The restaurant industry is the definition of a dog-eat-dog business. One of the toughest industries to be consistently successful in, as all restauranteurs know. When you fix one problem, it usually ends up with more problems revealing themselves. One step forward, two steps back. We are in an interesting time for restaurants though with the advancement of technologies that can streamline a lot of the important things successful restaurants need.
Just as we do, restaurants and businesses that exist in the public sphere aim to be connected to those that love their establishment. This is only becoming more prevalent and valuable to businesses. In this day and age, there is an ever-increasing awareness of the wastefulness and environmental cost of our society. There will be a real change in efficiency in waste management and responsibility for restaurants in 2018.
Here are some emerging Trends for Restaurants in 2018:
Waste-Conscious Menus
Everyone has heard the horror stories in the U.S. about nearly 40% of our prepared food supply going to waste. With so many going hungry or underfed, this is a trend that cannot continue. Sustainable agriculture and restaurant practices are becoming more common in America. Restaurants are now planning their menus utilizing all parts of fruits and vegetables, even going as far as to create craft cocktails and specials for full use of ingredients.
Automated Cashiers
Many fast food and expedited restaurants are implementing automated cashiers, where customers can input their orders directly through the Point-of-sale system. This could potentially negate costly incorrect orders made by human cashiers. There will most likely be more labor costs involved with these automated cashiers but it will more than likely allow owners and managers to keep labor costs down. In addition, there are a million new point-of-sale systems available to best suit the restaurant’s needs.
Location-Based Marketing
With social media now encouraging users to enlist their location or check-in at certain events or places, there is now an opportunity for restaurants to use this capability to their advantage. Knowing where your potential customers are—new and old—immensely helps any business’s marketing strategy. Google has recently made it possible for restaurants to display their menu within the search results (rather than requiring a link to be clicked).
Social Media
Social Media has created an entirely new landscape for consumer and experience-driven products like restaurants. Any type of craft cocktail or special niche-based foods can garner a real, tangible surge in business. Word spreads fast on the internet nowadays, thanks exclusively to social media. Consider it like a wave, once a picture of an item is successful, you can bet there will be many others looking for the same type of internet popularity.
Expanded Pick-up and Delivery Services
3rd party delivery apps have made it exponentially easier to acquire at least some delivery services for your restaurant. There is a real opportunity for everyone to be able to get your food at any point during hours of operation. It is a phenomenon to be a new restauranteur or a growing restaurant, the only limitation is finding the right balance of these newly-available sales and business techniques.
David Brown is known as the resident ‘foodie’ and spends a good portion of his time working as a food critic for the local newspaper. In his spare time, David enjoys checking out new restaurants and diners with his wife and friends.