Restaurants have expanded operations to engage customers online — and they need you to provide them with solutions that support the new way of doing business.
The shutdowns of 2020 had a profound impact on the way customers interacted with their favorite restaurants. While demand remained the same or increased, restaurants faced restrictions on how many customers they could seat. As a result, both parties turned to takeout and delivery — and smart restaurants turned to omnichannel point of sale (POS) systems to adjust.
Now, more than 50% of adults state that takeout and delivery services are essential. Millennials and Gen Zers are most likely to use delivery apps. This trend in consumer behavior is expected to continue, with more than 185 million people projected to use online food delivery services by 2025.
While takeout dining increased by only 2% in August 2020 compared to March 2020 before the lockdowns, ordering takeout for lunch saw the highest jump from 37% in March 2020 to 43% in August 2020. Fine dining restaurants pivoted the most in reaction to the lockdown mandates, with more than 54% of restaurateurs allocating more resources to off-premise dining, like delivery services.
All of these statistics point to one thing: Restaurant owners must be prepared to interact with their customers digitally. Restaurant operators must be flexible and offer their customers a way of ordering and paying that is convenient.
What omnichannel restaurants need.
Restaurants that have historically focused on on-premises dining usually don’t have a point of sale system with omnichannel functionality. During the lockdowns, many restaurant operators added a separate, third-party system for online orders and delivery. However, this solution is painfully inefficient and incredibly expensive.
To make “dual POS solutions” work, an employee must enter orders into the POS system to send them to the kitchen. This opens the door to human error in orders, but it also costs the restaurant more than necessary by paying valuable staff to perform a function that can be easily automated.
An omnichannel POS system that allows the operator to manage the entire business is the optimal tool to help restaurants meet consumer demands for online and in-person service.
Winning omnichannel POS features.
The solution restaurants need in this new landscape brings more to the table than traditional POS functionality. To meet the demands of the industry, restaurant POS systems need integrated ecommerce tools. In addition, capabilities like integrated inventory management can help restaurants save money, which could mean the difference between shuttering the windows and keeping the doors open.
Another vital feature of omnichannel POS systems is their ability to integrate with omnichannel payments. Consumers want the convenience of paying with their preferred payment methods when they engage online, as well as in restaurants. Furthermore, it will make life easier for your clients. With an omnichannel payments solution, they receive one report that helps them efficiently manage end-of-day reports. Additionally, they have one vendor to manage payments at the counter or the table, online, and even at self-service kiosks, on a mobile app, and via QR code or text.
Comprehensive, omnichannel POS systems can also give restaurant operators an advantage when they include integrated, value-added solutions. Employee management, business analytics, marketing, and loyalty rewards programs are all vital to building both strong dine-in and online ordering revenue streams. Omnichannel POS systems can help restaurants truly transform their businesses.
The new look of restaurant operations.
Restaurant operators have had to be creative and flexible as they found ways to adapt to new omnichannel customers. Some have reconfigured dining room space to accommodate more pickup and delivery orders. They’ve adapted menus for foods that travel well and reallocated staff to meet demand in the on-premises and off-premises parts of their businesses.
North American Bancard Sales Partners can support these restaurateurs with configurable and customized restaurant POS solutions that will help them overcome new challenges. You’ll provide your clients with comprehensive POS systems with crucial functionality like inventory management, tip pooling, online waitlists, and reservations.
You’ll also support merchants by giving them the payment functionality they need to optimize customer experiences wherever they choose to place their orders and dine. Contact us to see how to make it happen!
