Technology and Restaurants

2012
Technology and Restaurants

Evolution of a new era in Restaurant Business
4/11/2012
2012
CONTENTS
Executive Summary ...................................................................................................................................... 2 Technology And Restaurant.......................................................................................................................... 4 Why Technology Is Required ....................................................................................................................... 5 Examples Of Restaurants Using Technology ............................................................................................... 7 Dalu Rebot Restaurant With Robot Staff, In Jiang, China .................................................................... 7 Mizuya Restaurant, Sydney ................................................................................................................... 8 Inamo Restaurant, London..................................................................................................................... 8 Sbaggers In Nuremberg, Germany ....................................................................................................... 9 Role Of Technology .................................................................................................................................... 10 Restaurant Operations ............................................................................................................................. 10 Reducing Time Lags ............................................................................................................................ 10 Inventory Management ........................................................................................................................ 10 Labor Management .............................................................................................................................. 11 Customer Empowerment ......................................................................................................................... 12 Food Customization ............................................................................................................................. 12 Ambience Customization..................................................................................................................... 13 Marketing Tactics .................................................................................................................................... 14 Use Of Social Media............................................................................................................................ 14 Effective Customer Relation Management .......................................................................................... 15 Complications In Use Of Technology ........................................................................................................ 16 Brittco Solution ........................................................................................................................................... 18 Conclusion .................................................................................................................................................. 19 About Brittco .............................................................................................................................................. 20 Bibliogrpahy ............................................................................................................................................... 21 Disclaimer ................................................................................................................................................... 22
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Tomorrow Begins Today

, http://www.brittcoconsulting.com/

Technology in restaurant has helped them become more efficient, not just in running the restaurant, but in enhancing service quality, raising efficiencies and marketing promotions. The three major changes brought about by technology are represented in the figure below.
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While technology has helped elevate the restaurant business to new heights, with it comes its own set of problems. These problems are summarized in the figure below
Financial Implications
Need for Constant Innovation

Consumer constantly demand new innovative products. While technology helps to an extent in innovation, it has its limitations.
The pace of changes in technology makes it difficult to speculate when one version will be replaced by other. This makes it difficult to calculate the ROI.
Not all restaurants have the capital to invest in technology. So a decision needs to be made to find the most cost effective mix of technologies
Technology brings new media platforms. These allow the user to post their opinions and rate the restaurants. While good feedback is valuable, even a single negative feedback can prove detrimental to the reputation of the restaurant
While the restaurant industry has its own challenges when dealing with technology, change is inevitable. Technological evolution is the next level of restaurant industry, and restaurants will need to adopt these changes for growth as well as for survival.


TECHNOLOGY AND RESTAURANT
When we say technology and restaurant, chefs need not worry, because they still are the ones who are going to prepare the meals, for now, at least. With a low entry barrier, we have always seen a lot of enthusiast entrepreneurs entering the restaurant industry, with only 6 out of 10 surviving after 3 years. If there is something technology can do, is to help the remaining 4 restaurants thrive, when earlier they could not. Broadly looking at the impact of technology in restaurant business, the effects can be distributed under three broad heads.
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And if you think this is all that technology has to offer you would be surprised at the innovations that have taken place. The two biggest costs in a restaurant business are the food cost and labor cost, accounting for approximately 33% and 36% of the operating expenses. Imagine if labor cost was to just disappear, you would be left with 36% operating profits. With the razor thin margins in the restaurant industry today, that is a mammoth margin. While Dalu Rebot Restaurant in Jiang, China uses robots to do the serving, s Baggers in Nuremberg, Germany has completely automated their process and food is served through metal rail which are connected to the kitchen. While this is just one example, we will further explore the ways through which, technology has helped restaurant owners and customers.


WHY TECHNOLOGY IS REQUIRED
With technology comes change and change has been, still is and will always be difficult. This is why, before one would embrace technology as partner in their business, one would always question the feasibility of the change. After all, nobody wants to invest thousands of dollars in something which would phase out before the ROI is ever made. So lets look at the major factors which are responsible for a restaurants success, and t he way technology can help.
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While technology can bring many changes in the way business is run, the rate at which technology is growing also begs the question, how long before something else replaces it? The philosophy of using something tried and tested no longer applies in the constant evolution of ways of business, and there lies the big question, as to what to use and when? While the figure above broadly addresses the way technology can help the restaurant owners, the next section would elaborate on the various ways above goal is achieved. Further we discuss, the complications related to adoption of technology and factors to be taken into account before implementing any new tech. Before all that though, lets look at some examples of restaurants who have tried to maximize the use of technology available.


EXAMPLES OF RESTAURANTS USING TECHNOLOGY
Having said so much about the use of technology and how it can benefit the restaurant business, a few examples of the restaurants using these technologies will allow you to get a better picture of what has been talked about so far.
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DALU REBOT RESTAURANT WITH ROBOT STAFF, IN JIANG, CHINA

. This place uses robots to serve people. The whole restaurant has a circular frame to allow the robots to move around in familiar territory. The robots serving different purposes from taking the orders to serving the food can entertain almost 100 guests at a time.
Shandong Dalu Science and Technology Company are the brains behind this simple but effective idea. It not only serves as an efficient systems by creating a no break taking labor, but it also makes sure the standards and codes of the restaurant are being followed at all times. It further eliminates the factor of human error, and thereby creates a consistent service quality.


MIZUYA RESTAURANT, SYDNEY
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Another minimal waiters service restaurant in the list is the Mizuya Restaurant in Sydney, Australia. Loaded with high tech digital tablets to choose the food, the beverages and ultimately make the payment. An authentic Asian restaurant where the amazing food is accompanied by quick service (one minute wait on the food).
INAMO RESTAURANT , LONDON

This place has almost maximized the use of technology. They check the reservation on the iPad; the table has a touch screen menu to order food. Customers can also use the table to change colors and patterns to suit your imagination. It also allows them to play games while they are waiting for their meal, and even during if they get hooked to it. It also allows them to take a look at the chef while he is preparing your food. To add further to the features, it also suggests next possible locations that they would want to go to after their meal, clubs/bars. You can also order a cab right from the restaurant. It is possibly the most high tech restaurant that one would ever visit.


SBAGGERS IN NUREMBERG, GERMANY
With the exception of the chefs, everything is automated here. The table has a touch screen to order food, customers can also learn a lot about the food such as the source of the ingredients, facts about the food, portion sizes etc. Metallic racks attached to the table link it to the kitchen. Once the food is prepared the metal rails bring it to the table.
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The touch screen also allows customers to create a list of favorite dishes, a lot like their own personalized menu. They can also rate their experience, the food, the service, the ambience, and tell their friends about it. As with most touch screen menus, payment can also be done right there. One option that this place provides is to pay at the end of the month.


ROLE OF TECHNOLOGY
Like any other business technological advances made in the restaurant industry have changed the way business is done. We would now take a look at how that has happened. The three broad heads under which we have tried to cover the changes are Restaurant operations, Customer empowerment and Marketing Promotions.
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RESTAURANT OPERATIONS
Some of the major restaurant operations where technology has made an impact are
REDUCING TIME LAGS

With the new tablet systems, people can order directly from the table, and also pay for the food. This creates an instant meal ticket in the kitchen and the time spent on taking orders and the process of bill payment can be greatly reduced.
It also allows the restaurant owners to cut down on the staff waiting tables, and fewer staff can still provide a better experience for the customers.
INVENTORY MANAGEMENT
Softwares used for purchase and inventory management allow many advantages, some of which are listed below.
Inventory Management Advantages

Inventory products can be tracked through each stage and as soon as the products fall short, they can be ordered automatically. This way you can be sure that a favorite menu item does not run out while at the same time ensuring that you are never overstocked You can link the food cost and menu, which will allow you to be notified of any change required in sales price of an item, if cost of one or more ingredients has gone up. The software also gives a detailed analysis of the menu items nutritional analysis, cost analysis which gives you margins on menu items, any changes that occur over time.
You can also check the prices of different vendors online and compare their product and price. At the same time the software will also generated reports based on purchases, bids and credits.
The menu linkage allows keeping track of food cost percentage, which items and/or promotions are most popular and which items need to be targeted for further promotions


LABOR MANAGEMENT
Every restaurant owner would agree that its not Christmas every day. A restaurant has high periods and low periods, not just in a year but it also varies according to the time of the day. Looking at the same, one can schedule his labor requirements as per the estimate of number of guests. Keeping the same number of staff will mean fluctuations where sometimes either youre overstaffed or sometimes understaffed. This also hampers the quality of service, which would not remain consistent through the day or the year. Another challenge that occurs is when you have variable number of staff through the day; you need to ensure that their presence is utilized to the maximum. A good system can allow you to do that, and that labor management system is provided with the use of new softwares and technology available.
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Labor Management through technology
Ensuring timely presence of staff
Predicting the requirement of labor at different periods during the day Keeping track of employee information
By putting right systems in place, you can monitor the check in, check out times as well as the time lost in breaks. This in turn gives you two advantages You know the exact amount of hours worked and can pay accordingly. You make sure that check in and checkout cant be cheated by putting in a system which makes sure that unscheduled breaks can only be taken when a manager overrides the system.
You can check the forecast of customers, match it with actual data, and make necessary changes in the manpower. Once done you will have to do that again, while it will take some time initially, once set up the system can generate automatic scheduling of staff as per the need of the hour and frees up time to be utilized elsewhere, such as customer service. You can monitor applications, recruitment, personnel information, bonuses and benefits, tax status vacation, training requirements and training completed (E-learning modules are especially beneficial for franchises, making sure every employee across the franchisee is equally well trained). You can also monitor tips, paychecks, and keep in line with IRS guidelines for tax purposes.


CUSTOMER EMPOWERMENT
Customers today are in control. They need innovative beverages, meal items, they write the reviews about restaurants, and the social media is one platform that has given them the freedom to make or break the reputation of a restaurant. One of the most important factors to consider these days is that a customer likes to be in control, and if you give him that control, you create a sense of ownership in the customer about your restaurant. This will not only result in customer retention but also may result in free promotions for your restaurant among his/her friends. Some of the ways that this sense of ownership can be provided to the customers are discussed below.
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FOOD CUSTOMIZATION
Many restaurants today provide options to the customers to choose the ingredients that would go in their meal. It is a lot like a subway sandwich, only now its not limited to a sa ndwich. Also, there are options which would allow the customer to even choose the way food is cooked, if they wanted it roasted, fried, baked. Customers now also can gain information on the nutritional value of the meal, with detailed analysis. This is done by linking the menu system used in the back office operations to the user interface that the customer is using. Considering the increasing importance of health quotient among consumers, this is an essential feature.
While the whole food customization idea would have raised the problem of estimating the cost of the new item created, but if you have the food cost system which was discussed earlier, that problem is also resolved. In short, you are not only relieved from the burden of coming up with new items, but also pricing, when you have the right tech. in place.
The tech. also allows customers to make beverage mixers as per their own choices. New and innovative beverages are increasingly demanded by consumer these days, and it has been difficult for the restaurants to keep up the innovation. On top of that problem, you never know which new beverage will be accepted and which will be rejected. By allowing customers to customize their own drinks, one not only gets rid of that problem, but also increases the chances of finding a new hit beverage for the restaurant.


AMBIENCE CUSTOMIZATION
Now we all know that food is not all that a customer comes in for. Agreed, its a major factor, but the second biggest factor is the service. Service is not just the way the restaurant waiters treat the customers, but also the feel of the restaurant, its ambience.
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Many restaurants allowed the customer to choose the music, but it is not possible to satisfy all, right? Wrong!! With the advent of new sound control systems, personal booth systems and sound dampening materials, restaurants can allow each table to listen to their own music, at their chosen volume.
The use of digital tables (yes, tables not tablets), which allow people to order, can also be used to switch pattern, color sets, as per the guests requirement. Some have digital curtains which can be customized by the customer, and in Las Vegas, they even allow setting the dance floor lighting pattern, by projecting them on the screen above dance floor.
The restaurant owners can do this as well switching from bright lights to fluorescent lights which can result in energy savings. They also have the option of adjusting the sound, if the chit chatter is pretty low, you can change the mood with the sound and create an ambience you want.


MARKETING TACTICS
Technology affects every aspect of business. From telegraph to television to internet, the source of information is ever evolving. It is necessary to use the latest channels and discover innovative ways to reach your intended customers. Since internet is the new information giant, thats where you will need to be to grab your customers attention. From marketing to different audiences, to providing options on food to making a reservation, technology helps everywhere.
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Online promotional offers
Remember discounts is not the only offer, you can provide group reservations on graduation dates and birthday parties, offer them an opportunity to create a theme from the options available to you, to create an ambience that would make them feel wanted. Create an online club of your patrons, and post offers there online. Using the information available from your own database, use it to offer specials based on their previous choices of menu items. Online offers need to be more targeted, than generic, and if you are sending a group email, make sure the demographics of the group match; instead of hoping to get one response out of 20 emails, customize to aim for 10.
While a lot of restaurants do this, what offer suits who best can be interpreted by technology. By using your own customer databases, you can make sure the right offer at the right time is provided to the right person. Make offers on their birthdays, anniversaries, graduation dates and other special occasions. Keep an open reservation for them on these particular dates, and increase your chances of being reciprocated by the customer.
USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA
To say social media is a big factor in restaurant business today, will be an understatement. With the power given to customers, to rate their experience in detail of any and every restaurant, restaurants need to be on their toes at all times. One bad review can hamper the restaurants image, which would need possibly more than 10 positive reviews to negate that.


Having said that, this is also an opportunity to restaurants to not just reach their customers but also engage them, and build strong relations. For example, Papa Johns facebook page provides information such as store locator, email specials and even free pizzas to its followers on facebook page. You can also create a blog of your own, where people can voice their opinion, and you could address the issues that arise. This displays your concern for your customers and also cuts back on negative feedback which may appear on other sites like tripadvisor.com, yelp.com and urbanspoon.com. You can even use the positive feedback to post on these sites and generate goodwill for your restaurant.
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Encouraging users to voice their opinion on websites like Facebook, twitter, MySpace and similar other networking websites can help your restaurants image. There are options where the user can directly go to these pages via social signals on your website. If you are using the tablets for ordering, these options can also be put in there, so that the customer can directly put in their feedback from your restaurant and you will have a better chance to get a positive result. Remember this, a customer if happy will write gloriously about your place on these websites at that instant, while later he/she has the time to reflect which brings out small details which may alter his opinion. In case of an unhappy customer, there is little chance that he would change his opinion to a more neutral perspective later on. So instant feedbacks can work wonders for your restaurants image.
EFFECTIVE CUSTOMER RELATION MANAGEMENT

An effective CRM is possible only by co-ordination of a lot of things done correctly and in real time. Here technology can help you by providing a real time update on customer reviews, customer choices. Many tablets where the customer order from keep a record of previous orders, and can suggest other menu items similar to previous choices. You can also post suggestions as to which wines will go better with the meal selected, or based on the choice made now and earlier.
Some restaurants even allow the customers to see the chef at work such as Inamo restaurant in London, or see real time updates on the time that will be taken to prepare the meal. A ticking countdown makes customers less anxious about when the food will arrive. This way once a customer knows everything about the food he is going to have; it creates a sense of satisfaction and control, which results in increasing his trust on the restaurant. This will create patrons who would become your regular customers, and their social media updates & word of mouth will work to bring in more people.
With the right tech. in place, you will stay updated about important dates for your customers which allow you to make the right offer at the right time. This gives a sense of ownership to the patrons which will allow them to stick longer to your restaurant. You can also create a club of patrons and throw parties or buffets only open to the members of your club, further strengthening your relations with the customers.


COMPLICATIONS IN USE OF TECHNOLOGY
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Financial Considerations
ROI: With the rise in pace of technology, it is very important to consider the timing of the tech. considered to be adopted. You may buy a system for $20,000, and by the time you have realized only $10,000 out of it, a new version or something else comes up which replaces your technology. So one must strike a balance between jumping on to a new technology very early and moving in too late, in order to maximize the returns on your investment.
Size of the Business: A lot of new high tech. will obviously have a price tag to it, which may not be suited to all the businesses. If yours is a new venture, maybe you should focus more on backhand operations to ensure efficiency, while building up enough cash to upgrade when the time comes. If you have been in the business long enough and have enough capital, you should look at your restaurant concept first, and then decide which tech. can help you experience for your restaurant.


Customer Considerations
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System Complexity: You have to ensure that the tech. that you put in should not go beyond what your prospective customers can understand. In short, it should be user friendly. A very large system with many options is like a large menu, which can confuse your customer and also increase the table turnover time as they take time to order. So even though you want a futuristic feel, you dont want your customers to feel alienated.
Demographics: While technology helps you identify best customers most suited to your restaurant, you obviously started the restaurant with certain concept in mind focusing on a particular demographic. You would want to make sure that your tech. is suited to your prospective customers by taking various factors into account, such as age group, spending capacity, tech. friendliness and similar others.
Marketing Considerations
Most Suited Media: While the social media would be the first thing that pops into mind when thinking about the new age media channel, there are many options within the media. For example, if you have a lot of tourist customers, there is a better chance of them looking for a review on tripadvisor.com rather than facebook (not undermining the importance, simply prioritizing). Similarly if you serve lot of locals facebook page, and local websites offering reviews of the place in the city would be a good choice.
Most suited Innovative methods: While innovation is the order of the day, you do not want to promote your restaurant through a method which is off your restaurant concept. For example, if you have a fine dining restaurant, you want to offer specials on wines or a new innovative meal, rather than clubbing and creating value meals, as the QSRs do. Same applies vice-versa.


BRITTCO SOLUTION
Brittco Advisors provides high value consulting services to the hospitality industry creating measurable results in sales growth, customer satisfaction, expense/operational management and brand awareness.
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Some of the services provided by Brittco are: Audits and Action Plans: We can develop and train franchisors/area & master developers to implement audits and actions plans that measure performance in areas including service standards, product quality, food handling, recipe adherence, cleanliness, sanitation, office accounting, and Human Resource practices. These audits can be a guide to store operators, franchisees on their daily management of operations and the business. Cost Management: We conduct reviews of product purchasing and tender/ negotiate/implement contracts with local, national, multi-national suppliers and manufacturers. Product Quality Improvement: Analysis of product ingredients often leads to opportunities to implement higher quality goods from larger suppliers at better pricing - resulting in a more premium end product. Brand Development: We believe there are two areas of brand equity. First is the perception of the brand quality and the position it enjoys in the investment marketplace, and second - the trustworthiness of the product as it pertains to the individuals purchasing their goods and services. their best store economics contributing to stable or
With Brittco, you can fill in the missing gaps of your business. With experience of being in the actual position where most restaurant owners find themselves today, Brittco can offer expert advice on every aspect of running your business. This can include a re-interpretation of the company identity, advertising, printed collateral, packaging, social media strategy, and overall communication of your brand's values to the public. Our goal for every client, every time is to get them enhanced net operating profits.
We will not take on a client if we cannot make a difference.


CONCLUSION
Technology affects us every day. It plays a role in every business; it is no surprise that it has touched the restaurant industry as well. With the low consumer spending, ever increasing demand for innovative products and razor thin margins, the traditional model of a restaurant will have to evolve to meet the demands of today and the future. Technology can lease new life to your restaurant. It can maximize efficiency, reduce costs, and even innovate to an extent for you. Many restaurants have adopted the new technology, and many are in the process of doing it. While all this high tech. there is a cost factor involved. While most will pay for themselves by generating efficient systems and attracting customers, the ROI time will fluctuate. The reason being, the speed at which one technology replaces other. In order to stay ahead of the curve, one will inevitably have to upgrade their system, what one needs to take into account are certain factors such as
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ROI: While this seems obvious enough, what one needs to take into account is the speed at which technology is replaced in todays world. So you have to choose quickly what new tech. you are going to adopt, but at the same time be careful that you dont get into something which eventually is not compatible or is simply an add on. The worth of the product is how quickly it can pay for itself, and how much more it can generate.
Compatibility with Concept: While so many techs. are available in the market, they are meant to serve restaurants in a very generic manner. Restaurant owners will have to decide the correct mix of different tech. required for their operations and one which will not alter the concept of their restaurant. The success of a restaurant depends on its unique concept, and even technology cant replace it. It can certainly help to enhance some of the features, such as lighting, sound, menu offerings and others. Its the restaurant owners that will have to make the choice, what features does he want to upgrade.
While there are many micro factors as well, on a broad level this is what one needs to take care of. Change is difficult and technology is certainly something that brings change with itself. It may be one of the biggest reasons for restaurant owners being skeptic about the new technology available and its usefulness. But as always, change is necessary and technology is the new change that the restaurant industry has been waiting for. In the words of Pauline R. Kezer Continuity gives us roots; change gives us branches, letting us stretch and grow and reach new heights. Let the new technology help you stretch and grow and reach new heights.


ABOUT BRITTCO
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Brittco Advisors provides high value consulting services to the hospitality industry creating measurable results in sales growth, customer satisfaction, expense/operational management and brand awareness. We also help struggling restaurant franchise companies and chain restaurants to restructure their franchise frameworks at operational, managerial and financial levels and achieve a better turn around, thereby restoring profitability. Our area of expertise extends to direct dealings with hotel and property management companies, equity fund lenders, restaurant designers and architects, bankers and licensing professionals. Brittco advisors have a wide range of services spread across the world, taking into detail of every aspect of restaurant industry changes, impacted by changing demographics, and specific business requirements of different restaurants. At Brittco we understand that your requirements are unique and will need unique perspectives and solutions, which is why Brittco is Globally Inspired. Globally Networked (Asia). Globally Available.
Contact Information
Ken Gooz President
ken@brittcoconsulting.com
Skype Id - ken.gooz1 Direct: 780 425 4108 Suite #202 2520 Ellwood Drive Edmonton Alberta, Canada T6X 0A9


BIBLIOGRPAHY
http://www.foodservicewarehouse.com http://gizmodo.com http://usatoday30.usatoday.com http://thenextweb.com http://trendland.com http://www.almostzara.com http://www.thetraveleditor.com http://www.mandalaybay.com http://www.almostzara.com http://www.foxnews.com
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DISCLAIMER
All the information presented in this paper, is a curated work comprised from data collected by various organizations working to create awareness about the corrosion problem across the world. We do not claim to have collected any data and the statistics based on which the charts of various types are made, are work done by the organizations/institutions which have been quoted in the sources and the links from where the information was collected has been accounted for in the Bibliography. We do not claim complete accuracy of data and deviations from the given are possible. Brittco has made this paper for informational purposes and have tried to credit all the sources possible which could be traced back from the data. Any omission of the source is purely accidental and complete effort has been made to give recognition to every data source.
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