Choosing The Right Tech For Your Restaurant

Lately, restaurant owners have seen an explosion in the different types of technology available to their restaurants. POS systems, marketing tools, employee management, and a wide variety of other tech options are all on the table.

It’s entirely understandable if you’ve been hanging back because you aren’t sure which options are right for your restaurant. Jumping at the latest tech can be risky if you aren’t sure that it’s a good fit for your restaurant. The industry encompasses a wide variety of restaurant types and styles, and there’s no guarantee that what’s right for the guy next door will be right for you.

So how do you evaluate your needs to find the perfect tech that complements your business?

Identify Your Goals

In this case, you probably don’t want to choose goals that are simply about revenue or the number of customers in the door. New tech can certainly help you meet those goals, but only when you focus it on more specific areas.

Do you want to improve your process efficiency? Market your restaurant more successfully? Or maybe you want to track your customers’ tendencies and leverage that data. Whatever the case, there will almost certainly be multiple options to help you meet your target. And when you do meet those targets, you’ll find that overarching goals like increasing revenue are also affected.

Choose Tech That Works Seamlessly

Let’s say you choose a tool that is supposed to streamline your processes and increase efficiency. Yet, if it doesn’t connect to your POS system, or is in some other way a hindrance, then will you really feel like your business is more efficient? You should only choose tech that can work seamlessly with what you do now, unless you’re already planning on a major change.

Marketing Vitals analytics software, for example, takes the data from online ordering, reservation partners, email programs, and all your other data sources. Because our software is agnostic, it works seamlessly with other systems and technology in your restaurant.

Look For A Great Investment

When you’re choosing new technology, it’s important to look at it as an investment. What type of returns can you expect from that initial investment? And how do upgrades work as time goes on? The right software will provide you with real, actionable results, while offering regular updates that further increase the value of your investment. You want to choose an option that is proactive about providing you with new and cutting-edge value. If all your software does is respond to requests for fixes or updates, then you’re not getting anything special. They’re simply reacting to your demands. You want a partner that is constantly looking to the future, and you should be, too.

Stay Flexible And Look To The Future

Staying up-to-date on the latest tech improvements and topics can be time consuming, but the payoff is worth it. New and sometimes game-changing technology is coming out all the time. If you aren’t learning about it now, chances are that you’ll have to learn about it later on anyway. It’s better to keep yourself knowledgeable about new technology so that you can choose a tech investment that works best for your business.

Choosing a new repackaging of an old technology because it’s already familiar can be tempting, but it means your brand will fall behind. Technology changes daily—make sure that your investment is able to reflect that change.

At Marketing Vitals, our data analytics software works to create that seamless solution for you and your restaurant. Our software was built specifically with restaurants in mind, so there’s no need for expensive customization. You get real, usable insights into how your business operates as well as where and how you could improve. Contact us today for a free demo and find out why having Marketing Vitals as a partner is the best tech move you can make.