
By Shannon Chirone, VP Product Advertising, HungerRush – 8.15.2022
The restaurant business has undergone many adjustments since 2020. From the transition to QR code menus to 100% reliance on on-line ordering, the business has successfully upgraded its practices. Propelled by these shortly altering instances and preferences, eating places have discovered that know-how options are a necessity to proceed competing with related institutions. To create a smoother expertise for purchasers and restaurant workers, eating places proceed to look towards progressive options.
The elimination of getting employees reply the telephones has been one of many some ways eating places have modified communications with patrons. It’s a rising development that the business has seen for the reason that onset of the pandemic. As a substitute of telephones, eating places throughout the nation have opted into different types of digital ordering, together with textual content ordering, third-party apps, native apps, outsourcing their cellphone orders to a name middle or directing customers to order by way of the restaurant web site.
Throughout the board, restaurateurs have reported elevated effectivity, diminished stress amongst entrance of home workers, and an improved eating expertise for in-person diners. Embracing a human-less cellphone philosophy has allowed eating places to shift assets from fielding calls to constructing an internet presence and paying extra consideration to on-premises diners – key sides of fixing buyer expectations in a post-pandemic world.

Jet’s Pizza, for instance, launched an AI-powered text-based ordering system in 2020, enabling prospects to order by way of textual content submitting on to Jet’s on-line order system. Since its rollout, the corporate has achieved $54 million in text-ordered gross sales and anticipates crossing the $100 million threshold within the subsequent two years. AI-powered instruments that streamline the takeout and supply ordering course of will develop into extra prevalent as extra eating places be part of the digital revolution.
Prospects more and more anticipate digital choices to be part of the eating expertise. A survey by Popmenu discovered that 82% of shoppers need contactless eating choices to proceed in individual as they really feel it’s safer and extra environment friendly. Whereas comfortability with indoor eating has elevated after dropping to historic lows on the peak of the pandemic, many shoppers are nonetheless involved about their well being and security, so on-premises digital instruments supply peace of thoughts by eradicating yet one more private interplay. Briefly, prospects anticipate a excessive stage of security, ease, and velocity throughout all ordering experiences.
Along with bettering the client expertise, these adjustments assist to handle the labor scarcity that continues to plague the restaurant business. The Nationwide Restaurant Affiliation’s 2022 State of the Restaurant report discovered that 7 out of 10 restaurant operators do not need sufficient workers to fulfill demand and anticipate the labor crunch to final by means of 2022. Restaurant and resort employees have left the business in unprecedented numbers over the previous 12 months in the hunt for higher pay and fewer harassment from prospects. In June, for instance, leisure and hospitality noticed the very best stop charges throughout all U.S. industries (i.e., a complete of 788,000 People stop a job working within the meals service business), in keeping with the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retaining workers has thus develop into a high precedence.
Deploying applied sciences like textual content ordering to fill within the gaps brought on by the large shift within the labor market will proceed to realize recognition because the business redefines itself. Certainly, digital instruments and ways will likely be key to rebuilding the restaurant business. This sort of transformation not solely improves the client expertise – by giving them extra environment friendly choices to order how and the place they need – but in addition improves the worker expertise by liberating them from time-consuming duties that hinder their means to satisfy their anticipated roles.
Shannon Chirone serves as VP, Product Advertising, at HungerRush, a number one supplier of built-in restaurant options, together with OrderAI Textual content, an progressive textual content and voice ordering answer that enables prospects to position orders by way of textual content with out utility downloads. She is liable for the corporate’s go-to-market technique throughout product launches and options. She has over 15 years of expertise growing and taking merchandise to market that delight and ship worth to prospects. Previous to HungerRush she labored throughout numerous verticals together with leisure, finance, social media, and know-how.
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