Innovation never stops, especially at a time like this when the entire Ho.Re.Ca world is evolving so rapidly. And the reason is simple: the new sales channels, such as mobile apps, online booking and delivery platforms, will continue to be of strategic importance in the future. “The Ho.Re.Ca sector, like others, has learned to wok on a multi-channel basis and establishments now request services that are integrated into the website for the online booking of tables, and increasingly a personalised app for takeaway and delivery orders. The bigger, better organised concerns, meanwhile, need complete proprietary platforms to manage their fleets of riders and delivery staff,” says Rudy Ricci, head of R&S software Ho.Re.Ca. Retail at Passepartout. This San Marino-based firm is known on the Italian market for its management software, for being ahead of the times in making full use of the cloud in all relevant segments (foodservice included), and also for launching a basic application around which exists a series of solutions capable of digitising the entire management cycle of each establishment.

Those who run bars and restaurants are also requesting simplified interfaces and automated procedures, as Simone Zanella, Software Engineering Director di Strom Open Solutions, the software house of Pluriservice, explains: “Our latest project offers the opportunity to display electronic menus that can change according to the day of the week, the time of day and the type of service being offered (eat-in, take-away or home delivery). The tool can also interface with Google artificial intelligence to automatically translate the description of dishes and ingredients, provide indications regarding the presence of any allergens in a particular dish to make variations to the contents of what has been ordered.”

Zucchetti Hospitality has also invested heavily in technology in recent months, enhancing the functionality of the applications with which it manages online, takeaway and delivery orders, adding two more “plus points”: the management of menus, photos of the dishes and orders placed directly from the restaurateurs app; and the possibility of integrating the service with the most widely available digital payment systems on the market. “When it comes to professional customers,” says Angelo Guaragni, CEO of the Lombardy-based company, “lately we have been seeing an increase in purchasing requests for technological solutions with a pay-per-use arrangement, involving a monthly subscription fee for the use of the software as a service. So we have made available a cloud platform that combines the speed of a cashpoint with the flexibility of a management system to organise sales, inventory, statistics and loyalty programmes or upselling also for those on the move”.