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Restaurant CRM
Restaurant CRM software helps restaurant managers and owners maintain a centralized database of information on customers who have visited a restaurant or have ordered online. Restaurants of all categories and size can use this data for marketing and sales promotions, email or social media campaigns, and to support loyalty programs. This type of software offers standardized communication templates, workflows, and automated processes, which make it easier for users to regularly interact with customers and share personalized offers and updates.
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Learn more in our Buyers Guide
Compare All Restaurant CRM
Square Point of Sale
Square Point of Sale
Square Point of Sale is a mobile POS system available for iOS and Android devices. Key capabilities of the Square POS system include online payment processing, sales reports, inventory tracking, digital receipts, email and SMS mar...Read more
Simphony POS
Simphony POS
Simphony POS, from Oracle MICROS is a restaurant management system designed to help restaurants, cafes, bars, hotels, resorts and casinos manage orders, inventories, menus and more. It enables businesses to process online payments...Read more
Revel Systems
Revel Systems
Revel is a cloud-based business platform that integrates operations and customer channels with point-of-sale (POS) functionality in a single dashboard. It is suitable for stores and restaurants of all sizes and provides users with...Read more
Hippos POS
Hippos POS
Hippos is an on premise with Cloud access point of sale (POS) solution that can be operated with or without the internet. The internet is only used to sync data between the POS and Cloud (web portal). The Hippos solution is design...Read more
Linga rOS System
Linga rOS System
LINGA is an enterprise-ready cloud-based business platform with 20+ applications in addition to Point of Sale (POS). With over 17 years in the restaurant and retail markets, LINGA POS offers businesses hardware, software technolog...Read more
Paladin POS
Paladin POS
Paladin POS is an on-premise point-of-sale (POS) solution designed for small and midsize businesses. It offers return order management, checkout, discount management and customer loyalty program management functionalities within a...Read more
Software pricing tips
Read our Restaurant CRM Buyers GuideSubscription models
- Per employee/per month: This model allows you to pay a monthly fee for each of your employees.
- Per user/per month: Users pay a monthly fee for users—normally administrative users—rather than all employees.
Perpetual license
- This involves paying an upfront sum for the license to own the software and use it indefinitely.
- This is the more traditional model and is most common with on-premise applications and with larger businesses.
Rated best value for money
TouchBistro
TouchBistro
TouchBistro is an all-in-one POS and restaurant management system that makes running a restaurant easier. Providing the most essential front of house, back of house, and guest engagement solutions on one powerful platform, TouchBi...Read more
PayPal Zettle
PayPal Zettle
PayPal Here is a mobile application that allows retailers and merchants to process transactions. The application uses a card reader device attached to a smartphone. This solution helps retailers and field sales staff to process tr...Read more
Yelp Guest Manager
Yelp Guest Manager
Yelp Guest Manager helps restaurants manage all of their front-of-house operations across the entire dining experience through one fully integrated solution — by bringing together Yelp Waitlist, Reservations, Kiosk, Takeout, Table...Read more
SAP Business One
SAP Business One
SAP Business One is a modular and integrated enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution. This platform integrates financials, CRM, inventory, sales and operations management modules within a single system. SAP Business One automa...Read more
Popular Restaurant CRM Comparisons
Buyers Guide
Last Updated: April 30, 2022In the restaurant business, growing your customer base is important, but it isn't the ultimate prize. The real prize is your list of regular patrons, which you must constantly try to expand by turning new patrons into repeat customers. Sure, your food plays a big role here, but technology can also help.
According to Toast's 2017 Restaurant Technology report, 95% of restaurateurs agree that technology improves their business' efficiency. Regardless of the format—quick-service restaurant (QSR) or fine dining, a chain or a stand-alone establishment—restaurant customer relationship management (CRM) tools can change how you engage with your customers.
These solutions allow you to personalize customer interactions, roll out customer outreach and loyalty programs, and integrate with third-party aggregators to expand market reach. Interested? We'll help you learn more about restaurant CRMs and what you should consider while evaluating options.
In this buyer's guide, we'll cover:
What is restaurant CRM software?
Common features of restaurant CRM software
What type of buyer are you?
Benefits of having a restaurant CRM
Market trends to understand
What is restaurant CRM software?
Restaurant CRM software helps restaurant managers and owners maintain a centralized database of information on customers who have visited a restaurant or have ordered online. Restaurants of all categories and size can use this data for marketing and sales promotions, email or social media campaigns, and to support loyalty programs.
This type of software offers standardized communication templates, workflows, and automated processes, which make it easier for users to regularly interact with customers and share personalized offers and updates.
Restaurant CRMs also incorporate functionality for table reservations and online ordering (through a restaurant website or third-party platforms). They can also track customer orders and preferences and record details such as allergies, milestones (e.g., birthdays), and past order suggestions to allow restaurants provide personalized offers and services to customers.
Benefits of a restaurant CRM
There are many benefits of using a restaurant CRM. Here's a look at the most notable:
- Improved customer connections: A CRM helps you reach out to your customers through personalized email marketing campaigns, which are equally vital for multibranch QSRs and single-location establishments.
- Ease of rolling out loyalty and discount programs: With a restaurant CRM, you can leverage your customers' preferences to create customized loyalty and discount programs to improve customer retention. You can also track the success of your ad campaigns with dashboard views.
- Integrations with with mobile apps and popular ordering websites. A majority of customers now order food and make reservations through third-party apps and websites. CRMs specifically designed for restaurants usually offer integration with these apps.
Common features of restaurant CRM software
Here are the important features to look for when choosing your restaurant CRM software:
| Centralized customer information dashboard | The core of a restaurant CRM, customer information includes customer name, contact details, and past transaction history. It can also include milestone dates such as a customer's birthday and anniversary, as well as preferences, allergies, or health warnings. |
| Email and SMS marketing | Marketing emails and mobile messages can be formatted using built-in templates, personalized, and scheduled for every customer. |
| Single-view performance dashboard | Most restaurant CRMs provide a single dashboard view of sales and customer statistics, including daily revenue. |
| Online table reservation system | Some CRMs allow customers to make reservations through third-party apps and websites |
| Social media and online marketing | Integrations with social media platforms help in rolling out marketing campaigns across multiple platforms, all from within a central dashboard. Offers can be announced to all existing followers and their connections quickly and conveniently. |
| Loyalty rewards and benefits program | Restaurant CRM tools come with modules for loyalty rewards and benefits programs that are instrumental for enhancing customer retention. |
What type of buyer are you?
You need restaurant CRM software if you own or manage any of the following:
- Food truck or independent restaurant: Outlets operating out of a single location looking to gain competitive edge with customer retention and brand loyalty will benefit from centralized customer information database that can be used for easier and quicker marketing campaign creation. Constant communication with customers makes brand promotion more effective, increasing customer recall.
- Multibranch restaurant: Multiple-location restaurants or food and beverage establishments look for full-featured CRM software to communicate their promotions and offers to increase customer footfall and enhance customer engagement and retention.
- Franchised chain: Franchised chains find restaurant CRM software's social media and online marketing feature useful to establish and expand their online presence.
Market trends to understand
Data analytics for hyper-customization: Big data and analytics are becoming pervasive, and restaurateurs are increasingly using transactional data and order histories to hyper-customize their services. Hyper-customization is a rapidly growing trend that allows restaurateurs to understand their customers better, improve the overall customer experience, and retain more customers.
Growth of mobile ordering and payments. The surge in food ordering via smartphones and the rise in mobile payments have made mobile-ready CRMs a must-have for a growing customer base. Mobile payments grew by 75% in 2017, and the trend will only continue to grow.
Note: The applications selected in this article are examples to show a feature in context and are not intended as endorsements or recommendations. They have been obtained from sources believed to be reliable at the time of publication.