Are you generating the greatest possible benefit from your POS system? Particularly during periods when sales are lagging, it can help to be able to automatically pull detailed business data to help you understand the factors that are driving your business and how you might need to adjust them. If you have an integrated system, for instance, you can quickly assemble reports of your sales, average check totals and staff costs. As Toast reports, some systems let you compare time periods, as well as peak sales by hour and menu item. You can use that information to develop specials and promotions at the right times and have the ideal number of staff on hand to help.

Don’t fear introducing artificial intelligence (AI) at your restaurant – especially if it keeps the cost of menu items downs or streamlines the ordering process. Those were two key takeaways of a recent survey of more than 2,000 adults about consumer perceptions about quick-service and fast-casual restaurants. The survey, which was conducted this past September by the Harris Poll for the ad-tech firm AdTheorant, found that 71 percent of respondents would be amenable to these restaurants using AI in their business, particularly if it controlled costs (43 percent) or sped up the ordering process (43 percent). Those factors came in ahead of AI’s ability to offer “personalized food recommendations based on previous orders” (22 percent) but that may change once consumers gain more experience with the small but growing number of brands – McDonald’s among them – that are rolling out personalization technology.

Nowadays, it’s nearly impossible to gather a group of people for a meal and not have food allergies and intolerances come up in conversation. From gluten sensitivity to lactose intolerance to the need to reduce sodium or sugar intake, there is a broad spectrum of dietary customization to consider. A restaurant that can accommodate consumers’ dietary needs and still provide flavorful dishes will build a loyal following. The customization trend doesn’t seem to be going anywhere and in fact appears to be deepening: Consider the likes of tech startups like GenoPalate, which the Spoon dubs “Ancestry DNA for your diet.” Like Ancestry DNA, the company uses a swab test to scan for certain genetic markers. Then it uses that information to assess how much of 24 key nutrients a person needs, along with any sensitivities to lactose, gluten, caffeine or alcohol, and then provides a list of foods best suited to the person’s genetic makeup. While one-size-fits-all dining may not exactly be on the way out, there is a significant opportunity for chefs who can provide extreme customization. Can you make it possible for guests to not just substitute gluten-free crust for traditional crust on a pizza, but to empower them to build a meal from scratch (with some guidance) that meets their taste preferences and dietary needs?

Watch for food waste reduction to be a key focus of restaurant technology innovation in the coming year. Beyond POS system features that help operators manage inventory and ordering functions to minimize waste, your business may benefit from tech-driven appliances that can help you repurpose or reduce the waste you generate. QSR Magazine reports that food waste digesters and dehydrators are two possibilities. Digesters, which can take in a broader variety of food than a home compost bin would, break down food (sometimes with the help of a fermenting additive that speeds decomposition) to create a rich compost that can be used in gardens. Dehydrators use mechanical and thermal technology to reduce the weight, volume and even the smell of the food waste that must be hauled away.

Any technology you introduce to make the process of ordering and managing guest inquiries is only good if it delivers the experience your guests want from you. But how should your restaurant evolve when one guest wants to order via a smartphone without any human interaction and another with a serious food allergy takes comfort in speaking with a human when placing an order? Restaurant tech is available to create the sort of VIP experience you want to provide, no matter your guest preferences. Consider Chipotle, which has been generating positive news in recent months for its automated digital ordering experience. As Forbes reports, SNQ3 Restaurant Solutions provides Chipotle’s voice-ordering system, which automates online, app and phone orders and allows customers to choose the kind of interaction they prefer. In response, the system can rapidly process reorders, greet a returning customer by name, and, if a customer has questions or concerns that the voice bot can’t accommodate, a live agent is there to help as back-up.

How automated are your back-office functions? For all the promise POS systems have when it comes to making such processes more efficient, a recent survey of nationwide restaurant operators across multiple segments found that 60 percent of operators polled still rely on Excel as their primary financial management tool. The survey, completed by Hospitality Tech in partnership with Restaurant 365, found that POS accounting systems could generate significant efficiencies and cost savings for operators if they used the features available to them. Unfortunately, there is still a substantial gap between operators’ goals and the capabilities of the systems they have in place. If you’re looking for a technology accounting partner who can help you buy the right system and get the most from it, Restaurant 365 advises you to assess how clearly the vendor spells out integration options, as well as how those options are maintained and supported. Then find other operators (beyond the ones the vendor provides) who are using the system and can share their experiences.

As a new year approaches, it’s prime time to take stock of what went well and set the stage for the tests you’re likely to face in 2020. For most operators, labor spending and management continues to be a perennial challenge, along with such obstacles as managing the complexities of your inventory and finding a profitable path to offering delivery. Restaurant365 shared a list of operational challenges operators can expect in the coming year, along with some suggestions on how to manage them. While it’s not the most uplifting of countdowns, it does cover some important territory and may help you prioritize the steps you want to take to build your business in the months ahead. We summarized some of the key challenges here – along with some tech tools that can help you manage them. First, to manage labor costs, particularly if your state is in the roughly half of the country that is increasing its minimum wage in 2020, make the most of tech tools that can save you time and money. By integrating your POS with an accounting and scheduling platform, for example, you can analyze your labor and sales data to optimize scheduling and improve your forecasting capabilities. If you struggle with keeping your inventory accurate and your ingredient costs in line, consider inventory management software that can guide the process from start to finish – and offer tools such as smart ordering and receiving, which can help you maintain profit margins on menu items and pinpoint when vendor costs are higher than normal. Finally, if you want to offer delivery in an effort to meet consumer demand, make sure you’re making data-driven decisions when selecting a service model. Restaurant365 advises you use operations software to automatically calculate and track your delivery profits based on sales, cost of goods sold, and delivery expenses.

Your access to customer data can help you strengthen your connections to customers – but only if they’re able to trust you with their personal information. As point-of-sale malware continues to pose problems for restaurants, does your technology go the distance in helping you protect the information customers share with you? Encryption technology can help in some important ways. First, as the hospitality website Emerging reports, encryption scrambles the data that comes across your POS, making it significantly more difficult for hackers to use any data they manage to steal. If you have staff taking payment from guests at their tables, introducing tableside technology, which often encrypts customer data when a card is swiped, can also prevent the skimming of credit card information en route to your POS.

Imagine being in the midst of a dinner rush and having all of your best staff on hand to provide superior service to guests. Artificial intelligence (AI) is making it possible for more of those experiences to happen for operators. There is a lot of buzz about the potential of AI to tap into guest insights, but it can also help operators make more informed decisions about staff schedules and improve staff management. As Restaurant Technology News reports, AI can help operators adjust scheduling plans based on local weather or events that may impact restaurant traffic – and automatically match up that information with data on which servers have successfully upsold the most checks recently.

At a time when the need to minimize food waste is impacting restaurants’ brands and bottom lines, hiring suppliers with strong automation capabilities can help in several ways. Beyond offering the traceability of a food item through its supply chain, automation can also maximize the shelf life of the ingredients you prepare by shrinking the percentage of a food’s life cycle that must be spent in transit or awaiting transit. As Food Quality & Safety reports, automated order-picking systems can speed up and improve the precision of order picking, making it possible to reduce lead times, spoilage and waste.