It’s no secret that the pandemic has been a game changer for the F&B and hospitality industry. While several restaurants pivoted in innovative ways by shifting their sales strategy to online, ongoing capacity restrictions and social distancing mandates continue to challenge the dining out scene. Enter digital self-ordering solutions.

Self-ordering through Kiosks and QR-code based platforms isn’t entirely new. However, their popularity has drastically increased with the changes brought on due to Covid-19. And with the world on its path to recovery, these self-ordering solutions are positioned not only to give guests the peace of mind of contactless ordering but also necessary fixtures for additional revenue and customer retention.

The benefits of restaurant self-ordering solutions go beyond contactless ordering. These platforms are proven to reduce customer wait times, optimize staff productivity, increase revenue, save costs, improve efficiency, and delight your customers.

Setting up a self-ordering channel at your restaurant should be simple and stress-free. With select leading restaurant management solution providers, you can get up and running in minutes. No expensive hardware or complex IT infrastructure is required. You can create a beautiful self-ordering channel–such as Kiosks and QR-code based systems–to let your customers enjoy a quick and convenient Order & Pay experience.

Quick & Convenient Ordering

With digital self-ordering channels at your restaurant, you can empower your customers to place orders independently and customize them at their own pace and liking. They can order and pay with just a few taps on a beautiful and intuitive Kiosk. Or can scan a QR code to browse your digital menu, and order and pay from the convenience of their own phones. No menu cards or paper receipts; no contact, no hassle. It’s quick, convenient, and contactless. 

Reduce Customer Wait Times

Bust queues at the counter during busy hours by offering guests the ease and flexibility of self-ordering. Let your customers avoid crowds and skip long lines to place orders quickly and conveniently at their fingertips. Give them the assurance of safe and socially-distanced ordering, while reducing wait times, increasing overall customer satisfaction and keeping them coming back.

Serve More in Less Time

With faster turnaround times, you can serve more guests in less time. Restaurant self-ordering solutions tremendously increase speed of service. Thus increasing your sales and throughput. Plus, your customers will love being in control of their ordering experience–from placing and customizing orders to fulfilment. It’s a win win.

Say Goodbye to Order Errors

Self-ordering significantly reduces the risk of errors. With guests ordering independently through the Kiosk or on their own devices, there’s no back-and-forth with cashiers. This saves time, eliminates the risk of missed orders, and improves order accuracy and customer satisfaction.

Improve Staff Productivity

As customers place orders on their own, your cashiers can focus on the overall customer experience. Free up staff from manual order taking and empower them to add more value to your business by channeling their efforts towards tasks that boost sales and customer experience. 

Plus, save big on labor costs. With self-ordering solutions, you can serve more customers in less time without the need to increase your headcount, and keep your labor costs and operating expenses in control.

Maximize Your Revenue

Grow your restaurant revenue with strategic marketing levers, advertising opportunities, and more. Increase average check size with intuitive upsell and cross-sell prompts such as upgrades, extra paid toppings, combos and add-ons.

Drive sales with fun and effective ads displayed during checkout to promote a new item or introduce a special offer. With a custom idle screen image, you can strategically display eye-catching offers and promos to attract customers and elevate in-store branding.

Streamline Your Operations

Leading self-ordering solutions are fully-integrated with the POS and complete restaurant management suite for an automated operational workflow. Orders placed on the Kiosk or through mobile phones are sent directly to the Kitchen Display System (KDS) and Token Screen for effortless order fulfilment.

It also works in sync with the Inventory system, so stock is automatically deducted in real time and is always up to date. And if you need to update your menu or mark an item as unavailable, you can easily make changes in real time.

Gain LIVE Multi-Channel Analytics

With a one-stop solution, sales data from your self-ordering channels are in sync with your Dashboard. You can get insights and analytics into your restaurant’s multi-channel performance in one powerful LIVE dashboard, eliminating end-of-day manual reconciliation.

Best-selling items, item profitability, outlet profitability, are a few of the many insights you gain – even on the go. With comprehensive reports and daily business summary, you can identify and analyze trends, compare in-house and self-ordering channel performance, and make informed business decisions.

Seamless Integration with Xero

Leading restaurant management systems are integrated with cloud accounting software like Xero. This means that daily sales data from your POS and self-ordering channels are automatically synced to your Xero accounting system. The out-of-the-box integration simplifies and streamlines your restaurant accounting and removes the need for manual entry and end-of-day reconciliation. So you spend less time on your accounting, and more on growing your business.

In conclusion, whether it is the new normal or a return to pre-pandemic normalcy, digital self-ordering is here to stay. It’s quick and convenient for your customers, and of tremendous advantage to your bottom line. There’s no doubt that digital self-ordering channels are the future of dining.

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