Few industries have had a more challenging and transformative pandemic than the restaurant industry. During COVID-19’s early days, restaurants quickly pivoted to serve diners’ appetites while ensuring their safety and complying with regulations. Those who couldn’t were forced to close their doors for good.
All that demand has meant a host of new challenges. Quick Service Restaurants (QSRs), for example, have struggled to manage crowded drive-thrus. Wait times for drive-thru customers increased by around 30 seconds between 2019 and 2020, according to the SeeLevel HX Annual Drive-Thru Study.
Practice did not make perfect for most restaurants; average wait times increased by another 26 seconds during the second year of the pandemic. Inaccurate orders are on the rise too, with 15% of surveyed customers reporting incorrect or missing items in 2021.
Computer Vision AI: Use Cases for Restaurants
Embracing AI, video analytics, and computer vision helps quick service and fast casual restaurants address a range of challenges related to efficiency and customer satisfaction.
Improve Drive-Thru Efficiency and Performance
Drive-thrus are more popular than ever and the demand for take-out dining won’t go away as customers continue to embrace in-person eating once again.
- Line Volume Management: With real-time visual data, video analytics, and automated alerts, restaurants can better prepare for high-volume periods and proactively set customer expectations.
- Wait Time Insights: Plainsight’s end-to-end platform provides insights into the customer experience across all locations to help minimize wait times and optimize operations based on specific conditions.
- Line Abandonment Analysis: Automatically analyze video streams to determine when and why potential customers abandon the drive-thru and act immediately and develop location-specific strategies for reducing wait times.
AI-Enhanced Customer Service
Whether they’re driving thru, dining in, or taking advantage of curbside pickup, your customers expect the best. Vision AI makes it simple to optimize the customer experience for regulars and new diners alike.
- VIP Customer Experience: Identify repeat visitors and develop personalized experiences based on data analysis.
- Loyalty Program Integration: Integrate an end-to-end computer vision system with loyalty programs to track and better understand data and trends.
Computer Vision for Efficient, High-Performing Kitchens
Staffing shortages throughout the pandemic have often forced restaurants to do more with less, meeting high demand despite shrinking workforces. Plainsight’s vision AI platform ensures teams of all sizes can meet your customers’ expectations and adhere to standards for food safety, cleanliness, speed, and accuracy.
- Real-Time Order Inspection: Accuracy makes a big difference when it comes to standing apart from nearby competitors. Repeatedly missing items or mixing up orders can hurt a restaurant’s reputation and send even loyal customers elsewhere. Monitoring orders and food preparation in real time makes it possible to intervene and correct inaccuracies with ease.
- Safety & Hygiene Monitoring: Daily mask use may soon go away, but personal protective equipment and hygiene standards are still important for restaurant kitchens. Vision AI can provide real-time alerts related to gloves, masks, hair nets and other PPE while enforcing standards for hand washing and food handling.
Vision AI and Restaurants: Watch a Recording of Our Live Event
Check out this Plainsight webinar to learn more about vision AI is transforming the restaurant industry and empowering businesses to:
- Accelerate drive-thru and curbside efficiency and performance
- Optimize the customer experience
- Promote high-performance kitchens
