Artificial Intelligence is increasingly changing the way restaurants do business. If you think AI is the future and are still waiting to see what happens, you’re mistaken. AI is now and is creating a transformation in the restaurant industry. Labor shortages, food costs, and competition are forcing operators to look at new ways to improve their business. AI isn’t only a technology, it’s a roadmap to enable your business to thrive.
Enhancing Customer Service
According to ZipDo, 85% of customer interactions in the food industry will involve AI by the end of 2022. Businesses are now focusing on improving their customer service by tapping into AI. AI-powered chats and phone calls are helping restaurants collect more data on customer complaints/feedback. Customer service representatives are now able to focus on how to fix the issues and get a comprehensive look at what is going wrong to make their establishment a better place for customers.
Creating New Menu Offerings
Every restaurant has its staple. The one dish that brings everyone in. With PreciTaste, you can create new menu staples based on current data. PreciTaste’s AI can identify the most commonly used ingredients and popular menu items. It can also suggest dishes that utilize under-used ingredients to create new menu items.
Business Insider reported that Clay Dover, CEO of Del-Taco, said “AI is an unbiased tool that can speed up the R&D process.” Del-Taco used ChatGPT to create a weekly taco. They used ChatGPT to find out what would appeal most to their customers, based on current trends and offerings. They capitalized on the buzz around ChatGPT to create fun weekly offerings for their customers through the power of AI.
Personalizing Orders & Recommendations
Guests are craving a personalized experience. According to Tillster’s Phygital Index Report, 92% of diners want some form of personalization from QSRs. Customers who are part of a rewards club or a loyalty program already scan or enter their information at the point of purchase. The purchasing data is there, i.e. what they like about their meals or what they order. AI can use this data to offer personalized recommendations and have their preferred orders ready when they buy online. As a customer, it’s very freeing and gives them a sense of individuality when they can get personalized recommendations, orders, or maybe even combo suggestions based on what they already love.
Automating Back-Of-House Processes
The back-of-house can get messy if there isn’t any organization. Stockouts, poor food quality, overproduction and slow speed-of-service are common issues for restaurants due to errors in primarily manual processes. By adopting AI into those processes, restaurants can cut down on all of the challenges that are affecting their bottom lines.
PreciTaste uses AI to accurately predict demand and then instructs the crew on when ingredients should be prepped and cooked through screens in the kitchen. This frees up managers to focus on customer experience and staff morale and creates massive labor efficiencies by automating repetitive tasks. PreciTaste customer, Urbanbelly, has been able to reduce their food waste by 20% (which led to a 5% decrease in food costs by 5%) due to a decrease in overproduction. PreciTaste’s Prep Assistant also saved each crew member an hour per day, which led to labor cost savings and overall employee and customer satisfaction.
Are you interested in learning how PreciTaste can transform your kitchen with the power of AI? Visit our Let’s Connect page to book a demo with our team.