For the past couple of years, restaurants have been leveraging technology in their battle for the hearts, minds and stomachs of customers. Technology solutions that create positive dining experiences also help earn valuable repeat business. Now, in mid-2020, with the restaurant industry in upheaval, some technologies aren’t just creating positive dining experiences—they’re keeping customers and employees safe.
With higher stakes, it’s never been more critical for solution providers to adjust their offerings to meet the complex and volatile needs of restaurants. Here are two examples of solutions restaurants are looking for today.
Online ordering—Faced with accepting takeout orders only, many restaurants have scrambled to adopt some form of online ordering to keep business going. Some have opted to go the fast and easy route by working with third-party ordering platforms like Grubhub and DoorDash. While getting established on these sites has little barrier to entry and appears to be a great solution on the surface, restaurants will soon discover they’re surrendering 30% of their profits in fees and are lacking many of the features they enjoy in their POS software.
Check with your preferred POS software provider to see what online ordering capabilities are baked into the software and are ready to deploy to your customers. Additionally, ask your software provider if they’re integrated with stand-alone online ordering platforms that may offer lower fees than the big names. By using online ordering that’s built in or tightly integrated to their existing software, restaurants can provide this must-have service while protecting their profits.
Curbside pickup and payments—Many customers placing takeout orders will pay online if given the opportunity. However, plenty of orders require payment to be made during curbside pickup. In these instances, restaurants can protect everyone involved in the transaction by keeping physical interaction to a minimum. This is an excellent opportunity to use mobile payment terminals that support contactless payments. Restaurant employees can tap a customers’ card or smartphone at the curb rather than having to run back into the restaurant. Ingram Micro offers a variety of mPOS and payment solutions built to reduce touches while keeping electronic payments fast and secure.