Toast Adds Intelligence Engine to Digital Technology Platform for Restaurants

Toast has added an intelligence engine called ToastIQ to its cloud-based digital technology platform for restaurants.

Powered by artificial intelligence (AI), data and insights, ToastIQ delivers prompts, recommendations and automated workflows designed to help restaurants drive more revenue, improve decisions, operate more efficiently and provide a differentiated guest experience, the company said in a Thursday (May 1) press release.

“Restaurants have a wealth of data available to help them optimize their business, but often don’t have the time or training to interpret and act on it,” Toast President and Co-founder Steve Fredette said in the release. “Our vision for ToastIQ is to transform every role in the restaurant ecosystem with intelligent features, greater personalization, prompts and shortcuts across our connected products — all driving toward outsized business outcomes.”

ToastIQ’s service features include Menu Upsells that suggest upgrades staff can recommend to guests during order-taking, Digital Chits that highlight special occasions and other important guest details to help staff personalize service, and Shift at a Glance that helps managers share timely details about things like specials or staffing changes with staff, according to the release.

To facilitate digital advertising and marketing, ToastIQ includes an enhanced AI-Marketing Assistant that crafts detailed marketing plans and Advertising that gives restaurant operators visibility into how digital ads drive real revenue, per the release.

“This marks the beginning of a new stage of innovation where software evolves beyond a tool restaurant professionals use, into a partner that helps them elevate their craft,” Fredette said of ToastIQ’s capabilities.

New AI tools are changing how restaurants analyze customer data, test food safety and even reproduce scents in laboratories, PYMNTS reported in November.

Restaurants have discovered that digital tools and modern solutions can help streamline business operations and meet consumers’ growing appetite for seamless experiences, according to the PYMNTS Intelligence and American Express collaboration, “Inflation Puts Technology on the Menu for Restaurants.”

Toast CEO and Co-founder Aman Narang said in November that the company would continue to innovate to deliver more value to its restaurant customers.

“Today we proudly serve nearly 127,000 locations, and we’re just getting started … Over the past three years, we’ve more than doubled our market share in the U.S. but we’re still only at 14% penetration,” Narang said during a quarterly earnings call in November.