What computer systems are restaurants using today? These can vary depending on the size and type of a venue. Some questions to ask before choosing a computer system include how many departments or categories need tracking, how many products you carry now, what tax must your business collect on a sale, how many products will you carry in the future, and if you will be offering gift cards.

In addition, it’s good to know if you will need more than one register, how busy your restaurant will be, and whether you’ll be setting up a loyalty program in place.

Restaurant Computer Systems Integrate Loyalty Programs

One way to get more regular customers is to launch a loyalty program. It’s a great way to increase your revenue and show customer appreciation. Clients who participate in the loyalty program return in half the time it takes those who don’t participate to return.

Don’t neglect the importance of customer service – it has a very real impact on turnover, and computer systems make your job much easier. It’s easy to track customer behavior if the computer POS system integrates with a customer relationship management (CRM) portal. Restaurants can be sure that when customers come in, they will find what they were looking for on the menu.

Instant Access for Employees

Computer systems also facilitate intranet communications so your staff has instant access to the right information, support, and insight they need. The best ones will improve the customer experience without drawing attention. Manually operated cash registers are becoming outdated very fast. An innovative computer system can integrate the act of making a purchase into the overall experience without missing opportunities to customize customer communication and service.

Specific Software

Restaurant computer systems utilize software specifically designed for eateries, bars, food outlets and other such operations in the food service industry. They help with back-end needs, such as inventory or staff management. Your computer system should include software and hardware, such as scanners, registers, and receipt printers depending on your venue’s needs. In a nutshell, it is a comprehensive tool that allows you to see your needs at a glance. This will do wonders for you, taking lots of stress out of your everyday tasks.

What’s best about many restaurant computer systems is that they are designed to integrate easily with other software applications. The system can be customized so your restaurant business will really take off.

Wi-Fi

A lot of guests use smart phones to track game scores while sitting in a bar or restaurants. If you have free Wi-Fi, they may choose your venue. If you do it right, free Wi-Fi is one of the restaurant technologies that can significantly enhance your guest experience. Thus, Wi-Fi could potentially lead to higher sales revenue.

Bigger groups may need a place to work and will choose a place specifically for the Wi-Fi service, especially during less busy hours when they know they can get a table. Just make sure they’re ordering in the process! Don’t underestimate the importance of a credible service provider. A poor connection might frustrate customers to the point of minimizing the chances of them returning to your business.

Staff Scheduling

Staff scheduling is a major hassle of restaurant management. With complex schedules, creating schedules can be difficult and time consuming, what with holiday time and last minute call offs. With modern scheduling apps, the process becomes much simpler. Your computer system will make it possible to enable employees to enter their availability and change shifts themselves. They can even enter vacation time. With this data, the app is then able to generate a schedule that takes into account staff availability so you’re not left stuck.

Some software applications can even use previous sales and scheduling data to assist in the process. This is an added benefit because it can combat the issue of over- or understaffing the restaurant. The scheduling process becomes easy.

Mobile ordering

A lot of restaurant computer systems offer security and convenience and useful features like built-in accounting software. Food apps offer restaurants mobile payment and orders, which reduce the number of customer touch-points, making it easier to serve more customers.

Digital Menus

The benefits of digital menus to restaurants are undisputable. There are many ways to incorporate digital menus in a restaurant. You can have digital menu boards, iPad POS menus, and touchscreen tables. Digital menus enable restaurant managers or owners to update their offerings regularly to accommodate specials and additions. They are an important part of computer systems, enabling venues to adjust prices for different times. For instance, reduce prices during less busy periods to motivate customers to visit and hike prices up during busy periods to increase profits.

Video Content Technology

Companies like Apple and Netflix are investing in original video content at breakneck speed. In 2020, video will account for up to 90% of internet traffic in the US and 80% of traffic worldwide. A lot of restaurants are investing in video content to stay current and as a marketing tactic. This approach is supported by computer systems. One option is a behind the scenes type “look” into your kitchen. This “sneak peak” type look into your restaurant’s inside processes should paint a bigger picture of your inner workings.

Ordering Technology

Computer systems utilizing ordering technology analyze a restaurant’s sales history and ordering patterns in order to make accurate predictions of what items will be needed in the days to come. An effective POS computer system integrating this technology can submit orders automatically, reduce food waste, and significantly reduce the chances of forgetting to order key items, resulting in overall savings in money and time.

Conclusion

These are the most important things to know about restaurant computer systems this year and in the years to come. Computer systems that help streamline diner operations are becoming more accessible than ever, both because they cost less than traditional combinations of hardware and software and because these computer system packages can basically be installed anywhere.