These Restaurant AI Partnerships Are Revolutionizing the Industry

Back in November, we predicted that AI-powered restaurant solutions would dominate 2024. 

And, as it turns out… we were right. 

Now, halfway through 2024, you’d be hard-pressed to find a restaurant that hasn’t at least tried some sort of AI automation — and it’s not just the “big guys,” either. 

AI is making a difference in every kind of restaurant, from local mom-and-pop shops and independently-owned cafes to massive chains like Starbucks and Domino’s Pizza. 

And, if you want some numbers to back that up… 

Restaurant AI currently has a market value of USD 9.68B, but that number is expected to keep growing.

(Current predictions even suggest we’ll hit USD 48.99B by 2029. That’s a 406% increase in market value… in just five years.) 

So yes, AI is absolutely everywhere in the restaurant industry right now.

But it’s because it can — and does — make a difference for the restaurants that use it. 

And, if you keep reading…

AI can make a difference for you, too. 

An Intro to AI (and the Types Restaurants Should Know About) 

Now, before we take you any further down the restaurant AI rabbit hole…

Let’s check that we’re on the same artificially intelligent page with some definitions, shall we?

Here are some AI terms and phrases* you should know before reading on. 

• Artificial Intelligence: “the simulation of human intelligence processes by machines, especially computer systems.”
• Generative AI: a type of AI “that can be used to create new content, including audio, code, images, text, simulations, and videos.”
  • Examples: ChatGBT, DALL-E, Google Bard
• Conversational AI: “a type of [AI] that can simulate human conversation.”
  
  • Examples: Google Assistant, Amazon Alexa, Siri
• Predictive AI: “a type of [AI] that uses patterns in historical data to forecast future outcomes or classify future events” (like sales data, inventory forecasting, etc.)
  
  • Examples: Dataiku, 6sense, DataRobot

If you want to dive deeper into the complex world of AI, there’s a whole Internet of information out there for you to get lost in.

But, for today’s article-reading purposes, these four definitions are all you’re gonna need.

*We’re using definitions from AI and tech experts here because, while Craver might be good at many things, credit to the AI brainiacs where credit is due.

With your up-to-date understanding of AI — and some expert definitions in your back pocket — it’s time to see how it all ties into your restaurant’s day-to-day and long-term strategy.

At a high level, AI helps your restaurant do everything from boosting efficiencies to saving time and money with automation. 

But at an operational level, those benefits come in all shapes, sizes, and use cases, depending on exactly where you want — or need — support. 

(And don’t worry; none of these examples include replacing human employees with robot ones.)

Here are a few popular ways restaurant owners use AI (and what they can help with).

1. Customer Service Automation and Voice Assistants

Did you know 60% of customers won’t stay on hold for longer than a minute? Customer service AI partnerships — like the one between Del Taco and Presto — reduce customer service wait times, helping you help your customers better and faster (no matter how busy things are). 

“With Del Taco’s desire to build a drive-thru that improves operational efficiency while delivering an elevated guest experience, the Presto A.I.-based voice assistant solution is a natural choice.” — Kevin Pope, Vice President Operations Innovation at Del Taco

2. Inventory Monitoring, Management, and Optimization

Food waste is a massive problem in the U.S., with ~52% coming from the food industry alone (not a great stat, I know). Luckily, there are AI-powered partnerships that optimize inventory and food prep and minimize your food waste, like the pilot between Chipotle and PreciTaste.

“The new kitchen management system has alleviated manual tasks for our crew and given restaurant managers the tools they need to make informed in-the-moment decisions, ultimately enabling them to focus on an exceptional culinary and an outstanding guest experience.” — Curt Garner, Chief Technology Officer at Chipotle

3. Data Insights and Analytics for Marketing and Loyalty 

Leveraging customer data for experience-improving endeavors is easier and more efficient with AI partnerships (like TGI Fridays and Urban Airship). AI-driven insights show preferences and trends, easily translatable to personalizations, loyalty programs, and more. 

“The value of AI is doing things that create a natural engagement, but doing it at scale. The AI and the machine learning allow us to take all this data that we have, and create personalized engagement, and allows us to talk to individual guests at a scale that we never would have before.” — Sherif Mityas, Chief Experience Officer for TGI Fridays

On top of that, AI partnerships can also help with staffing and scheduling optimization, retargeting campaigns and advertisements, mobile app and self-service kiosk customizations… 

A seemingly endless number of efficiencies that are going nowhere but up from here. 

Explore more AI-powered benefits in our Restaurant Online Ordering Guide. 

Restaurant AI in Action: Two Mini Case Studies

So, you know what types of AI restaurants use most often and what operational efficiencies they’re capable of. 

Now it’s time to see effective AI partnerships in action with mini case studies from McDonald’s and WingStop. 

Let’s get into it. 

#1 - Better Customer Experience with McDonald's and Google Cloud 

In November 2020, McDonald’s unveiled a brand new growth strategy. 

The cleverly titled “Accelerating the Arches” features a refreshed purpose and mission, shiny new values, and forward-thinking growth pillars — including a greater commitment to digital innovation and development. 

Since then, we’ve seen lots of digital growth from McD’s, from launching their MyMcDonald’s rewards program in 2021 to exceeding $6B in digital sales in 2022. 

But in December 2023, McDonald’s announced an exciting new angle to their long-term digital growth strategy: a partnership with Google Cloud. 

McDonald’s shared they’d be using Google’s latest cloud technology to add “generative AI solutions” to restaurants worldwide. This cloud-focused effort was intended to accelerate improvements in every part of the McDonald’s experience, from seamlessly solving business disruptions to improving order speed and food quality.

“We see tremendous opportunity for growth in our digital business and our partnership with Google Cloud allows us to capitalize on this by leveraging our size and scale to build capabilities and implement solutions at unmatched speeds,” said Brian Rice, Executive Vice President and Global Chief Information Officer of McDonald’s. 

“Connecting our restaurants worldwide to millions of [data points] across our digital ecosystem means tools get sharper, models get smarter, restaurants become easier to operate, and most importantly, the overall experience for our customers and crew gets even better.”

See how Craver increases your AOV with upsells in our Restaurant Online Ordering Guide. 

#2 - Seamless Virtual Ordering with Wingstop and ConverseNow

Wingstop has been on their techy-savvy A-game for almost a decade. 

In 2016, they created a way for customers to place orders through social media. 

In 2019, they made a Twitch extension that let people order food while streaming. 

In 2021, they shared a goal of achieving 100% digital transactions from their platform. 

And now they’re bringing AI to the table, too.

Last year, Wingstop announced the pilot of a virtual ordering assistant in partnership with ConverseNow. The virtual ordering assistant is designed to be on eternal phone duty, alleviating the pressure on employees to leave other tasks and hang by the phone all shift (because 3 in 10 Wingstop orders are still called in).

Wingstop’s virtual ordering assistant can “take multiple phone orders at once,” reducing wait times and angry hang-ups while increasing order throughput.

And, to make things even cooler?

The bot speaks Spanish and English, makes recommendations based on your order, and can even pass calls on to a human employee if the customer needs more help. 

When asked about how the pilot was going, Wingstop’s Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Alex Kaleida had this to say: 

“We are happy with what we are seeing in the test. These large language models continue to progress, and we are enhancing that ordering experience. And I think it’s a good example of investments [in] opportunities in our best-in-class digital platform and something that can help us achieve our aspirational goal of digitizing every transaction. So, we view it as another lever for us on our path to [average unit volumes] scaling beyond $2 million.”

How You Can Leverage Restaurant AI with Craver

After seeing how McDonald’s and Wingstop are changing their game with AI, you might be wondering how you can do it, too. 

Well, I’m happy to tell you it’s easier than you think… especially since you’re here already. 

At Craver, all of our solutions can open up a ton of AI-powered capabilities for your restaurant or cafe, including: 

• Automated and customized in-app push notifications
• Seamless management of online menus and available stock
• Easy-to-collect order pre-payments and recurring subscription fees

So, while you’re debating between our custom-branded apps, self-serve kiosks, or online ordering platforms, go ahead and take “AI capabilities” off the list of things to worry about. 

The world is your (AI-powered) oyster with Craver's digital restaurant solutions.