When most people think about opening a restaurant, they dream of all the delicious concoctions they’ll whip up for their guests. Guests who hopefully keep coming back so often that they practically become family.

When thoughts wander to boosting sales and increasing the bottom line, many new restaurateurs go right back to crafting killer cocktails and whipping up delectable meals that will keep people buying and buying.

While that’s certainly one part of it, there is one major, yet often overlooked way that restaurants can increase sales: upgrading technology. From cutting down on time to increasing efficiency, there’s a lot that the right tech can do to boost a restaurant’s success.

Curious about what the right tech upgrades to choose are? Here’s a handful that won’t steer you wrong.

Invest In a Smarter POS

Transitioning from a traditional legacy system that’s filled with roadblocks which impede a restaurant’s growth to a state-of-the-art cloud-based POS system makes a world of difference in the digital age. Have a look at what happened when Press Bistro made the switch: They added iPad point of sale system enabled servers in order put orders in right away at the table without having to go back to a stationary terminal in between orders.

Press Bistro’s owner Jeremy Shearer said of the results that, “now instead of a customer  potentially waiting 20 minutes to get a drink on a busy night, they’re getting it in under 10 [minutes]… which adds an extra $100 in beverage sales that would have been lost if the drinks were slowly paced throughout the meal because now we’re seeing that we can get a third drink onto the table.” And a third drink for each person at a table adds up… fast.

Launch Online Ordering

Let’s look at the success of Kenji’s Ramen in order to get a sense of why online ordering matters so much. Kenji’s added online ordering to their restaurant website a just a few months ago and it already accounts for over 20 orders each day and more than 10% of their monthly revenue. Not bad, huh?

Craft a Social Media Presence

So much of our lives happen online today and social media has played a big role in that, even when it comes to dining. People find out about new places to eat through posts shared by friends, family, and influencers. Customers expect to be able to know about new deals and receive exclusive offers if they follow you on Facebook. Without igniting a social media presence on these basic platforms, you’re missing out on an incredible opportunity to connect with your customers as well as totally dropping the ball on a direct-to-consumer marketing opportunity that almost effortlessly adds to your bottom line with just a few posts a day.

Devise a Digital Menu and Make The Most of It

There’s just no getting around it—these days people don’t really want to be surprised by what a bar or restaurant has to offer anymore. Potential customers want to be able to peruse a menu online before committing to a spot for dinner or drinks to make sure they’re making the right choice and it makes sense. If you’re meeting a friend who isn’t a cocktail lover, it’s important to go to a place that has at least a few beer and wine options as well.

There’s another way that your menu can help you increase sales, too, and that’s be gathering data on it to craft the best performing menu possible. Take Press Bistro for example again. Gathering sales data on menu items that we’re performing well helped them transform a new menu item from an under-performer to a number one seller that now accounts to close to 40% of their dinner sales. Impressive to say the least.