Restaurants are navigating difficult times, with reduced numbers of customers and stringent COVID-19 regulations still in place in some locations. Here, we look at some of the current challenges in more detail and look at how investing in technology like the Revel restaurant POS (point of sale) system can help win back customers sooner rather than later.

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3 Challenges to Overcome

1. Public confidence

We are quickly learning that while many people are eager to eat out again, others are still wary of busy spaces like restaurants. Attracting pre-pandemic numbers of customers into our restaurants is going to take hard work, patience and strategy.

2. Lower capacities and other restrictions

Increased distancing between tables and restaurant capacity limits have altered the dynamics of each and every eatery. In fact, the restaurant experience is very different now, especially where contact tracing apps are used.

Venues must ensure that contact information can be passed on to the relevant authorities if necessary. This takes time, which affects the speed of service. The perception of the public is that grabbing a spontaneous “quick bite” seems much harder now.

3. Increased health and safety legislation

Additional safety guidance related to coronavirus and the handling of food is, of course, justified and necessary to help stop the spread of the disease. These measures will help protect both your staff and customers. However, a more stringent sanitation regimen and increased social distancing in kitchens are just two more of the regulations that will affect the speed of service.

With challenges to the efficiency of service due to additional workload as well as nervous customers, the hospitality industry is facing an uphill challenge. So, how to overcome these issues and win back customers through your doors?

The Road to Recovery

The good news in this fight is that restaurant technology systems like Revel have quickly increased the scope of their products to help businesses right now. Restaurant management systems can effectively reduce workload, overcome table management issues, and improve customer confidence with some clever features. If you’re not already using up-to-date point of sale omnichannel systems, then now is the time to start.

Revel now delivers new features specifically designed to help businesses meet COVID-19 regulations, increase the flow of customers, and to deliver faster, more efficient service despite the coronavirus-related challenges. While many restaurants now use some form of POS software, unless you are running a new, updated cloud-based system, you are losing out on a competitive advantage.

Here are five tech-related strategies that will help you win back customers post-pandemic.

1. Streamline your back of house operations

New cloud-based POS systems are full of features that help you speed up on back of house tasks.

Starting with inventory management, restaurants can be sure that they always have good stock levels. By using AI, a good system should be able to forecast what you’ll need and when, meaning you need never run out of key items. Stay agile and run a full menu at all times, improving customer satisfaction at the same time.

In addition, orders can be sent directly to the relevant kitchen stations, vastly improving efficiency. A good system will also offer “bump capabilities,” meaning that orders are optimised to get food out as fast as possible.

2. Improve efficiency front of house

POS systems are a link from front of house to back. Send orders directly from tableside to the kitchen, generate bills and receipts and more. These systems are designed to be intuitive so that staff can work through orders and transactions quickly without any tech “headaches.” This will help customers flowing in and out of the door without unnecessary hold ups or large queues that risk contravening regulations.

3. Get flexible with mobile POS systems…

Mobile iPad point of sale systems offer the chance to streamline your operations even more. With these systems, your staff can input orders and generate information from anywhere in the restaurant. This has enormous potential to speed up service.

4. … Or even self-service

Self-service tech in kiosk or mobile app form is also increasingly popular. Customers can input their own order into a version of the same intuitive tech system as your staff use. This is fully linked up to your central POS system and allows your back of house staff to get working on orders even faster, your customers having bypassed front of house staff.

5. Go contactless

To remove unnecessary touchpoints and improve hygiene in your restaurant, integrating more contactless technology into your business is a must. As well as contactless payment technology methods, Revel POS systems can offer additional services like digital receipts and customer facing displays.

If your restaurant is offering takeaway services, then this can be made fully contactless with online ordering and payment options. Just be sure to use your POS system’s inbuilt or add-on capabilities to avoiding paying a third party and to keep operations running smoothly.

A brighter future

With the pandemic not yet over, and with related problems and some restrictions continuing, restaurants need to think about the strategies and investments they need to develop and make now. Any potential investments need to be considered against the criteria of being helpful in the short-term, but still exceedingly worthwhile when the pandemic is over.

With this in mind, a new, cloud-based POS system like Revel is recommended since it can help you navigate today’s hurdles while still being future-proof. All restaurants can benefit over the short and long term from a more cohesive, accurate and efficient system for inventory, kitchen and front of house management.