Why You Should Have Digital Systems in Your Restaurant

We do everything using our smartphones now. Whether it’s ordering food, buying clothes, or getting groceries for the month, there’s an app or a service for everything. With digital payments slowly becoming the norm, we often find ourselves using them instead of paper cash.

Despite rising prices, 58% of Americans are more frequently going out to restaurants. With that in mind, restaurant owners need to use updated systems. So, here’s how owners can implement digital systems in their restaurants and what benefits they can get from them.

How to Set up Contactless Ordering and Payment

Here’s how you can set up contactless payment and ordering options for your restaurant:

1. Use a Digital Menu: It all starts with the menu. Digital menus allow the restaurant owner to add, edit, delete, and reorder items in their menu using their phone. The apps are easy to use and very user-friendly, so the process should be fairly seamless.
2. Set Up a KDS: You can use a Kitchen Display System to receive the customer’s orders. This is essentially a screen that’s connected to the internet. The guests can order through the digital menu and the order is displayed directly on the screen.
3. Add a Payment System: Once you have the menu and the KDS set up, you can allow your customers to pay for the order through their credit card, Apple Pay, or Google Pay. You can also have a card reader that can accept payment from the user’s card or smartphone.

All of this works through the internet. The guest opens the menu and orders, which is sent through the internet to your restaurant’s KDS. Then the guest can pay through their card, using your online system or physically using their card.

To make sure all of this process is painless, make sure you use a connection like Cox Internet, which won’t cause you any slowdowns or lag.

Benefits of Digital Sytems in Restaurants

Here are some of the benefits you and your customers get from digital systems in your restaurants.

Streamlining the Payment Process

There’s no doubt that e-payment systems can have a huge impact on how smooth the payment process is, not only for the guests but also for the restaurant owners.

E-payment solutions can make the whole process extremely streamlined, as the guest only has to pull out their card or use their phone to pay the bill. Not only is this a painless process, but it also creates records of the transactions which makes it easy for everyone to keep track of their finances.

This can also increase the table turnover rate since the cash payment can be inefficient and time-consuming.

Improved Security for All Parties

Keeping the customers’ information safe in today’s day and age is extremely crucial, and business owners have a responsibility to ensure that the information of their customers is always safe.

E-payment systems allow you to do this by using secure payment channels and encryption. Newer cards have a Europay, Mastercard, and Visa (EMV) chip which stores the cardholder’s information on a chip, instead of a magnetic stripe. These chips are only readable by special readers which makes them more secure instead of the magnetic card readers.

A lot of card readers work with smartphone payment systems as well, meaning that you can use your banking app, Apple Pay, or Google Pay to make a payment using the NFC chip on your phone. This means that your information stays localized and secure through encryption.

Better Menu Set Up

A digital menu allows you to make sure that the items you’re serving to your guests are always up to date. This helps you avoid those awkward situations where you try to order something and the server tells you it’s not available right now.

A digital menu also allows restaurant owners to add more information to their menus. Some guests might be health-conscious or may have medical needs, which may need more information about the ingredients in a dish.

Adding more information to your digital menu can make it text-heavy. To avoid this, you can add QR codes to the menu which allows them to have access to more information about the items.

Seamless Loyalty Programs

According to a survey, 47% of customers use loyalty memberships several times a month. Using these can bring a lot of benefits to your restaurant, especially if it’s a casual setting or a coffee shop.

Customers can have their account in your restaurant’s application and can get points every time they dine at your restaurant. They can then receive rewards and discounts for the next time. This is a great way to ensure that they keep coming back to your restaurant.

Ultimately, it all boils down to the customer experience. If you’re providing your customers with the best experience, they are more likely to be loyal and come back. Besides implementing digital systems, think about improvements you can make to your restaurant to increase customer satisfaction.