Restaurant order taking: how to choose your solution?

In the digital age, digitizing restaurant order taking is becoming essential. No more handwritten note-taking and the mistakes that go with them! To take advantage of digital technology and get your business off the ground, there are various solutions, including setting up a kiosk. To know how to do it, find out what is on the market and follow our advice to choose the right solution.

Why digitize your order taking?

Digitizing order taking using a tablet or a touchscreen kiosk offers considerable advantages in order to boost the operation and profitability of a restaurant:

Improving the customer experience

The use of an order kiosk allows customers to choose their menus in total autonomy. They can thus browse an intuitive menu at their own pace with all the information they need to make a decision (price, photo of the dish, nutritional values, allergenic ingredients, etc.). In addition, when the ordering systems are well distributed in the room, customer flows are streamlined and waiting times are reduced, thus optimizing the customer experience.
If your establishment suffers from poor organization or negative customer feedback, then digitizing your order taking will help you solve this problem.

Increase in restaurant turnover

Thanks to the establishment of an autonomous order taking system and strategic functionalities, it is possible to multiply the number of requests and to see the average basket increase by 15 to 30%. In addition, this digital device and its centralized cash register system provide visibility on the customer journey, its consumption habits and on the most successful offers. This makes it possible to define what works best and to adjust the entire operation to make it even more productive.
Setting up a digital order taking system is therefore recommended to improve the profitability of your business.

Simplifying operation in the dining room and in the kitchen

With digital order taking, everything is centralized and automated: sending orders to the kitchen, registering payments, etc. This therefore reduces the mental load and stress on servers, who can better listen to customers. Communication between the teams, in the dining room and in the stoves, is fluided/simplified, and this avoids going back and forth. Order-taking equipment is therefore a solution for restaurants that suffer from a lack of staff or organizational problems.

The different solutions to digitize order taking

There are several solutions to digitize restaurant order taking. Obviously, one device does not exclude another and it is possible to combine the different models to meet the needs of restaurant owners and their customers.

The tactile kiosk

Kiosk is ideal in large establishments or for fast food. It is also found in all known fast-food chains. In addition to making the customer autonomous, it also makes it possible to manage and streamline flows during busy hours by distributing customers in different locations. Crowds are then avoided, service time is accelerated and flow management is improved.

The order taking tablet

The order taking tablet is a smaller and mobile version than the kiosk. It can be used by waiters or given to customers directly at their table. It is ideal for traditional catering and for establishments that want to keep in touch with their visitors, for more conviviality. It can also be placed in the form of a small kiosk with free access, on a counter for example. So, during quieter hours, customers can take their orders independently, without rush.

The QR code

QR codes are often available on restaurant tables. By scanning them, customers can access the card on their smartphone. For restaurant owners, this means less printing costs for paper menus. Increasingly, this code also allows customers to register their order directly in the restaurant software. It is therefore a trendy tool, but it has the disadvantage of not taking into consideration people who are not equipped with modern telephones or who do not know how to use them well.

The integrations to be planned for a kiosk

A control kiosk with a touch screen is intuitive, easy to read and easy to use. It is therefore accessible to everyone! In order for it to be a real marketing asset for restaurant owners and fully functional, it is advisable to provide a certain number of integrations:

• Digitized card;
• centralized cash register;
• Suggestions module;
• Loyalty program;
• Real-time stock management;
• Etc.

Choosing a turnkey order taking system

To be sure you are choosing the right solution, call in professionals. Tabesto specializes in tablets andkiosk In addition to guiding you in the digitization of order taking in your restaurant, the team prepares and sets up a functional turnkey system, ready to be used.

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