Restaurant Execs Continue to Invest in Technology - eMarketer

Restaurant executives are continually turning to technology to improve overall efficiency, and according to June 2016 research, they are not only adopting customer-facing technologies such as loyalty programs and personalized offers, but also those in the back end, like predictive analytics and the internet of things (IoT).

Hospitality Technology found that most restaurant executives surveyed worldwide have adopted many customer-facing technologies. For example, nearly half have adopted loyalty programs, and more than a third have adopted comprehensive mobile experiences across the guest life cycle. All of these technologies, including those like personalized offers and tableside ordering, can help restaurants better reach customers and make their overall experience more satisfying.

But restaurant execs are not just focusing on customer-facing technologies. They are also concentrating on technology that happens behind the scenes, such as predicative analytics and IoT. Though these technologies are still new, some respondents have begun harnessing the power of them. Indeed, 16% of restaurant execs worldwide said they have adopted predictive analytics, and another 16% said they adopted IoT technology. Few also said they were focusing on other new types of technologies, such as augmented reality (AR) and wearables.

More restaurants are looking to invest in technology to improve productivity. A separate survey from the National Restaurant Association (NRA), sponsored by American Express, revealed that four in five restaurant operators agreed that technology can help increase sales, and the use of it in a restaurant provides a competitive advantage.

Additionally, more than half of respondents said they would implement predictive ordering technology, if it were available. Many would also use drones to deliver food if it were feasible to do so.

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