Australian hospitality businesses turn to technology for combatting staff shortages and economic uncertainty

The recently released 2022 Global State of the Hospitality Industry report by Lightspeed - a POS platform used by over 10,000 local venues – has revealed that Australian hospitality businesses are turning to technology to save time and streamline operations to combat staffing shortages and inflation challenges.

Lightspeed surveyed 1,100 hospitality owners, managers and operators, and 7,000 consumers from the United States, Canada, Australia, UK, France, Germany and the Netherlands, to get a pulse on challenges and trends across regions, gather insight into customer experience and expectations, and identify how industry leaders around the globe are navigating modern challenges and trends.

As Australian restaurateurs grapple with rising inflation, staff shortages, and overall economic uncertainty, technology seems to be a key tool in battling macroeconomic conditions. The ability for hospitality operators to do more with less is essential, with survey results noting a majority of industry respondents credit the adoption of a POS or restaurant management software to streamlining shifts, including new or expanded online ordering systems or the use of new technology to automate tasks. Over two thirds of Australian restaurant operators surveyed noted that technology adoption over the last two years has been critical for their business.

Peter Dougherty, General Manager of Hospitality at Lightspeed notes “Digital adoption has been an important lifeline for Australian hospitality businesses and it’s clear there are greater efficiencies to be realised with new technology.

“Our goal is to partner with our customers, sharing reliable insights at every level, from industry, regional, the customer perspective, right down to what is performing best on the menu. Our flagship hospitality product, Lightspeed Restaurant, is an easy-to-use, omnichannel solution that uses data to deliver actionable insights to restaurant operators,  helping them make smarter decisions about their business.”

Restaurants like Mr Miyagi (pictured above), in Melbourne, have implemented technology to help streamline service which they say has resulted in a better customer experience and helped the business reduce costs.

Kristian Klein, Director of Mr Miyagi shares “we implemented pay-at-table and now our servers have iPads that they take to process your order tableside. And that’s reduced our labour costs by about 30%.

“If you order a glass of wine, we hit two buttons and that wine is on the way to you. It's freed everything up so much in terms of time and efficiency and ability to spend time with the guest, which is the most important thing for us.”

Top challenges

The rising cost of food and supplies is among the top obstacles that hospitality businesses are facing, with 35% of Australian hospitality business owners surveyed indicating this as their biggest challenge. While it can be daunting to raise menu prices (for fear of losing customers), many Australian merchants indicated this is how they are combating inflation – particularly Cafes & Bakeries (79%) and Bars & Pubs (70%).

While inflation, in Australia,  appears to be the dominating issue, followed closely by hiring new staff (26%) and staff retention (8%), sustainability has become an emerging consideration that cannot be ignored. Nearly half (48%) of Australian hospitality owners surveyed by Lightspeed agree that implementing environmentally friendly initiatives will attract more customers.

Industry tactics to combat current challenges

• Lightspeed surveyed 1,100 restaurateurs and 7,000 consumers globally with OnePoll in 2022 (from September to October 2022). Australian industry respondents noted the following tactics to combat current challenges:

• Bars & Pubs are facing some of the biggest staffing challenges with 60% working with less staff than they need. As a result, 70% are raising staff wages to attract and retain talent and half have adopted new technology to streamline employee shifts.

• 70% of Bar & Pub operators and 63% of Upscale Casual venues improved food costing and inventory practices to ensure they are spending correctly and wasting less.

• Upscale Casual (63%) and Cafes & Bakeries (50%) were most likely to limit the number of days and/or hours of operation, especially in slower months, to help offset costs due to inflation while also preventing burnout when working with an understaffed crew.

• To ramp up sustainability, two-thirds of Multi-Location venues (67%) are adopting food waste policies while more than half of Fine Dining restaurants (54%) are now offering more vegan options.

• Australian venues across Bars & Pubs (50%), Cafes & Bakeries (43%) and Fast Casual (37%) categories were most likely to integrate more local, farm-fresh foods to their menu compared to their global counterparts.

Customer trends impacting the industry

• Australians love to dine out with 75% of respondents surveyed stating they are most likely to socialise with family and friends in a restaurant.

• Cash is no longer king with the most popular payment choice among Australians being debit card (40%) while only 13% pay with cash.

• While many Australians (40%) want to support venues during this tough economic period, inflation is putting a strain on spending for some. Almost a third feel they are unable to show any support to the industry as a result.

Lightspeed's one-stop commerce platform helps merchants innovate to simplify, scale and provide exceptional customer experiences. Their cloud commerce solution transforms and unifies online and physical operations, multichannel sales, expansion to new locations, global payments, financial solutions and connection to supplier networks. Founded in Montréal, Canada in 2005, Lightspeed is dual-listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: LSPD) and Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX: LSPD). With teams across North America, Europe and Asia Pacific, the company serves retail, hospitality and golf businesses in over 100 countries.

Download the full Lightspeed Global Hospitality Industry Report here.

Image above. Credit: Mr Miyagi