The future can be scary, even for small counter serve restaurants. There are new apps and tech tools coming out almost every day that threaten to change how we think about business, how we do business and how customers see our business. These new techs and apps are also often the driving forces behind trend that only a few years ago we would have thought were weird and backwards. Just a few years ago you hail down a cab, you don’t order one to pick you up. If you wanted to ride your bike or scooter you would have to bring your own, you don’t just show up and unlock one you find with your phone. So what will be the next trend brought on by new tech and apps? How could it help one of the many small startup counter-serve restaurants?
When it comes to small counter-serve restaurants; speed, efficiency and price is the name of the game. A restaurant owner wants the order to come in quickly and to keep the lines moving and short. They want the products paid for and no mix up on which customer gets what. Lastly, they want a solution that is affordable. One trend we have all seen in recent years is the use of kiosks. But there are drawbacks. It’s expensive, you still have to pay for a complete POS station and printer. Kiosks can still cause a line to form. Which means you may still need an employee to jump in to take orders. These hurdles makes using kiosks in an upstart restaurant very unlikely.
So let’s look at two trends that when combined could have all the benefits of a kiosk without the drawbacks for counter serve restaurants. On-line ordering has exploded in the last few years, every customer now expects to be able to find your website, order then pay for your products, even on their smartphone. Another trend is the use of QR codes. They are everywhere and they are so simple, just a simple checkered box that when scanned with a smartphone takes you anywhere or do anything. So imagine how these two tech trends could help any counter serve restaurant maintain a steady simple check out process and be able to remove the overhead of a kiosk. Here is how, wherever the orders are taken, simply put up a sign with a QR code informing customers to scan it to order. The QIR code will take them to your website’s on-line ordering. There they can put in their order, mark it take out or dine in, give you their name and pay with a credit card. The order will automatically print in the kitchen. When the order is ready the customer’s name will be called at the pick up window. It’s that easy! In essence you are turning your customer’s smartphone into their personal kiosk.
To many small restaurant owners, this concept might seem scary. Assuming all of your customers have smartphone but in this day and age that is not a big assumption to make. Assuming some of your customers want to pay with cash, while people in general carry less cash and almost always pay with card. Total Restaurant POS can take the fear out of this transition and easily make this a reality. Save money while being more efficient, contact us!
As always, we are here to help. Let us know if you have any questions.
Total Merchant Supply is a POS Dealer based in NC & SC.