TECHNOLOGY
How data has become the universal currency of restaurant tech
While robots, POS systems, and kitchen gadgets were on display at the Restaurant Show, data was the behind the scenes driving force at almost every tech booth. T he most popular technol- ogy tool on display at the 2024 National Restaurant Association Show in Chi- Benchmarking tool that allows restaurants to compare their restaurant and menu performance against similar restaurants in their region (though all of the data is anonymized). In this case, the ag- gregate Toast operator customer data is used to provide insights to restaurants on what they should put on their menus next, and how they can update their pricing to keep up with operational trends “We wanted to create something that enables each of our merchants to see what’s happening outside of their four walls,” Susie Riley, prod- uct designer and vice president of new ventures with Toast, said. “So, if your sales were down last week, you’re probably wondering, ‘is it BY JOANNA FANTOZZI SENIOR EDITOR NATION’S RESTAURANT NEWS and their competitors. The tech- nology uses both AI and machine learning to aggregate and analyze menu data.
cago was mostly invisible. What do the robotic arms, POS systems, back of house analytics tools, and more booth gadgets have in com- mon? Most of them are powered by and supported by data. Data — whether it’s collected by machine learning or AI — has proven to be the universal currency of restau- rant technology in 2024 and be- yond. Operators are waking up to the significance of data collection and optimization in operational decision-making, from employee scheduling and inventory man- agement, to marketing data about customers. This was especially evident at the Restaurant Show, where almost every booth at the tech pavilion went into detail about the data their software (and some- times hardware) provides. Toast was showcasing its new
Data was the star of the National Restaurant Association Show.
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National Restaurant Association Show 2024
PHOTO CREDIT: GETTY IMAGES
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