Two out of 3 restaurateurs plan to step up their investments in technology near term, but what they buy may be different from what they want.
A Restaurant Business survey of operators shows a marked difference between what’s actually on the capex plans of operators and how they’d digitize operations if the pesky matter of price didn’t arise.
Yet even if a rich benefactor plunked down a sack of crypto coins, negating all concerns about cost, a typical operator’s tech wish list would abound not in gee-whiz items such as robots, but in proven nuts-and-bolts throughput boosters, like kitchen-display systems (KDS).
Operators were asked to share what technology they would lease or buy if cost were not a consideration. Topping that hypothetical shopping list were hand-held ordering devices for servers (cited by 55%) and pay-at-the-table systems (50%). Both are forms of restaurant technology that have been around for a decade.
Rounding out the Top 5 were KDS or other back-of-house devices (52%), integration software that consolidates orders into one system (45%), and software for managing customer relations (42%).
The most Jetsons-like items were robots (22%), artificial-intelligence-driven phone systems (33%) and geofencing capabilities (39%).
Interest in those advanced gizmos fell considerably when survey participants were asked to factor in price for a real-world consideration of their tech priorities.
Efficiency boosters for servers once again topped the shopping list (pay-at-table devices, 35%; hand-held ordering devices, 32%). But a new POS system soared into the Number 3 spot (31%).
Tellingly, when respondents were asked to disregard price in considering their next digital investments, only 2% said they have no interest in acquiring technology at this time. The number jumped to 11% when the participants were asked to factor costs into their investment plans. Suddenly, 1 out of 10 had no plans to open their wallets.
Cost was by far the Number 1 gripe respondents had with technology; 47% cited that factor as what they liked least about digitizing operations. Yet a high sticker price was less of an issue than the fees vendors and resellers charge for usage and maintenance (19% vs. 28%).
The challenges of integrating a new capability into an existing operation was also high on the ranking of dislikes (at 21%).
Still, the group showed considerable appreciation for the benefits of tech. A full 65% of the operator-respondents said they intend to spend more near term on technology, vs. 33% who plan on maintaining their current level of investment. Only 2% said they intend to spend less.
In addition, when participants were asked to choose the statement that best illustrates their attitude toward restaurant technology, 49% picked, “It’s a major advantage because it boosts throughput and improves service.” The next closest answer--+It’s a major advantage because it reduces my labor needs—was picked by only 22%.
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