There is a lot of noise in the restaurant technology space. How do you know which new technology is a solid investment — or even when it’s worth upgrading your existing tools and systems? CIO Review identified five E’s that can help you sift through the clutter. Asking yourself these questions can help you narrow down your options. First, is it easy to use? If it’s not, your team won’t use it and it may even motivate their decision to leave. Next, is it effective in tackling intended challenges — enough so that it makes the investment worthwhile? Third, is the technology efficient? It should either automate or reduce the steps you must take to complete a task, not create new ones. Fourth, is it engaging to use? In addition to being intuitive to use, the interface should provide feedback and visual cues to guide someone through a task. Finally, how tolerant of errors is the technology? Can you easily undo a task initiated by accident? It should have controls in place to minimize the impact of user errors and above all, safeguard your data
A study by IHL Services, Inc. found that 96 percent of consumers between the ages of 18 and 39 like to use kiosks for ordering food. Restaurant operators who consider kiosks to be the domain of large chains might keep an eye on Tapit, an emerging player that offers a customizable kiosk platform called SELFIT that is aimed at individual restaurants on up to small- to medium-size chains. The platform, which was on display at the recent National Restaurant Association Show, aims to help restaurants customize menus and integrate promotions, lifting check totals in the process. The company’s technology is currently used in the Israeli sandwich chain New Deli, where the head of operations credited the kiosks for boosting individual sales by 30 percent and branch sales by 13 percent. National Restaurant News reports that Tapit’s kiosk platform will have its first U.S. rollout at Duchess Restaurants in Connecticut.
Have you harnessed technology to manage your food waste? If not, consider a couple of companies on the forefront of the effort who are helping restaurants limit their waste — and in the process, save money, gain insights into their menu and connect with the community. Goodr, which made the Spoon’s list of 25 companies changing the future of food, uses technology to minimize food waste and then partners with nonprofits to transport it to people in need. The company also has efforts underway to use food waste for renewable energy — a good story to share with guests — as well as to use blockchain to enhance the efficiency of food waste management. Another company, Copia, enables food businesses to donate their unused food in exchange for enhanced tax deductions, as well as data that can help steer purchasing decisions.
A robot that can flip burgers behind the scenes is one thing. But somehow, a robot that can take on a wide range of front-of-house roles normally held by humans still feels a little space-age. However, a voice-activated, cloud-enabled service robot called the Sanbot Elf Robot seems to be making that possible. Canada-based Autonetics Universe recently acquired the rights to distribute the robot, which Nation’s Restaurant News reports can be programmed to take on such roles as greeting guests, taking orders, and sharing promotions, as well as serving as food runner, cashier and even security guard. The service robot is already used widely in Canada and Japan — the company says there are currently 100,000 in use — and it’s not difficult to see how such technology may appeal to U.S. operators struggling to manage labor costs. (Well, aside from the $13,000 price tag.) McDonald’s is currently testing robotic technology used for frying, taking drive-thru orders and cooking chicken and fish, so front-of-house applications may not be far behind for major brands.
When you hear the terms “crops” and “climate change” in the same sentence, it’s generally not good news. But perhaps for that reason, entrepreneurs are developing tech to change it. Keep your eye on Calyxt, a company that, the Spoon reports, uses a higher-tech, more efficient form of genetic modification called CRISPR, to improve the nutrition and pest-resistance of crops, while also making them grow faster and bigger as climate change becomes a more significant challenge for producers. Calyxt, whose parent company is the French pharmaceutical company Cellectis, has developed a soybean with fewer unhealthy fats and is now working on a high-fiber wheat.
If your restaurant shows games or other live events on television, you are likely aware of Tunity, a company that makes it possible for people in fitness centers, sports bars, hotels and other venues to use their smartphone to listen to audio from muted televisions showing live events. The company was onsite at the National Restaurant Association Show to promote its testing of a new feature that may help restaurants target guests with special offers based on their viewing preferences. So, as Nation’s Restaurant News reports, if one of your guests is an L.A. Lakers fan, Tunity’s app can help you send a push notification to entice the person to watch the Lakers’ next game with you — and get a free beer or other offer in exchange.
The age-old nuisance of technology is that as soon as one gadget or tool comes out to address a business challenge, there’s a new one ready to do the same job faster, better and cheaper. A new example of this is Dash Now, one company (among a number of them) that says mobile phones serve as more convenient payment vehicles than tableside tablets in restaurants. Nation’s Restaurant News reports that the company, which plans a July launch, will let guests use their phones to pay a check by scanning a QR code listed on their receipt. During the payment process, the guest is asked to provide feedback about their experience — much like the prompt you receive on your mobile phone at the end of an Uber ride.
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