Why restaurant franchises are switching to Otter’s all-in-one system

The restaurant franchise business is evolving. With sales projected to hit $1.5 trillion in 2025 and millions of jobs driving the sector forward, staying afloat isn’t enough. Franchise operators now face a new set of challenges: shifting consumer preferences, rising labor costs, and the dominance of delivery and takeout.

Quick-service restaurants are gaining traction, ghost kitchens are booming, and consumers expect digital convenience. These shifting operational and customer demands are pressuring restaurant owners to find smarter, more efficient ways to run their businesses.

Otter’s cloud-based POS solution—along with Always On, Revenue Recapture, Analytics, and Kiosks—helps franchise businesses overcome these changes, streamline operations, and boost sales across all locations. By leveraging AI-driven automation and data-driven insights, restaurants can reduce errors, improve efficiency, and capture more revenue in an industry that demands agility and innovation.

In this article, we’ll break down how Otter helps turn today’s operational challenges into opportunities for growth—all with transparent, competitive pricing.

The franchise challenge: balancing efficiency and growth

Digital transformation is no longer optional; it’s the foundation for efficiency, profitability, and long-term success. But adopting technology isn’t just about adding more tools. The real game-changer is having the right systems that work seamlessly together to reduce complexity and drive growth.

In an industry facing rising labor costs, evolving consumer preferences, and an explosion of new ordering channels, franchise business operators need more than quick fixes. They need integrated solutions that streamline operations, eliminate inefficiencies, and unlock new revenue opportunities.

Otter can help with that. With Otter’s cloud-based POS solution, Order Manager, and Online Ordering, franchise operators can centralize operations, minimize costly errors, and maximize profitability. Otter’s all-in-one system simplifies multi-location management, enables real-time menu updates, and provides actionable insights, all from a single platform.

In the next section, we will explore how Otter’s solutions help your franchise stay efficient, boost profits, and scale confidently.

Otter’s top solutions for franchise and quick-service restaurants 

Running a franchise or quick-service restaurant comes with challenges—but Otter makes it easier. Our POS system simplifies multichannel operations, Always On prevents costly downtime, Revenue Recapture helps reclaim lost earnings, Analytics delivers real-time insights, and Otter Kiosks boost efficiency while increasing check sizes. These tools work together to streamline operations, cut costs, and drive growth. Do you want to know more about these products? Let’s explore how these solutions can help your business thrive.

Otter POS: The smarter way to run a restaurant

Otter POS is the only true multichannel point-of-sale system designed to handle the complexities of today’s restaurant industry. It integrates directly with delivery apps and direct-to-consumer partners, allowing restaurants to consolidate orders, update menus in real time, and track performance with live reporting.

With industry-leading low processing fees (just 2.39% + 15¢ per transaction), seamless direct integrations, and modern, restaurant-grade hardware, Otter POS helps restaurants slash costs, reduce tech headaches, and operate with confidence. Plus, features like offline mode, customizable kitchen workflows, and 24/7 customer support ensure restaurants stay online, efficient, and ready to serve.

Always On + live alerts enhances operational efficiency

Unexpected disruptions can throw a wrench in your restaurant’s operations, leading to missed orders, lost revenue, and frustrated customers. On average, restaurants lose 6.5 sellable hours per month due to unforeseen store pauses, translating into missed orders, lost revenue, and frustrated customers. 

With Always On, restaurants can monitor storefront status in real time and receive instant alerts on their phone if they go offline unexpectedly. The system automatically reopens stores that were accidentally paused by staff, ensuring uninterrupted order flow. Additionally, it helps businesses fine-tune their operations by notifying them of missing menu hours, disconnected ordering channels, and other critical issues before they impact sales.

For multi-location businesses like franchises, Always On provides automated failsafe protection, guaranteeing that every store remains operational and that orders are processed accurately. By seamlessly integrating with Otter’s POS system, it ensures consistency across all locations and digital storefronts, eliminating discrepancies that could lead to lost revenue or incorrect orders. 

With Always On, restaurant owners and managers gain peace of mind, knowing they’ll be instantly alerted to any issue that could affect their bottom line.

Always On provides live alerts for restaurants that can safeguard your business operations.

Revenue Recapture: automating disputes and win-backs to prevent revenue loss 

Every failed order, accidental cancellation, or refund dispute chips away at your profits–even if you don’t realize it upfront. Otter’s Revenue Recapture reclaims lost revenue for your business automatically, so you don’t have to chase down missing payouts or worry about win-backs.

How Otter’s Revenue Recapture works:

• Identifies and recovers lost sales before they impact your bottom line
• Automatically fights disputes, ensuring you get back the money you’re owed
• Reduces order errors errors with real-time insights
• Provides you comprehensive reporting when your refunds are processed

For franchises and multi-location businesses, Revenue Recapture is a must-have solution. Otter was the first in the market to build this product and continue to enhance it, proving to be a game-changing operational addition to our customers across the country. 

Otter provides fast results:

• 75% of refunds recovered within 30 days
• 50% fewer overall refunds within a year
• 100,000+ dispute cases solved weekly

Plus, you can seamlessly integrate it with your existing ordering systems, providing automated revenue recovery across all stores. With weekly refund reports and results in as little as 30 days, operators can focus on running their business instead of managing disputes.

Otter’s Revenue Recapture minimizes manual work, reduces financial leaks, and helps you keep more of what you earn. Start recovering lost revenue today.

Unified analytics for data-driven decisions and sales growth

Leveraging data and knowing how to analyze it results in even greater success for restaurants. And consolidating those numbers across channels and locations is now possible with Otter. Otter’s Analytics provides real-time insights on sales, customer behavior, and operational performance. These reports and single dashboard empower  franchisees to see the bigger picture and give them the tangible insight needed to make data-driven decisions that drive profitability.

With Otter’s Analytics, you can:

• Consolidate reports: View data from all your delivery partners, locations, and POS systems in one easy-to-use dashboard
• Simplify complex data: Get clear, digestible charts that break down your restaurant’s performance into actionable insights
• Spot trends with highlights and lowlights: Compare key metrics over the last 7 days (or any time period) to see where you’re improving and what needs tweaking
• Turn data into action: Get recommendations on how to optimize menu combos, motivate customers, and boost sales
• Download custom analytics reports: Receive bite-sized reports straight to your inbox or export them as .CSV or .XLSX files for deeper analysis

Bundled with Advanced Analytics, Otter’s Financials provides comprehensive financial reporting, helping restaurants understand revenue streams, cost structures, and payout discrepancies. This feature bridges the gap between expected and actual delivery payouts, ensuring businesses see every dollar they’ve earned.

Modernizing franchise operations with Otter Kiosk

Ditch the long lines and slow service. Otter’s self-service kiosks transform the way customers order, making the process faster, smoother, and more accurate. With an intuitive interface, guests can place their orders quickly, reducing wait times and ensuring a seamless experience every time. 

Beyond efficiency, kiosks present a powerful revenue opportunity by encouraging upsells and larger check sizes. Restaurants using kiosks have seen order values increase by up to 22%. These kiosks can also integrate into a broader omnichannel strategy, connecting in-store and online orders plus collecting valuable guest data for personalized marketing and loyalty programs. By automating the ordering process and allowing guests to choose their own items, kiosks reduce overall order errors and lost revenue that comes with it.

“I’ve found the ordering process is more efficient, more engaging, and more profitable. Customers prefer kiosks because they get to see high-quality images of every menu item. They can browse every topping and modifier without feeling rushed, and they end up ordering way more than they would if they were speaking to a cashier.” Mureed Sultan, Hummus Republic franchisee owner.

Mureed’s franchise is reaping the benefits of Otter Kiosks:

• Payroll costs reduced by $3,000-$4,000 per month
• Average order value increased by 31%

For franchise owners looking to maximize efficiency and enhance their guest experience, Otter’s self-ordering kiosks are your answer.

Empower your multi-location restaurant  success with Otter

Multi-location restaurants face constant challenges in maintaining operational efficiency, revenue consistency, and seamless customer experiences. Otter’s suite of solutions helps tackle these issues head-on in a unified way.

Otter POS serves as the mission control for unifying all restaurant operations, ensuring seamless efficiency across every aspect of the business. Always On ensures restaurants never miss an order due to unexpected store pauses, while Revenue Recapture helps recover lost sales from invalid refunds and order errors. Meanwhile, Analytics empowers franchise owners with real-time insights into sales trends, customer behavior, and financial performance, allowing for data-driven decision-making. Finally, self-service kiosks enhance customer convenience, increase order sizes, and streamline in-store operations—all contributing to a more efficient and profitable business.

By integrating these tools, franchises boost efficiency, maintain consistency across locations, and drive sales growth with minimal manual effort. Whether it’s preventing lost revenue, optimizing resources, or enhancing customer loyalty, Otter provides the technology and the 24/7 reliable support to make it happen.