Whether at corporate cafeterias or in any other food service outlet, operators are looking for the shortest route – the most efficient way to deliver the guest experience. This blog outlines how operators are embracing new technologies to deliver better service to their guest demographics. With digital order acceptance technology, there’s less loss, and more accurate orders with fewer details lost in translation.

Why Consider Digital Ordering?

Enhanced Security for Online and Kiosks
There are additional security risks and corresponding protocols necessary to safeguard guest profile data, including credit card details. This is true for both online and kiosk ordering. For ecommerce, operators should look for technology with a PIP (payment information proxy) and embedded iframe technologies to provide state-of-the-art protection. Operators considering a kiosk should seek a solution that includes an integrated and PCI-validated P2PE (point-to-point encrypted) solution for maximum payment protection.

POS and KDS Integration Solves Challenges
Integration is important when it comes to digital ordering. It not only helps reduce the potential for errors and the order acceptance issues that usually occur without an integrated POS (point-of-sale) and KDS (kitchen display system), it also serves as an end-to-end solution, which creates a seamless experience for operators and guests alike. POS and KDS combine to create a comprehensive solution where the guest lifecycle is wholly managed. The digital data isn’t limited to just the order or order acceptance. It’s accurately captured in the both POS and the kitchen. Improving staff communication, such as allergies or special instructions, where it may not exist otherwise.

KPIs are another important consideration. It’s more than just making sure orders are sent to the kitchen accurately or a for more accurate expeditor display. We’re talking next-level metrics that aren’t traditionally tracked today, such as order delivery times or item preparation times. Because an integrated solution provides the benefit of tracking the order lifecycle from start to finish, efficiency metrics can be captured at every stage of the process. Operators use these data to adjust guest and kitchen flow activity, and to make decisions about whether to open more service lanes, or add a line in the kitchen. Monitoring the lifecycle with better metrics encourages more efficient workflows and better guest service.

Custom-Built v. Pre-Built Kiosks
Operators are doing more to understand their guests, and we’re seeing a stronger desire among operators who want to construct and understand the intricacies of how their guests will interact with menus. Engineering their own menu paths is resulting in order processing that has fewer mistakes, less loss and improved overall efficiency. A kiosk solution that’s assembled from multiple vendors won’t have this same flexibility and therefore offers limited guest service focus.