5 Pain Points QSRs Face Everyday (and How Redcat Can Help)

Delicious food, good service, and fast but accurate order fulfillment are must-haves for any quick service restaurant to spread its charm. And yet, this doesn’t automatically translate into business success and profitability. According to a report by CNBC, approximately 60 percent of new restaurants fail within their first year and nearly 80 percent close their doors before their fifth anniversary.

Customers want faster service, accurate orders, and higher levels of customisation. Aside from customer demands, there are many other QSR pain points, and QSRs need the right tools to help them manage and grow the business.

How are QSRs dealing with these issues? In this article, we take a closer look at some of the pain points that QSRs face every day and how to overcome them through Redcat's help:

1. Building Customer Loyalty

QSRs want to provide customers with a positive experience, so they can share it with their families and friends and come back again. In order to attract more customers and retain their loyalty, QSRs are employing new methods of customer engagement, including hosting events, offering subscriptions, and personalising loyalty programs. According to a Forbes report, 47% of diners now belong to at least one loyalty program, and the share of consumers using a restaurant loyalty program has increased by 12% from January to April 2021.

Loyalty programs are one of the most effective ways to retain customers and increase sales. They give customers a reason to come back and keep coming back, which is especially important in QSRs where people often choose their favourite restaurant based on convenience or price. With Redcat, QSRs can reward loyal customers with a points-based loyalty system that can be accessed via a branded loyalty app where users can check and spend points, locate stores and update their details.

2. Reducing Customer Wait Times

As an industry that focuses on speed and customer satisfaction, bringing down wait times in QSRs is a must. These are not just business goals but also operational objectives which need the attention of operational personnel at all levels, from the kitchen staff to restaurant management and delivery personnel.

In order to achieve a shorter waiting time, QSRs can use various tools and applications that can minimise customer wait times and increase efficiency in the operations of QSRs across the globe. For instance, Redcat's Order@Table enables customers to order from their table, without having to wait for a waiter. It’s fully integrated with the POS and kitchen management, so the orders go straight into the kitchen so QSRs can stop worrying about duplicate orders, pricing inconsistencies, transaction delays, or accounting complications. 

3. Managing Multichannel Platforms

Multiple-site restaurants are using multi-channel management solutions that connect online and offline ordering processes. As QSRs continue to integrate online and mobile channels into their customer journey, they must also ensure that their back-end management systems are meeting their front-end needs.

Redcat specialises in centralised multi-site management. The central platform allows QSRs to control their menus in one place, offer seamless multi-channel ordering and loyalty programmes, and view all their data across venues. Furthermore, they can review transaction-level data per location and compare the performance of each venue.

4. Controlling Operating Costs

In the world of quick service restaurants, nothing can sink a franchise faster than sagging profits. The QSR industry puts an enormous emphasis on helping customers have a great experience and keeping labour costs, supply costs and operating costs as low as possible. To do this requires always knowing where cash flow is going, how labour and supply costs are being controlled and operating costs are being monitored.

This is why Redcat's financial solutions for accounting, rostering, and inventory should also be considered by QSR owners. Polygon's fully integratinon with accounting systems such as Xero and MYOB, rostering systems such as Deputy and Tanda, and inventory systems such as macromatix, marketman and ctb&co  prevents the double handling of data and gives an accurate report as there is a single version of the truth shared between all systems. By examining their operating costs on a regular basis, QSR owners can be confident that they are in control of their budgets.

5. Managing the Dependency on Delivery

Drivers waiting for their order updates is a common problem in QSRs. Delays in service can cause customer frustration (possibly resulting in customer complaints) and lead to unhappy drivers. When there are wrong orders, some customers who ordered first will have to wait longer than others, making the QSR seem unprofessional and unfair.

Now restaurant owners can address this issue with RedCat's Delivery Manager which allows for the delivery of orders to be managed and served from a centralised hub. This can assist with reducing errors or downtime from interruption from order updates and drivers seeking instructions, ultimately resulting in improvements of multiple areas, including on-time delivery, driver selling skills, and reduction in waiting time for customers.

Final thoughts

There are many ways that quick service restaurants can improve their operations in order to better serve their customers and increase profits. By using tools and applications that minimise customer wait times, controlling operating costs, and managing the dependency on delivery, QSRs can improve their operations and provide a better overall experience for their customers. Redcat's solutions can help QSRs achieve these goals and improve their business,  making them more successful and profitable in the long run.