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How to Digitize Your Restaurant: Essential Tools and Technologies in 2024

There are many ways to apply technology to your restaurant and improve its work and marketing. Check out how to digitize your restaurant and raise above your competition!

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16 September 2024

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12 min. read

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The digitization of the food service industry is reaching deeper and deeper, and the pandemic has only accelerated these processes. While going out to a restaurant is and will remain largely an offline experience, it does not remain disconnected from the digital world of foodtech. Below we've compiled a number of areas that demonstrate this. 

The Critical Role of a Well-Crafted Menu

A table with food and the glimpse of the menu
Menu is a centre of your restaurant's marketing, so improving the customer's interaction with it can be only beneficial!

Every restaurant's menu is the guiding light that allows diners to discover all their delectable options. Ultimately, a well-crafted menu can make or break an eatery’s success. A menu can tell your customers what to expect from your restaurant. Is it sophisticated and elegant, or a relaxed spot for grabbing drinks with friends? Undoubtedly, a well-crafted menu is critical - yet often underrated. Therefore, when discussing the digitization of your restaurant, you must also consider modernizing your dish card, adding it to your restaurant app, and synchronizing it with your online food delivery app.

Digitize Your Menu for Efficiency and Appeal

A smartphone scanning a QR code on a table
OR codes became a convenient way to share information and restaurant business quickly took a chance to profit from them!

As QR codes have become increasingly popular, several restaurants opt for digital menus rather than printed ones. Although not yet commonplace, it could be worth considering - an online menu is much simpler to sync up with existing online food ordering applications, making the offerings more streamlined across all platforms.

An online menu is an ideal solution for making quick dish substitutions. It's also advantageous when introducing seasonal dishes - you can easily add a page to your current PDF document, allowing for effortless editing or revising without the time and cost of changing physical copies over and over again. You can also inform your clients about a seasonal menu with push notifications from your restaurant mobile app.

Benefits of Digital Menus

Digital menus offer the perfect platform to showcase exquisite, high-definition images of your food. Visually appealing pictures can often make the customer's decision to try out your dishes.

Not only is a digital menu convenient and efficient, but it's also environmentally friendly. With a digital menu, there's no more need to waste paper printing multiple pages that must be discarded each time the menu changes.

A restaurant mobile app allows customers to check your offer even before entering the restaurant. For tourists or just people new in town, it could be a great advantage to attract new clients by showing them your dishes online or informing them about food delivery and online payments.

Maximize Revenue with Digital Tools

Utilizing a digital menu encourages your customers to explore new options and pairings, resulting in higher profit margins for you and more unique experiences for them. Unlock the full potential of upselling with automated recommendations that foster customer satisfaction. An app development company can support you in doing an in-depth analysis of upselling potential and looping it into a food ordering app.

AI-Driven Personalization

A robot and human hand holding wine glasses
AI can be a great support with predicting customer's gustos and recommending them appropriate dishes or cocktails!

By leveraging AI-driven technology, your restaurant app can suggest dishes or drink pairings based on the customer's current order. Also, you can use it to promote special offers and discounts - any purchase made on the spot will be tracked automatically by the system, ensuring customers are always informed of their best deals.

Encouraging Upselling with Digital Menus

With the help of a restaurant app featuring digital menus, ordering personalization is right at your fingertips. No longer does your waiter need to remember every option - customers can easily choose each part of their meal according to what they prefer!

By sending the order straight to the kitchen, there is no longer room for mistakes, and chefs can ensure that the meal is created just how the customer envisioned it.

Delivery apps are undoubtedly among users' and restaurant clients' favorite types of apps. Check out how to use the delivery apps to your advantage and raise among the competition!

The Rise of Online Food Delivery

Logos of online delivery services: Wolt, Taco Bell, To Good To Go, Just Eat, Uber Eats, Instacart, Doordash
Online food delivery services are famous and widely used - using them can bring more customers to your restaurant!

Since the start of the pandemic, restaurant owners have become increasingly reliant on online food delivery businesses as a means of survival. Even when restrictions began to ease worldwide, remote workers continued choosing online ordering and food delivery - which was largely credited with driving up demand for online delivery apps like Wolt and Takeaway. There's no denying that these services are here to stay!

Connecting most POS systems with widely-used food delivery apps is a great way to guarantee that your menu remains consistent across all platforms and makes it easier for you to switch up seasonal offerings without any hassle. You can even notify customers of new items through push notifications; this ensures they're ready to explore what's on offer!

Custom Delivery Apps

You can also create your own delivery app and connect it with your POS - this way, you won't lose any orders from either your restaurant app or any of the third-party apps.

Since online food delivery apps can search for nearby restaurants, you can attract more locals, reaching your target audience. Online food delivery is also part of successful restaurant marketing campaigns, which could be crucial for small restaurant owners.

Enhance Customer Experience with Technology

A positive customer experience is what makes the clients come back and choose your restaurant again. The major part of it is, of course, the experience in the restaurant,

Custom Restaurant App Development

A few hands making toast with glasses of water above the dishes
Customized applications are a great way to balance your needs and clients' expectations!

A custom-built restaurant mobile app is an exceptional option for restaurant owners with multiple establishments. A restaurant app can contain all the necessary information, including searching for nearby restaurants, their locations, and driving directions, as well as parking and public transportation details for your customers' convenience. With this helpful hint from you, they will be more than delighted!

Creating your restaurant app offers a significant advantage for marketing - the ability to send push notifications at regular intervals. This helps remind customers of your restaurant services and makes it easier for them to choose what they want to eat.

Centralized Customer Feedback

Logos of Trip Advisor,Yelp and Happy Cow
Customer feedback services are platforms connecting customers with restaurant owners and an excellent way to learn about your strong sides!

Your customers have an array of outlets to critique your restaurant, from reliable Google searches to professional review sites like Trip Advisor and Yelp. With a personalized restaurant app for your venue, you can monitor all reviews in one spot! Keep connected with guests and instantly attend to their needs and comments.

Loyalty Programs

A barista giving coffee to a customer in a cafe
Prove to your customers that loyalty is profitable! Loyalty program or card is a perfect way to reward your clients for coming to your restaurant!

If you want to show your customers that you truly appreciate their loyalty, establishing a rewards program in a restaurant app is the way to go. In this technological era, paper cards just don't cut them anymore - they are easy to misplace or get ruined with a bit of rain! Therefore, many restaurants today have opted for digital programs instead; and consider how much better off they are now! After all, there's no greater reward than watching customer satisfaction (and profits!) rise exponentially.

With a loyalty program restaurant mobile app, you can manage your existing customers and attract new ones. Keep everyone in the loop about any events at your restaurant or create exclusive offers just for loyal guests - it's up to you! Make sure your patrons feel valued with an easy-to-use and convenient restaurant mobile app that will keep them coming back time after time.

Streamline Operations with Advanced Features

There are many other functions that you can implement in your restaurant's app. Customize your software to implement all the functions you see the potential for in your

Efficient Table Reservation Systems

If your customer desires to secure a particular spot on a certain day, they can do so easily with our convenient table reservation system! Just a few taps in their restaurant app and they will be able to manage your hall like an expert.

Simplify Split Payments

An icon of money, arrows coming from it and reaching icons of persons
Splitting receipts can be a challenge for waiters or clients, but you can easily solve it with your custom restaurant app!

By utilizing digital menus and allowing customers to customize their orders, you can now effortlessly manage split payments among groups of friends and colleagues. Your waitstaff will no longer experience the pressure of accurately tallying numerous receipts - they simply need to enter the order into your POS system, then quickly separate dishes and beverages between individual patrons. Depending on an app complexity, you can even let your customers split their payment themselves in a restaurant app.

Revolutionize Ordering and Delivery

With the coronavirus pandemic still looming, customers still choose to support their favorite restaurants directly by opting out of large external online food delivery app partners. Although their apps are widely used, there's no reason to surrender control when you can manage restaurant food delivery yourself.

Delivering food is a crucial part of the food business. By incorporating a food delivery app into your restaurant app you can reach your target market even more and combine it with delivery location services.

Revolutionize your online food ordering experience by integrating it with self-ordering kiosks or vending machines—the perfect combination of innovative and awesome!

GPS-Tracked Orders

A box with food and a hand holding a smartphone with delivery app on the screen
Thanks to the GPS tracked delivery your customers feel secure about their online food order. Increase your customers' satisfaction!

Your restaurant app can assure customers that their
order is securely on its way when they use GPS-tracked delivery. This allows
them to plan their day, be well-prepared upon arrival, and confirm if it left
the restaurant — helping contribute to a more seamless dining experience.

GPS-tracked orders are also hugely beneficial for
restaurants. GPS tracking helps ensure that all orders are accurately fulfilled
and delivered on time, which will help reduce customer complaints and increase
customer satisfaction. As it became a standard in the restaurant industry, you
might want to incorporate it into your food delivery app. 

Self-Serve Kiosks 

Captivating more and more attention in restaurant chains, this revolutionary self-order food system is also popular amongst customers who prefer to avoid contact with customer service, ever since kiosks can now produce personalized meals. This process can now be synchronized with your Point of Sale (POS) for full reign over non-human assistance.

Depending on your development strategy, you can incorporate loyalty and promotional programs into the kiosk ordering process. In addition, it uses less energy than conventional restaurant order systems that require customer service assistance and thus reducing operational costs for restaurants in the long run.

Vending Machines

A photo of a city and an alley with vending machines
Vending machines can be a revolutionary way to sell your products or allow pick-up - a gadget like this raises your restaurant's recognizability!

Vending machines can revolutionize how your food is ordered and picked up, especially if it's synchronized with a food delivery app.

A vending machine is an ideal solution for restaurants looking to provide catering services. Utilize the convenience of this technology by setting up within busy corporate buildings; those who are pressed for time and energy can now enjoy fresh meals every day with minimal effort! This will surely be highly appreciated among employees in larger companies.

Not only can vending machines be used as a convenient payment method - they can also act as pickup points! People who have placed their orders no longer need to enter the restaurant, saving them time and effort.

Moreover, if combined with a food delivery app and self-pickup, this allows staff members to remain unencumbered by having customers always come in. Vending machines provide an efficient pick-up solution that everyone benefits from!

Embrace Smart Technology 

You can use technology not only for managing menus and marketing but also for backdoor operations and support!

Smart Kitchen Equipment

A cook in an modern kitchen
A smart kitchen provides support to your chefs and prevents accidents in the kitchen

Take, for instance, smart kitchen technology. You're probably familiar with the concept of a smart home that allows machines to be controlled remotely using a mobile device. This same technology can be applied in restaurants to create automated ovens, coffee makers, and dishwashers. It would speed up service without limiting staff's freedom or pace of work - making them even more efficient while maintaining their safety.

With a smart kitchen, you can make coffee with just a few taps of the screen in your restaurant app; it even reminds you when an equipment review is due or warns if something goes awry. This guarantees health and safety in your workplace and enhances efficiency - now, waiters don't need to waste time preparing beverages as the machine does that for them while they take orders. That's why investing in this restaurant app is such an incredibly powerful decision!

AI Chatbots

A robot giving a person a cup
AI chatbot is an excellent support in your customer service - it can handle all the basic tasks and communication!

Introducing digitalization to your restaurant is a modern and under-recognized use of technology. When minor inquiries, like allergen content in food items, working hours, or seat reservations, consume time that should be spent on more consequential tasks, it's an indicator you need this innovative update. Digitizing your establishment will liberate staff from tedious questions so they can focus on what matters most: enhancing the guest experience!

AI, short for Artificial Intelligence, is a powerful tool while answering questions from your customers. With chatbot AI, your customer service staff can save time by allowing the machine to do most of the work and answering simple questions quickly. This will free up more energy for them to pay attention to and provide excellent customer service for those who require additional contact from a human being.

You can also add an AI chatbot to your restaurant app - that would be easy for a professional mobile app development team, but for your customers, it would be an exceptional user experience.

Utilize Mystery Shoppers for Quality Control

A person hiding behind a book
Mystery shoppers assure a great quality of customer service and can show your team's dedication to their work

Mystery shopping is the ideal way to scrutinize your staff and restaurant operations. With a user-friendly application, you will always have access to monitor these comprehensive assessments.

Afterward, all opinions and notes about errors committed by individual staff members are taken to look over, especially when using an integrated restaurant app that delivers this report directly to your mobile device! With such ease of access in the palm of your hand - now would be the perfect time to consider investing in a system like this!

Implement Subscription Services: the Modern Take on an Old Concept

Subscription services are widely accepted in many types of sales, such as makeup, candles, books, and gaming. However, they can also drive customers to your restaurant by offering meal or lunch subscriptions. This trusted tactic is an excellent way to enhance your establishment's popularity!

The subscription can be visible in a restaurant app, which would help your customers control their meals.

Choose an Experienced App Development Partner

We at Memory Squared worked with various startups and strongly believe there are plenty of synergies between them. The most ambitious food tech product we are honored to work on is Flambia - a catering industry ERP system and food marketplace that optimizes food production and allows customers to personalize their meals. This solution has countless ways to connect with other services and ideas. As a software house focused on startups, we are always happy to be a connector between great organizations, products, and founders and always look forward to finding synergies and integration potentials for them.

When deciding on a partner for restaurant application
development, you should consider one with experience and understanding of the food industry. This will allow choosing the best-suited tech stack and make the development process of all the features smooth. Trusting mobile app developers with previous food business experience can also lower development costs as the team will be already familiar with the industry standards and processes.

Conclusion

Creating a restaurant mobile app is challenging, but it will be worth it! Utilizing these technological solutions will make your restaurant more efficient and draw in new customers who appreciate the added convenience. From personalized menus to split payments, AI chatbots, and convenient pickup options - digitizing your restaurant is the way of the future! So don’t wait any longer and start embracing this dazzling revolution. It'll be sure to make a difference in no time!

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