Labor costs are on the rise—particularly in markets with a higher minimum wage than $15 an hour—and rising ingredient costs feed into menu pricing. Indeed, according to the National Restaurant Association, menu prices have increased by 4.1% over the past 12 months.

Accordingly, restaurants are promptly investing in smart technology that will help them save labor and trim food costs by relying on loyalty programs and saving more to do more with less.

Operations Are Made Simpler by Smart Technology

Providing the best value for the experience is essential while managing narrow margins. Accuracy in the cost of products sold can be increased and errors can be decreased with the use of real-time data. Team members can see where deficiencies are due to information updates on sales and product amounts provided via real-time inventory access. This improves the restaurant's efficiency and helps it adapt to changing customer preferences in the future.

Businesses such as Sbarro use this intelligent technology to evaluate efficiency and profitability trends across several sites and use insights to make critical business choices in real-time and increase return on investment. By eliminating the need for manual reporting and saving franchises a substantial amount of time, intelligent technology frees up personnel to concentrate on the client experience.

Handheld gadgets can expedite procedures and lower the number of cashiers required to process orders in quick service. Staff at the drive-thru enter the lane, take orders quickly, and move quickly, as Chick-fil-A and In-N-Out have demonstrated for a long time.

Consider loyalty

Cost-conscious consumers are aware of ways to save money in light of the present inflation rate; as a result, up to 50% of them enroll in digital loyalty programs. The way that people view loyalty is changing. Customers now view these programs as essential, whereas formerly they were thought of as a good bonus. The brands they choose to frequent can be determined by the accumulation and use of points.

To take advantage of repeat business and promote revenue development, restaurants are responding by increasing their investments in loyalty programs and offering customized incentives and offers. Restaurants of all sizes—not just chains—need to think about implementing a digital loyalty infrastructure that allows for infinite expansion and flexibility, allowing them to easily roll out programs and try new things without running into operational or technological roadblocks.

About 8 million people are members of the International Bank of Pancakes (IBOP) loyalty program, which was established by the International House of Pancakes in 2022. There are over 8,000 downloads of the IHOP loyalty app every day, and members visit the restaurant twice as frequently and spend almost 5% more than non-members.

While discounts for money spent are emphasized in many brand loyalty programs, programs are starting to focus more on individualized rewards. In addition, loyalty programs are being added by full-service restaurants more frequently than quick-serve/fast-casual chains to increase sales and encourage return business.

Reduce the Cost of Food and More

One restaurant may produce from 25,000 to 75,000 pounds of food waste in one year. Food waste is a major area of potential savings when a restaurateur is tossing out the perishables before they have had a chance to use them. The inventory control software can alert kitchen staff when certain items are nearing their "best used by" date and can even help them figure out when to rotate stock.

However, reducing food waste and optimizing your back-office processes won't decrease costs by themselves. Restaurants can examine their current menu items closely and use innovative menu planning to optimize food expenses.

Use sophisticated technology to perform a menu audit that can distinguish between areas of concern, which are products that are costly, complicated to manufacture, and either popular or not, and the holy grail menu items, which are inexpensive, simple to make, and extremely popular. Restaurants may focus on the proper dishes and streamline their menu with the help of an audit, providing customers with consistently high-quality meals that will encourage repeat business.

In addition to streamlining their menu, eateries ought also to think about doing away with their printed menus completely. Make the move to digital menu boards, iPads, or self-ordering kiosks; staff can concentrate on providing additional value-added services to consumers and these are less expensive and easier to update. These technologies can also improve the client experience by providing customized menus and food recommendations.

Increase Productivity While Decreasing Waste

Restaurants need to find strategies to survive and grow in the face of inflation, which includes rising food prices, and rising labor costs. This requires the use of intelligent technology. This entails making use of mobile devices, loyalty plans, menu audits, inventory management systems, QR codes, and other technology designed specifically for restaurants.

You can do more with less when you use technology. Having the appropriate platform or platforms can mean the difference between your brand succeeding and simply scraping by in a challenging environment.

Disclaimer: This article is informative and not for promotional purposes. Moreover, the content belongs to the owner and there are no affiliations or marketing motives behind it.