Tabletop Technology Proves to Boost Restaurant Sales

According to a study posted in the peer-reviewed journal Management Science, tabletop devices improved average restaurant sales per party by 1% and corresponded to a profit boost of $1 million per month at full-service casual restaurant chains. 

Many restaurants all across the board, including Applebee’s, Chili’s and TGI Fridays, have begun adopting tablet technology to speed up customer’s wait time and turnover. Some use the tabletop tech for servers to send orders to the kitchen, while others have tested pre-ordering apps for dine-in services. 

The study analyzed 2.6 million interactions at 66 restaurants over a two-year period, concluding that the “technology compensates for slowness by some wait staff and thereby minimizes gaps in performance across servers, as low-ability waiters took advantage of the technology more frequently than high-ability waiters,” according to an article on RestaurantDive. 

Investment in the technology has proven to be paying off, with the research suggesting that the use of tablets can result in an 11% rise in sales per minute, larger tips and a boost in customer satisfaction. As opposed to replacing wait staff, the tabletop technology is intended to level out discrepancies in service quality. 

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