BEST PRACTICES/TECHNOLOGY
RESTAURANTS NEED TO ADOPT TECHNOLOGY
TO HELP SURVIVE EFFECTS OF PANDEMIC
The dust is settling on the monumental impact the pandemic
has had on all industries, in particular the restaurant industry.
Restaurants on the Treasure Coast are struggling to hire new staff,
despite having many open positions.
Some have even had to close their doors early on certain days
because of the shortage of workers. The labor shortage coupled
with the increased number of those who are vaccinated and
ready to enjoy eating out again are creating a perfect storm.
To survive revenue disruption and other financial challenges,
restaurants need to find ways to adapt into the technologydriven
future of meal ordering and delivery that seems to be here
to stay.
The pandemic didn’t create technology innovation — it accelerated
existing trends. A 2019 report found nearly 60 percent of
restaurant occasions were already off-premises. Consumers said
they used drive-through, delivery and take-out more than the
prior year.
By the summer of 2020, hundreds of Treasure Coast businesses
had closed due to COVID-19, many of them restaurants. Those that
survived relied heavily on technology to adapt to the challenges
brought on by the pandemic. So it is important that Treasure Coast
restaurants must focus on establishing a business strategy that
intertwines convenience, health safety and technology.
Here are three steps restaurant operators should consider
when future-proofing their businesses.
ADOPT A MOBILE-FIRST APPROACH
Innovations such as ordering meals through a mobile app or
social media platform are not new, but adoption before COVID-19
was slow — only 18 percent of restaurants offered mobile ordering
via app, according to a survey by the National Restaurant
Association and Technomic.
The pandemic increased the urgency to upgrade. As customers
continue to adopt mobile ordering for safety and convenience,
restaurants that have yet to make the transition will have to prioritize
investment in mobile ordering and delivery.
Fortunately, launching a proprietary app doesn’t require custom
programming or much time or money. Third-party services
Cristin O’Hara is managing director and head of Restaurant Group
and Doug Sherman is market executive of business banking and
president of Bank of America Treasure Coast.
offer full branding and top features to get operators rolling with
mobile, such as Appy Pie and AppInstitute.
EMBRACE CONTACTLESS EVERYTHING
Mobile ordering is part of the overarching trend in contactless
customer interactions. This, too, was well on its way in 2019 —
when more than 100 million tap-and-go credit cards were issued
in the United States, according to Visa — with the pandemic making
contactless interactions essential.
Restaurants that have near field communications technology
need to promote it, and those yet to upgrade should do so
quickly to remain competitive. Companies like Toast and Square
can make contactless implementation easy and can integrate
with existing systems.
CRACK THE QR CODE
The magic of QR quick response codes is in their simplicity.
Scanning a code with any Smartphone gives guests access to
touch-free menus, specials or virtually anything else the operator
chooses to share, including video or other multimedia content.
While codes require websites to host content, businesses don’t
need a web developer to get started. Beaconstac, for example,
offers dynamic codes with a customizable dashboard that can
be modified anytime. Codes can bring up different menus for
multiple locations, even bringing up the appropriate menu for
that time of day.
There are marketing benefits too, such as integrating guest surveys
or offering newsletter signups — all accessible via a device
that customers already carry.
These technology trends signal a critical inflection point within
the restaurant industry. Innovation will not only help businesses
recover but also pave the way forward post-pandemic. v
24 TCBusiness.com
CRISTIN O’HARA DOUG SHERMAN
THE PANDEMIC INCREASED THE URGENCY
TO UPGRADE. AS CUSTOMERS CONTINUE TO
ADOPT MOBILE ORDERING FOR SAFETY AND
CONVENIENCE, RESTAURANTS THAT HAVE YET TO
MAKE THE TRANSITION WILL HAVE TO PRIORITIZE
INVESTMENT IN MOBILE ORDERING AND DELIVERY.
/TCBusiness.com
