The Most Important Types Of Bakery Technology And Hardware In 2023

Cafe and bakery guests have changed what they eat, how they eat, and where they eat it. They want their food fast and don’t want to wait long. They want options of delivery, takeout, or dining in. And they want their food to meet all of their dietary restrictions while living up to expectations and taste preferences.

These shifts in guest preferences emerged alongside the tech boom of the past decade, during which time the restaurant community — an industry once dominated by pen and paper — had to do its best to keep up with such change.

While bakeries are increasingly adopting technology as an important part of their business, the industry still has room for growth. In order to meet the constantly changing preferences of guests — not to mention run a more efficient business — cafe/bakery operators should continue to invest in new technologies to stay up-to-date, or even ahead of, industry trends. This way, they focus on doing what they love: creating delicious offerings and providing excellent customer service.

The 9 most important technologies in cafes and bakery businesses

1. Guest-facing POS 

2. Kitchen Display Screens

3. Printers for Restaurant

4. Cash Drawer

5. Integrated Online Ordering Solutions

6. Mobile order and pay 

7. Loyalty rewards program 

8. Employee management & payroll

9. Scheduling  

Get your baked goods ready and let’s dive in.

Guest-facing POS

In a cafe or bakery, a point of sale system that they can flip around to the guest is essential. These systems allow customers to place orders efficiently, customize their selections, and make secure payments, thereby reducing waiting times and enhancing overall satisfaction.

Additionally, guest-facing POS systems enable staff to accurately track inventory in real time, manage orders seamlessly, and gather valuable customer data for targeted marketing and loyalty programs. By providing a user-friendly and interactive interface, these systems not only improve the customer experience but also contribute to increased revenue, customer loyalty, and the overall success of the bakery or cafe.

Optimized for speed and ease of use, Toast Flex adjusts in multiple ways — flip the screen, adjust the height, or mount it to the wall — to fit any restaurant concept.

Kitchen Display Screens

A cafe’s kitchen can be a hectic place, so, depending on your business needs, printed tickets might not be your best option. Many cafes and bakeries today are instead using kitchen display systems (KDS) to keep things moving efficiently in the kitchen and throughout the entire restaurant.

KDS is becoming more common for a number of reasons. Compared to traditional ticket printers, KDS is more environmentally friendly because it’s 100% digital. It also saves restaurants on the small but added cost of ticket paper and eliminates the all-too-common problem of paper tickets getting smudged by grease or falling to the ground.

Mounted to the wall (or on a counter stand), kitchen display systems allow kitchen staff to view all open orders on one screen. This makes it easier for the kitchen to stay organized and fulfill orders accurately and on time, all while keeping things moving according to plan in the front-of-house, too. How? KDS receives POS orders in real-time, improving ordering speed and accuracy and, in turn, the guest experience.

Read this article for a deeper dive into the benefits of KDS for restaurants.

Printers for Restaurant

Digital receipts and kitchen display screens (which you learned about above) are growing in popularity and offer a lot of efficiency and benefits, but the reality is that many restaurant businesses still want the option to use paper receipts. And to print paper receipts, you’ll need a thermal printer.

Receipt Printer

Thermal (or receipt) printers are most commonly used by bakeries because they print quietly and faster than traditional impact printers. All receipt printers are thermal printers, meaning they don’t use ink. Instead, they heat the paper to create characters and images on thermally sensitive paper.

Kitchen Printer 

The most common kind of printer for the kitchen is the ink (or "impact") printer. If your back-of-house team is tied up, they might not notice a new slip show up in the printer. Impact printers help to avoid problems like this because they have a louder printing process, catching the attention of your staff. It can also print in different colors like black and red, which you can use to highlight certain things on slips and tickets.

Cash Drawer

In the face of advancements in POS technology, the good old-fashioned cash drawer still stands strong and remains important to storing and managing cash.

If you're looking for a more modern approach to managing your cafe's cash drawer, sync it up with your POS system so all transactions can be recorded. Naturally, you should also lock your cash drawer overnight and empty it out regularly for added security.

Integrated Online Ordering Solutions

Having a seamless online ordering solution integrated with your POS saves both your staff and customer time. The fact of the matter is that your guests are on the go, and want their coffee to be ready when they arrive at your cafe. Set up a beautiful online ordering site that showcases your brand with custom font, color, and images to let your guests know it’s the restaurant they love.

Plus, mobile dining solutions such as Toast Mobile Order & Pay™ can be a huge delighter for guests; this technology means that your regular who works remotely from your cafe can order a second coffee without having to get up!

Mobile order and pay 

Safety, speed, and efficiency have always been important pieces of the dining experience. But in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis, they’ve become more important than ever.

In the Guide to the Restaurant Guest During COVID-19, 34% of guests said that contactless/mobile payment availability is now extremely important to their dining experiences. And 33% of guests said that pay at the table technology is extremely important to their dining experiences.

Toast Mobile Order & Pay™ gives your guests the ability to order and pay for their meal from the convenience and safety of their own device. Not only does it give your guests peace of mind, it helps you improve table turn times, reduce labor costs, and better understand your guests with valuable data.

Learn more about how Toast Mobile Order & Pay™ can help your restaurant.

Loyalty rewards program 

In 2023 customer loyalty is of the greatest importance, especially for small business coffee shops. Offering a rewards and loyalty program for your regulars will keep them coming back time and time again. Gone are the days of punch cards to keep track of coffee orders; in 2023, it’s all about digital loyalty programs.

Designed to attract and retain guests, loyalty programs allow guests to rack up points-based rewards that can be customized by you. From setting up sign-up bonuses and accrual and redemption rates, or even special rewards for birthdays or anniversaries, loyalty programs reward your frequent supporters and gamify the experience of visiting your cafe.

Employee management & Payroll

Choosing software that will help speed up employee onboarding, facilitate payroll, and ensure your team is paid on time can be a big stress reliever. Without employee management and payroll software, bakery operations can be difficult and filled with paperwork.

Toast Payroll & Team Management can streamline vital HR processes with an integrated POS platform like Toast.

Scheduling

Having your basic operational tools integrated into one system can be a game changer. Rather than jumping from software to software, the convenience of having an all-in-one platform can simplify your tasks as a restaurant owner. Creating the schedule for a cafe or bakery can take time. Keeping up with your employees’ availability and time off can be an entire job in itself. With Sling by Toast, restaurateurs can save time, reduce miscommunication, and get schedules out on time.  

Sling by Toast offers scheduling templates, employee profiles, and shift swap options. For more information check out this article on scheduling.

Cafe & Bakery Technology and Hardware Built for Restaurants

Embracing these innovations isn't just a choice; it's a necessity for bakeries looking to thrive in a competitive market. By harnessing the power of technology and hardware, bakeries in 2023 can continue to delight our taste buds while keeping pace with the demands of a rapidly evolving industry.