile use where they can read through and place an order at leisure.
Speed up the ordering experience and increase convenience and accuracy with self-ordering technology.
Coalesce a wide range of data points from multiple Point of Sales for a full picture of how the business is doing, with all its ups and downs. See what’s working and what isn’t, how changes affect sales over time, as well as what revenue channels need to be streamlined or adapted for greater use.
Manage the service floor better with a Point of Sale that can handle reservations, virtually configure tables to optimize floor space, manage waitlists and even send automated SMS texts. Notify guests when their tables are ready, wherever they are, and send reservation reminders in advance to reduce the risk of no-shows.
Order tracking with timestamps to improve the kitchen queue. Guests can also follow their food along its way, from submission to when it’s in preparation all the way to their door.
Improve order turns with KDS that distribute tasks to the right kitchen station, reduce errors, and improve the quality of every meal served.
Streamline off-premise dining options with better restaurant technology. The needs of the modern consumer are changing in conjunction with the COVID-19 pandemic, its trends and associated legal regulations that come out of it.
The future of food service is evolving all the time, and it’s not just limited to technology. From recipe cards to superior workforce management features, technology and manual work together create better restaurant systems that streamline the workload for existing employees and additionally improve the onboarding process for all future hires.
The industry is known for its extremely high employee turnover and thin profit margins; now, with the COVID-19 pandemic a constant unknown variable, restaurants are trying everything they can to improve customer satisfaction, employ safety precautions, reduce the risk of virus transmissions on-premises and simultaneously keep their business running smoothly as it was before—or close as they can manage. Adaptability and flexibility is key to surviving whatever comes next.
From self-service solutions to other smart technology that supports socially distanced guest interactions and lowered risk of COVID-19, the food service industry is only going to get more digital even once we move beyond the pandemic. As customers have gotten more used to self-service and contactless options, they’ve grown accustomed to the ease at which they can complete their order from start to finish. Book a demo with eatOS and learn why smart Point of Sales are the future of restaurant technology.
