Robotics and automation are often associated with multimillion-dollar budgets in multi-billion-dollar businesses. But as the cost of technology has come down, it’s become more affordable to smaller companies — even small businesses.   

THEY Burger Spot!, an Atlanta-based burger and wings restaurant with four locations in Jonesboro, Georgia got fed up of slowing down because of phone orders.

You can choose from beef burgers or turkey burgers. You can also customize the patties with sauces or other toppings. With all these options, it took seven to eight minutes for a phone order. That’s if staff was available to process those phone orders.  

Cedric Pool (president of THAT Burger Shop Franchising, Inc.) stated, “Our menu’s a bit complex. There are a lot more options.”

“Staffing . . Pool stated that “it was a major problem, and it will continue to be so.” Pool said, “We thought we’d be able automation of the order-taking process and not have to pay someone to do that.” 

Grubbrr was the solution. It sells kiosks, freestanding, that are able to accept in-store orders, integrate them with online orders, and even have a point of sale system. Two kiosks were installed in Pool, and they cost $14,400. That’s about the price that a company would pay to have them take phone orders for one year.

The average order for a restaurant ticket increased by $19 to $21. Pool stated that the average sales per hour rose from $50 to $85, while Pool claimed that it was in the upper 50s. 

Technology has been a notorious problem for restaurateurs. Grubbrr chief executive officer Sam Zietz stated that this is largely because of their access to low labor costs.

A recent survey by the National Restaurant Association found that seven out of 10 restaurants don’t currently have sufficient employees to meet customer demand. Restaurant industry has grown 1.7 million jobs in 2021But, there are many restaurants that still have a shortage of staff and they expect this to continue to limit their growth. 

This is the latest CNBC|SurveyMonkey Small Business Survey for Q1, 17% of respondents in the accommodation and food services industries cited labor shortage as the biggest risk to their business. 

Dirk Izzo is senior vice president of NCR Hospitality and general manager. NCR Hospitality provides technology for restaurants. Customers in Denver and Jacksonville have reported that their kitchen costs are 20%-40% more than they were a year ago.

Izzo stated that automating things can make a huge difference in reducing costs if you are taking on these expenses. 

Contactless ordering is one of the most common technologies that restaurants can use to pay their bills. Customers can order from the restaurant using their mobile phones by scanning QR codes placed at tables. It saves time for employees who otherwise would have to place the order manually at the point-of sale.  

While the cost of technology has come down, smaller companies — lacking economies of scale — still need to spend more as a percentage of their revenue than their larger counterparts. Accounting is a good example of this, even if you’re not in the food industry. A recent survey by Ernst & Young70% of big companies that have revenues over $30 billion plan to spend $2m to $6m on tax automation technology. By comparison, 81% of smaller companies with less than $1 billion in revenue plan to spend between $1 million to $3.99 million — less, but not that much less. 

“That’s a pressure on the smaller companies where they’re almost spending as much,” said David Helmer, global tax and finance operate leader at Ernst & Young.  

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