Customer Experience in restaurant industry?s joy derives from markets full of people, most of whom would plan to eat out while going to markets or even for a simple outing. But the pandemic significantly altered the restaurant business in the last two years. For the sake of survival, governments in most countries implemented obligatory lockdowns to keep people indoors. This resulted in restaurants closing the offline mode and switching to the online mode.

This opened up many opportunities with digital marketing and showcasing your restaurant on the internet. This expedited numerous developments that were already taking place in the food and beverage sector in several ways. But with the endemic approaching, the dark clouds of closed markets are behind us and many countries have opened up since the last year. Customers are coming out to the offline market and the inbound traffic has made the sector very happy which help to increase customer experience.

Since then, there have been many developments, such as QR codes for menus, digital payments, and many more. Many customers have become habitual in ordering from home, favouring delivery service or even takeaways. With technology as their tool, quick service and fast casual restaurants can make their business successful and increase customer Experience. 

Customer Experience:

1. Convenience: Due to the pandemic, a lot of people got into the habit of contactless delivery or contactless payments. This gave the idea to get contactless food and drinks served on the home delivery. This demand for convenience gave good feedback from customers and lead to a better consumer experience. 53% of respondents feel that ordering takeaway or having meals delivered is crucial for the way their lifestyle is, as per a survey conducted by QSR magazine. Restaurants are planning ways to stay updated by investing significantly in technologies that will cater for the demand for conveniences such as contactless delivery and more safety features. The customers will be happier if they are ensured of their safety and distance when the order is delivered. This will increase customer experience in assertive manner.
2. Customized Customer Experience: This is the age of information and whoever has the access to a larger database of its target audience can lead the market. Data should be a major consideration when deciding a restaurant?s strategies and creating a devoted clientele in the current digital era. A competitive edge is the collection of priceless consumer data and its use of it to provide a personalised customer experience. Restaurants or cafes that use this strategy can promote to their patrons based on what they enjoy seeing, eating, and experiencing thereby improving the patron experience and fostering loyalty. Personalised customer experience may lead to better feedback and word of mouth about the best things you are offering at your premises. 
3. New Sources of income: it’s crucial to be able to rapidly switch to new modes of business models so as to prevent failure of business during unpredictable times. We have seen many times when a new technology or change in trend makes a business move out of the market in just a small duration of time. When the pandemic came and cities were put under lockdowns, many new revenue streams emerged as this part of the hospitality industry was striving to stay afloat. Ghost kitchens suddenly became the new normal and allowed food service providers to keep paying bills and put food on their own and customer experience on tables. In the last three years, cloud kitchens have become the most promising option with respect to new revenue streams. The trend will stay alive in the coming years and will evolve as technology evolves. 
4. Increased Focus on Equitable, Sustainable Food Systems: As more and more consumers are getting ready to pay the premium for sustainable offerings, food brands are finally placing there focus where it was meant to. They are working on their ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) goals through various practices like zero waste, local sourcing, sustainable food and packaging, and so forth. The basic focus is now on gaining the consumers as well as producers? trust. By producers we mean the farmers, local food sellers, dairy suppliers, and others involved in the food chain. Gone are the days when sustainable restaurants were limited to sustainable food and packaging, it is also about effective waste management, reducing supply chain costs, creating an equitable food delivery system, and supporting the local community. For instance, all stores of Sweet green now have compost services which is reducing their waste generation by diverting 60 percent of their waste from ending in landfills and consume 75 percent of their foodscraps in compost. 
5. Kitchen Automation: Fast casual restaurants and quick service kitchens are also working on increasing the overall efficacy of food preparation and service processes. Kitchen automation is one of the classic examples of how AI and ML and penetrating all domains of hospitality sector including the kitchens. Automation is crucial when you own more than one kitchen and need to ensure consistent experience to consumers. The same stands true for multi-chanel delivery models. A streamlined cooking space definitely stands outs when you need to roll out hundreds of order per day and also gives enough room for trying new concepts. Profits and better revenues are some of the other perks that come in as inherent attributes of this trend.

When one undertakes the thought of opening a new restaurant or launching a venture, it is essential to consider the risks that would likely be met while on the journey. Preparing for the worst should be on every new entrepreneur?s list. Therefore, it is vital that before undertaking a new restaurant business, a solid full proof risk management analysis or a strong risk management plan has to be made. 

Formulating plans such as;

• Training restaurant employees
• Maintaining the restaurant?s facilities
• Health and Safety codes of conduct
• Obtain appropriate licensing
• Preparing for closed closures, etc. can help in leading to a profitable and risk-free management plan for your restaurant business in the USA.

Be it the USA or any other place on the globe, undertaking a proper risk management plan is equally important. Dodge a bullet of risks in the USA?s restaurants could be avoided by undertaking the following steps.

1.  Proper training of the employees at the restaurant

One of the main faces of the restaurant and its image is the type of employees that work there. They are more of the heart of your business; therefore, it is crucial to safeguard your restaurant?s image by providing proper and complete training to the employees that work for you at your restaurant.

They are more aware of the day-to-day functioning of the restaurant due to which they are more likely to safeguard the norms and risks involved in day-to-day functioning.

Everyone should be trained the best according to their levels, from attendants to chefs. For this, the employees should be assured of a few necessities such as;

Management plan for your restaurant business:

Ensure Safety at the workplace

Complete help and assistance at the workplace

Free and helpful training services

Friendly environment pre- and post-training period

Polite and reliable Customer Service Assistance

Proper Training for Alcohol Service

If your restaurant serves alcohol, you are at risk of people damaging the laws after being intoxicated, hence forming law plans and making them understand your employees is necessary yet again.

2.  Maintaining the Facilities and Infrastructure of the Restaurant

Under this head, special care of things is to be taken at the restaurant. The facilities and the ambience you make are to be well facilitated and checked out from time to time. 

Make sure that

The Kitchen is to be kept neat, clean and without any strong or bad odour.

Not only from the perspective of health and hygiene matters but from all the other perceptions, the Kitchen should be kept clean. The food storing unit should be timely checked, the spills should be straight away cleaned, things should be organized and well maintained, heavy electricals such as refrigerators, ovens and/or other machines should be properly cleaned, the utensils should be cleanly washed and used.

Make room for signage boards and areas

God forbid, in case of an emergency, there should be a place for the people in the restaurant to evacuate immediately. Perhaps, room for Entry and Exit should be there which is easily noticeable.

Railing, Windows, Doors, etc. function well and are maintained properly

Making sure of the functioning of windows, doors and railing is important to stay away from mishappenings.

Keeping the environment and walkway immaculate

When a customer walks in, he should forget about his worries and the outer world how should he be mingled by the ambience and cleanliness of the restaurant?

3.  Mapping out Health and Safety Codes of Conduct

After the deadly pandemic, people have now started taking healthy measures much more seriously. But not because there had been such a devastating pandemic, but because health and hygiene are top priorities, the restaurants should map out clear health and safety codes of conduct such as

• Provision of Fire Extinguishers
• Prohibition of Smoking in any place (Rather a smoke zone should be provided)
• Provision of First Aid Service
• Provision of Air Ventilators in the Kitchen as well as the main room
• Timely checking of the Stored and Preservative Food especially stored or preserved non-veg.

4.  Obtaining Appropriate License

Be it a local shop or a gigantic business, a legally authorized license is a must. The license is a reflection of the authority that you hold and gives you the privilege of the smooth running of your restaurant. In times of problem, a license helps you in proving your worth and the mark of your restaurant. Without a license, your restaurant will not be counted legally and authorities have complete rights to ban your organization which here is your restaurant.

Some major and basic licenses on a mandatory basis are

• Business License
• Liquor License (If the Restaurant serves Alcohol)
• Food Service License
• Driver?s License (If the Restaurant has a food delivery facility)

5.  Let your Restaurant be technologized

Technology has not left to embark its mark upon any field, and so it is with restaurants. Restaurants have seen much new technology being introduced. From the digital menu to the digital way of ordering your favorite platter, every inch of it had been well-equipped and set in motion with technology. But this time technology has to be used to

• Safeguard WIFI Passwords
• Install Anti-virus Software
• Install CCTV Cameras

6.  Prepare for Food Closures

In case of an emergency, closures will come to your help. The functioning of a restaurant will always welcome the circularity of income and expense. In certain scenarios, there might be mishappening, when forced closures might take place. For such instances, forced closures should be planned and prepared on a prior basis to refrain from last-minute extra expenses.

Owning a restaurant is definitely fancy, but running it smoothly is all it takes. But, Shoocal is here to help you find the best solution in order to run a risk-free restaurant.

Technology Transforming the Restaurant.

The last two years have had a worse impact on restaurants. Though the only orders that supported them during the lockdowns were from their own websites or food delivery sites, the real spark of this business is in the customers who walk in. But now, as the scary part of the virus is over, many restaurants and hotels are opening, or have already opened their places in the last few months around the globe. If you are a restaurant owner, you know how hectic it is to manage one. Orders, customer satisfaction, cleaning, food quality, vendors, and timely service are some of the top things that need managing every single day. 

The usual way orders are taken is to write them down on paper and then forward them to the kitchen. But as more people are turning towards outdoor eateries, the system of writing it down has become outdated. New technologies are helping restaurants manage and deliver orders on time, which in turn makes for a happy consumer experience. Let?s go through some of the most trendy technologies out there in the USA:

Inventory Management:

This is one of the mandatory tasks that must be checked every day. If the kitchen misses out on some ingredients or beverages while there is an order for them, it’s going to be a bad day for the owners. A crucial thing is to buy the optimal quantities of required items so that they get utilized before their expiration. Statistics say food waste costs the food industry a mammoth $100 billion each year. A solution for this problem is to have digital inventory tracking. This technology helps reduce food waste to a minimum and helps the owners run their places effectively and sustainably.

This will save the managers from excessive buying, delayed ordering and losing money on expired food. This works very well to support sustainability, as food waste is causing a lot of damage to the world. Software assists in analyzing requirements as per the business as well as the storage space available in the restaurant, which is a relief for owners as at the end of the day, what is getting thrown out of the restaurant?s kitchen shouldn?t be unutilized food.

Online Payment System:

This is the pick of the lot when it comes to technologies for restaurants. The online payment system has been a radical invention to help people pay quickly without the need for cash. Contactless payment methods were widely used during COVID and even after it ended. And this has also found its way into restaurants and cafes. They are happy to provide QR codes to receive payments, or bank details to get the bill paid directly into their account. This is a safe and fast means of payment and saves you the work of managing and counting cash. This removes any contact with a person, as you have to do when dealing with cash.

QR Codes Technology:

As digital payments are a common way to scan QR codes, why not have the same in restaurants to have various services done? Even in post-covid times, people are looking for ?no-touch? options wherever they go. QR codes can be printed on doors, tabletops, coasters, t-shirts of the staff or posters that can showcase digital menus when scanned. This saves them from touching the printed menus, which circulate on every table, while the digital menu is displayed on their own phone or tablet. Another great thing about it is that you don?t have to install any apps to get this feature. Cameras are already equipped with a scanning feature. It saves costs for the management, as you don?t have to print the menu again and again, whenever you wish to edit the menu or prices.

Bluetooth Temperature Sensors:

If you are running a restaurant or cafe in the USA, you must be aware of the norms issued by the FDA. You need to adhere to the guidelines issued, and it’s hard work in itself. The primary job of eateries is to provide good quality food with great hygiene levels. And in order to do that, you need to have a regular check on the cleanliness of your place, of the machinery and of the storage of your food and beverages. Bluetooth temperature sensors help in checking the temperature of the machines that are being used at the restaurant. The temperature indicates whether the food and machine are of standard quality or not.

VR Onboarding:

This technology shows a virtual tour of the company for new employees, suppliers, trainers and interns. It is known as ?Virtual Reality Onboarding?, which, as the name suggests gives the overview of the company?s premises. It also assists in the training of new hires in the office without even going anywhere physically. They simply need to be equipped alongside the VR setup, which is software-based, and the user must put on the headset to begin viewing things around them. They also have the opportunity to visit workplaces where employees are working in real time.

This tech can also be used in watching how a job is being done while others can learn from it. It can be very useful in your restaurant for employees to see how things take place, and suppliers can onboard using it. This leads to an increase in productivity. Franchisees can also be taught about the process of how things should take place with VR. Some restaurants around the world are experimenting with VR for their customers, to immerse them in the experience of their outlet. This results in better customer engagement.

Automated Purchasing System:

Automatic purchases can help you avoid mistakes that can happen in accounting. For example, incorrect billing, mistakes in invoices, a lot of paperwork, unorganized processes, and many such things can be avoided with an automated system. An automated purchasing tool includes benefits like improved visibility, predicting the next source of risk, timely working, on-time invoices, and decreasing cost by minimizing the use of manually entered data and paperwork.

Schedule Maker:

Restaurants are usually open for long hours, and some are even open 24 hours a day. Employees are assigned different shifts throughout the week so that the work can continue while the employees shuffle as per their schedules. As a regular activity, this scheduling needs to be perfect so that everyone works as per their allotted time, and the schedule remains up to date. Doing this manually is a hectic job. Optimized schedule makers aid in keeping this process smooth and organize shifts in such a way that the restaurant doesn’t come to a halt. This software helps in sharing schedules in real time, and has easy editing features. If an employee is unable to work any shift, changing the schedule and assigning different times to others is simpler.