It doesn’t matter if you’re a seasoned restauranteur or newcomer - staying relevant requires a strong grasp of current industry trends, whether culinary or tech-related. Unfortunately, with trends comes a flood of buzzwords and jargonese that can leave even the most savvy bandwagoners scratching their heads.

So, to help you navigate the deluge, we’ve put together a guide which sets out our own humble interpretations of the latest terms that should demand your attention in 2025. Here goes…

Omni-Channel

There’s nothing quite like a spot of ancient Latin to lend a word gravitas (!) and importance. While ‘multi’ would have done just fine here, the coiners of this phrase clearly wanted to elevate its stature in the hearts and minds of restauranteurs. And boy, has it caught on.

Without wishing to overcomplicate, Omni-Channel mainly refers to the strategy of providing customers with multiple ways of interacting with your restaurant, such as ordering food and making reservations.

For operators, this means harnessing the latest restaurant management systems to offer seamless convenient experiences, not only in-house but across all digital channels and platforms. Whether you’re clued up on classical languages or not, this is a term that’s gaining major traction.

Order Aggregation

Order Aggregation ties in with Omni-Channel and relates to the process of consolidating orders from multiple sources into a single system. It’s sometimes used to describe KDS/POS order integration, but is more commonly associated with delivery platforms such as Uber Eats, Just Eat and Deliveroo.

For a lot of operators, integrating these delivery specialists is becoming very, very important. Not only do they provide access to a potentially enormous customer base. They also satisfy a growing demand for convenience.

Business Intelligence

The term ‘Business Intelligence’ refers to the use of data analytics tools and systems to collect, process and analyse data from multiple operational areas. Although it’s been around for a while, the phrase has regained prominence in the F&B sector recently.

This is mainly because it neatly describes one of the central purposes of the latest restaurant management platforms: To integrate and connect disparate systems, gather data from multiple operational areas and then provide accurate data that drives impactful decision-making.

Hyper-Personalisation

Hyper-Personalisation refers to the strategy of satisfying the unrelenting craze for tailored experiences - according to a recent study more than 70% of customers prefer brands that personalise their interactions. Yet we’re not just talking about remembering your customers’ names when they grace your establishment. No. Hyper-Personalisation goes way beyond that.

It’s about having precise data relating to their previous orders including dietary and nutritional requirements, dish and drink choices and cuisine preferences. Behavioural metrics come into play as well such as visit frequency, visit motive, time of day visited, amount spent and seating preferences.

Only when you’re armed with this kind of data is genuine hyper personalisation possible. From it, you can personalise your menu to suit specific tastes, budgets and requirements, accurately target customers with email/SMS communications and reward patrons with gifts for special occasions and personal milestones.

Predictive Analytics

Predictive analytics is another industry buzzword that isn’t particularly new. Again, though, the relentless advancements in tech have placed this rather dry term front and centre, most notably with systems that utilise AI and machine learning.

These disruptive technologies are able to analyse patterns and trends that might otherwise go unnoticed by the human eye – something that’s potentially transformative for operators looking to future-proof their businesses. Once a labour-intensive process that involved intuition and painstaking record-keeping, predictive analytics in restaurants is now a whole lot easier, not to mention highly relevant in 2025.

Dynamic Pricing

With regards to the restaurant industry, this term caused quite the stir in 2024. Put simply, dynamic pricing means adjusting prices based primarily on demand, time of day and/or external events. It’s a practice that’s prevalent across multiple sectors.

Nevertheless, when US fast food chain Wendy’s announced they would merely be trialling the strategy, widespread hand-wringing was the result, not to mention plenty of outrage (the main currency of our time).

Given how high operational costs have become in hospitality, some operators may have little choice but to employ such a strategy. Claims of immorality and shattered ethics will no doubt follow. But we’re talking about restaurant cuisine here, not medical supplies. Whichever side of the fence you fall on, dynamic pricing is probably here to stay.

Kiosk

Although ‘kiosk’ probably doesn’t appear all that obscure to most of you, there may be a few readers who equate the word with a red and white roofed stall selling hotdogs. But in our present context, the term refers to self-service touchscreen terminals commonly found at the front of QSRs (quick service restaurants, if you’re in any doubt).

And it’s a term that you’ll need to get used to because kiosks are revolutionising the restaurant industry. Reducing the need for front-of-house order takers, dramatically reducing queues and offering powerful upselling opportunities, global demand for these things is soaring. Understandable in an industry where labour costs are rising and customer expectations higher than ever.

Sustainability

A word that compels many of us to scream inwardly such is its proliferation in today’s everyday vocabulary. Although overused to exhaustion, sustainability is especially pertinent for a global industry in which so much food goes uneaten (more than 30% in the US alone).

In addition to reducing restaurant food waste, there are many other issues to consider too, such as energy consumption, the use of single-use plastics, ingredient sourcing, carbon footprints and so on and so on. You can take it to the bank that other ‘issues’ will emerge in the coming years as well. So try to be mindful of this hackneyed phrase in 2025. These days, it really shouldn’t be too difficult.

QR Code

Although the ‘QR’ acronym is part of our daily lives, a lot of people aren’t aware of the actual meaning – think ‘Wi-Fi’, ‘ISBN’ and ‘GIF’. It stands for ‘Quick Response’ Code of course and is a two-dimensional barcode that can be scanned for accessing information.

Widely used in retail, QR codes are becoming extremely popular in the F&B vertical - mainly because they reduce the costs of providing physical menus and tie in with customer preoccupations about convenience. Their deployment in restaurants is becoming ever more sophisticated as well, with most of the best ePOS providers offering QR dine-in ordering. So for 2025 and beyond, it’s a term you should keep firmly in mind.

SMART Tech

Of the 10 terms we’ve looked at, this one is perhaps the broadest. For those of you who live in very, very remote locations, SMART Tech refers to various devices, platform and technologies that help drive connectivity and automation. Typical examples include cloud computing, mobile apps, Bluetooth/5G/Wi-Fi, machine learning, touchscreen interfaces and plenty more besides. With the end goal is to enhance user experience, the impact on our everyday lives has been profound.

The same is also true of the restaurant industry where SMART tech is employed, to varying degrees, in key operational areas. These include inventory management, menu engineering staff scheduling, data analysis, order processing and forecasting. As is typical of anything technological, evolution is constant and unrelenting. This certainly isn’t going to stop in 2025.

Final Thoughts

Most of the above terms encapsulate the prevailing zeitgeist of the restaurant industry – another buzzword, albeit one we’d prefer not to explain. And you’ve probably surmised that technology is the common thread connecting almost all of them. With the many formidable challenges facing the hospitality industry, tech is the most powerful tool that you have at your disposal.

Learn how Syrve’s next-gen restaurant management system can transform your business today: https://www.syrve.com