The State of the Payments Industry for Restaurants
Restaurants face more competition than ever, making convenient payment solutions essential to reach today’s diners
Restaurateurs today face several challenges: rising food costs, a tight labor market, and increasingly value-conscious shoppers. Success in today’s market requires creating a seamless and convenient experience along every stage of the customer’s journey, all the way down to payment.
Having convenient payment options can also support other operations at your restaurant, like a point-of-sale system (POS) that can provide a better view into inventory or easier task execution for your staff when it’s time to deliver the check.
As more innovative payment solutions come to market, diners increasingly want the ability to pay how they want. Meeting their needs for a quick and convenient payment process after a great meal will only improve your restaurant's reputation. On the flip side, restaurants that accept only legacy methods — cash, debit and credit cards, and checks — could risk losing their edge to competitors with a wider range of payment options.
said they expect competition to increase in 2024, according to the National Restaurant Association. 1
Cash
Credit cards
Debit cards
Check
Businesses with the ability to provide payment scenarios customers want have a stronger opportunity to deepen customer relationships. In fact, 76% of consumers who responded to The 2024 Future of Commerce Report said they wanted restaurants to invest in at least one area of automation when they weren't at full staffing capacity, with automation in payments being the top sub-category they selected. 2
Contactless payments
Mobile wallets
