There’s no getting around it: in the modern food truck’s kitchen, powerful technology is just as important as cooking equipment. With a strong set of digital tools in your truck, your team can achieve maximum productivity and profit on orders. As leaders in the digital restaurant solution space, we know what makes a good piece of tech on the road. Let’s look at some of today’s best digital tools for food truck profit, and keep your business rolling!
Before you gear up your truck, though, be sure to have a strong understanding of what your business’s goals are. Are you looking to reach new customers? Get into the world of delivery apps? Manage multiple orders from different sources? Food trucks are a $137 million industry, but competition is fierce, and mapping out your road to success is critical. When you’re looking for the best food truck tech money can buy, don’t settle for scrap software. Get an all-in-one solution suite to achieve your truck’s potential and leave competitors in the dust.
Digital Food Truck Tool #1: POS System
Your restaurant POS system – that’s Point Of Sale – is the heart and soul of your food truck’s business. It makes buying food from your truck easy, and gives customers a variety of options for payment. A good POS system also keeps your back-of-house (er, back-of-truck) staff organized, and ensures all your sales are accounted for. In today’s world, a simple cash register just doesn’t cut it with customers. Instead, be sure to utilize a POS that tracks sales digitally and connects with other hardware over Bluetooth.
Every food truck is different, and your truck’s needs are unique. That’s why your POS system should be heavily customizable. The best modern POS systems offer more than 100 integrations with leading restaurant apps, keeping your truck adaptive and flexible. By linking up with other mobile dining tech, your POS can unlock a variety of new features, upgrading your service. It can also sync with rapid payment platforms like Stripe, speeding up your sales and eater turnover!
Digital Food Truck Tool #2: Order Managers
A food truck’s kitchen is a hectic place, and any delays in service can be fatal to profit. Trucks that aspire to success need a way to control and fulfill several orders without confusion. That’s where order managers come in! These platforms help you oversee all your in-person and delivery orders in one place, keeping your team efficient and productive. They also let you edit and update orders where necessary, ensuring your customers are always informed and less mistakes are made. In food trucks, the right order management tool often means the difference between fast food and upset eaters.
Order managers work by taking in orders from all your individual platforms – delivery apps, in-person sales, etc. – and harmonizing them. By bringing these services together, order management tools put control of your entire business in the palm of your hand. Strong restaurant order management solutions also contain features that help increase sales and reduce errors. With a tool like Otter’s Auto-Accept, you can add orders to your docket instantly, giving staff more time to cook. This gets food served to customers faster, strengthening your brand’s reputation and reviews.
Digital Food Truck Tool #3: Menu Managers
Orders aren’t the only thing that food trucks need to keep under control. If you’re operating several digital menus, a menu management platform is crucial to your truck’s profit. Without one, customers won ’t be able to order from you on their app of choice, and you’ll lose revenue. Menu managers let you edit all your menus, items, categories, and more with just a few taps. Once you’re finished, the platforms push out these updates to each of your online menus in seconds, keeping customers engaged.
Be sure to choose your food truck’s menu management service carefully. Every digital order platform has its own menu format, and your manager should be able to accommodate them all. You should also select a manager that lets you update multiple locations at once, so nothing is ever left behind. Lastly, you’ll definitely want menu management programs that offer full customization, letting you make every menu personal. Strong, simple, expedient menus are essential in the fast-paced world of food trucks.
Digital Food Truck Tool #4: Analytics Software
What do you know about your truck’s customers, really? If you’re not using a digital analytics tool, the answer to that question might be nothing at all. Modern food truck owners are too smart to simply guess what eaters are looking for. Unfortunately, they’re also too busy to survey each of their customers individually. They need an effective way to keep track of their truck’s performance, sales, and reputation without interrupting their service. That’s what makes a good analytics platform a critical resource!
Data is one of the most essential ingredients in the success of today’s food trucks. The right analytics package makes capturing customers’ tastes and preferences easy, and gives owners plenty of vital information. By using this data, mobile restaurateurs can make informed decisions about their dishes, menus, and eaters, simplifying their operations. The top analytics solutions make your truck’s information accessible, so you don’t have to be an expert to act on it. Empower every part of your food truck with data, and get the most out of every sale!
Digital Food Truck Tool #5: Financial Software
There’s certainly an art to food trucks, but they’re still a business – and, if handled well, a very profitable one. In the food truck industry of the 2020s, getting a grip on your vehicle’s finances means using specially-designed revenue software. Financial apps are vital for keeping costs low and profits high, and for making long-term projections about your truck’s growth. They can’t afford to be slow or tough to use, either – these solutions need to match your business’s pace. Choose a timely, feature-heavy financial tool, and you’ll be in a great position to profit.
As you already know, running a food truck can be a costly endeavor without a plan for securing continuous revenue. Your financial software should be able to manage recurring costs like taxes and commission fees (unless you’re using a zero-commission platform). It will also need to accommodate the payout schedules for different delivery platforms, ensuring all your revenue is accounted for. A multi-featured accounting solution isn’t just a profitable asset – it’s a strong investment in your food truck’s future.
Get your food truck’s motor running with these digital tools!
Now that you know the most important software for food truck ownership, your mobile dining business can hit the road! Incorporate these systems into your truck’s daily workflow to upgrade your operations, staff, and profit. Don’t stop here, though! A variety of solutions for food truck marketing automation, storefront monitoring, and in-person dining are also available. With an affordable solution suite that incorporates all of these services, your truck can get on the fast track to success.
