Our take on the top trends affecting the restaurant industry in 2022
It’s been a rocky ride this past couple of years, especially in the hospitality industry. A recent Forbes article dissected the trends affecting the restaurant industry in 2022, and it’s apparent many of the “temporary” changes we faced as a result of Covid-19 are, in fact, here to stay.
Along with high inflation and rising menu prices, which we looked at in our latest blog, there’s plenty of other influences changing the way QSR and FSR brands run their businesses today.
Although there’s been some good, there’s definitely been some bad, and some ugly challenges faced in recent times. Despite this, the hospitality industry is making a slow recovery, and IBISWorld reported the market size for fast foods is expected to increase by 15.8% this year. So we’ve pulled in the top trends from Forbes to discuss what brands can do to stay on top of the ever-changing industry.
Home delivery systems
Delivery has become an extremely important option for restaurants. Despite many offering delivery temporarily as their stores had to close, since restrictions have loosened, customer demand for delivery has hardly taken a backseat. Keeping up with delivery, especially as you run in-store dining, can be a timely challenge. Not only that, with aggregators taking a portion of your profits, it can also add to your costs. Using technology such as aggregator middleware to feed orders directly into your POS removes the need for multiple iPads, manual re-entry, and the risk of lost orders.
Another option to reduce costs and own more of the guest relationship is to take advantage of products like Last Mile Delivery. MOBI’s Last Mile Delivery gives your brand more control and visibility, but without the added effort of managing your own delivery fleet.
Labour shortage
This is one we’re still seeing across the board. Even some of today’s largest brands are facing struggles with staff recruitment and retention, not to mention the rising wages. When you throw in the effects of inflation, some brands have said despite ongoing shortages, they are looking to reduce or place a temporary freeze on hiring more staff. Solutions such as Table Ordering, and Tabs, Skip the Queue and Kiosks provide an opportunity for QSR and fast casual restaurant brands to maintain dine-in and take-out capacities through self service. This allows the staff you do have, to focus on the experience, rather than the transactional elements of service.
Supply chain and food supply
Access to things such as fresh vegetables and proteins have become even more challenging to source from a supply chain perspective. This is why now more than ever it’s important for brands to be on the pulse of what’s selling, what’s not, and what menu items are bringing in the highest profit margins. This will make priority sourcing easier, while also potentially finding opportunities to cut menu items and reduce costs in other areas. Having access to actionable insights and data is more important now than ever.
It’s about the right technology to solve the right pain points
By now we know being digital first is key for success. And although many brands have opted for digitisation, it’s important to make sure they're implementing the right technological solutions tailored to their brand's needs. If you’d like to learn more about what options might be right for you, feel free to chat with a MOBI expert today.
