FROM OUR COLUMNISTS
RESTAURANT TECH’S NEXT BILLION-DOLLAR QUESTION Tech Check: Data-driven personalization is the strategy du jour in front-of-house technology. How impactful will it be?
BY JOE GUSZKOWSKI
WHO ARE THESE PEOPLE, AND WHAT DO THEY WANT? RESTAURANT TECH IS WORKING ON IT. PHOTO: SHUTTERSTOCK
W hat if every restaurant cus- tomer could feel like a regu- lar? It could be the next bil- lion-dollar question for restaurant technol- ogy. Big tech vendors such as Toast, Olo and DoorDash are making moves aimed at using customer data to enable more personalized service, both in the dining room and online. It gives them another product to offer restau- rants, for one, but the strategy also promises to increase sales and traffic, which many op - erators badly need. Toast is just the latest example. Last week, the POS supplier announced that it is partnering with American Express (the own- er of Resy and Tock) to use reservations data
to put more customer information into the hands of hosts and servers. Employees will be able to see whether a customer has allergies, if it’s their birthday, and what dishes or drinks they like. The thinking is that those customers will appre- ciate the personal touch, and will come back to the restaurant more often. “Empowering the staff, the host and serv- er, with that data is really valuable in creat- ing personalized experiences,” Toast CEO Aman Narang said during a call with ana- lysts last week. Online ordering provider Olo has long beaten the drum for using digital order data to shape marketing. And DoorDash forced its way into the conversation this spring with the acquisition of SevenRooms, a reserva-
tions and marketing platform. They’re far from the only tech providers preaching this philosophy, though they are among the very biggest. Restaurants, meanwhile, are increasingly adopting data-driven marketing strategies as they look to drive more predictable and prof- itable traffic. If you listen to restaurant earn - ings calls, “one-to-one marketing” should definitely be on your bingo card. It’s the next logical step for an industry that has spent the past five or so years digi - tizing orders and collecting reams of custom- er info from those orders. Instead of treating every customer the same, the story goes, restaurants can use that data to adapt their service and marketing to peoples’ personal tastes and preferences.
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RESTAURANT BUSINESS OCTOBER 2025
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