[New Research] 3 Key Technology Benchmarks for Multi-Unit Restaurants

Earlier this year, we commissioned EnsembleIQ to anonymously survey hundreds of restaurant operators to better understand the top operational challenges and opportunities in multi-unit restaurants.

The findings reveal important industry benchmarks, plans for investment, and strategic priorities to drive growth, and we’ve packaged them all up in our newly released 2023 Restaurant Operations Report. 

As technology becomes more prevalent across the restaurant industry, we aimed to understand the extent to which it is (or isn’t) used across critical tasks and functions, learn how many different technologies and systems operators use to run their operation, and see where they will prioritize their investments in the near future.

Here are three key technology benchmarks from the report: 

1. Operators use 6 different back-of-house systems to run operations, on average.
2. Fewer than 1/4 of operators self-identify as “advanced” in their use of tech across key tasks and functions. 
3. Half or more plan to add or upgrade back-of-house restaurant technologies in the next 12-18 months.
   
   

Operators use 6 different back-of-house systems to run operations, on average.

Multi-unit restaurants use an average of six different back-of-house (BOH) operations-related software solutions, tools, or apps regularly. Just over half of respondents believe they have just the right amount of tools, and the other half feel they have either too few or too many disparate systems. Operators with 10-20 locations are significantly more likely to say that they have “too many” tools (29%), indicating a need for assistance on how to optimize their tech stack.

Fewer than 1/4 of operators self-identify as “advanced” in their use of tech across key tasks and functions. 

Only a minority of operators self-identified as “advanced” in their use of technology across key operations tasks and functions. The distribution of technology used shows that a majority of operators use technology to some degree, yet only a minority self-identify as being “advanced” in their use of technology, best-in-class software, and/or fully automated processes.

Half or more plan to add or upgrade back-of-house restaurant technologies in the next 12-18 months. 

The majority of respondents plan to invest in key operations technologies, including business intelligence (63%), inventory management (60%), and labor scheduling (56%). With the context that only a minority identify as “advanced” users of technologies for various operational tasks, this shows that operators realize there is opportunity for improvement in these areas. 

Operators who aren’t investing or upgrading aren’t clear on value. Here’s an overview of why they said that they have no plans to add BOH restaurant technology systems.

Adopting new processes, philosophies, and systems that allow for agility without sacrificing quality, while helping you achieve success in every store. Download your free copy of the 2023 Restaurant Operations Report to dig into the full survey results and see how your stores stack up. Consider this report to be your window into how your peers are operating–or changing up how they’re operating–in the pursuit of operational excellence, and use it to guide you in taking action across your organization today.