Whilst the restaurant industry has historically been slower to adopt technology and innovation, the pandemic and ensuing economic instability have forced many food businesses to think differently about what they offer and how they offer it. In parallel customers have changed their spending habits too! The good news is: embracing new technology doesn’t have to be painful, and there are many ways that owners of independent pubs and restaurants can use technology to their advantage. The opportunities for improving their operations are wide-ranging, from online ordering to inventory management. Here are a few of the most common and their potential positive impact:
- Online ordering and delivery: According to statista.com, the market size of the global online food delivery sector was estimated at 770 billion U.S. dollars in 2022. By 2027, the online food delivery market is forecast to generate revenues reaching 1.4 trillion U.S. dollars. What does this mean for your business? Embracing a tech solution that allows your customers to order food and drinks from your restaurant without having to come in can be a great way to ensure customer loyalty, increase sales and potentially reach new customers too. Here at Cooper Foods we have recently launched online ordering to better support our customers to get exactly what they need, when they need it. Get in touch to find out more.
- Point-of-sale (POS) systems: These systems can help you manage your inventory, track sales, and process payments. Whilst they do represent a significant investment of time and money up front, they will save you time and money in the long-run, supporting smooth operations and helping you make better business decisions.
- Restaurant management software: Software such as this can help you with everything from scheduling staff to managing reservations. Managing reservations manually can eat into your staff’s time, but being able to automatically manage waitlists, waitlists and seating, can free up their time to focus on the customers’ experience. An added bonus is being able to collect things such as diet or dining preferences and contact data, to gain market insights or for ongoing contact to maintain a customer loyalty scheme, for example. All of these areas, and many more, can free up your time so you can focus on other aspects of your business.
- Marketing automation: This software can help you automate your marketing campaigns, giving you the opportunity to drive repeat bookings and automatically collect online reviews. . Online reviews are one of the most powerful ways to influence customer decision-making, so make sure you respond to all reviews, both positive and negative, in a timely and professional manner!
These are just a few of the ways that technology can help you streamline your operations, increase bookings and stay ahead of the competition.
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