QSR- The Restaurant Lessons We Learned in 2023

What was your biggest lesson learned in 2023?

If there's one lesson learned from this past year, it's that despite the focus on guest- and employee-centric experiences, the industry as a whole still takes a very top-down approach to operations. It's a huge missed opportunity that keeps operators from addressing significant operational inefficiencies at a critical moment when they can't afford to lose time and resources under tight margins. These inefficiencies take many forms, whether it's the unproductive use of labor because an operator can't accurately predict levels of demand or the extra time guests wait in between their second round of drinks because their busy server isn't available to take their order.For the hospitality industry to actually be hospitable and profitable, brands need to take a step back and reevaluate their operating models. Instead of putting all operational decisions upon the general manager and all customer choices on the server, brands must leverage technology to distribute decision-making across the board. For example, chefs working in the kitchen should be able to quickly 86 unavailable food items from the Kitchen Display System, without having to locate a manager to remove the item from the POS during a busy dinner rush. Guests should have the option to order more food or drinks from their mobile device or from a server, whenever they'd like. Not only will this reduce inefficiencies, but it will also dramatically improve the guest experience and in turn, drive loyalty and sales.

‍

What are your thoughts on Al and how it will affect the industry in 2024?

As we enter 2024, I think we'll see more hospitality brands both testing and implementing Al within their locations. As a technologist, I'd like to see the industry use Al everywhere there is an opportunity to make a guest's experience easier or more enjoyable. That might come in the form of using Al to create more enticing menus or more targeted marketing offers based on customer data. From the operator's perspective, it could be solutions that help reduce waste so that they can avoid painful price increases.

Check out the article here