6 Ways Restaurants are Embracing New Technology
Restaurants are no strangers to technological advancement. Paper, sticky notes, and calculators have given way to software, email, and POS systems. While these changes seemed daunting at first, each have made restaurants more efficient, allowing them to focus on customer experience. Because it can be hard to keep up with all of these new products, we’ve compiled a list of a few that we find the most helpful!
Inventory Management
These automated services can keep your inventory up to date by tracking ingredients and liquor amounts, ensuring that you avoid taking items off of your menu and disappointing customers. For example, Partender can help save you time and increase accuracy by tracking liquor inventory through simple pictures of your bottles. Furthermore, software like Upserve can even automatically purchase certain ingredients that are running low at your venue.
Private Dining Software
These platforms help venues with all things events. From helping your reach potential customers to automatically making Banquet Event Orders (BEOs), private dining software can help optimize your events business. Gather Technologies offers an affordable platform that brings you leads from top events sites and streamlines the event management process.
Social Media
In an age where potential customers can compare you and your competitors at the click of a button, a strong social media presence can be the difference. A recent study found that 73% of millennials look at a hotel’s social media as a part of their decision-making process.
Reservation Tools
While these tools have been around for some time now, they are an example of how technology fundamentally changed how restaurants work. Online reservations sites like OpenTable and NoWait by Yelp saved guests time and allowed restaurants to fill empty tables at any time.
Self-Service Kiosks
From self-checkout at grocery stores to Amazon Prime, consumers are increasingly putting a premium on their time - enter tablets at restaurant tables. For example, Ziosk will affordably outfit your venue with easy-to-use tablets that give your guests the power to dine on their terms. Guests can easily order food, pay the check, and even play entertaining games.
POS Technology
By now, the backbone of most restaurants is their Point of Sale (POS) system. POS systems can now help venues manage their inventory, keep track of shift schedules, deliver custom sales reports, and much more. New players like Square and Toast are making it so it’s never been easier to bring high powered POS systems into your venue.
At Sidework, we believe that technology has vastly improved the experiences of restaurant staff and customers. However, technology specifically made for bars has not kept up with the rest of the industry. We hope to change that because when technology and hospitality meet, your job becomes a little bit easier and your guests go home a lot happier.