Profits surge with an assist.

Business owners are seeing major benefits thanks to automation adoption.

Owners across industries report that automation tools are having a powerful impact on bottom lines.

45%

of retailers say that their businesses have seen increased profits as a result of using technology or automation to decrease staff’s hands-on time.

38%

of restaurant owners reported that they saw increased profits as a result of using technology and automation.

The benefits of automation on business operations.

The data also makes it clear what’s at the heart of that business growth: productivity and efficiency gains from automation that are driving customer value.

67%

of restaurant owners say automation tools have directly benefited customers, either through the customer experience or communication.

To drive that point home further, all of the restaurateurs surveyed (100%) said they're using automation and technology to help fill critical gaps when they're not fully staffed.

Where is automation doing the heavy lifting?

Accepting customer orders

36%

Managing orders placed through multiple channels

35%

Accepting payments

35%

Managing real-time restaurant capacity

34%

Communicating with customers

33%

Preparing the food

32%

Making reservations

30%

KEY TAKEAWAY:

Customers want automation when it makes their experiences more efficient. Consider automating repetitive manual tasks, but don't forget that customers rely on staff to make their shopping, dining, or beauty experience unique and foster loyalty.

With profits rising, respondents are also calling out the myriad ways automation solutions are directly benefiting employees. Nearly half of retailers (45%) reported greater employee retention with the help of automation, and roughly two-thirds of restaurateurs said this technology helped to slash their teams’ hands-on time or improve employee retention alongside the customer experience.

“(We’ve) reduced administrative time by more than 50% per day, with time savings coming in the form of time spent on purchase orders, inventory, time sheets, shift scheduling, and getting reports for accounting.”

— Morag Cumming, owner of Biltong Emporium, United Kingdom

DID YOU KNOW?

Where is automation making the biggest difference in saving employees' time? Over one-third of retail respondents (39%) called out payroll and benefits, and that number climbs higher (42%) for larger businesses that earn $500,000 or more in revenue a year.