Restaurant Technology is a Restaurant Killer

Gone are the simple days were restaurant’s technology and booking costs were as simple a telephone and a receptionist. Now even the smallest and simplest restaurants need technology to operate their businesses that they are now vulnerable to the to the ever-increasing technology giants their pricing models and terms of trade.

Restaurants prices like many other consumer product prices, including electronics and clothing have not been able to keep up with the cost of living increases. For example, increases in rents, electricity, gas and food costs have all generally increased by far more than restaurant food and beverage price increases. This disparity between price and cost increases has resulted in the very tight restaurant profit margins which have stood at no more than 5% for years becoming even smaller leaving many restaurants struggling to survive.

Alas you say, technology must be the answer to reducing a restaurant’s cost structure look at the price of electronics like TV’s, computers where technology has increased productivity by reducing labour costs. Bring on technology, lets talk disruption, lets change the way we do things and breath life back to the restaurant industry that has changed little over the last 100 years.

The reality is that the technology offered to restaurants to date are generally incapable of any proper or true integration, totally devoid of any intelligence totally incapable of adding any value to a restaurant. The current technology platforms have brought numerous systems into an internet influenced restaurant environment where increasing government taxation laws, and increased legislative complexity concerning labour award rates, privacy laws, payment options have created a mixing pot of restaurant systems on numerous different platforms, numerous different programming languages that can not be properly integrated, such that, the manual processes required by a restaurant have increased and not decreased separate to the costs associated with these systems. To give one example, in Australia a per diner charge of $3.30 per diner (including GST) booked would represent 10% of a restaurant’s revenue if the average spend is $33 per person. This is very high when one considers that most restaurants are lucky to have a 5% profit margin.

Further, all the restaurant technologies also require significant upfront installation costs and fixed fees even before they have had a chance to make their first plate of food!

Interestingly, many of these systems market themselves as being the most important system or the critical system upon which a restaurant’s success is based. labour required for the manual integrations.

The mixing pot of restaurant systems covering all aspects of a restaurant that a restaurant must navigate in their selection process and integrate include:

From a marketing perspective:

  • A website, such as “Word Press” or “Square Space” and then the requirement to update and support the system Social media accounts, Facebook, Instagram and then the requirement to update and support them
  • Google AdWords, and other internet promotions Internet search optimisation
  • Discounting systems such as Groupon, Cudo, Liven, Living Social, etc.
  • Corporate Intranet and other partner websites

From an operational perspective:

  • Online booking systems: The Fork, OpenTable, Qandoo, Resy, SevenRooms, Tock, eveve, bookatable, seatme, nowait, chope, etc.,
  • Staff Rostering Systems: Deputy, 7Shifts, shiftgig, HotSchedules, etc.
  • Customer Loyalty: Levelup, Belly, Spendgo, Wisely, Spring, Yub, CircleShout, Buzzpoints, fivestars, crowdtwist, egood, etc.
  • Point Of Sale Systems; Micros, BePoz, Toast, TouchBistro, RevelSystems POS, QuickBooks POS, Square POS, etc.
  • Payment systems, EFTPOS, credit cards, Stripe, Paypal, Braintree
  • Table Top, Self-Service ordering and payment devices; MenuDrive, ChowNow, Upserve, Net Waiter, Restolabs, CAKE, etc.
  • Employee Education Guest WiFi Digital Displays; Enplug Food Waste Management; Food for All, COPIA, Spoiler Alert, etc.
  • Purchasing Inventory/platforms: Blue Cart, Serverfifty, plovgh, TradingTable, Provender, BinWise, FarmersWeb, etc.
  • Music Systems; Spotify, Apple Music, Sound Track Your Brand, etc.
  • Smart Phone Payments; Apple pay, Samsung Pay, etc.
  • Accounting Systems; MYOB, Quicken, Sage
  • Energy Efficiency; Energy tracking Tools, Equipment Energy Usage, Equipment Repair Logs, Maintenance Schedules, Wastage Audits, etc.
  • Home Delivery; Uber Eats, Menu Log, Diliveroo, GrubHub, Foodora, etc.
  • Occupational Health and Safety; Safety Procedures and Policies, Injury Logs, Operational Menus, Hazard Mapping, First Aid Procedures, etc.
  • Restaurant Brand Marketing; Fishbowl, SproutSocial, Venga, Qualia, Closely, etc.
  • Business Analytics & Operations; Avero, Harri, GuestMetrics, GoodFoodJobs, etc.
  • Restaurant Coupons and Deals; Groupon, Hooch, Requested, UrbanDaddy, Cudo, LivingSocial, etc.
  • Restaurant Review; Trip Advisor, Zomato, Yelp, WineNdine, ForSquare, Hoppit, FoodSpotting, Zagat, etc.
  • Digital Content; BuzzFeed, Delish, About.com, ChowHound, YumSugr, TasteMade, etc.
  • Brand Advertising and Marketing Platforms; BlogHer, BurstMedia, InMarket, SocilTwist, MyLikes, etc.
  • Liquor Licencing; Responsible Service of Alcohol logs and policies; Noise logs and neighbourhood policies, security logs and procedures, etc.
  • Intelligent Phone Systems; number recognition and customer information phone systems, etc.

The ideal solution, is clearly a system that offers proper and effective integrations so that manual interventions are minimised or not required. It is only then that the current shackles of existing technologies can be completely disregarded and a true “Restaurant 2.0” system can be created and provide a platform to revolutionise and reinvigorate the restaurant industry.

WizButler, with its patented technology brings you the world’s first “Restaurant 2.0 system. to represents the future of the hospitality industry.

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