Over the past decade, the pace of investment in technology in the restaurant industry has accelerated with operators investing in a range of solutions to scale and gain a competitive edge in a market where consumers have more options than ever before, especially with the grocery and convenience segments continuing to encroach further into restaurant territory with expanding prepared food offerings.
The pandemic has also seen online and delivery channels going mainstream and further validation of ghost kitchens as an operating model—all trends that reduce barriers to breaking into local markets. This only intensify competitive pressures felt by every operator to aggressively weave technology into their go-forward strategies.
So, where are operators investing in technology?
Everyone from independent and small regional operators to large global chains are adopting tech solutions in a range of areas, from front-of-house systems designed to attract and engage customers, to point-of-sale platforms geared to optimize that pivotal interaction and transaction, to back-of-house solutions that support and scale functions from HR to accounting to purchasing.
In recent years, advances in mobile technologies and cloud computing have also seen growing investment in operations execution software as operators look to improve the productivity of store and field employees, the consistency and quality of work happening across the operation, and overall operational agility. Here, operators are looking to unlock productivity gains through the digitization and automation of processes and ensure the effective roll-out and compliance with core operating procedures, public health and food safety protocols, brand standards and other initiatives.
For a closer look at some of the core areas where restaurant operators are currently investing in technology to run their businesses more effectively, here’s a new infographic which provides a birdseye view of the 2021 restaurant technology landscape.
David Karel is the Chief Marketing Officer at Zenput, a technology company that provides solutions to restaurant chains looking to automate how operating procedures, public health and food safety protocols, and other initiatives are rolled out and enforced
