Customers have always called the shots in the restaurant industry, but now that demand is increasing at a rapid rate. The popularity of online delivery services and the increased importance placed on to-go sales speak to this point. For restaurant owners, this means you need to be more versatile and flexible in how you offer service to your customers. Here are four ways you can accomplish that.
- Integrating systems that maximize efficiency
The first step to creating a more versatile and flexible customer experience starts with a time-in-motion study. This study will help you realize what parts of your restaurant are hindering your team’s performance. It can be anything from the layout of your restaurant to the organization of the buttons on your POS system.
Technology can help in this regard, but owners should be weary of implementing new technology just for the sake of doing so. You first need to understand where your deficiencies lie before adding new technologies.
One common solution is to put multiple processes under a single computing system. This can mean putting your labor management, kitchen management, inventory tracking, your POS, and your time management software into a cloud-computing platform.
- The more options, the better
Game theorists may tell you to avoid overloading your customers with options because it can paralyze their decision making faculties. This is called “the paralysis of choice.” However, in restaurants, customers love having options available to them in terms of food and in payment options.
Be sure to make your menu customizable. This will help open your restaurant to a wider market of consumers, some of whom may be strictly following a certain diet.
When it comes to payment options, consumers love having the flexibility to pay without having to wait for a bill. There are a couple of apps being tested on the market currently that do just that. Check out the products from QikServe and Allset to learn more about how they can help your business.
- Have a mobile-first mentality
Relying on traditional methods of attracting customers through word-of-mouth or excellent customer service may seem like an honorable way to conduct business. In many respects, they are honorable. But, they won’t generate the kind of cash-flow that mobile technology offers restaurants.
Both owners and consumers expect everything to be available to them via their smart devices. Owners need to be able to access valuable data and information and consumers want to be able to run their lives from their fingertips.
Integrating mobile technology will not only save you valuable time, it will also improve your bottom line.
- Consider sharing real estate space
The increased demand for delivery and to-go food has revolutionized how quick service restaurants conduct business. Soon enough, it will change how all restaurants do business.
If you run a QSR and are having trouble melding your services with an increase in demand, consider sharing real estate space with a commercial kitchen.
Graham Campbell, chief operating officer of GiveX, a cloud-based operations management software, said this is a new trend that’s taking over the industry.
“The demand of online ordering makes it challenging for restaurants to field all the requests they receive from a standard kitchen. Therefore, there has been an influx of QSR brands sharing spaces at larger commercial kitchens,” Campbell told Fast Casual.
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