JSS component is missing React implementation. See the developer console for more information.
The restaurant industry experienced a significant inflection point during the past few years. Constraints on in-person dining during the COVID-19 pandemic forced quick service and fast casual restaurants to modernize almost overnight with digital orders and delivery options.
In fact, by April 2020 major meal delivery services had grown 162% year-over-year. Today, 60% of full-service operators still say that online food delivery represents a bigger share of sales than in 2019.
The growth that digital ordering and delivery services have achieved over the past several years is truly remarkable, but what about the systems that enable them? In many cases, the technology enabling these capabilities was built without the broader business alignment and resources needed to support systems-wide implementation. This has left many multi-unit restaurants (MuRs) needing more tools to grow and serve customers at scale.
MuR restaurant leaders now face new challenges. On top of juggling pandemic-era system implementations, they're navigating:
Today, customers are looking for multiple ways to place their orders, including order-ahead options, kiosks, repeat order capabilities on an app, and more. They're also looking for different avenues to receive their food, from in-store pickup and curbside grab-and-go to drive-through and 3rd party delivery. Many restaurants are responding to these demands by finding new ways to:
With so many modernization opportunities, where should you prioritize your energy?
Whether you're looking to deliver new digital experiences or improve existing technology capabilities, these 3 technology focus areas can help your MuRs meet customer demand for modernization, boost employee satisfaction, and increase revenue streams:
Efficiency is the backbone of any successful restaurant operation. According to Gartner®, "an increased wait time of 30 seconds has a significant compound effect for revenue, with potential losses per restaurant unit at $32,091.33 over 12 months." 1
Modernizing your Kitchen Management System (KMS) can improve operational efficiency by implementing streamlined workflows, intelligent inventory management, and automated order processing systems. For instance, automated digital makelines, like those being deployed at Chipotle, are quickly revolutionizing the scale at which fast casual restaurants can serve their customers.
The bottom line? Investing in a KMS will drive operational efficiency and increase capacity across your restaurant locations. Your restaurants can use them to remove production bottlenecks that add time to drive-thru and in-store wait times, reduce employee turnover by eliminating unfulfilling tasks, and address food waste.
Mobile applications and digital ordering have become a cornerstone of customer engagement in the MuR landscape. Today, nearly 80% of consumers expect to use technology to order at casual restaurants, and 40% of consumers prefer to make their orders via a restaurant’s app or website.
QSRs like McDonald's and Chipotle have already seen the impact of a well-designed and user-friendly app on driving customer engagement and digital sales.
By investing in mobile applications that complement your core business, your multi-unit restaurants can increase revenue streams and enhance customer loyalty. Done right, these applications drive greater order frequency and wallet share, streamline the ordering process, free up workers, and increase your overall operations capacity.
Effective decision-making hinges on having access to accurate and accessible market and financial performance data. For restaurants, developing analytics systems and dashboards enables constant visualization of critical business metrics, empowering better decision-making on everything from enhanced personalization to menu strategy and pricing.
Remember, well-designed dashboards built on accessible data allow leaders to visualize market and operational insights in a way that’s tailored to their functional needs. For instance, operations leaders can gain insights into employee task efficiency, while marketing leaders can track evolving consumer preferences. This shared, consistent view of performance enables alignment across departments and fuels insights-driven decision-making.
Modernization can feel daunting, but in the fast-paced world MuRs, technological transformation is more important than ever.
Here are 5 key elements to consider before embarking on a technology transformation:
We’ve helped numerous restaurants modernize their operations to meet the technology needs of their expanding QSR brands, boosting customer and employee loyalty along the way.
1 Gartner, 4 Trends Reshaping the Future of the Quick-Service Restaurant Industry, by Max Hammond, Published 30 May 2023. GARTNER is a registered trademark and service mark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and internationally and is used herein with permission. All rights reserved.
RELATED INDUSTRIES
RELATED SOLUTIONS
