Blog
February 19, 2020
Cash is no longer king. Around the world, consumers choose to make more and more card-based payments for goods and services. According to a 2018 survey, 54% of consumers prefer using debit cards; 26% opt for credit cards, and only 14% prefer cash. As consumers, we don’t often think about what our payment preferences mean for retailers. But in order to accept cards, merchants must make several payments, including processor […]
February 11, 2020
Closing the Loop Restaurants already collect certain types of data, for example, check data and order history. But compared to e-commerce companies, restaurants don’t actually collect as much as they could. For example, Amazon knows exactly how many times you visit their website, how much time you spend on each page. Not only does the website remember the items you’ve purchased, but also the items that you’ve looked at and […]
February 6, 2020
In our previous post on personalizing the restaurant experience, we touched on how personalization can benefit both operational and marketing efforts. Today, let’s dive deeper into how personalization benefits restaurant operations. Restaurants will see massive operational advantages from personalization because it promotes both staff efficiency and guest satisfaction. Staff members who provide a tailored experience will make guests happier, boost check sizes and tips, and increase staff morale. As a […]
January 30, 2020
The labor crisis was one of the biggest stories for the casual dining segment in 2019. But the arrival of the new decade doesn’t mean that this narrative is going away any time soon. Minimum wage inflation is extending beyond coastal states. What exacerbates this problem further is the fact that the unemployment rate remains at its lowest in the last 50 years. Yet restaurants are now growing at twice […]
January 23, 2020
Welcome Daniel! Here’s your favorite appetizer and a sample of something new. As the saying goes, sooner or later, everything old is new again. Being welcomed to a restaurant as a “regular”—whose preferences and habits are well known—used to be the norm for many diners. I still remember the times when being greeted by name at your neighborhood diner was the norm. Then, with the advent of large casual chains […]
January 20, 2020
Technology is now a familiar face for the fast food industry. 70% of quick service restaurants planned to devote more resources to customer-facing service-based technology in 2019, according to the Nation’s Restaurant News 2019 Foodservice Industry Overview. And the number will be higher in 2020. Big names in fast food are either rapidly acquiring technologies or developing them in house. With high labor turnover and rising labor costs, this investment […]
January 17, 2020
“The casual dining restaurant’s deal with the tabletop tech provider is aimed at better tracking ordering behaviors and is part of the company’s strategy to boost customization. Chili’s wants to remember your order. Through a partnership with Presto, a front-of-house technology firm, it is hoping to be able to do just that and more. The casual chain will soon roll out [Presto Pay At Table] across its 1,250 restaurants, collecting […]
January 13, 2020
Chili’s will deploy the industry-leading Presto Pay-At-Table solution at all its restaurants across the U.S. Presto, the restaurant industry’s leading end-to-end technology platform, has been selected by Brinker International, Inc. as the exclusive provider of its next generation guest-facing pay-at-table solutions. Designed to provide a superior guest experience and more powerful payment technology, the Presto pay-at-table systems are scheduled to be deployed across most of Chili’s® Grill & Bar 1,250 […]
January 8, 2020
We can learn a thing or two from restaurants abroad. And we’re not just talking about more exotic dishes and limited edition Starbucks drinks. Pay-At-Table solutions have gradually seen more adoption by US restaurants in recent years. But tableside payments have existed in Europe, Canada, and other countries for much longer. Using wireless terminals or mobile POS devices to pay at the table in Europe has been the norm since […]
December 11, 2019
With more than 1 million restaurant locations in the US in 2019, it becomes more important than ever to think about what your restaurant’s unique value proposition among your competition is. But think about value not just in terms of lower prices and higher discounts. Today, guests who dine out want more than a meal, and are looking for a total dining experience that they can enjoy with family and […]
December 9, 2019
In the restaurant industry today, server turnover is not the only problem on the minds of restaurant owners and operators. Another major pain point is the fact that the available labor pool is dwindling due to the low unemployment rate, and at higher costs. Why Is There a Labor Shortage in the Restaurant Industry? The US restaurant industry has relied on a relatively cheap and plentiful labor source because of […]