Skift Take
Restaurant technology is only as good as it is useful, and hospitality-focused technology doesn't work well in silos. Expect more of these partnerships to come, across the board.
— Kristen Hawley
For years, restaurateurs have used disparate systems to manage their businesses, and often these systems worked independently of each other. In the crowded and segmented world of restaurant technology, the services that play well together are the ones who will win the day.
In February, Resy CEO Ben Leventhal laid out a few ways that technology continues to change the restaurant business, including the use of data to optimize both diner and employee experiences, plus the importance of repeat customers.
Resy’s latest partnership checks both of those boxes, and perhaps offers a look at what’s to come. Today, Resy and restaurant software company Upserve announced a partnership between Resy’s reservations and table management software and Upserve’s Breadcrumb point of sale (POS) system.
The partnership allows restaurants who are both Resy and Upserve customers to link reservations to sales and service data. Restaurant staff can quickly see how many times a guest has visited the restaurant, who served them, how long they usually spend at a table, and even favorite dishes and drinks. And a daily “shift prep” report provides accurate cover count predictions and detailed insight on guests with reservations. “Partnerships like this one propel the industry into the future, which is looking increasingly bright,” said Leventhal.
The Guest Experience
The aim is to paint an accurate and actionable picture of the full guest experience, from greeting to seating to ordering and payment. “Too often, great hospitality dies on the pass from host to waiter, because legacy restaurant point of sale and reservations systems don’t integrate,” said Angus Davis, CEO and founder of Upserve.
Equipping restaurants with this detailed information means they can plan on predictable service, and that helps bottom lines. When restaurants plan and optimize for the “right” number of table turns, they can serve more guests. And more guests equal more money.
“All of our technology is designed to help restaurateurs make smarter decisions and provide better hospitality to guests,” said Davis. “When larger restaurant groups use this information, they can even do things like design floor plans for future location expansions, to increase the revenue per hour during a restaurant’s busiest time.”
Then there’s customer retention. “This can be super valuable to a chef doing a seasonal menu update, because we can show her which dishes on the menu bring customers back, and which dishes are a ‘one hit wonder’ — that’s what we call a dish that gets a lot of initial orders, but seldom drives a return visit,” he continued.
The integration is included at no additional cost to Breadcrumb subscribers at the “Pro” level and Resy customers on its most comprehensive plan, or through an extra $100/month charge for those on the two lower plans.
Breadcrumb by Upserve POS system runs on an iPad, and has 57 million active diners, processing over $12 billion in annual sales.
Resy integrates with other point of sale systems, but this is the company’s first direct POS partnership. It was founded in 2014 as an OpenTable competitor, offering reservations and table management software for a flat monthly fee. The company now works with 1,700 restaurants in 130 cities worldwide.
