5 Amazing Benefits of Self-Service Technology to Restaurants

5 benefits of self-service technology to restaurants include increase in restaurant revenue, reduction in human error, speed in customer service, etc.

I’d talk about these benefits a bit more later in this post, but first…

Ever heard of self-service technology?

Sure you have.

You probably have, at one time or the other, used one of those self-ordering kiosks to order yourself a delicious taco or pizza.

My point is, self-service technology isn’t new. Many restaurants have used them in the past to beef up their services.

The problem was: even though they were (and still are) super helpful, many people didn’t fancy these self-service techs. They preferred to book tables at the restaurants and eat out.

A poll by MSN even found that about 78% of restaurant goers said they’d rather eat out than use a self-service kiosk.

Who wouldn’t?

It wasn’t that much fun if you had a date and ordered from a kiosk as opposed to eating out at a beautiful restaurant.

One pandemic later…

Self-service technology has become a must-have and must-use item in every restaurant.

Those technologies such as online reservations, contactless payment, and self-ordering kiosk have come in to reduce human-to-human contact. And as a result, customers can still order from their favorite restaurant without the risk of contracting the corona virus.

While customers have come to terms with the use of these technologies, the major problem is that setting up these techs can appear herculean.

To help you easily make the decision to incorporate self-service technology into your daily operations, I’m going to share 5 amazing benefits that come with that decision.

But before that…

Let’s clearly define what self-service technology is, and then you can make sense of the benefits of using them.

What Are Self-Service Technologies?

When we talk about self-service technologies, we refer to those technologies that allow businesses to operate without the influence of an employee. They help businesses carry out regular (and important) transactions with their customers without any human-to-human interaction.

Examples of self-service technologies include ATMs and banking apps.

Pretty straightforward, isn’t it?

For restaurants, self-service technologies help them serve their customers without any face-to-face contact with a waiter. They allow customers digitally browse the restaurant menu, order and pay for meals, and book reservations.

Now that that’s out of the way, let’s look at 5 amazing benefits of self-service technology:

1. Accuracy

We all make mistakes. Nobody’s perfect. To err is human. What’s the one thing those 3 statements have in common?

That’s right – they are all true.

Mistakes are inevitable, regardless of the kind of business you operate; you cannot completely eradicate them. And this goes for restaurant businesses, too.

However, while a mistake or two can be overlooked, too many mistakes can cost your business dearly.

Booking the wrong tables for the right couple; delivering the right order to the wrong address; missing a side dish, etc. can get you a ton of negative reviews.

You don’t want that, do you?

With self-service technology, you can drastically reduce the amount of human errors in your business. For example, a self-service kiosk’s algorithm cannot forget your customers’ order or misunderstand it. A table reservation app will not book tables for the wrong date or time.

What makes this even better is that your customers are responsible for inputting the details for their service. And so, your staff or restaurant cannot be blamed for any misunderstandings. I know that sounds wrong, but it’s the truth.

More importantly, you need utmost accuracy if you want to keep your customers safe during the pandemic. Self-service technologies help eliminate all human error, the tiniest of which can endanger the health of your customers.

2. Speed

They say speed kills.

That’s true if you are thinking about breaking the speed limit on the freeway. But when you are trying to keep customers safe, speed is crucial.

First off, no customer appreciates slow restaurant service. Long queues and extended wait times, which result from using old technology, can get customers cranky.

This is where self-service technology shines.

Whether it’s browsing through the menu options, ordering a meal, or booking a table, self-service technologies make it quicker to serve your customers. As soon as customers pick an item from the menu, it is instantly inputted into the POS and the kitchen begins to prepare it promptly.

This means zero downtimes and no queues. That automatically translates into customers moving quickly in and out of your restaurant which reduces crowding and the risk of infection.

3. Convenience

People will always pay good money for convenience. This is guaranteed!

Besides quality service, people will pay more for convenience than anything else. That is why businesses with the shortest buying steps make the most money. And have a quicker turnover, too.

It goes without saying that self-service technologies provide convenience as one of its major benefits. You can have your customers make transactions on their mobile phone from the comfort of their homes.

So, whether it’s booking a table or ordering a snack, self-service techs help shorten the process and streamline your customers’ journey.

4. Make More Money

Many restaurants are struggling.

A scary number of them have gone bankrupt owing to the pandemic that hit the world early this year. And so, now more than ever restaurants are looking for ways to beat the pandemic and make money.

The problem is, customers were also hit by the pandemic. Many have lost their jobs while others who didn’t have had paycheck slashed. This has caused customers to rethink their spending habits ultimately leading to a loss in revenue for restaurants.

It is now more difficult for restaurants to convince their customers to pay more for meals than it was before the pandemic.

However, with self-service technologies, you can.

How?

By programing them to use intuitive or targeted prompts to upsell customers. For instance, when a customer is ordering ice-cream, you can present them with the opportunity to add extra toppings. Or you can give them the option of making their meal a combo.

In either case, they will spend more than they normally would have. And because there’s no human interaction, most customers will not notice the upsell. Reports have even shown restaurants recording an increase in revenue of 12 – 22% using self-service kiosks.

Additionally, self-service technology removes the fear of judgement customers may feel ordering extra meal items. It’s common for customers to feel judged, for instance, when requesting for extra cheese, sugar, jam, or wings with their dish.

The elimination of this fear helps your customers make more customized (and bigger) orders which translate into more revenue for you.

5. Safety

Covid-19 is here and safety has become the number one priority of everyone.

Or almost everyone.

And so, restaurants have had to rethink their daily routine because what was once considered normal is now totally prohibited. For instance, ordering food over the counter is now a big no-no.

Thanks to self-service technology, customers no longer need to interact with restaurant employees. They can just sit in their homes and order a sandwich with a few clicks.

As a matter of fact, safety is the biggest reason self-service technology gained traction when the pandemic hit. The fear of contracting the virus caused customers to embrace the safety this technology provides.

 

So, there you have it – 5 amazing benefits of self-service technology.

You can dramatically improve your restaurant business by incorporating self-service technology to your daily operations. They will help you:

• reduce errors,
• serve more customers in less time,
• make the buying process easy,
• make you more money,
• and keep your customers safe.

 

What’s not to like?

You know what’s even better? Having reliable customer data to work with.

Targeting your customers with upsell prompts can only work when you have actionable data at your disposal. And to collect real-time customer data, you need to integrate a Wi-Fi marketing platform to your social Wi-Fi network.

Using SpotOn’s Wi-Fi platform, you can collect valuable data like name, email, gender, last/number of visits, and more. With this data you can significantly improve your marketing ROI.

Want to know how you can do that?

Head over to our contact us page and shoot us a message and we’d get right back to you. Or you could request for a demo to see how it all plays out.

POSTED ON August 13, 2020