2021 Priorities: Restaurant Technology That Can Handle the New Restrictions
A study conducted by the Pew Research Center revealed that about 26% of American adults spend their whole day online, and 43% are online several times during the day. Such consumer behaviors continue to affect how businesses operate in the restaurant industry, and in these circumstances the impact of technology cannot be underestimated.
Contactless and Easy Payment
Today the restaurant business must be extremely flexible to meet the demands of all order options, whether it be take-out, curbside, delivery, or ‘al fresco’ dining. Mobile technology has, therefore, become a much more important pre-requisite, working directly with point-of-sale systems and avoiding the need to maintain two separate databases.
New restrictions imposed across the world, including in the U.S, are mainly based on strictly observed social distancing rules and the avoidance of contact wherever possible. In this contactless dining environment, customer physical contact with high-touch elements is minimized in order to create a safe dining experience.
Oracle Hospitality Simphony and Oracle RES 3700 POS are point-of-sale solutions that meet these requirements, together with the multi-function Paide tablet that enables contactless orders, payment, tips, delivery, and EMV payments.
Fast Ordering
Keeping staff safe and minimizing contact across locations is a high priority for restaurant brands everywhere. Offering guests the ability to see menus, order, and pay either online, or from their own device, can significantly reduce the stress of the staff.
Some 60% of customers order food online once a week with 31% ordering twice or more. Nearly 34% of these spend at least $50, which indicates that there are opportunities for almost any restaurant to increase their income by selling food online.
It is anticipated that these statistics will not change much during 2021, even if the COVID-19 crisis is resolved. Customers are now comfortable with online and mobile services with millennials preferring to order this way, except in special circumstances.
The Best Solution
The best tablet should be able to handle all of these functions, and we have found it! The PAIDE tablet is the first “all in one” tablet that can support tableside ordering, curbside delivery, and EMV payments, all in a single device. It fully integrates with both Simphony and RES 3700, so no separate programming is required; a full Oracle Point-of-Sale client runs on this tablet.
As previously mentioned, this tablet is ideal for restaurants that are trying to handle COVID-19 restrictions. This is because it supports different ordering options, providing the restaurant operator with flexibility to handle outdoor dining, delivery, take-out, etc. It can also handle payment, tips, and the staff member can stay with the customer without having to go back to the POS terminal.
This tablet is a much more healthy and hygienic solution than a shared fixed POS terminal, this is because each server is assigned a tablet that can be cleaned at the end of each shift. This is the kind of technology that the restaurant industry needs in 2021.
Author:
Jonathan Seigle
HRS Vice President of Sales and Marketing, North America
