Digital Dining
Are people even going to restaurants anymore? Why travel the distance when you can have any type of cuisine delivered straight to your door. If you do go, are you being served or are you using a computer or iPad to put in your order?
Food service stations and restaurants are going digital! Point of Sale (POS) systems are being used to take orders in restaurants. Now customers can use a tablet to look at the menu and then put in what they want, pay and then get their food at the table or at a pick up counter.
This might be taking away the face-to-face conversation but it’s leading to less mistakes in the kitchen and more orders made by the customer. A consumer is more likely to pick out more items from the menu when they can see all the options they have (ie. Toppings and sides)
These POS systems don’t stop with the use of the customer; it can be used behind the scenes as well. To keep inventory in the kitchen, to clock in and out your employees. Servers can use it as well to put in orders directly from the table to the kitchen, keeping the face-to-face conversation alive.
Food delivery isn’t a new phenomena, but its getting easier and easier to get the kind of food your craving with a tap of your finger. UberEATS is the newest delivery service to hit the streets. Coming to New York City and Chicago, UberEATS is delivering meals from the best local restaurants in less than 10 minutes. From a select menu of two choices per day you can order your lunch on your Uber app. Slide to UberEATS and put in your location and pick your order. You can make several orders for the same delivery price of $3-4. The meals are prearranged so you cannot make any customizations for your $9-15 meal, but you don’t have to tip your driver, they request a 5 star rating on your app.
How will Uber measure up to Seamless or GrubHub, the team of top leading online delivery service? Seamless is currently in 16 states and is used by 12,000 restaurants offering more than 80 different types of cuisine. GrubHub is serving over 600 cities spread among 39 states. Every restaurant, all their customers and more are using online ordering systems to satisfy their foodie needs.
In addition to 3rd party sites, many restaurants are hosting ecommerce solutions on their own sites. The orders go straight to their kitchen and they handle the delivery themselves. Major companies, like Dominos, are developing aps to make deliveries just finger taps away.
Restaurants aren’t the only people who can go digital. Almost any store can use a POS system to keep track of their inventory and employees and to ring up customers. You can get automated notifications when items are running low, stats and even social media managing! With a POS system you’re more organized and more efficient. Save time, make more money!
