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Meeting fast food customers’ ever-growing need for speed requires fast food POS software that lets your restaurant receive, fill, and deliver orders quickly and accurately whether the orders are placed online, via the drive-thru window, or in person. There’s no better way to provide an enjoyable customer experience and build customer loyalty than with a modern, cloud-based POS system that can help your restaurant ensure fast and accurate order processing.
10 fast food POS software tips for customer satisfaction
Just how fast is “fast” food? According to a recent survey conducted by location service firm Bluedot, not fast enough to satisfy many diners. As QSR Magazine reports, the survey found that 85% of diners will leave a fast food restaurant, or consider doing so, if they believe they’ll have a long wait for their order.
Fast food diners are an impatient lot: no matter if they order via drive-thru, online for pickup, or at the restaurant, a growing number of diners expect to receive their order in less than six minutes.
40% of drive-thru customers want their order within six minutes, up from 34% in August 2020.38% of customers using curbside pickup expect their order to be delivered in less than six minutes, compared to 33% in August 2020.48% of in-house diners want to wait no longer than six minutes for their order to arrive, up from 36% in August 2020.
Here are 10 tips for reducing ticket time.
1. Provide customers with tableside ordering
Even before the pandemic-related restrictions on person-to-person contact took effect, customers were expressing a desire for tableside ordering, which replaces traditional menus with a tablet that runs the restaurant’s own app. The tablet can either be used directly by diners to place their orders and pay their bills, or it can be given to servers who can enter customer orders and complete transactions from anywhere in the dining room.
The devices connect directly to the restaurant’s kitchen display system (KDS) to improve the timeliness and accuracy of orders, which keeps customers happy and allows the restaurant to turn over its tables faster.
2. Use real-time menu updates to improve order accuracy
Nothing spoils a customer’s dining experience faster than finding their meal of choice is unavailable, or not what they expected. Fast food POS software allows restaurant managers to update their menus on the fly to prevent disappointing diners when the special runs out, for example. The capability also lets them provide more detailed descriptions of their items, promote certain dishes, or offer custom specials, combinations, and other promotions based on which menu items are selling and which aren’t.
3. Automate your upselling options
Fast food restaurants take every opportunity to increase their average ticket amount by enticing diners to add items to their orders. Among the features of a cloud-based POS system is the ability to boost sales and profits by using menu-level costing, which shows the cost of each menu item to the restaurant. With this information, managers can create promotions that invite upselling by mixing and matching complementary menu items in a way that maximizes their profit potential.
4. Enhance your floor plan and table management
The layout of a fast food restaurant’s dining room can contribute to the speed with which orders are taken, food is served, and bills are paid. A modern fast food POS system includes the ability to monitor and adjust table and seating positions so that servers can work most efficiently and patrons are guaranteed to enjoy their meals without feeling crowded.
5. Support a range of payment options, including contactless
Another restaurant trend that got a big boost as a result of COVID-related restrictions is the growing use of contactless payment methods by customers. Diners increasingly expect the restaurants and other retailers they frequent to allow them to pay their bill using the payment type of their choice. Digital wallets such as Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Samsung Pay are vying with cashless payment apps such from PayPal, Venmo, and other services.
6. Allow customers to order online…even when they’re dining in
Your restaurant’s custom, branded mobile app is the digital portal that connects you directly with your clientele. Customers enjoy having control over when they place their order, how they modify the order, and how they pay for the order, including splitting the bill. To ensure accurate orders and happy customers, the app must support order modifications and variations, selection of the delivery point (in-house table, curbside or in-house pickup, or delivery), personalized promotions such as specials and bundles, and customer incentives such as loyalty programs and order histories.
7. Avoid miscommunication between the front and back of the house
Fast food POS software allows restaurants to match their order processing system with their work processes to promote both speed and accuracy when placing and preparing orders. The system’s interface must be clear, complete, and easy for staff to learn and use. It must also integrate seamlessly with a range of kitchen display systems, and it should be tied directly to inventory management to prevent running out of popular menu items.
8. Make it fast and simple for customers to split checks
Accommodating large parties of diners is a vital function for restaurants of all types, but it’s also a challenge when it comes time to divvy up the bill among multiple payers. A restaurant’s split-check policy may require that its POS system support complicated bills with dozens of separate food and drink items to be paid using any number of individual payment forms: part cash, part credit card, part digital wallet, whether the party is splitting a single check or paying separate checks.
9. Offer self-service kiosks that speed orders and boost employee productivity
While your restaurant’s mobile app, website, and tableside tablet will make life easier for your customers and your employees, a self-service kiosk provides even more options for connecting with your clientele by adding more information about your restaurant’s offerings and putting more control into customers’ hands. In addition to taking orders and completing transactions, the kiosks serve as digital advertising platforms, in-store navigators, and platforms for customer surveys and other marketing material.
10. Use QR codes to display menus and on-the-spot promotions
The primary impetus for using QR codes in restaurant settings recently has been to reduce direct contact between diners and servers (and other staff). However, the benefits of QR codes for restaurants go far beyond safer dining to include faster and more accurate order processing, real-time menu updates, end-to-end order tracking, and simpler access to ordering and payment options. QR codes can also be used for customer check-ins for curbside pickup and other click-and-collect orders, and for delivering customer receipts automatically via email or text.
Partnering with a POS provider who knows fast food in and out
For fast food restaurants, time is truly of the essence. By choosing fast food POS software that simplifies and automates order processing and fulfillment, restaurants are better able to serve up their delicious menu items completely, accurately, and quickly, which keeps their customers happy and their coffers full. Reach out to us today to sign up for a demo and to learn more about how talech can be your valued POS partner.
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