After years of rushing to adopt all the digital solutions that could possibly help them compete in today’s enormously challenging restaurant industry, operators are now facing the fallout.
In an interview with PYMNTS’ Karen Webster, Andrew Robbins, CEO of Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) customer experience management (CXM) solutions provider Paytronix, said as consumers’ expectations of digital convenience continue to grow, restaurants are looking to change their approach to technology.
“Right now, with the operators, some of what’s going on is just, they’ve got a little bit of a technology hangover in how many things they adopted, and across too many providers,” Robbins said. “So, they’re trying to … consolidate vendors that they’re working with, perhaps, instead of working with nine vendors, slim it down to three or four technology vendors. Get the same breadth of solution, but make it much, much more nimble and faster to implement new things.”
The 2022 edition of PYMNTS and Paytronix’s Restaurant Readiness Index found that operators’ digital readiness has actually slipped. The study, which drew from a survey of more than 500 managers of quick-service restaurants (QSRs) and full-service restaurants (FSRs) across the country, found that restaurants’ aggregated feature implementation score slipped between September 2021 and April 2022 across all channels measured (loyalty log-in, mobile app, website and aggregator).
Read more: More Than Half of Restaurants Depend on Digital Sales, Despite Uptick in On-Premises Orders
Two-Way Street
Restaurants’ relationships with their employees are changing as labor challenges persist, as unionization movements spread throughout the country, and as questions of reproductive healthcare weigh heavy on many employees’ minds.
Robbins noted that, given that the employee experience directly impacts the customer experience and in turn the restaurant’s sales, many brands are looking to get these issues resolved as soon as possible.
“If the team member isn’t feeling good about working for your brand, they’re going to transmit that onto the customer,” Robbins said. “The customer’s going to have a bad experience, tell their friends, and a whole bunch of people aren’t going to come back.”
Given the importance of the employee experience, many brands are looking to improve internal communications. Robbins cited the example of Minnesota-based coffeehouse chain Caribou Coffee, which switched from “top-down” communication to a “360-degree” system. One change that this system resulted in was the addition of pronouns, which made a significant difference in the satisfaction of younger employees.
Robbins added that, as restaurants implement tech solutions to ease their labor challenges such as the automated order-taking (AOT) system applied by drive-thru chain Checkers and Rally’s, it becomes all the more crucial for them to be thoughtful in their communication. These initiatives could be “perceived as a threat,” but because Checkers and Rally’s positioned it as a system to improve employees’ jobs, employees “really appreciate it.”
Getting Personal
Robbins noted that, as restaurants rethink the relationship between their employees and their digital offerings, the face of customer service is changing. Take, for instance, a hypothetical employee, Joe.
“You trusted Joe,” Robbins said. “[Joe] might remind you of something you liked and could make a recommendation.”
Robbins added that, leveraging customer data, technology can remember people’s previous orders to make recommendations, showing a menu that surfaces items the customer might like. In some cases, these systems are even more effective than the traditional model.
“It’s so much better than when people push down from corporate a one-size-fits-all, ‘Do you want fries with that?’” he said. “Or … the Dunkin’ Donuts ‘Do you want tater tots?’ that I’ve said no to 400 times.”
The off Switch
As these labor challenges continue, it can be increasingly difficult for restaurants to maintain their omnichannel operations, given that digital ordering continues to make up a significant share of restaurants’ sales. According to Restaurant Readiness Index findings, about one in three restaurants generate the majority of their sales through digital channels, and more than half of all restaurants generate at least 25% of their sales online.
Additionally, research from the July edition of PYMNTS’ monthly ConnectedEconomy™ study, “The ConnectedEconomy™ Monthly Report: The Rise of the Smart Home,” found that more than half (53%) of all consumers had ordered food for pickup or delivery from a restaurant’s website or app in the previous month. Plus, 43% had ordered from a delivery aggregator such as DoorDash or Uber Eats.
See more: New Data Shows Convenience Drove Smart Home Upgrades for 83M Consumers in 2022
As such, Paytronix has added a feature enabling restaurants to pause different ordering channels. Robbins cited the example of an employee never coming in for his shift, only for the restaurant to find that he has quit without telling anyone.
“All of a sudden, you’re scrambling, and now what do you do?” Robbins said. “Just turn off online ordering because that in some cases would turn off 35%, 40% of your orders, and then maybe you can survive the day.”
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