Owning and operating a restaurant is a monumental responsibility. With so much on one’s plate- from menus to recipes, staff management to marketing, it is increasingly important to streamline the operations.
A restaurant POS can simplify invoicing, inventory management, and tax compliance responsibilities. Helping restaurants streamline daily activities, these systems also help in gathering patron data, run loyalty programs, and augment the decision-making process. Here are some trends that we believe will dominate the restaurant POS industry in 2022:
Technology Trends in Restaurant POS Industry
1. Facial recognition will drive high levels of personalization
Nearly all the restaurant, irrespective of their scale of operations, are trying to enhance the customer experience. And technologies like facial recognition will open up new avenues for operational efficiency. Both POS and facial recognition technologies will enable restaurants to serve better.
Upon entering, all a customer will have to do is just smile in front of the camera on the QSR counter or at the table and the digital menu will come up with recommendations, order history, loyalty program information, and more details, simplifying and speeding up ordering experience.
What does this mean for the restaurants?
- Detailed customer profiling for targeted marketing
- Faster and secure payments
- Interactive customer experience without hassles
2. The Era of Self-servicing
There has been a huge hype about self-service kiosks inside restaurants in recent years. These kiosks allow patrons to place their order independently using interactive tablet-based menus at the counter or at other places inside the restaurants.
The digital menus inside the kiosk completely eliminate the need for human assistance and customers can browse through all the offerings, place their order and sit back without even standing in queues. Also, these kiosks give restaurants an opportunity to increase revenues by opening up avenues for cross-selling and upselling related delicacies.
What does this mean for the restaurants?
- Better in-restaurant customer experience
- Reduced manpower requirements
- Data-driven recommendations & personalization for patrons
- Shorter turnaround and wait timings
3. Table side Digital Ordering
A critical area that demanded significant evolution in the restaurant industry was associated with how patrons place their orders. For a patron dining at a fine dining restaurant, it was increasingly inconvenient to get the attention of a server busy with other chores.
Technology has made it possible for patrons to place their orders by interacting with digital menus placed on their tables. This has become more convenient than repeatedly calling servers to order an additional dish. The increased convenience has ensured that customers get needed privacy without being frustrated while they dine.
What does this mean for the restaurants?
- Reduced manpower requirement
- Recording valuable customer data
- Faster order processing and turnaround
4. Cross-function integration
POS solutions are being designed to serve as a growth facilitator. Instead of being a standalone solution, these systems are being evolved to interact with other aspects associated with restaurant operations. No more a POS solution is only for billing, it can take care of CRM, loyalty programs, customer feedback, and data analysis.
Advanced POS systems will be seen integrating with kitchen operations and training activities, making them more useful in the restaurant management value chain.
What does this mean for the restaurants?
- Single window solution for entire restaurant management
- Higher staff efficiency due to the reduced hassle of dealing with multiple systems
- Data-driven decision making and analysis
5. Smarter Delivery Operations for Increased Revenues
Till now, POS systems were expected to manage everything inside the restaurant. But a next-gen POS solution for a restaurant can even do more intelligent tasks like optimizing deliveries. Deliveries, of late, have acquired a major share in the restaurant’s revenue pie. And with AI-driven POS solutions, delivery management has become easier.
Tablet/mobile-based POS systems can assign delivery personnel based on their location, suggest fastest delivery routes and notify patrons in real-time about their orders, improving their online ordering experience.
What does this mean for the restaurants?
- Faster and more efficient delivery operations
- Automated order management
- Increased revenues with minimal effort and investment
6. Increased Mobility due to Reduced Hardware Dependency
Restaurant servers are expected to be efficient in moving around the house while serving connoisseurs and catering to their demands. With tablet/mobile-based POS systems coming into the picture, the days of bulky POS solutions seem to be over.
Using a tablet-based POS solution, a server can take customer orders, recommend dishes based on his/her choices, suggest popular menu items and directly send the orders to the kitchen without having to physically go there. All this leads to reduced turnaround times, enhancing customer delight.
What does it mean for the restaurants?
- Lower investments due to the requirement of less hardware
- Customer-centric operations
- Improved customer delight due to faster order processing
Concluding Notes
Keeping up with upcoming technology trends for achieving efficiency should be the goal of every restaurant in a world of increased competition. Advanced POS systems can be a game-changer that can help restaurants in providing a more patron-centric experience and reduce operational costs.
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