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At the same time, a rise in fast-food prices driven by inflation is reshaping consumer behavior, with many customers now treating fast food as a splurge rather than a convenience. The future of dining will center on creating smarter, simpler, and more personal experiences for customers.
Fast food and food delivery gradually began changing that equation. 2024 was a year of experimentation with AI, with restaurants testing it on customer-facing interactions, like AI drive-thru ordering, with varying degrees of success. The restaurant experience was once solely comprised of human-to-human, in-person experiences.
According to Statista , the global online food delivery market size was valued at $151.5 According to Statista , the global online food delivery market size was valued at $151.5 Increased Frequency of Fee and Rate Auditing Many restaurants and QSRs have had massive increases in order ahead and digital ordering over the last few years.
Rising restaurant prices and increased cost-of-living expenses are significantly altering dining out habits in both the US and UK, according to a new survey from Attest. Reduced Disposable Income : Consumers have less money for dining out, leading to fewer overall visits. Fast food and casual dining are currently seeing higher traffic.
. “This enduring customer loyalty drives the restaurant industry forward, creating clear opportunities for restaurants to enhance the dining experience through strategic limited time offers, efficient delivery and exceptional in-person service," said Samir Zabaneh, CEO of TouchBistro.
With cashless transactions and delivery services becoming the norm, diners are enjoying faster, more streamlined dining journeys. Delivery platforms increase risks of supply chain attacks The restaurant supply chain is dense, involving food suppliers, payment processors, and delivery services. Some may even share login credentials.
Steady Online Ordering Brings Food Waste, Donations to the Forefront of Priorities Orderingfood online increases restaurant sales, but it also can potentially increase wasted food if proactive measures aren’t taken – for both the business and consumers at home.
“Through expansive experiences that inspire our guests paired with the ambiance of the space and the food on the plate, we’re setting new standards for the industry and creating truly spectacular moments for all who enter our restaurants and bars.” What can you expect to see on menus in 2025?
Tap a few buttons, and your order is sent to the kitchen, where robots are preparing dishes with precision, ensuring perfect consistency every time. Throughout the meal, robot servers deliver your food and clear the table when you're done. You take your seat at a table embedded with a touchscreen menu. Need a drink?
. “Every guest touchpoint–whether it’s a dine-in experience, an online order, or even a response to a review – can influence future business,” Mike Eng, Senior Director of Vertical Expansion at Klaviyo, told Modern Restaurant Management (MRM) magazine.
The hospitality industry has always been about delivering great service—but today, that means more than just good food and friendly staff. For years, restaurant technology has been about speed and efficiency—faster orders, better scheduling, streamlined payments. Think about your morning routine.
Lastly, AI-powered chatbots and virtual assistants can handle customer service tasks like answering questions, taking reservations, and processing orders, ensuring faster and more efficient support. People are looking for authenticity and transparency, so highlighting where your ingredients come from or how food is made can go a long way.
"While technology has the potential to enhance the dining experience, the research shows that AI integration isn’t a top priority for most consumers,” said Carly Fink, President, Head of Research & Strategy for Provoke Insights.“Patrons This was only topped by grocery store increases at 79 percent.
Thanks to these technologies, tasks such as orderingfood and paying bills can take place on a self-service basis. Thanks to these technologies, tasks such as orderingfood and paying bills can take place on a self-service basis. In quick-serve restaurants, staff can focus on preparing food rather than taking orders.
Over the last two decades, I’ve worked alongside operators in just about every hospitality setting—independent cafés, high-end dining rooms, food halls, and regional chains. We saw widespread adoption of mobile payments, digital ordering, and contactless dining almost overnight.
Although dynamic pricing is a staple in industries like travel and hospitality, its application in fast food is uncharted territory. The Psychology of Pricing RMS conducted a behavioral study using eye-tracking technology with 260 UK and US participants to determine how customers make dining decisions if they suspect dynamic pricing.
This transformation is not just about automation; it's about creating smarter, more efficient, and more personalized dining experiences. These systems can understand various accents and dialects, process orders accurately, and even upsell menu items based on customer preferences. One of the most impactful areas is inventory management.
Self-serve kiosks, QR-code menus, and personalized ordering systems will continue to redefine how patrons interact with venues. Advances in AI and customer relationship management (CRM) tools allow businesses to analyze customer behavior, predict preferences, and craft hyper-personalized dining and drinking experiences.
A third of diners said their favorite restaurant changed in the past 12 months, with “better food” (46 percent) and “better value” (40 percent) cited as the leading reasons, according to Tillster’s 2025 Phygital Index Report. The survey of 1,500 U.S.-based For the third year in a row, consumers want more kiosks.
So much data is generated at every point within a restaurant, whether fast casual or fine dining. The question now becomes – how to make sense of that data and use it to elevate the dining experience. For the first part, click here and for the second part, click here. Data, Data, Data.
This represents a larger increase than those increasing visits to fast-casual (14 percent) or full-service (11 percent) restaurants and is on par with those visiting QSRs more frequently (24 percent) ( RMS Q1 2025 Dining report ). The 2,000 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics shows restaurant price increases continue to outpace grocery inflation.
From smarter ordering systems to food that travels better, here’s what pizzeria owners can expect in the year ahead. On the customer side, AI is beginning to play a more significant role in online ordering. This not only frees up labor but also reduces order errors.
As well as ensuring your customers are provided with a great customer experience and delicious food, accommodating for the busy period will ensure your workforce remains happy. From past years, it is clear which items were the most popular and based on this, extra stock can be ordered in to ensure festive favorites do not run out.
Many restaurant operators have misconceptions about average order volume (AOV) and how it works, making statements like: I need more customers to make more money. For example, lets say you have 50 orders in a day that total $2,000 in revenueall you need to do is divide the total revenue by how many orders you have for the day.
Solo dining – a time dedicated to eating a meal alone at a sit-down restaurant – is an opportunity for diners to practice self care over a meal, whether that be by relaxing and reflecting at the end of a long day or even by engaging the mind with a book or catching up on the news. Just the “cover count.”
One location might offer seamless mobile ordering, while another struggles with glitchy payment systems, creating inconsistencies that can frustrate customers and impact revenue. Customers crave simplified steps at the beginning and end of their food service experiences, and it’s not hard to understand why.
Organize all your ordersdine-in, online, and third-party and fulfill them in a flash, right from your POS. The restaurant, with its then-$55 and -$80 tasting menus, was a food-media darling: In 2019, it earned a Michelin star and topped the Los Angeles Times 101 Best Restaurants list.
A growing number of chefs are shifting their attention to independent operations that focus on foods with wider appeal that need a commitment to excellence. This was, after all, a peasant food, but now is in a class all to its own from utility to high cuisine. Ahbut there are signs of change. There is pizza and there is pizza.
Rising labor and food costs, along with the ongoing struggle to recruit and retain employees, remain among the top concerns for both fullservice and limited-service operators. "The Consumers and operators crave more in-person dining : 81 percent of consumers say they’d eat at tableservice restaurants more often if finances allowed.
This edition of Modern Restaurant Management (MRM) magazine's Research Roundup features delivery data, tariff troubles, summer dining trends, and Beer Serves America. Additional findings indicate that 44 percent favor a balance of human staff and some technology, while 41 percent prefer no AI use at all in their dining experience.
Even though pickup lockers have been around for almost a decade—emerging originally in the logistics and retail sector—many drivers in the food delivery space have had limited exposure to the technology. Not only do smart lockers simplify the order pickup process for the delivery drivers, they also increase customer satisfaction.
When people think of the way AI is currently used in quick service restaurants – such as fast-food chains – they might think of AI-powered voice bots utilized at drive-thrus or AI tools to forecast inventory needs based on demand. Restaurant owners agree, as nearly half of hospitality operators in the U.S.
Guests may sparkle when they see the chef walk through the dining room and whisper about how great he or she is at their craft, but what many dont realize is that their meal was likely never prepared by the chef. This is a time of the year when many invest personal effort in speculating who will win the honors as NFL Most Valuable Player.
11, 2024, comparing it to the average Sunday in 2024 and found that: Wings win MVP with an 87 percent increase in sales The average price of wings ordered increased 18 percent. The average price of wings increased 18 percent, likely due to demand and larger orders. Toast analyzed data from restaurants on Sunday, Feb.
Robert Sietsema/Eater NY Wonder wants to fix food delivery — so it just acquired Grubhub On November 13, Wonder, the company that describes itself as “a new kind of food hall,” announced its acquisition of the established foodordering and delivery platform Grubhub. A Wonder in New York City. Who’s behind Wonder?
The tool from the East Coast vegan chain — a digital take on a split-flap mechanical display that appears on its website and in the chain’s ordering app — estimates the amounts of water, land, CO2, and oil saved by eating vegan burgers. The “ PLNT Impact Tracker ” on PLNT Burger’s website wants you to think about what you’re eating.
Restaurant operators need to embrace menu and technological innovations in order to meet guest expectations this holiday season, according to the Fall/Winter Trend report: a report produced by Provoke Insights in collaboration with Modern Restaurant Management (MRM) magazine. "Our The study was in-field in Sept-Oct 2024.
This financial strain could dampen discretionary dining expenditures. By mid-2024, 82 percent of food and beverage operators were still actively recruiting, with chefs and cooks comprising 30 percent of open roles. In 2025, the restaurant and broader hospitality industry finds itself at a critical juncture. trillion in 2024.
Independent restaurants have always been cornerstones of community, providing anything from comfort foods to places to unwind, but despite their vital role in society, adapting to the challenges continues to be a struggle. Scalable solutions like self-service kiosks and predictive analytics are transforming the way small businesses operate.
In today’s fast-paced dining world, guest satisfaction goes beyond just great food—it’s about delivering a seamless experience. When guest expectations are sky-high and every table turn counts, how quickly a team responds – both to guests and to each other – can significantly shape the dining experience.
To tackle these challenges, restaurant owners are relying more on digital tools like mobile ordering, self-service kiosks, and AI-powered workforce management. Self-order and payment kiosks as well as QR code menus are streamlining front-of-house operations, improving order accuracy and speeding up service.
Providing good food is just the beginning. In todays competitive dining landscape, hospitality is what truly sets a restaurant apart. Service is about accuracy and efficiencytaking an order, delivering food, clearing a table. Hospitality isnt just serviceits the emotional connection that keeps guests coming back.
The magnetism of the kitchen dates to those early days of growing up in a home where food played an important role, not as much as some, but enough to leave an indelible mark on my life. Respectable restaurants either bake their own or invest the time to find an exceptional resource for this essential ingredient in the dining experience.
Key customer factors that influence dining preferences, from demographics to behavior. These are the people most likely to dine with you based on factors like their age, income, dining preferences, and lifestyle. Every successful restaurant has one thing in common: they know exactly who they are serving.
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