Restaurants That Add Toast Technology Outperform Peers

New data shows that Toast Go®, Toast Mobile Order and Pay™, and Digital Ordering and Marketing Suite can have a major impact on sales growth.  

Demand for dining is strong. But it comes at a time when restaurants are likely to be understaffed or experiencing hiring challenges. As restaurants try to manage more with less, taking steps out of service, offering flexible payment options, and adding digital tools can help them increase sales and run more efficiently.

Restaurants that use Toast technology can see a meaningful impact on their business. New data from Toast found that restaurants that used the following products from 2021 to 2022 saw benefits to their businesses. 

• Restaurants that added Toast Go® handheld point-of-sale (POS) devices saw over 55% greater rate of sales growth than those that didn’t add handhelds. 
• Restaurants that subscribed to Toast Mobile Order and Pay™ saw a sales growth rate that was nearly 40% higher than those that didn’t over the period analyzed.
• Restaurants that subscribed to the Digital Ordering & Marketing Suite saw a 70% higher sales growth rate than those that didn’t over the period analyzed.
  
  

Toast Go® is a fast lane for sales growth

Restaurants that added Toast Go® handheld devices saw a 55% greater sales growth rate year-over-year (YOY) than restaurants that did not, showing that a fully integrated mobile POS system has the potential to drastically improve a restaurant’s top line. 

Toast Go® works seamlessly across Toast’s all-in-one digital platform. Wherever they are in the restaurant, servers can place orders, accept contactless payments, and receive alerts from the kitchen when food orders are ready. The time saved by using the Toast Go® allows servers to take on additional tables and spend more time with guests.

Whether at the drive-through or tableside, Toast Go® enables restaurants and staff to adapt to new service models and changing guest expectations amid a challenging labor market.

Toast Mobile Order and Pay™ helps sales soar

Giving guests more options to pay really pays off. Toast customers that subscribe to Toast Mobile Order and Pay™ saw a sales growth rate nearly 40% higher YoY than restaurants that did not add the service. By allowing guests to browse the menu, order food and drinks, and pay using their own mobile devices, restaurants can provide an efficient and flexible service model that can help reduce wait times, eliminate long lines, and simplify the checkout process for guests and staff. 

Toast Mobile Order and Pay™ also allow restaurants to collect valuable insights on transactions which can power marketing and loyalty programs to encourage devoted guests to return. 

With the restaurant industry still down approximately 600,000 jobs since before the pandemic, tech like the Toast Go® devices and Toast Mobile Order and Pay™ are tools that restaurants can use to fill in gaps and help combat the current labor shortage. 

Digital Ordering and Marketing Suite keeps guests coming back for more

Whether it’s phone phobia or the ease of scrolling through a menu from the comfort of your couch, ordering food online has become something that diners love and expect. And that ease and control can help a restaurant grow, too. 

Toast restaurants that subscribe to the Digital Ordering and Marketing Suite had a 70% higher sales growth rate YOY versus restaurants that did not use these products. By controlling their takeout and delivery business, restaurants can own their guest relationship and maintain margins. 

Digital Ordering allows guests to order with Toast Online Ordering and the Toast TakeOut mobile ordering app. This also allows restaurants to customize online branding, fire orders directly from the kitchen, and control ordering flow at peak times. Restaurants can also automatically dispatch orders with Toast Delivery Services with a flat fee per order.

The Toast Marketing Suite includes Email Marketing, Guest Loyalty, and Gift Card access, which enables restaurants to reach their guests directly and encourage repeat visits through an integrated system. 

These are three examples where technology that Toast purpose-built for restaurants can empower resiliency in the industry. For more Toast creations, tune into Spark, an innovation event for restaurant people, on Oct. 11, 2022 at 10 a.m. ET.  

Methodology:

Toast Go®: Toast analyzed average daily sales in Q2 2022 vs. average daily sales in Q2 2021 and compared restaurant locations that added new or additional handheld devices against those that did not. Only restaurant locations that were active in both periods were weighed. Restaurant location growth rates were measured by the median change in average sales per day to adjust for outliers.   

Toast Mobile Order and Pay™ and Digital Ordering and Marketing Suite: Toast analyzed average daily sales in Q2 2022 vs. average daily sales in Q2 2021 and compared restaurant locations that subscribed to these products in Q2 2022 and Q2 2021 vs. those that did not. Only restaurant locations that were active in both periods were weighed. The Digital Ordering and Marketing Suite includes Toast Online Ordering, the Toast TakeOut mobile ordering app, Email Marketing, Loyalty, and Gift Card modules. Restaurant locations growth rates were measured by the median change in average sales per day to adjust for outliers. 

Differences in sales growth rate were calculated by the difference of sales growth rate of the median restaurant location that subscribed to the applicable module(s) minus the sales growth rate of the median restaurant location without the applicable module(s), divided by the sales growth rate of the median restaurant location without the applicable module(s), presented on a percentage basis.