Restaurant order-taking: how to choose your solution?

In the digital age, digitizing restaurant order-taking is a must. No more handwritten notes and the mistakes that go with them! To take advantage of digital technology and get your business off the ground, there are a number of solutions, including the installation of a touch-sensitive order terminal. To find out how, discover what's available on the market and follow our advice on choosing the right solution.

Why digitalize your order taking?

Digitizing order taking using a tablet or touch terminal offers considerable advantages for boosting a restaurant's operations and profitability:

Improving the customer experience

Using an order terminal, customers can choose their menus completely independently. They can browse an intuitive menu at their own pace, with all the information they need to make a decision (price, photo of dish, nutritional values, allergenic ingredients, etc.). What's more, when ordering systems are well distributed throughout the room, customer flows are smoother and waiting times reduced, 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.

Increased restaurant sales

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

Simplified operations in the dining room and kitchen

With digital order-taking, everything is centralized and automated: orders are sent to the kitchen, payments are recorded, and so on. This reduces the mental workload and stress of waiters, who are better able to listen to customers. Communication between the teams, in the dining room and in the kitchen, is smoother/simplified, and there's no need to go back and forth. Order-taking equipment is therefore a solution for restaurants suffering from staff shortages or organizational problems.

The various solutions for digitalizing order taking

There are several solutions for digitalizing order taking in the restaurant business. One device does not exclude another, of course, and different models can be combined to meet the needs of restaurateurs and their customers.

The touch control terminal

The totem-shaped, touch-sensitive kiosk is ideal for large establishments or fast-food outlets. In fact, they can be found in all well-known fast-food chains. In addition to empowering the customer, they also help to manage and fluidify the flow of customers during peak hours by distributing them in different areas. This prevents crowding, speeds up service time and improves flow management.

The order-taking tablet

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

The QR code

QR codes are often found on restaurant tables. By scanning them, customers can access the menu on their smartphone. For restaurateurs, this means lower printing costs for paper menus. Increasingly, this code also enables customers to enter their order directly into the restaurant software. It's a trendy tool, but it has the disadvantage of not catering for people who don't have modern telephones or who don't know how to use them properly.

Integrations required for a functional control terminal

A touch-screen terminal is intuitive, easy to read and easy to use. It's accessible to everyone! To make it a real marketing asset for restaurateurs and fully functional, it is advisable to include a number of integrations:

• Digitized map ;
• Centralized cash register ;
• Suggestions module ;
• Loyalty program ;
• Real-time inventory management ;
• Etc.

Choosing a turnkey order-taking system

To make sure you choose the right solution, call in the professionals. Tabesto specializes in ordering tablets and kiosks. In addition to guiding you through the digitalization of order-taking in your restaurant, the team prepares and implements a functional turnkey system, ready for operation.

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