According to a recent survey, more than half (55%) of restaurant owners are considering a POS system upgrade in 2025. What’s remarkable about this finding, however, is the level of consensus about what businesses want to achieve with their investments. 100% of restaurateurs who said they were looking to improve their current POS set up said the main business driver was to support omnichannel ordering.
That makes omnichannel ordering a red-hot trend for 2025. But what is it, what does it involve, and what do restaurant owners hope to achieve by investing in it?
What is Omnichannel Ordering?
Omnichannel ordering is the alignment of all methods for ordering a meal into a single, unified system. This is already standard practice for on-premise ordering. For example, many quick-service restaurants (QSRs) now feature both self-service and staffed ordering points, and might have a drive-thru, too.
Whatever the method of ordering or the touchpoint used, and whether the meal is dine-in or takeaway, it makes sense to have a single POS system. It makes business administration like sales and inventory management easier. And it also contributes to a more consistent and hopefully fluid experience for the customer.
What an omnichannel ordering approach adds to the mix is digital ordering, too. That includes ordering through a restaurant’s own websites and apps, but also through third-party delivery and booking apps, too, which are increasingly influential in the industry.
What Does Omnichannel Ordering Involve?
The good news is that, to get omnichannel ordering up and running for your business, you already have the most important ingredient: a working POS system. The biggest changes you need to make are more to do with software than hardware. Principally, you need a commerce platform that combines all your on-premise ordering with remote digital ordering, in whatever form that comes.
Omnichannel commerce platforms for restaurants are becoming increasingly common. They provide the tools you need to process payments, update inventory, run kitchen management and, where appropriate, manage deliveries regardless of how and where the order is placed.
Your POS hardware infrastructure provides a handy IT backbone on which to run these upgraded systems. If your POS assets are old, you may have to look at upgrading them to get the processing capabilities required to run a more advanced and up-to-date integrated commerce platform.
What are the Benefits of Omnichannel Ordering?
The main reason so many restaurant businesses are prioritizing omnichannel ordering in their plans for 2025 is because it’s what the modern diner demands. People are used to digital flexibility and convenience in every walk of life these days, they want to be able to do everything on the move from the comfort of their smartphone and get the service they want, their way.
If that means booking a table through your website or ordering a meal for collection on a delivery app, or accessing the menu and paying via a QR code at the table, restaurant owners have to deliver to keep up. Omnichannel ordering is about connecting ordering, payments and service across all the different touchpoints diners use. And by connecting them, giving yourself the platform to deliver a seamless, connected experience.
If you’re interested in learning more about omnichannel ordering in your business, contact our experienced and friendly team to find out how we can help you.