As every seasoned executive knows, selecting technology is a tricky process. There’s a risk of getting seduced by demo-ware. And it’s natural for some vendors to tilt the conversation towards their offering’s key strengths — and skirt past the weaker points. But unearthing the drawbacks later can be a painful and costly experience. The devil is in the detail.
For larger hospitality brands, the stakes are even higher. Chains need a free hand to operate at speed and scale — without being dragged down by unexpected technical issues.
Here are 10 questions that must ask when considering restaurant tech:
Is the vendor a serious player on the world stage, brands such as Pizza Hut, Papa John’s, Dunkin’ Donuts and others across dozens of countries? A deployment that hits speeds of 600 stores in under two months is possible with the right partner. Fiscal and Taxation support in different countries is important too.
In the fast-moving food marketplace, it’s essential to keep pace with customer demand for extra choice and convenience. And yet you also need to avoid a host of clunky integrations with third parties that could present added cost and risk over time. Much better that end-to-end features fit comfortably under the umbrella of your solution, so you can avoid data and visibility gaps at the granular level.
Restaurant technology should come with a wealth of features that turn complex data into actionable insights in real-time — so someone at head office can quickly spot a problem or opportunity at any location and intervene. Store managers and above-store regional execs also need permission-based access to the management tools.
In an era of tightening margins, this is key. With a restaurant tech used to its fullest, you should be able to target savings of around 3-10% direct to your bottom-line. Push the vendor for evidence on how this is achieved and ask for customer references that support this.
This is critical. Some systems have misfired and under-delivered because of data gaps between front-of-house and back-of-house processes. These need to be in sync. But that’s not quite enough — the data flowing between them must be captured in the moment and shared in near real-time. This enables your tech to operate as an all-in-one system.
New rules of work are being ushered in by leading tech. This is making it easier for your staff to act in real-time — in ways that remove the grind of many day-to-day processes, while giving you instant, trackable data. Some manual tasks can be removed completely while others can be handled with minimum effort, such as mobile stock-taking. Gone are the days of legacy POS systems designed for record keeping, instead look out for people-friendly systems that establish new and better ways of working.
Restaurants need a fast response, so only settle for best-in-class tech support. Response times of under three minutes and fixes within 30 minutes are a high standard to demand from a vendor. And if you request extra system features and customisations, look for a vendor that’s agile and responsive – with an army of developers rolling out bi-weekly update sto keep your system ahead of the game. You’ll want a specialist partner committed to hospitality as their core business, rather than a company that offers a host of different solutions to different sectors.
You need absolute transparency here — with predictable costs. Protect your bottom line by finding restaurant tech with a pay-as-you-go (PAYG) business model, contract-free pricing and no hidden-fees.
Ideally, your tech needs to be agnostic to professional Windows-based hardware required for multi-site businesses. It’s essential to avoid getting locked into a legacy system and find yourself held hostage to sub-par hardware, downtime and excessive costs.
You’ll want a vendor that’s constantly finding smarter ways for you to sharpen performance and your competitive edge using Next-Gen tech. Ask what they can tell you about artificial intelligence-led forecasting, self-driving features like automated purchasing, ‘what if’ scenario analysis, and real-time Profit & Loss. These will help you to accelerate your digital transformation strategy, streamline operations and maximise profitability in a sustainable way.
While hospitality systems typically promise speed and convenience, it’s the nitty-gritty detail that will impact the bottom line and your ability to react quickly to changes in the marketplace.
Discover how tech-first hospitality businesses can transform end-to-end performance and thrive in a new era. Get your copy of our whitepaper ‘Next-Gen tech for the F&B industry‘.