Keeping up with the Unlimited Demand of Delivery and Curbside

Off-premise dining was a small segment of table service
restaurant. Then it became a lifeline during the pandemic. The
Main Course is diving into the rise in takeout and curbside and
how data plays a role. Host Barbara Castiglia discussed the topic
with Brian Wayne, VP of Customer Success at QSR Automations.


QSR Automations offers an integrated software platform that
delivers data-driven automation and serves the entire guest
journey. In his role, Wayne leads all areas of customer
interaction post-sell, including onboarding, implementation,
support, and account management. 


Working with restaurants for over two decades, the company has a
good view of the industry and its challenges. The pandemic,
however, disrupted it significantly. “The biggest pivot was to
curbside. After lockdown, it was the rush to launch and forced
people to focus on off-premise in the kitchen,” Wayne said. 


He described that priorities in the kitchen changed with this
shift. “Pre-pandemic, it was quality and speed. Those are still
important, but more important is accuracy, communication, and
data.”


The data restaurants collect supports the off-premise guest
experience, with real-time tracking and accurate quoting of how
long the order will take to reduce wait time. 


Another “new” problem with off-premise is the rising demand. He
talked about Mother’s Day of 2020, when restaurants were just
reopening. “By our data, orders were four to five times greater
than the year before,” Wayne added. 


With dine-in, there’s a built-in limit. Off-premise is almost
limitless, but data can help. This trend will continue to be
important, as Wayne believes takeout will continue to be a big
chunk of business. Wayne noted that data points for restaurants
to watch include seat of service, reaction time, coordination
time, window time, and more. With powerful metrics, restaurants
have opportunities to refine, become more efficient, and delight
diners.