Sales 
Digital disruption is sweeping through the restaurant industry (and hospitality in general), thanks to new technologies and new ways of thinking about customer experience.
TechCrunch reports that venture investors have poured literally billions of dollars into efforts to improve restaurant operations and guest experiences. Gallup is even writing about “how to survive disruption in the restaurant industry.” A headline like that may make this disruption sound menacing, but the truth is, each new innovation offers restauranteurs another option for building a more efficient, more cost-effective, and more customer-pleasing operation. Here are some of the ways in which digital technology strengthens restaurant operations.
Point of Sale (POS) systems
New technologies and vendors are infusing sales systems with more flexibility and functionality than ever. Digital and mobile POS systems allow guests to pay from the table or on the go, offer opportunities for cross- and upsells, and gather valuable data about customer experiences and behavior. Beyond improving guest experience, these more advanced POS systems can also increase sales and revenue.
Inventory Management
Inventory is the lifeblood of a restaurant, but nearly half of businesses still perform inventory manually with pen-and-paper or a spreadsheet (if at all). The manual approach is labor- and time-intensive and vulnerable to human error. New inventory management systems streamline much of this effort; even better, they can integrate with accounting software to gain efficiencies and reduce data entry errors.
Shift Planning
Restaurants face some of the most complex scheduling needs of any industry. A single restaurant can employ a mix of hourly and salaried workers, with staff members working many different shifts, often including overtime. Managing schedules manually can be a major headache! New online tools, however, relieve that pain by automating most of the process. Some solutions even create online portals where workers can schedule themselves, swap shifts, and more.
Food Safety
When any other aspect of running a restaurant goes awry, restaurants go to extra lengths to fix the problem; but when food safety goes wrong, restaurants simply go out of business. No other area of a restaurant’s operation can benefit from digitization as much as food safety, where routine tasks like temperature monitoring can be automated – which not only saves times but also eliminates human error and fraud. Digital checklists, meanwhile, shorten the amount of time needed for line checks and HACCP efforts while improving outcomes.
The ComplianceMate system addresses a critical need for proactive food safety initiatives at growing restaurant chains. Through a combination of wireless temperature sensors, mobile technologies, and easy-to-use tools built for the modern kitchen, ComplianceMate gives you total control over food safety and compliance at your stores. For more information, contact ComplianceMate.
