At the end of the day, guests are not coming to your restaurant to experience your payment system or load up the latest app release.
They’re coming to get a great burger and shake at a concept like Freddy’s Frozen Custard, for example, or to grab a beer and watch a game at Hooters (with a hula-hoop contest perhaps going on at the same time).
The goal of technology is to “find ways to make it as frictionless as possible,” said Jeff Caplan, senior vice president and CIO at Hooter’s of America, which has about 155 units.
And, when all is said and done, added Sean Thompson, vice president of information technology for the 550-unit Freddy’s, “People want stuff that just works.”
The two operators were discussing what the future of restaurant technology might look like in a session moderated by Savneet Singh, CEO of PAR Technology at the FSTEC conference in Dallas on Tuesday.
Both operators said their focus is always on both the customer and staff experience, and making it as simple as possible.
“It’s about leveraging the billions of rows of data that are flowing into our data lake every day to make sure that we’re strategically looking at our guests and ways to entice them to come back to Freddy’s another time,” said Thompson.
But that guest experience has to cross all channels, and that’s where technology tools like AI can come into play. Freddy’s, for example, has shied away from using AI voice ordering in the drive-thru, but AI can be used to, say, help prioritize orders, balancing dine-in with off premise, or help ensure drive-thru orders are accurate—all results that improve the experience.
Hooter’s has had a busy few years. The chain is growing its virtual brands, like Hootie’s Chicken Tenders, and recently launched a line of frozen appetizers for grocery retail. The chain is in the process of integrating its point of sale system with payment and loyalty.
“Those three things coming together with a pay-at-the-table experience for us is going to be tremendous,” Caplan said.
Caplan, however, said the first thing to get right is your foundation.
“Within our business, if you are running around because you’ve had hacks, because you have network downtime and things like that, you can’t do all the fun stuff,” said Caplan. “So the first thing you do is get your foundation down, make sure that you have good data. Make sure you have safe and secure data, and you don’t have to spend as much time running around playing defense.”
Because Freddy’s is a brand that appeals across multiple generations, Thompson said he tries to take a wide-angle approach to the digital experience. He compared it to the way a DJ might approach a playlist, with hits from Elvis to Chappell Roan.
The guest may just want a patty melt with pickles, and that’s what they expect. It’s up to the restaurant operator to offer that experience they expect no matter how they order it.
“You can order it in a restaurant. You can order it digitally, you can earn it, you can redeem it. All of these things just happen all together, just like a good DJ makes everything work,” said Thompson.
When asked what technology we’ll be talking about in five years, Caplan pointed to customer data platforms and bringing that into stores to give general managers a better dashboard to see what they need to know on a daily basis and track results.
Thompson said it will be whatever tech makes the working life of team members easier.
“There’s so much technology. There’s been so much change from that. The general manager at a Freddy’s from 10 years ago, five years ago and today are three completely different people,” said Thompson.
So technology that helps the drive-thru crew know they have cars backed up, so maybe it’s not the best time to ask about a customer’s day. Or maybe fryers are backed up and it’s a good time to engage more with a guest that might be kept waiting, for example.
“Let’s make sure they have the information to do what they want to do, how they want to do it, in a way that makes sense, keeps things moving forward,” said Thompson. “That kind of technology is what I’ll be looking for in the next five years.”
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