Earlier this month, Amazon dropped a bombshell on the restaurant industry – it was increasing the minimum wage of its 500,000 strong workforce, including all its low-skilled warehouse staff, to $15 per hour. In the tightest labor market in the post-war era with unemployment at 3.7%, this was a hammer blow. Restaurants are already deep in the trenches fighting off competition from Uber, Lyft, Instacart and a multitude of other […]

Did you know the number of data breaches increased by over 40% since 2016? Restaurants are key victims for these attacks, so how important is it to have the most up-to-date and secure restaurant technology today?

Six-time Pro Bowler Chad Johnson paid a visit to Applebees recently, and he was in awe by the PrestoPrime EMV Terminal tablets that you used to pay your bills. Exclaiming he would stop raising the tip amount after his finger cramped, he left a tip of $207.50. You can hear servers in the video below, proclaiming their astonishment and shock after he left his server a tip of 342 percent […]

If the restaurant industry wasn’t facing turmoil enough already, another big hit may be coming its way – a reduction in loyalty to restaurant brands. Loyal customers are bread and butter to a brand – not only do they keep a consistent inflow of business, but because of their loyalty, they bring in other strong referrals. However, the tides may be changing as the share of wallet may be directed […]

Restaurants are trying to adapt, as Millennials demonstrate different dining behaviors as compared to prior generations.  Overall, Millennials frequent restaurants more frequently than their elders.  Forbes Magazine reports that Millennials spend 44% of their food dollars, or $2,921 annually, on eating out.  By comparison, Boomers spend only 40% of their food dollars on eating out or $2,629 annually.  The increased demand for prepared meals is a positive development for the […]

Are We Headed Toward a Cashless Society? When was the last time you carried around cash? Not only does cash and change weigh down your wallet, but counting the correct change is not quick and holds up the line. More and more Americans are moving toward digital forms of payment, namingly mobile wallet. Why carry around multiple debit and credit cards, when your smartphone can house everything in one place? […]

The competition for customers has never been more fierce. The unrelenting pressures for operators to capture the loyalty and trust of guests continues to grow as their customers demand new levels of engagement. Where does this engagement start? For one, restaurant owners are implementing new technologies to help improve overall business operations and most importantly, modernize the guest experience. More guests of all ages are demanding technology in order to […]

Brew Pubs are an increasingly popular restaurant category.  The trend has grown as Americans become more sophisticated in their beer and ale consumption behavior.  Starting in the 1980s with California Establishments such as Gordon Biersch and the Karl Strauss Brewing Company, we now find other local and nationwide brew pubs becoming favorite meeting places. Many cities have embraced brew pubs as a way to create a more exciting buzz about their towns.  Even formerly conservative […]

Mobile payment technologies are quickly being adopted by smartphone users.  This means that restaurants will need to adapt their way of processing payments in order to retain the ever growing population of tech-savvy customers.  An unwillingness to alter decades-old payment practices, such as taking a physical credit card to the BOH for processing on a POS, will increasingly result in lost customers. As evidence of this trend, the National Restaurant […]

The Restaurant Industry, along with most in the business community, have reacted positively to the Trump Administration’s Promise to reduce regulations. Requirements have continually expanded for more reporting, disclosures, and expenditures in areas that have gone beyond the basic requirements of core business operations and food safety to include a variety of new regulatory demands. Compounding these challenges is the fact that new regulations have been introduced at an ever […]