In the past year, full-service and fast casual restaurant operators have adapted to the need to streamline their off-premise channels. While this made sense during the pandemic, investment in off-premise can come with its disadvantages.
Dine-in is not a low-growth business. With strategic investment in the right next-generation technologies, restaurants can realize strong growth from in-house dining—without the associated problems off-premise presents.
Investment in off-premise has drawbacks.
When operators focus on off-premise at the expense of dine-in, they encounter lower margins, brand dilution, and loss of valuable guest data. Less tangibly, but perhaps even more destructively: when restaurants leverage a third-party delivery service, they cede control over the very elements that spur guests to choose their brand in the first place.
Operators can retain ultimate control over these elements only by keeping guests in house. How can they attract these guests? By offering an improved, technology-driven experience.
Control the guest experience with dine-in.
Why do guests choose one restaurant over another? Nearly universally, the quality of a restaurant’s food matters most. Restaurants have myriad control points over the quality of their food when guests dine in-house. They can guarantee piping hot food, plate appropriately, and increase brand value with a pleasant dining experience.
The second a delivery service takes over, restaurants place control into the hands of a third party with no affiliation to their brand. Each time a restaurant hands a take-out bag to a third-party driver, it risks presenting its guests with a negative experience.
Invest in front-of-house technology now.
Instead of using third-party apps that ultimately wrest control from them, restaurant owners should invest in front-of-house technology that improves the in-house experience, optimizes marketing efforts, and reduces operating costs.
Today’s guests are increasingly interested in the use of technology to improve their dine-in experience. According to a Deloitte report, next-generation restaurant guests expect to interact with technology that can personalize and streamline their dining experience.
At Presto, optimizing and streamlining the dine-in experience is our bread and butter. We’ve developed technologies that both improve the guest experience and increase operational efficiency. Our customers have seen a 30% increase in table turns and 20 times more guest survey responses. What’s more is that 81% of guests will return to use Presto.
Are you ready to invest in technology that will delight your guests and staff? We’re here to help. Get in touch or request a demo today.
This blog article is an excerpt from our white paper “Take Out or Dine In? The ROI of Improving the Dine-In Experience”. To download the full white paper, please contact us here.
