If you’re not quite sure what to do with all of the data you’ve been collecting, you’re far from alone. According to research from Nation’s Restaurant News, seven out of 10 operators are not confident that they are optimizing their data – and this is true across different restaurant sizes and segments. It seems that while restaurants across the board appreciate that data is critical to business, the message about how to translate that data into actionable steps has gotten lost. If you’re in this position, simplify things by starting with your POS system, since it’s the nerve center of your business and determines what other functionality your restaurant has (or doesn’t have) when it comes to data collection. A legacy POS system will stand in the way of functions you’d like to integrate down the line, while a cloud-based system will enable regular automatic updates and can give your operation flexibility to integrate new options. Have your POS provider review with you what your system can do, what data streams it can analyze and what integrations are possible with your current system – or if a newer cloud-based system is the first investment you’ll need to make to compete in the long term. For many restaurants, the past few years have been a time of tech transformation. Restaurants that had the resources available to upgrade to modern POS systems and adopt other integrated technology in order to survive may not be looking to make additional significant investments in tech in the near future. Yet the landscape is always shifting and new tools are becoming available that promise to make business better and help operators work more efficiently. In a recent webcast with Nation’s Restaurant News, restaurant experts weighed in on some of the low-hanging fruit that operators can target if they’re looking to make incremental improvements. Some of the key suggestions included scheduling software (even something basic can improve employee flexibility and morale), software that aggregates online reviews and ensures you’re not leaving any unanswered ones dangling, and forecasting functionality that dovetails with your purchasing and ensures you’re minimizing waste where you can. While it’s true that more restaurant operators are automating front- and back-of-house processes right now, they are also focusing more on how they can make the most of their staff – and keep the people they have. According to Nation’s Restaurant News Intelligence, this is the top priority for operators. It ranks higher for them than reducing labor costs, as well as streamlining both back- and front-of-house operations. The labor shortage of the past few years has required operators to adopt technology that supports employee retention efforts. That includes taking such steps as digitizing the onboarding and training process, automating scheduling, and adopting labor-enhancing tools to help them deliver quality service (as opposed to bringing in technology designed to replace human labor). This is a beneficial talking point for operators managing staff. Regularly collecting feedback from staff about their pain points can help you identify where technology might help lighten their load and enable them to focus on guest-facing work. It may even help you keep them from moving on to a different job. When we think of restaurant automation, images of robotic fry cooks tend to spring to mind. But as the recent National Restaurant Association Show revealed, advances in artificial intelligence and automation are beginning to transform restaurant roles well beyond the fryer. For example, when the restaurant group Boqueria Kitchen transitioned from a manual system for tipping out and managing payroll to an automated one, it saved about 3,000 labor hours – or the equivalent of 1.5 full-time managers, according to a report from Restaurant Dive. Such automated systems are also helping restaurants improve their compliance accuracy, which in turn allows managers to spend more time making sure guests get great service. Beyond day-to-day restaurant management, more operators are leaning on automated communication tools like ChatGPT to help with employee screening and onboarding in an effort to retain staff. As a Restaurant Business report about ChatGPT indicates, that has involved using a bot for such tasks as drafting business-wide announcements about menu changes or training tasks, as well as checking in on employees to see how they are doing if they have been absent or are looking to switch a shift. To be sure, this technology still requires human oversight. In workplaces ranging from courtrooms to nonprofits, AI communication technology has shown itself capable of making embarrassing errors – and businesses using it for applicant screening must ensure the technology can assess candidates without discrimination. But these early uses of automated communication could be important indicators of how restaurant labor – as well as its management – could evolve. Tech isn’t simply about transforming your business for a modern age. It can also be about taking old ideas, then reframing and improving upon them using new tools. The automat is one example. Automats were the original quick-service restaurants, serving up simple food and drink in vending machines at the turn of the 20th century in the U.S. Customers would order a meal, then insert coins and open a window to collect it. While the original automat concept fizzled out, recent improvements in technology and restaurants’ labor challenges have reset the conditions for the reinvention of this service model. As Fast Casual reported recently, New York’s Brooklyn Dumpling Shop is using a reimagined automat to serve up its dumplings and spring rolls. Ordering and collection are contactless: Customers simply order from their phone within a few miles of the restaurant, select a pickup time and receive a barcode. Each prepared order is left in a temperature-controlled locker that a customer can unlock simply with a wave of their phone. |
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