Airport Experience® News - Food & Beverage Issue 2026

DATA CHECK

What Areas of Your Business Are You Most Likely to Support With Tech Investments In the Next 12 Months?

POS systems Digital marketing Inventory management Labor management Front-of-house operations Back-of-house operations

Up from 40% last year

53%

49%

43%

37%

34%

33%

Data management / data security Expanding digital-ordering channels Back-of ce Tech stack integration / APIs Safety / compliance and task audits None of these / I am not sure

Up from 26% last year Down from 38% last year

32%

29%

28%

20%

18%

3%

Base: All restaurant operators (n=393)

Source: The 2026 Restaurant Technology Outlook Report, from Restaurant Business and Nation’s Restaurant News

Restaurant operators are looking for results from their technology to both rein in prime costs and improve profitability in the current tough environment for traffic and sales. Asked to select the two most important capabilities they needed from their technology suite in that context, they opted for improved profitability via controlling costs, by a significant margin. While 57% of operators cited the need for technology to improve profitability, less than half as many clustered around other options like driving incremental revenue or saving time for hourly employees. Prioritizing Profitability Most operators (52%) said increasing traffic to leverage the top line of their P&L would be one of their three most important objectives, and the next tier of answers included standard goals like reducing food and labor costs or tweaking marketing strategies. While this full sample of operators was focused on growing guest counts, they weren’t necessarily considering related top-line strategies like increasing

In A Challenging Macroeconomic Climate, What Are the Most Important Capabilities Your Organization Needs to Accomplish From it Investments and Strategies?

Controlling costs and improving pro tability Driving increased top-line revenue Analyzing guest data Enabling hourly staff to focus on high-value work Analyzing operations data Enabling corporate leaders to make better decisions

57%

26%

26%

23%

27% for Al Adopters 22% for Data Enthusiasts 18% for Al Adopters

21%

13%

Base: All restaurant operators (n=393)

Source: The 2026 Restaurant Technology Outlook Report, from Restaurant Business and Nation’s Restaurant News

their check average (cited by only 22% of respondents) or diversifying their revenue streams, such as by expanding off-premises ordering channels (12% of respondents). Nearly one in three (31%) indicated they wanted to make employees more productive with technology, which rose sharply from last year and significantly out-ranked options for streamlining operations in either the front or back of house.

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AX NEWS JULY/AUGUST 2026