Top 10 Essential Types of Restaurant Technology

Amber Trendell, Senior Director, Strategy

Restaurant technology is rapidly changing to meet customer expectations across small business and the enterprise alike. Now that more restaurants are re-opening, global customers increasingly show an openness toward the benefits enabled by restaurant digitization. To deliver on new customer demand, it’s pivotal for businesses to invest in POS hardware and restaurant management software that will promote future growth and success.

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1

Durable restaurant POS hardware

Bumps and breaks regularly occur in the restaurant industry. To mitigate the effects of these inevitable accidents, restaurant operators require durable equipment to withstand heat, cold, spills, drops, heavy use – everything the industry demands. Oracle restaurant POS hardware fulfills these needs, offering the best in processing power, speed, reliability and above all, security.

2

Mobile POS tablets

These days, it’s the norm for restaurants to offer customers curbside pickup, dine-in and to-go options. Look for a handheld POS system, an untethered option equipped with a long-lasting battery, that will enable staff to move with the pace of the restaurant and meet diners inside or outside the premises.  

3

Restaurant analytics for real-time visibility

Collecting real-time data is important to determine how well your business is performing on a daily basis. Restaurant analytics reports powered by Simphony Point of Sale software collect data across all POS touchpoints to clarify how efficiently the kitchen is running and notify managers about important issues, such as inventory shortages or scheduling conflicts, with real-time alerts.

4

Kitchen Display Systems (KDS) that increase speed of service

Speed is everything, regardless of whether a customer is expecting to dine-in or order delivery. In fact, more than half of in-house diners don’t like to wait more than 10 minutes to be served and 45% of customers who order at the counter said they get annoyed if they must wait more than five minutes. An effective kitchen display system can feed the kitchen and guests faster by optimizing workflows, food quality and speed of service.

Our KDS is the industry’s most durable, purpose-built, able to withstand the heat of the kitchen. The system uses predefined cook timings to break down each order, prioritize preparation tasks and automatically alert kitchen staff about ticket times that have exceeded your restaurant’s standards.

With the use of Oracle’s Simphony and its built-in kitchen display system (KDS), Brazil’s Cabana Burger reduced delivery times to customers by 10 minutes and increased delivery orders by 400% compared to the year prior.

5

Geofencing software

More than one third of dine-in customers feel like restaurants prioritize online and delivery orders over in-person customers. To ensure this isn’t true for your business, consider geofencing software, which can provide to-go customers’ time of arrival in real-time, while the guest is en-route. In addition to limiting disruptions for dine-in customers, this solution prepares staff to have orders at the ready, greet customers by name upon arrival and mark orders done when hand-off is complete.

6

POS integrations to facilitate connections with third-party apps and delivery services

The increased demand for food delivery services accelerated the need for restaurants to partner with third-party apps. Choosing the right POS integration can set your restaurant up for long-term growth and Oracle is way ahead of the pack, compared to competitors. Oracle Cloud Marketplace utilizes open API framework, which makes it easy for food and beverage operators to integrate with the most popular third-party apps. In fact, Oracle Cloud Marketplace already offers access to more than 150 applications.  

7

Flexible payment processors

Customers expect to pay for their meals their way, and everyone prefers something different -- debit cards, credit cards, Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, Google Pay and more. Payment processors normally come with hidden fees and fixed contracts, and processing fees can get very expensive depending on payment type. Choosing a flexible payment processor to handle this wide range of options is key to avoid getting dinged with extra charges. Flexible payment processors like Oracle Payment Cloud Service provide restaurants with a fixed fee rate, month-to month terms and no hidden charges.

8

Real-time inventory tracking

Digital restaurant management software is essential for accuracy in ordering and inventory management. This allows staff to spend less time in the pantry and more time behind the line or on the floor. Not only does Simphony Point of Sale from Oracle optimize inventory with suggested order quantities, the technology can also promote more sustainable business practices.

9

Loyalty programs

Restaurants benefit by retaining existing customers because it’s more valuable and cost-efficient than recruiting new ones. By integrating loyalty program registration opportunities into your restaurant’s website, mobile app and kiosks, guests are more likely to create rich profiles for targeted promotions. These offers, which should be based on highly-segmented, data-drive campaigns, can inspire customer frequency. 

10

Self-service kiosks

As many food and beverage operators work to redeploy labor to where it is needed most, self-ordering kiosks can serve as a valuable POS system for small businesses or large enterprises. Customers are unlikely to tolerate slow service when ordering meals, so using self-service POS systems allows guests to order and pay at their convenience, in addition to increasing targeted upselling by suggesting additional items the guest may be interested in.

Learn more about our essential restaurant technology solutions by visiting our website. To better understand how your restaurant can benefit by partnering with Oracle, rewatch our webinar, which will discuss how Simphony and GloriaFood worked together to integrate online orders in just a few clicks.