The Best AI Technology for Restaurants to Drive More Revenue

Richard and Maurice McDonald opened their first restaurant in San Bernardino in 1955 – with a focus NOT on burgers and fries – but rather on slow-cooked hickory barbecue. Instead of indoor dining, they had a few stools at the counter and offered carhop service to the increasingly mobile masses.

When they realized 80% of their sales came from hamburgers, and drive-in competition was exploding, they rethought their strategy. They streamlined their menu and offered fewer choices. “Our whole concept was based on speed, lower prices and volume,’ Richard McDonald said. Taking a cue from Henry Ford’s assembly-line production of automobiles, the McDonald brothers developed the ‘Speedee Service System’ and mechanized the kitchen of their roadside burger shack.”

Today, McDonald’s serves 69 million people every day and continues to lead the (ever-growing) fast food competition. Clever marketing and adapting to changing tastes and trends certainly play a part in remaining competitive but the real secret to their success is not in a special sauce, any one celebrity endorsement, or launching a TikTok challenge. It’s McDonald’s unwavering commitment to their original strategy: quick service and high throughput.  

Rivaling the fast food giant may feel intimidating but the good news is focusing on speed of service and improving operational efficiency has never been easier. Why? Computer vision. 

Computer vision is the only tech solution that provides real-time, actionable, visual data. With these insights, restaurants gain unprecedented information about order fulfillment and processes to maximize efficiency and drive more revenue.

What is Computer Vision?

Computer vision interprets the physical world by leveraging your existing cameras alongside edge devices or the cloud. Computer vision allows cameras to detect people, objects, or events in real-time to monitor beyond what your hired staff can see. 

Computer vision is a game changer for restaurants because it provides valuable data about operations never before available. While Kitchen Display Systems (KDS) can provide information like the time an order’s been placed and the time the order was fulfilled, what happens in between is a Bermuda Triangle of mystery. 

Not anymore.​

The Power of Real-Time Data

Computer vision can be trained to detect nearly anything important to your business. For QSRs and FCRs that means not only front-of-store dining and counter areas but also (and maybe more importantly) back-of-counter operations. 

With accurate, real-time kitchen data, operators can target inefficiencies, streamline processes, and better address productivity issues.

Part of the extraordinary value of computer vision is the multitude of use cases it facilitates, acting as an extra set of eyes trained to monitor your most important processes. Without prohibitive installation costs, computer vision is a powerful tool to boost ROI.

5 Use Cases for Restaurants That Leverage Computer Vision

1. Real-time behind-the-counter data

Understand the entire order fulfillment process with computer vision. Real-time data at every step, allows restaurant operators to see exactly where there are chokepoints in the assembly line so they can address issues immediately. Computer vision also helps operators better understand operational trends, the impact of shift changes, menu item changes, or the use of equipment. Real-time, behind-the-counter data also allows managers to better allocate staff and address labor issues.  

Computer vision applications can also send immediate alerts to cooks when food items are running low or to management if customer wait times exceed a certain threshold. 

Furthermore, as orders become more complex and customizable, fulfilling them quickly and accurately has also become more complex. But with the immediate visual insights garnered by computer vision, managers can better manage specialty orders and measure their impact on overall order fulfillment times and ultimately drive more revenue.

2. Speed of service 

Quick and fast are literally the order of business for QSRs and FCRs. With computer vision, restaurants can deliver on their promise of delivering delicious meals quickly. 

Because operators have immediate data regarding all orders in the kitchen, they can better manage customer expectations and address issues as they happen. 

Computer vision can monitor wait times at counters and at certain stations in the kitchen and make immediate adjustments to maintain speed of service. For example, computer vision can send alerts to managers if food sits unattended for too long anywhere in the process.

3. Occupancy counting

Occupancy counting is a fundamental data point for nearly all retailers – restaurants included. Computer vision can be used to provide accurate, real-time occupancy counts including patrons dining in, delivery personnel waiting for orders, and staff. Better understand peak hours and maintain a safe and welcoming dining area for an unbeatable customer experience.

4. Vehicle ID and analysis

With approximately 75% of sales generated from drive-thrus, most QSRs are eager to optimize and streamline drive-thru ordering. Advanced computer vision models like object detection and tracking, make identifying vehicles and following vehicles as they traverse the line, easy and accurate. 

As consumers continue to demand quick and convenient drive-thru ordering, QSRs are experimenting with multiple lanes and checkpoints (for ordering, payment, and pick-up). The only way to truly measure and see how these systems are working, operators need the real-time data generated by computer vision.

Computer vision can track the average wait time of cars in drive-thru lanes.

5. Easily integrates with KDS and other dashboards

With significant tech stacks, many QSRs and FCRs are right to be cautious about adding more technology. However, computer vision drives significant ROI – without significant investment in kitchen redesign or equipment. No other technology provides the real-time visual data operators need to transform their operations. What’s more, alwaysAI computer vision solutions are engineered to seamlessly integrate with common analytics dashboards and KDS systems for unparalleled flexibility.

alwaysAI computer vision tracks how many people are in line to order food in a fast-casual restaurant.

Why alwaysAI?

alwaysAI is a truly end-to-end computer vision platform designed to eliminate the complexity of computer vision. We have all the tools and features enterprises need to see computer vision projects from start to finish. 

With alwaysAI you can:

• Collect and upload all your data whether you are starting from scratching or looking to import data from another source. 
• Annotate your data or seamlessly import datasets from another tool like CVAT with our enhanced Dataset Management tool. 
• Train your model by setting your training parameters and using practical model architectures for real-world deployments. Understand how long training will take with alwaysAI exclusive model forecasting feature, and measure your models performance with ModelIQ. 
• Develop your application using edgeIQ, alwaysAI’s robust library of apps and APIs to meet your specific needs.
• Remotely deploy your application for ultimate control and flexibility of your application. Update and manage models and applications from anywhere, at any time. 
• Leverage a comprehensive analytics dashboard to get actionable data and better understand operations and processes to drive more revenue. 
• Leverage our professional services for ultimate support in deploying computer vision solutions. Whether you’re an advanced computer vision engineer or a beginner Python coder, alwaysAI can help you achieve your business goals. Our team of machine learning experts can provide as much or as little support as necessary. 

We work hard to consistently maintain and update our tools and platform, help troubleshoot issues as they arise, and brainstorm creative new use cases. We will work with you to perfect your computer vision applications and implementation while you remain focused on doing what you do best – delivering fresh, delicious meals to hungry customers.

Ready to Get Started?

Lack of concrete data about what happens from the time an order is placed to the time the order leaves your restaurant means you have to strive for improvements through trial and error.

But the real-time, visual data computer vision delivers, means you no longer have to guess where there are choke points or other inefficient processes. The analytics generated from this kind of data is truly unprecedented and can lead to a multitude of insights to help you perfect the art of “fast food.” 

With the steady growth of QSR and FCR competition, alwaysAI is the partner you need to get ahead.