Four ways restaurants can innovate and experiment to grow in 2025

Running a restaurant is hard.

It’s even more challenging when owners are up against tight consumer pursestrings, stubborn inflation, and rising produce costs.

Our recent Future of Commerce report found that the challenges continue to pile up for restaurant owners: the majority of consumers (63%) are cutting back on restaurant spending, while at the same time, more than three-quarters of Aussie restaurants say they plan to increase prices this year as they grapple with rising costs across their supply chain.

It’s a tough environment that feels like it’s going to keep getting harder.

But we’ve seen that when times are tough, the restaurant industry always finds ways to not only cope but thrive – and, according to insights in our Future of Commerce report, restaurants intend to turn to technology to help increase efficiency, deepen customer relationships to build loyalty, and experiment with new products and services.

2025, therefore, is set to be a year of innovation for Australian restaurants, and here are four ways we’re hearing they’re going to get experimental this year.

Artificial intelligence and automation

AI is the order of the day for all businesses, but there are huge opportunities within the restaurant industry.

Efficiency is currency for restaurants and owners are already tapping into the flurry of emerging technologies that save time and labour costs. As many as three-quarters (75%) of restaurant leaders say they’re spending more time on business operations compared to a year ago, so tools that lessen that burden are understandably in hot demand.

So much so that over eight in ten (85%) restaurant leaders plan to invest in new AI and automation tools and two-thirds believe it will improve their business, with marketing and promotions, inventory management, payments, menu optimisation, and staff management the key areas they think it can help.

AI isn’t some sci-fi fantasy for restaurants; it’s already beginning to make a difference. Just under a third of restaurants (30%) use AI to create marketing copy, product descriptions and social media posts, and over one in four (28%) use it to analyse sales reports.

With restaurants continually finding ways to compete with bigger names when it comes to the checkout and service experience they offer, automation technologies like self-ordering kiosks are also having a moment in hospitality. Customers increasingly want convenience, and kiosks are providing that. When we surveyed customers about kiosks in 2023, only 15% said it was their preferred payment method. Today 64% of surveyed customers acknowledged their convenience.

And not only do these technologies provide consumer convenience, but they also help restaurateurs work smarter.

Two in five (40%) restaurant operators use convenient ordering systems (like kiosks, QR ordering, or mobile apps) to save time and to free up their staff to focus on other more valuable tasks, and one in five (21%) have invested in one in the past year.

Keeping customers loyal

It’s not just first impressions that matter; ensuring that they stick and customers keep coming back for more is paramount. This is reflected by the fact that more than seven in ten (71%) restaurant leaders plan to increase investment in loyalty or reward programs over the next 12 months, with 83% saying their loyalty program successfully drives up order or basket size, repeat visits (82%) and return on investment (78%).

For Jordan Hajek, co-founder at Sydney-based Mexican and Japanese restaurant TokyoTaco, customer loyalty has been critical to growth: “We’ve been very lucky to create a very strong local following. Our brand has always been heavily reliant on word of mouth and positive experiences. You really need to concentrate on building that local customer base and honing down and understanding who they are, what they want, where they come from, and how we get to meet those people and build connections with them.”

Additional revenue streams

Additional revenue streams are continually piquing the interest of restaurateurs as they look to find ways to diversify their offerings and drive greater revenue. For example, over three-quarters (76%) of restaurant leaders plan to experiment with new services and non-core offerings, such as in-store events, subscriptions, memberships and merchandise over the next year.

This isn’t an entirely new phenomenon, with restaurants having already capitalised on several creative revenue streams over the past 12 months, including introducing new menu items (38%), loyalty or rewards programs (31%), catering options (31%) and increased pick-up or delivery options (31%).

Ensuring that you’re anything but one dimensional can certainly pay dividends, with over eight in ten restaurant leaders saying retail or service offerings beyond made-to-order food are extremely (29%) or very (53%) important to their growth plan.

The same applies to not being too overly reliant on bricks and mortar. Over the next 12 months, almost three-quarters (74%) of restaurants plan to increase investment in a mobile app and seven in ten (70%) plan to increase investment in an online store.

Brilliance in resilience

There’s no doubt that the hospitality industry has been experiencing tough times recently, and the same is projected for the year ahead.

It is an industry, however, that continually finds ways to thrive in the face of adversity. Restaurants in Australia and around the world are already finding solutions to lighten the load and create incredible experiences for their customers.

The year ahead – while rocky – will continue to give to restaurants who experiment effectively, are creative with their revenue streams, and tap into the tools and systems that keep customers coming back for more.