QSRs are leading the global shift towards AI and smart-ordering options amid margin pressure and tech investment, but operational gaps persist.
Qu has released its seventh annual Restaurant Technology Benchmark Report, finding that, despite margin pressure, brands are investing heavily in technology, including AI, to combat economic headwinds and declining guest traffic. The data also underscores a major challenge for restaurant brands: operational gaps between order processing and food preparation, leading to fragmented guest experiences.
The NRA reports restaurants are facing a difficult operating environment, with elevated food costs, rising labour expenses, and declining guest traffic, while pre-tax profit margins remain around four percent.
“When restaurants face declining guest traffic, growth can’t come from pricing alone. The guest experience must be improved across channels, from ordering to kitchen to fulfilment. To effectively address these challenges with technology, restaurants need intelligent systems built on unified data,” said Amir Hudda, CEO of Qu.
“Without that foundation, AI becomes another tool layered onto disconnected systems rather than a true growth engine.”
Macro-economic pressures drive a shift toward smarter commerce. Declining traffic pressure, combined with fragmented systems and operational execution challenges, adds more complexity, resulting in disconnected guest experiences.
“What’s encouraging in this year’s data is the clear shift from experimentation to execution. Restaurants are increasing technology investment, accelerating AI adoption, and prioritising operational improvements at scale to improve guest engagement,” said Hudda.
“Operators recognise that the next phase of growth will come from modernising how restaurants run across every channel and connecting the guest experience with smarter, more integrated systems.”
The report reveals a clear perception gap between restaurant CEOs and the leaders responsible for running daily operations. While more than half of CEOs (53 percent) reported no major system instability affecting their brand, only 17 percent of non-CEO leaders said the same, suggesting the executives closest to operations experience technology challenges and guest impact more directly.
This difference highlights a broader dynamic: CEOs tend to prioritise strategic innovation, including operational efficiency, AI, and automation, while functional leaders focus on the reliability, data integration, and system performance that shape everyday execution and the guest experience. Without stronger cross-functional alignment, restaurants risk accelerating innovation agendas while the foundational systems needed to support them remain under strain.
“Our insights support one eternal truth: hospitality wins. Brands that keep hospitality front and centre while simplifying operations and thoughtfully integrating modern technology will lead the pack,” said Jen Kern, CMO of Qu.
“The 2026 report builds on seven years of research, making this one of the restaurant technology industry’s most trusted resources for helping operators stay ahead.”
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