Using Technology to Elevate Customer Service: What Food Service and Hospitality Businesses Should Know

The line between physical and digital retail is thinner than ever, and nowhere is that truer than in the food service and hospitality industries. To thrive, food service, restaurants, and hospitality businesses have had to make substantial changes to accommodate new payment options, prioritize different service methods, adhere to new safety protocols, and much more.

As the retail environment evolves, operators face uncertainty around traffic, demand, and labor. So how can these businesses keep pace with this rapid change to deliver seamless omnichannel experiences for customers cost-effectively? Here’s how the right technology can help you take better care of your guests.

Meet Guests Where They Are

Food service businesses and restaurants are continuously evolving to accommodate new buying journeys and expectations, and it’s important to be compassionate to your customers’ shifting standards of what makes an “ideal” experience. While some guests are looking for the experience of being served in an indoor dining room, others much prefer the ease and low-touch efficiency of takeout.

Look for ways to reduce and remove friction from the buying journey with technology solutions and point-of-sale platforms designed for retail, food service, and hospitality. That way, you can provide a consistent, unified experience across channels so that no matter how your customers interact with your business, they can find the experiences they want.

Leverage Tools to Adapt to Ongoing Labor Changes

Higher wages and labor shortages have meant that food service and hospitality businesses have had to make unprecedented adjustments to staffing. Businesses have also had to reallocate staff to new roles with added responsibilities, such as curbside or at-home delivery.

With flexible, reliable technology solutions, your staff can switch from a cashier-led point-of-sale solution to a self-service checkout or ordering kiosk to respond to peak times. And when those restaurant technology solutions are easy to use, training and retaining employees can be a little easier.

Deploy Future-Ready Solutions

A point-of-sale solution that is ready for whatever the future might hold is a wise investment. The food service industry needs point-of-sale technology that’s retail-hardened, designed to handle extreme temperature, humidity, vibrations, impacts, constant cleaning, and operate after accidental spills, a common hazard in food service.

Retail-hardened technology is physically resilient, but it is also powerful enough to integrate with new digital applications and future peripherals in the future. When you use retail-hardened technology, you can avoid closing POS stations, serve more customers, and keep your lines moving.