In today’s challenging macroeconomic environment, restaurant leaders are weathering multiple storms. 

Nearly nine in 10 restaurant leaders (88%) say they feel the impact of high input costs, including direct materials and labor, despite slowing inflation, according to Deloitte’s May 2024 Restaurant CXO Survey of more than 150 leaders across the U.S. Despite these cost pressures, leaders are tasked with finding ways to fuel growth. 

“Some restaurants experienced a renaissance after the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions were lifted, because some people were excited to go back to their favorite restaurants,” says Ed Lee, managing director at Deloitte Consulting LLP. “But now they’re looking to devise a sustainable strategy that keeps customers coming in again and again.”

To do this, some restaurant leaders are leveraging modern technology to transform parts of their business operations to meet new demands. Here are some tactics and strategies leaders are using to build resilient restaurants—and why the right investments can be key to achieving the desired results.

Elevating the experience with food

Driving growth means getting the basics right: Mastering order accuracy and serving quality meals at the optimal temperature. But restaurant leaders often face a number of challenges in doing this consistently enough to keep customers coming back.

“Restaurant staff today have to juggle more workflows than they did in the past, as pickup and delivery make up a larger percentage of orders than they did 5 years ago,” says Evert Gruyaert, Restaurants & Food Service Leader, principal at Deloitte Consulting LLP. “Order accuracy remains a challenge for today’s restaurant leaders. Inaccuracies can result in especially low customer reviews for delivery and takeout customers, since restaurants may not be able to easily rectify those mistakes.”

In response, one in four restaurant leaders Deloitte surveyed are deploying initiatives to improve order accuracy. And some are investing in automation and machine vision and analytics to help monitor performance and minimize inconsistencies. Automated workflows can allow restaurants to streamline repetitive tasks—like food prep, food ordering and drink dispensing—allowing staff to focus on higher-level tasks that require a human touch, like precision cooking techniques and quality control.

“Even if you aren’t ready for robotics or fully automated workflows, automating a few high-impact steps with AI-powered technologies can help to transform the kitchen,” says Lee. “You can work more efficiently without increasing headcount—and your employees could have a better experience, too.”

Enhancing the digital guest experience

The digital guest experience has undergone a transformation over the past few years—and digital has shifted from a “nice to have” to a necessity.

“Customers don’t just want to be able to browse your menu online, they want to be able to order from their preferred device—and even customize their order—for a seamless omnichannel experience,” says Gruyaert. The digital experience has also made its way in-house, as leaders invest in AI assistants to collect drive-thru orders and leverage ordering kiosks that allow customers to order however they prefer.

However, doing this well remains a challenge—and 84% of restaurant leaders surveyed in Deloitte’s Restaurant CXO Survey say they feel pressure to improve their digital guest experience.

Here, leveraging customer data to create a personalized experience can help move restaurants forward, says Lee.

“With the right data and AI-powered technology, you may be able to recognize customers and offer suggestions based on their dining habits,” says Lee. From there, the technology can reorganize the menu to put a customer’s preferred items on top, or offer personalized suggestions based on their purchase history, he explains. “These subtle forms of personalization can allow you to add a human touch to your service, even when that experience is delivered digitally.”

Improving operations with a stronger employee experience

Of course, maximizing efficiency is often top of mind as labor costs increase. Yet, just 50% of restaurant leaders Deloitte surveyed say they’re equipped to manage staffing difficulties—and, across the industry, restaurants are struggling to increase labor efficiencies, as well as attract and retain the talent they need to succeed.

Here, AI-powered technologies can play a role in helping restaurants reach their goals. “AI excels at predictive analytics, and it can help leaders more accurately anticipate their staffing needs to maximize cost-efficiency,” says Gruyaert. “By linking your staffing software to demand forecasting, you can anticipate your staffing needs and adjust your talent management strategy accordingly.”

AI-powered kitchen management systems can also identify bottlenecks in the kitchen, guiding kitchen staff through complex or new workflows, helping to reduce the learning curve for new hires. It can also provide staff with timely suggestions based on the kitchen’s immediate needs—for example, if the kitchen is running low on soup—so employees can have a better idea of where to work proactively to help avoid delays.

“The kitchen of the future can be a win-win for restaurants and their employees,” says Lee. “It can help each team member work to the best of their ability, without feeling bogged down by manual kitchen management, and can create a lower-stress environment that can help employees feel happy at work.”

Building resilience with deep industry insights

Ultimately, building the resilient restaurant of the future should include access to the right data—and leaders should have insights into their current operations, along with industry trends, to help them map out their best next steps.

“As more and more restaurants adopt new technologies to drive efficiencies, leaders still relying on manual processes and workflows could risk falling behind, " says Gruyaert. “If you’re not taking advantage of GenAI to better know your customers, you could risk missing the mark on new launches and marketing initiatives. And if you aren’t leveraging AI to streamline operations, you could lose the talent you need to thrive.”

Deep industry experience with GenAI-enabled technology can allow restaurant leaders to turn customer data into actionable insights—from creating the personalized, seamless experience that today’s diners expect to identifying cost-cutting opportunities—without undermining performance—creating an industry advantage and helping to move restaurants forward.

To learn more about Deloitte’s perspective on the future of the restaurant industry and the Deloitte IndustryAdvantage™ framework, visit them online.