According to a study by the world's largest food service trade association, the National Restaurant Association (NRA) found that 63% of those surveyed had used new technologies in restaurants. Among the most popular activities are: finding the location of a restaurant through your smartphone, getting to know the menu, making a reservation and ordering take-out.
The following table shows the results in the use of technology (in green) and what they would have done (in orange) if they had had the opportunity.
| % of adults consulted | ||
| Know the location of a restaurant through your smartphone or tablet | 46 | 67 |
| Know the menu | 41 | 63 |
| Order takeout via smartphone or tablet | 23 | 52 |
| Learn about restaurant promotions or discounts for ordering online | 13 | 50 |
| Order via tablet or touch screen | 7 | 46 |
| Make reservations via smartphone or tablet | 13 | 46 |
| Know the nutritional information of the dishes | 19 | 42 |
| Interact on the restaurant's social networks | 15 | 31 |
| Pay the bill via smartphone | 6 | 24 |
The study showed that the age of the people interviewed is a determining factor in the preference for new technologies applied in restaurants. This is an important reason why entrepreneurs or restaurant owners should adopt some technological tools to meet the expectations of the current market and stand out positively. Millennials, with an age range between 18 and 34 years, are and will be potential consumer customers.
Update yourself and know the tools that can boost the productivity of your business, keeping it at the forefront.
Power Bank
Every day more restaurants offer their customers the possibility of recharging the battery of their smartphones or any electronic device during their visit to the establishment. Power banks or external batteries are mobile desktop devices of various capacities determined by mAh (milliamps of consumption per hour) that suggest the time it will take to charge the device that is connected to it.
Mobile Commander
The use of the Soft Restaurant® mobile comandero is ideal to streamline the operation of your restaurant and improve the experience of the customers who visit you. The waiter sends the food preparation order and the kitchen receives it in a matter of seconds. The capture is done by means of a tablet in which you can also view promotions of the day, week or month and thus boost the sale. It is ideal to improve the performance of waiters, serving more quickly assigned tables.
Portable printer
The portable printer is a great tool when used with the mobile commander, because the waiter can print the customer's account at the moment they request it. In this way, you streamline your service and keep an eye on the tables that are active. It is a way to improve the service to your customers and the performance of your staff.
The so-called dead times will disappear, the implementation of technology in restaurants offers a range of possibilities for diners to access the Web, while the food arrives at their table. Tablets or digital menus come to improve the customer experience, order food, request the bill, call the waiter or simply present the menu in the language that the user requires, it is a tool that you must adopt.
The most exclusive restaurants, those that target a more special segment of customers, you may assume that this type of technology is not suitable for your style. But reality shows that some hospitality businesses have chosen to make a winepad to recommend the consumption of wines through tablets, with information on pairings and regions of origin of each bottle that they have available to customers.
Did you know digital menu de Soft Restaurant® offers you the option of set up your menu in six different languages. This means that an Italian customer will be able to read the description of your dishes in their language, place their order and in a few seconds the order will be printed in the corresponding production areas for processing. It is an ideal solution for restaurants with an influx of foreign customers.
SECURITY
CCVT (Closed Circuit Television)
It is a video surveillance technology designed to monitor the development of various activities and environments. Currently, a closed circuit television system effectively supports the restaurant sector, the benefits it offers are determined by the increase in security and control of various areas in the operation of your business.
The recommended areas to have a better vision of what is happening in your restaurant are:
- General view of the dining room: It is the place where the treatment and attention to our clients is developed so that they leave satisfied and return again.
- The kitchen: It helps to supervise the quality and homogeneity in the elaboration of the dishes.
- The Bar and Wine Control: Bartenders have been detected who to obtain additional income carry out the theft of bottles, exchange of expensive liquors for similar or adulterated ones, among others.
- Collection Box: In any business, including restaurants, cash handling must be monitored, image backup always helps to resolve misunderstandings.
- Main Access and Parking: Getting a clear picture of all visitors and the parking lot helps keep track of what might happen in these areas.
Bet on a better service for your clients through new technologies, check the advantages and visualize the results through the increase in your sales.