The world drinks 500 billion cups of coffee. Every year, the most widely consumed beverages in the world are coffee and tea – and growing! This creates enormous opportunity for the café, coffeeshop, and coffeehouse industry. This demand for coffee and tea drives increased consumption for other café favorites such as sandwiches, desserts, breakfast items, and light snacks. In fact, the annual sales for the US café/coffeeshop industry surpassed $47 billion in 2019 – with no indications of slowing down anytime soon.

That’s a lot of opportunity.

Whether you are a new café entering this exciting market or have a well-established operation with a loyal following, you are no doubt focused on the numbers. While you are in business to absolutely delight your customers and deliver that unique café experience - at the end of the day it’s all about the sales. When you grow sales and profit, you are able to offer more value to your customers, take care of your employees, and put more money into your pocket… everyone is happy!

While the “human” element and personal touch will always be an integral part of the café experience, today’s successful cafés are embracing the latest in digital technologies to enhance the guest experience and streamline business operations. In fact, the latest “ordering technology” alone has proven to help grow revenue AND decrease operational costs – with minimal upfront investment. That’s pretty cool.

Ordering technology includes Online Ordering, Mobile Order-Ahead Apps, and Self-Order Kiosks. In addition to making ordering “easy” for your customers, these solutions will also help you generate more awareness in your market, and streamline your business operations.

Let’s explain.

By giving your customers the convenience of self-ordering, you’ve streamlined your café operations! With an onsite Self-Order Kiosk, customers no longer need to wait in long lines during peak business hours. Orders are directly integrated with your POS system. And, if you utilize a kitchen display system (KDS), orders will automatically transfer to the kitchen order queue. Customers also love the enhanced visual experience, content, simple prompts, and self-pay convenience of the kiosk. Your guests can then go relax on the patio while their order is being prepared.

With Online Ordering and Mobile Order-Ahead Apps, orders for your café are also directly integrated with your POS system allowing customers the convenience to order from anywhere and self-pay. They can place food and beverage requests from any internet connection including smartphones and other mobile devices. When they arrive at your café, their order is ready to enjoy onsite, or carry-out as they embark on their busy day.

With this powerful technology, your team will spend less time manually processing orders and more time providing higher value services for your customers. Remember how important the human element!

You would also be surprised at how cost-effective ordering technology can be. With initial set-up costs often less that $1,000 and low monthly service fees, online and mobile-ordering apps often pay for themselves within months. Onsite kiosks can generate $20,000- $40,000 in incremental sales in less than 6 months. No longer just technology for the big guys, these solutions are cost-effective and affordable for cafés, quick service restaurants, and startups.

Another great benefit of ordering technology, is reaching new customers! With 40% of dining experiences involving a smartphone, mobile ordering will absolutely energize your business. Remote customers can order anytime from anywhere with just a few clicks. This technology will elevate your café’s awareness and greatly improve the positioning of your café’s digital presence.

With many café owners admitting they suffer from a lack of local identity and a dull competitive edge, this exciting technology can add a real shot of adrenaline to the business.

What’s your most popular specialty coffee? Where should you expand your menu – light snacks or sandwiches? When is the best time to run certain menu promotions? Who are your best customers, and why? Restaurant ordering technology also gives you valuable insights about your business, including customer purchase behavior, menu preferences, demographics, and more. Valuable insights that you can use to maximize promotions, incentives, and rewards. With these insights, café owners can identify the opportunities to drive more sales and revenue… uncover those hidden gems of information.

With the latest in ordering technology you WILL make ordering easier for your customers (grow revenue), and streamline business operations (grow profit).

It is all about the numbers.

Sharpen your competitive edge with today’s modern café technology.

Applova, the trusted restaurant technology partner.

To learn more about our powerful customer ordering and engagement solutions, and how Applova can energize your business please visit us at www.applova.io

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