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The future of drive-thru headset equipment and systems

DTIQ on January 5, 2023

If you own a quick service restaurant (QSR), you need processes in place to balance speed and quality. Without the right technology, you risk frustrating and losing your customers. Here, we’ll cover how innovations in restaurant drive-thru headsets and equipment can help you train your staff and improve your business operations.

How Does a Drive-Thru Headset System Work?

Any QSR with a drive-thru needs headset equipment. Employees use a drive-thru headset system to take customer orders and coordinate with other workers wearing headsets. They can toggle between the customer and employee channels as needed, and the headset is designed to be lightweight and comfortable so each employee can wear it throughout their shift.

Drive-thru headset systems for restaurants can integrate with your video technology to time speed of service (SOS) and generate real-time reporting. The headsets may have individual battery packs or they may be placed in a charging dock. Some headset systems have additional features such as noise reduction to lessen background noise from the restaurant kitchen and customers’ cars.

Recent Innovations in Drive-Thru Technology

Effective drive-thru technology is more important than ever: drive-thru transactions represented 42% of all restaurant visits in 2022, according to QSRweb. To accommodate a growing number of customers, restaurants need sophisticated tools, reliable restaurant drive-thru headsets equipment and systems, and well-trained staff.

Recent innovations have helped further streamline the drive-thru experience. These include:

Ordering Online

Just a few years ago, the only way to order restaurant food offsite was via the telephone. And phone orders were limited to specific types of restaurants, such as pizza parlors. In the early 2000s, web-based ordering platforms became more prevalent.

In recent years, many QSRs have launched dedicated mobile applications. With built-in rewards programs and user-friendly interfaces, customers are encouraged to order via the app instead of an online platform like Grubhub. These apps allow customers to order a meal for pick-up or delivery, offering flexibility and convenience.

When customers pick up an order onsite, they can simply use the drive-thru lane to get their order. Some restaurants are also offering dedicated curbside pickup parking spaces. Once a customer arrives to pick up their order, they simply notify the restaurant via the app, and a staff member can bring their food directly to their vehicle.

AI Voice Assistant

Some restaurants are piloting artificial intelligence (AI) solutions to free up staff time. With AI voice technology, customers can place an order through a software program instead of talking to an employee directly. The AI voice assistant automatically sends the order to the restaurant’s point-of-service (POS) system.

This technology addresses the labor shortage while minimizing human error. It can also increase revenue using adaptive upselling, meaning it will make suggestions for order modifications or add-ons.

Drive-Thru Analytics

Good data can translate into better performance. Today’s drive-thru video systems can measure metrics such as customer wait times, the number of cars served per hour, and order accuracy. This real-time information allows managers to monitor staff even when they’re not in the same location.

Data analytics is key to improving customer satisfaction. These insights can also help managers understand which staff members need additional training and support. It can also help owners with multiple locations allocate their resources better – if one drive-thru has significantly more customers than another, they may need to reassign staff to the busier location.

These innovations are a boon to QSR owners, who are trying to maintain quality customer service with a limited staff. A recent National Restaurant Association survey found that 78% of restaurant owners did not have enough workers. With advanced drive-thru video technology, QSR staff can work more efficiently, even with a smaller team.

Improving Drive-Thru Headset Systems for Restaurants

DTiQ offers cutting-edge technology for drive-thru timing and management. Our state-of-the-art video solutions help restaurant owners identify staff training needs and streamline service delivery, measurably improving SOS.

DTiQ’s acquisition of Summit Innovations allows us to offer unparalleled business intelligence analytics, offering insights into all your drive-thru locations. These innovations can help improve staff performance while ensuring a positive customer experience.

Optimize Drive-Thru Service with DTiQ

At DTiQ, we’re committed to serving our clients through custom-built intelligent video solutions that integrate with your drive-thru headset technology. With more than 45,000 customers nationwide, we serve convenience stores and retail businesses in addition to QSRs.

DTiQ offers subscription-based pricing, meaning you’ll always have the most up-to-date technology without a major capital outlay. We even offer custom onsite and video auditing services to help you assess guest experience, employee engagement, and loss prevention. To learn more about how DTiQ can help you advance your business, book a demo today.

Restaurant loss prevention: using restaurant security cameras to stop theft

DTIQ on December 28, 2022

Loss prevention is the set of strategies a business uses to reduce and prevent waste, fraud, and abuse. A good loss prevention policy is helpful in any type of business, but it’s especially important in the fast food industry. As a franchisee owner, having cameras in your restaurant can help with customer experience, speed of service, and inventory management, including food waste and fraud

According to a report from Indeed, the average quick-service restaurant has a profit margin between 6% and 9%. That means that internal or external theft can significantly impact your financial position.

A Real Example of Restaurant Theft

A manager from Dunkin Donuts in Cambria County, PA was suspected of stealing from the company. The regional manager was unable to locate missing bank deposits, which led to further suspicion.

By using DTiQ’s 360iQ, a remote management tool and intelligent surveillance system which provides owners and managers with complete visibility into their businesses, the regional manager was able to compile videos that proved the manager was stealing from the store.

That manager is now facing more than 12 charges after stealing from the business and being made to pay back the stolen money. That’s just one example. There are plenty of other types of theft to be aware of for restaurant loss prevention.

Types of Restaurant Theft

Unfortunately, both patrons and employees can commit theft at restaurants. External theft is committed by customers, while internal theft on the staff side.

Internal Theft

Also known as employee theft. Sometimes servers and cashiers make honest mistakes that can lead to accounting discrepancies. But other times, employees intentionally “skim off the top.” This is internal theft and can include practices like:

Giving customers extra discounts or complimentary items to get a bigger tip
Giving free food or drinks to friends or family without supervisor authorization
Stealing tips from a tip jar or another server
Undercharging a customer and stealing the difference – a practice that is known as “short ringing”

External Theft

If you own or manage a restaurant, you’ve probably had a customer or two dine and dash. But patrons can commit external theft in other ways, such as lying to get items comped, or a customer may claim they never received a delivery order to get a refund.

External theft can also be committed by other parties – for example. Upon the initial review of the video, the attorney saw a wet floor sign in the area and used that as evidence to support the claim that the floor was wet and not properly dried and filed for $300,000 dollars in damages. Using DTiQ’s 360iQ system, the McDonald’s legal team was able to do a deep dive and found the video from a different camera angle which showed the napkin falling off the tray, and her fall was caused by her slipping on that napkin. The McDonald’s team won, and the claim was thrown out, covering their own attorney costs.

Loss Prevention Techniques

With restaurant industry sales down significantly from pre-pandemic levels, loss prevention is more important than ever. Simple steps can make a big difference in loss prevention at restaurants:

Utilize restaurant security cameras: Video monitoring can record videos and help managers improve site security and identify suspicious staff behavior like improper cash handling. You can utilize surveillance cameras both in the dining area and parking lot for video footage.
Invest in analytics: A restaurant camera system is even more helpful when you have accompanying analytics for your security and POS system. For example, intelligent video can send a real-time alert for a specified event, such as an employee coming onsite after hours or a worker performing inventory.
Conduct thorough staff training: Some losses, such as undercharging customers or incorrectly applying discounts, are simply unintentional errors. Make sure everyone on your team is properly trained on how to use your point of sale system.

Improve Restaurant Loss Prevention with DTiQ

Learn more about how DTiQ helped has helped quick service restaurants like Dunkin Donuts, Subway, Domino’s Pizza, Wendy’s, and more with our loss prevention case studies.

If you need help to make sure your restaurant loss prevention program is protecting your assets, DTiQ is the answer. We offer an unparalleled combination of intelligent video systems, integrated analytics, and customer support for loss prevention programs.

To learn more about our protecting your assets for the restaurant industry, view our loss prevention solutions and book a demo today.

How to prevent and manage food delivery chargeback fraud

DTIQ on December 22, 2022

You may think of a fraudulent delivery chargeback here, and there is no cause for concern. But over time, chargeback fraud can hurt your profits and potentially affect your restaurant’s reputation. Some chargebacks are simply misunderstandings, but others are a form of intentional theft. Learn more about the various types of delivery chargeback fraud and how to prevent and address delivery chargeback fraud in this guide from DTiQ.

What is chargeback fraud?

When a customer makes an online purchase, they typically use a credit card, and the payment is routed to a merchant through the customer’s bank. A chargeback occurs when a payment is reversed by the customer’s bank, meaning the merchant loses the money.

Chargebacks are legitimate if a customer never received the product they purchased. However, some bad actors commit chargeback fraud by requesting a refund even though they received their items. There are three types of false chargebacks:

Friendly fraud is when a customer files for a chargeback from their bank on a legitimate transaction instead of trying to obtain a refund from the merchant. A friendly fraud chargeback may be deliberate or unintentional, as a customer may receive a credit card statement and genuinely believe a fraudulent transaction took place.
Criminal fraud occurs when an individual steals credit card information to purchase goods and services fraudulently.
Merchant errors are types of errors that can occur because of operational mistakes. For example, a customer might be charged for a subscription that has already been canceled, or the merchant may accidentally issue a duplicate charge.

When a customer disputes a charge that appears on their credit card account, the bank can reverse the charge, meaning the merchant loses the money – even if they’ve already issued goods or services to the purchaser.

Delivery Chargeback Fraud in the Restaurant Industry

Food delivery services have grown exponentially in recent years. While restaurants used to handle food delivery directly, there are now several major third-party applications for online ordering, such as DoorDash, Grubhub, and Uber Eats. McKinsey & Company estimates that the food delivery sector is worth over $150 billion worldwide.

Unfortunately, the proliferation of online ordering has also led to an increase in chargebacks in the restaurant industry. An individual might order a meal online, claim it was never delivered – even if it was – and request a false chargeback. With limited staff and resources, it’s difficult for restaurant owners to dispute chargebacks.

How to Prevent Delivery Chargeback Fraud

Every restaurant deals with disgruntled customers from time to time, so it may not be possible to eliminate chargebacks completely. Taking steps to prevent fraudulent chargebacks is an important part of a comprehensive loss prevention solution. Restaurant owners should implement these strategies to avoid chargeback scams:

Make it easy for customers to contact you

Your restaurant’s contact information should be prominently displayed on your website, customer receipts, and email messages. You want to encourage patrons to contact you directly if they have an issue rather than resorting to their bank. This can help reduce accidental and friendly fraud incidences and provide an opportunity to build customer loyalty.

Concentrate on staff training

Merchant error can result in lost revenue and frustrate your customers. Make sure you’ve provided your staff with thorough training on your point-of-sale (POS) software so they know how to process delivery orders correctly. Always confirm with delivery drivers that the customer received orders. Some delivery services will even take a photo of a curbside drop-off to serve as proof in case of disputes.

Invest in fraud prevention technology

It’s estimated that up to 30% of chargebacks are the result of fraudulent credit card use. Partner with reputable delivery services and use a smart surveillance system that integrates with your POS system and can alert you to suspicious activity.

Implement Loss Prevention Solutions with DTiQ

Because restaurants run on narrow margins, a pattern of delivery chargeback fraud can have a real impact on your bottom line. To protect your business, DTiQ offers sophisticated solutions for restaurants and retail, drawing on intelligent video and advanced analytics.

With mystery shopping and audits, you can improve customer satisfaction and identify areas for employee training and support. To get started with DTiQ, book a demo today.

How to improve customer experience with smart video solutions

Bob Cliche on December 21, 2022

Today’s business owners need to provide an exceptional customer experience to stay competitive. Whether you own a restaurant, convenience store, or retail business, you understand how valuable it is to develop a loyal customer base.

Smart video systems can play a big role in your success by helping protect your business from criminal activity and providing insights that help you improve every aspect of a customer’s experience from the moment they enter your establishment until they leave.

Learn how to improve customer experience using integrated video solutions and tools.

How Has Technology Impacted the Customer Service Experience?

Historically, patrons at retail stores and restaurants would interact with a cashier to complete a transaction by either paying with cash, credit card or check. Today, retail establishments and Quick Service Restaurants (QSR) often have self-service kiosks where customers can place and complete an order on a tablet or computer screen.

Payment methods have also evolved – customers can now easily make mobile payments from their smartphones, while some businesses no longer accept cash.

These technological advancements can be a boon for small businesses by reducing their labor costs. Employees spend less time ringing up transactions while they can focus more on providing excellent customer service.

How to Integrate Security Solutions with Video Surveillance

Many retail shops, convenience stores, and QSRs now have self-checkout kiosks. These point-of-sale (POS) terminals can put business owners at risk of fraud and theft.

This also can lead to a downgraded experience considering there is limited interaction between a customer and employee. A business relies on the self-checkout system to provide the best service instead of a representative.

Fortunately, intelligent video systems can help improve in-store security and protect businesses from the threat of theft. The benefits of using video surveillance include the following:

Dissuade shoplifting: Visible surveillance cameras let bad actors know they are being watched, helping to deter theft and other criminal activity.
Monitor vendors: Unintentional errors can eat into your profits. Shrink sometimes occurs when a supplier makes a mistake, delivering the wrong items or incorrect amounts. Video surveillance at your loading dock or receiving area can help you monitor inventory more closely and reduce administrative errors.
Offer insights: Intelligent video systems can track key metrics and generate reporting on transaction times, customer conversion, and other trends. Using analytics to improve business operations is rapidly becoming the norm – Fast Company reports that 99% of Fortune 1000 companies are investing in big data.
Improve employee performance: Employee engagement is important in ensuring a positive customer experience. You can track employee and customer behavior with intelligent video, identifying areas where employees might need additional training and support.

While some retail stores and restaurants are in heavily trafficked commercial areas, others, especially C-stores, are sometimes isolated. Security cameras also offer the benefit of making both customers and employees feel safer.

How to Measure Customer Experience

Once your leadership team has taken steps to monitor customer and employee behavior, how can you gauge your success? Intelligent video can generate valuable insights on metrics such as speed of service (SOS). SOS is the amount of time it takes to complete a transaction and is a key indicator of customer satisfaction. Some metrics include:

The length of time when a QSR customer places an order and receives their food.

The amount of time it takes a customer to scan their items, pay, and get a receipt at a self-checkout terminal.

The length of time a customer orders at a drive-through speaker to when they receive their food at the last window.

Tracking SOS is critical to retaining loyal customers. Intelligent video and AI-powered analytics allow businesses to find areas of improvement in their customer service operations, ultimately becoming more efficient. Investing in analytics pays off big: Forbes reports that businesses using customer analytics have higher growth and more sales.

Order Accuracy

Another key measurement in customer experience is order accuracy. Making sure your customers get the order they ordered is big to their experience. Delivering inaccurate orders can play a big role in overall business reputation.

Using video solutions to monitor orders helps businesses identify reasons why orders may be delivered inaccurately and how they can address and solve the problem.

Enhance Customer Experience with Help from DTiQ

If you need expert advice on how to improve customer experience with video surveillance, turn to DTiQ. We have over 20 years of experience, serving more than 45,000 clients around the world, including restaurants, retailers, and C-stores. If you are interested in learning how to integrate security solutions with video surveillance, DTiQ can build a customized business intelligence solution that integrates with your existing POS system, saving you time AND money

DTiQ combines best-in-class surveillance equipment with cloud-based analytics and convenient managed services. Offering 24/7 support and enhanced reporting tools give you the data you need to drive better business decisions. Learn more about customer experience and how DTiQ can help your business book a demo today.

Convenience store loss prevention: the benefits of c-store security software

DTIQ on December 13, 2022

Convenience stores are a vital part of the economy, providing quick snacks, beverages, and other essentials. It’s estimated that about 100 million Americans shop at convenience stores each day.

But convenience stores can be particularly vulnerable to fraud and theft, which is why having a convenience store loss prevention plan in place is crucial. Learn more about improving convenience store loss prevention through security camera systems.

What Is Loss Prevention?

Unfortunately, any retail business can become a victim of internal or external theft. It’s not an issue exclusive to convenience stores. However, they are especially vulnerable. That’s why convenience stores need a loss prevention strategy: a set of practices that helps a business preserve its profits.

Any purposeful or accidental action by a customer or employee that negatively affects the bottom line can be characterized as a preventable loss. These include:

Theft: This includes the stealing of cash or product from a store. Theft may be internal (conducted by employees) or external (conducted by customers or other individuals outside the company).
Operational errors: This form of unintentional loss occurs when employees make a mistake, such as miscounting a till, undercounting inventory, or incorrectly applying sales or discounts.
Supplier fraud: This type of loss may be intentional or unintentional and occurs when a vendor or supplier acts unethically, skips deliveries, or does not provide the correct amount or type of agreed-upon goods.
Shrinkage: Simply put, this is when a store has fewer items in stock than its recorded inventory reports. Shrinkage may be due to administrative errors, supplier mistakes, shoplifting, or internal theft by employees.

Why Are Convenience Stores Vulnerable?

While all retail environments can experience losses or shrinkage, convenience stores in particular are targets of theft. Convenience store robberies account for over 10% of all robberies in the United States, with an average value of $1,028 stolen per crime — that means over $1.6 million was stolen from convenience stores over roughly 16,000 annual offenses.

Several factors put convenience stores at risk, such as:

Hours of operation: Convenience stores are often open late or even 24 hours a day. This puts them at risk of being targeted during late evening or early morning hours when there are fewer people around to intervene or witness the crime.
Store layout: C-stores tend to have a large amount of inventory in a small space. This means there are narrow aisles or tight spaces that bad actors can use to their advantage.
Ownership: Independently owned convenience stores tend to be more at risk than large national or international chains, which have more resources to put toward security measures.
Location: Convenience stores can be in more isolated areas – such as near large parking lots or highway rest stops – than other types of retail environments. These locations have fewer eyewitnesses and less lighting and activity around the store.
Cash on site: Convenience stores are likely to have cash onsite, which makes them an ideal target for criminals.

Convenience store security cameras can help reduce incidents of shoplifting and robbery – especially when they’re part of a broader loss prevention framework.

Convenience Store Loss Prevention Strategies

C-store owners need a comprehensive loss prevention plan to protect their profit margins in a competitive industry. A good loss prevention strategy should:

Protect a company’s bottom line
Prevent shoplifting and other types of crime
Improve both customer and employee experience
Reduce operational and administrative errors
Promote a culture of responsibility and safety

Many convenience stores are already practicing some forms of loss prevention – they may have a security camera or use an armored car service to transport cash offsite. To improve your loss prevention strategy, you should focus on appropriately training your staff and setting them up for success by creating a secure physical environment.

Invest in Staff Training

Loss prevention starts with the staff onboarding process and training. This means that each convenience store employee should be trained on how to receive deliveries and inventory merchandise. Any employee operating the cash register must know proper cash handling procedures and how to check for fraudulent currency. Additionally, make sure all employees know how to respond to suspicious customer activity.

You can also implement methods that minimize the chance of theft taking place before it happens. Train employees to greet each customer who enters the store. Acknowledging each customer makes them recognize that the staff is aware of their presence. If the individual needs assistance, they know who to ask, and if they are planning to shoplift, they will be deterred.

Implement Physical Security Systems

A physical security system that shoppers can see when they come in is a great way to deter theft and have footage to refer to when theft does happen. Those are two major reasons why c-store owners should use surveillance cameras throughout their businesses. Convenience store security cameras should ideally be placed:

At the store entrance
At all cash registers or POS terminals
At delivery areas or loading docks
Near high-value items, such as alcohol

Intelligent video cameras with built-in analytics software can be programmed to alert an owner if suspicious activity occurs and are invaluable if you need to identify criminals after a theft occurs. Parking lot cameras are also helpful for capturing license plate numbers and vehicle descriptions.

Some convenience store security camera systems also use public view monitors and mounted TV screens that display video surveillance in real-time. That lets customers know they are being watched and helps dissuade criminal activity. Simple signage that lets customers know the store has security cameras can be effective as well.

Choose DTiQ for Tailored Convenience Store Loss Prevention Solutions

Looking for convenience store security software that protects your people and profits? At DTiQ, we develop customizable security and loss prevention solutions designed to meet C-stores’ unique needs.

Our comprehensive business intelligence platform includes artificial intelligence and data analytics to identify suspicious activity that may take place in your convenience store. In the event of a break-in, you receive live support from DTiQ with recording and two-way audio that lets intruders know the police have been notified. And because we know C-stores work around the clock, we provide 24/7 customer support.

With our integrated mobile app, you can monitor your C-store and receive alerts even when you’re working remotely. Plus, DTiQ’s subscription-based model means you always have the tools you need to guard your business.

Book a demo today for more information about our custom solutions and pricing.

Employee engagement and retention strategies for an improved workforce

Bob Cliche on December 12, 2022

Theoretically, it’s easy to spot the difference between an engaged and a disengaged employee. You can look at their quality of work, willingness to collaborate, and overall behavior in the workplace. But employee engagement can be difficult to quantify and measure – and disengaged employees are more likely to quit.

Because employee engagement is directly connected to retention rates, managers need to understand this powerful metric. This article will go over how you can improve employee engagement and retention and the benefits for your business of an engaged workforce.

Employee Engagement and Retention: What’s the Difference?

Employee engagement and retention may be closely connected, but they are distinct. Employee engagement is the level of enthusiasm, connection, and dedication a worker feels toward their job and the company at large. An engaged employee is:

Clear about their role and their specific job duties
Loyal to their employer
Motivated and productive
Invested in the success of their company

Employee retention, on the other hand, is a company’s ability to prevent staff turnover and keep employees at their company. Because engaged employees care about their work, their colleagues, and helping their team succeed, they are less likely to leave for another job. Strong employee engagement, therefore, translates into high employee retention.

Benefits of Higher Retention Rates

High employee retention benefits everyone in the company, including the customers it serves. Here’s how retention affects each group:

Management: Hiring and training new staff is expensive and time-consuming — one study revealed it can cost $1,500 to replace even an hourly worker. The same study shows that replacing a mid-level employee can cost up to 150% of their salary to find a replacement. When employee turnover is low, HR staff and managers have more time (and budget) to focus on other priorities.
Employees: High turnover affects both the employees who leave and those who stay. Employees who leave your organization miss out on company training, development, and advancement opportunities. And those who stay may have to take on additional work while the position is being refilled, which can lead to stress or burnout.
Customers: Knowledgeable and experienced employees are able to ensure a seamless customer experience. In contrast, high employee churn can mean that guests receive slower and lower-quality service as they interact with less-experienced employees.
Shareholders: Gallup estimates that voluntary turnover due to burnout can cost an organization up to 20% of its payroll budget. That can translate into thousands – or millions – of dollars each year, significantly affecting your bottom line.

Overall, low retention rates also significantly affect morale. If the makeup of your team is always changing, your team is less likely to be invested in your collective success. Managers lose the institutional knowledge that these employees hold – and the opportunity to promote them to higher-level positions, which costs less than hiring external candidates.

How to Develop an Employee Engagement Strategy

You want your employees to be happy, engaged, and productive, and you value keeping them feeling that – but do you have a plan in place to achieve that goal? Ad hoc initiatives like employee appreciation days are great, but they’re not enough to build a strong company culture or increase employee engagement.

An employee engagement strategy is a comprehensive plan to foster a positive workplace culture, reduce turnover, and keep workers motivated and engaged on an ongoing basis. To build your strategy, take a critical look at each phase of the employee lifecycle at your organization:

Recruitment: Your employee recruitment efforts and materials should communicate your mission and attract applicants who are passionate about the work you do.
Hiring: Clear position descriptions help you match the right candidates to the right roles.
Training: Employee engagement, retention, and support starts on day one. Make sure your onboarding process is welcoming and comprehensive.
Supervision: Each employee needs to know where to go when they need help. Managers are responsible for communicating clear expectations and providing ongoing support.
Development: Employees are more likely to stay when they have room to grow. Managers should provide training and development opportunities and offer feedback about areas for improvement.
Recognition: Forbes reports that over 80% of American employees don’t feel recognized at work, so make sure you’re offering praise for outstanding performance.
Departure: When an employee leaves an organization, management should take the time to conduct an exit interview and understand their reasons for leaving. Exit interviews can provide valuable insights that will help improve your engagement strategy.

Improving Employee Engagement and Retention

Once you have a solid engagement plan, you can focus on ways to improve and refine your engagement tactics. Every company is different, so your employee engagement and retention strategies should be customized to your industry and business — this can get as granular as each individual store. But in general, you’ll want to focus on training, support, and communication. Consider the following four practices:

1. Start with the basics

Before you dive into retention strategies, start by clarifying your value proposition: what attracts employees to your company? Take a look at your competitors and ensure your wages and benefits are competitive. Review your typical work schedules to make sure that shifts are divided equitably.

2. Gather insights

Your current employees are a big resource – if you want to retain them, you need to understand their perspectives. Consider implementing a staff satisfaction survey to gain insights into what works well and isn’t. Ask employees if they’re receiving meaningful support from their supervisors, and collect data on what would help them stay. This may include more opportunities for advancement, a bonus program, or more schedule flexibility.

3. Track performance

Quantitative data is just as important as the qualitative feedback you collect from staff. Many retail and dining establishments already have the camera and video systems in place. These can be excellent training tools for staff, especially when it comes to implementing health and safety practices or tracking customer engagement.

4. Support your managers

While your retention efforts may be focused on frontline employees, don’t overlook staff members in middle-management roles. Make sure you have the proper training in place to help them do their jobs well and maintain open lines of communication.

Your C-suite executives won’t have day-to-day contact with entry-level employees, but supervisors do. They’re in a powerful position to communicate your company culture and give on-the-ground insights into employee engagement.

See How Tools Like DTiQ Can Help to Track and Improve Employee Engagement

Looking for ways to level up your employee engagement? DTiQ can help.

As a global leader in intelligent video-based surveillance tools, DTiQ serves over 45,000 retail, restaurant, and convenience store customers. We offer customized cloud-based video solutions and comprehensive managed services with subscription-based pricing, so you can efficiently track employee engagement and productivity.

DTiQ even offers SmartAudits to evaluate team members remotely and provide data-driven insights to improve employee performance. Book a demo today for more information about improving employee engagement and retention with DTiQ.

Easy ways to prevent loyalty program losses

DTIQ on December 8, 2022

What store wouldn’t want more loyal customers? A proven tactic for driving loyalty is a well-designed and well-executed customer loyalty program. From retaining existing customers to attracting and converting new customers to loyal ones, a rewards/loyalty program is an easy way to ensure your customers continue to visit your locations.

But business owners and managers know that customer loyalty programs also come with certain risks. Fraudsters can take advantage of your loyalty program — a type of program those savvy to the industry or business know is likely low on a company’s radar to monitor abuse. Find out more about loyalty program fraud and what you can do about it.

What Are the Pros and Cons of a Loyalty Program?

Retaining current customers is just as important as attracting new ones, and implementing a rewards program is a powerful tactic on the customer journey. A study from Forbes found that loyal customers spend, on average, 31% more and are 50% more likely to try new products. It sounds like a win-win scenario, right?

Rewards programs make it easier for companies to invest in their customer base and remain engaged. Some of the benefits of loyalty programs include:

Customer Appreciation: Loyalty programs don’t just boost your profits — they also help customers save. Rewards show your clientele that their business truly matters.
Incentivized shopping: When customers sign up for a loyalty program, you can gather their information and turn it into a mailing list. This makes it easier for you to remain at top of your mind and also advertise with your target audience. This can be especially helpful in boosting sales during slower seasons.
Increased brand awareness: In terms of marketing, loyalty programs help ensure your brand is easily recognized and remembered by your customers. With updates on their current reward status, they’ll think of you first when it’s time to purchase.

Like many other programs, rewards come with certain drawbacks. Discounts of any kind will eat into your bottom line. What’s more, this is a competitive tactic — making your loyalty program stand out among the others that exist everywhere else is hard. And if it’s not implemented and monitored properly, the profitability can be inconsistent.

What Is Loyalty Program Liability?

Loyalty program liability is an estimate of the total amount your company will need to reserve to pay for redemption. Accounting rules indicate that this should appear on the balance sheet for the expected costs of redemption for all issued points.

If you consider this eventual debt properly, your rewards/program will have done its job — help you maintain a clientele and increase your profits. If not, this failure can have a sizeable impact on your company’s financial health.

What Are the Risks of a Loyalty Program?

The primary risk lies in fraudulent behavior, which could be on the part of an employee or customer. While tracking and resolving loyalty fraud from external parties is a lower priority in the realm of loss prevention solutions, one area that’s fast and easy to identify and resolve is internal loyalty program fraud.

Some employees will try to take advantage of the system for their own benefit. And the danger with internal loyalty fraud is that employees may justify this activity as not doing anything wrong. The most common instance of internal loyalty fraud we find is the creation of fraudulent accounts.

If a customer did belong to the program, the points would have been earned and used anyway — right?

This is especially true when there’s no incentive for the employee to communicate the program to customers because few checks and balances are in place at the store level. And once one employee decides to engage in this activity, others often follow. Aside from personal gain, these employees also undermine the loyalty program results for their location.

Examples of Loyalty Program Fraud

Not resolving internal fraud can ultimately impact your P&L. So why not know what to look for and take some easy preventative measures to prevent internal issues? The most common types of internal loyalty program fraud include:

Creating Fraudulent Accounts

Creating their own loyalty account and collecting rewards from customers not using the loyalty program at the time of purchase
Creating loyalty accounts for friends/family members, then entering that loyalty account onto customer purchases and taking the reward points

Stealing Rewards Points

Finding receipts of transactions not added to a loyalty program and adding them onto their own accounts after the fact
Using available loyalty rewards from a customer’s account on their own purchase

Gaming the System

Entering fake customer data to increase their capture rate
Signing up fake or random customers to a loyalty program to earn a reward or incentive from the company
Creating and managing several fake loyalty accounts, even as fraudulent ones are found and deactivated

Loyalty Program Fraud Prevention in Action

The good news is that knowing is half the battle. With custom solutions, it’s easy to find and resolve loyalty issues. Here are some things you can do to help prevent loyalty fraud at your business:

Mystery Shops

You’re probably already doing mystery shops in some or all of your locations. Adding or editing one criterion of that secret shop is simple and probably free. It’s a great way to spot-check the team’s performance. It’s also a powerful tool for accountability when parameters of mystery shop criteria are consistently communicated to teams.

Remote Audits

As more solutions go virtual, so have mystery shops. At DTiQ, our expert auditors are trained to scan thousands of hours of video so they can virtually and anonymously spot-check complex, multi-step operational procedures and selling behaviors. And depending on how we integrate with your systems, we can layer on audio and analytics for deeper insights.

Audio Surveillance

The simple addition of audio to select surveillance cameras (normally the ones at your register areas) empowers any of your team members with access to take a quick listen to what employees and customers are saying during a transaction. This tool more objectively assesses the execution of selling and loyalty behaviors, coaches for improvement, and secures proof if needed to support fraud investigations.

Exception-Based Reporting (EBR)

The most technically advanced solution also offers the broadest benefit. By integrating your POS system with a smart tool like DTiQ’s analytics, our machine learning and expert auditors review transaction trends and flag those that are out of the norm (like 10 rewards account created in a row when your location averages only three a day). We can even save your teams the time and effort of an investigation by sending in one of our forensic investigators to resolve the fraudulent incident.

Trust DTiQ for Loyalty Fraud Support

Let us help you craft a comprehensive loss prevention strategy that incorporates your business’s loyalty program. Our personalized business intelligence solutions help improve the customer experience while providing the detailed insights you need to expertly manage your company. Book a demo today for more information about loyalty fraud prevention, our subscription pricing, and our services.

4 major benefits of a multi-lane drive-thru

DTIQ on December 7, 2022

The 4 Benefits of a Multi-Lane Drive-Thru

There’s no doubt that the pandemic has driven more traffic to drive-thrus (no pun intended) — this translates into a roughly 43% increase in drive-thru use since April 2020. This increase in use has restaurants investing in multi-lane drive-thrus to deal with increased traffic. And the great news is that restaurants have been seeing the benefits.

Multi-lane drive-thrus have been growing in popularity across the country, with some businesses going up to four drive-thru lanes at certain locations. Is it worth the investment for your quick-service restaurant? This article will go over the major benefits of a multi lane drive thru and how to get started.

What is a Multi-Lane Drive-Thru?

Originally, a drive-thru was an individual lane outside of a restaurant (typically a quick service restaurant) that a customer could drive to and order. They place the order, pay, and receive their order all without ever stepping foot out of their car.

And since single-lane drive-thrus have been so successful in driving business for QSRs, businesses have naturally evolved the single lane into numerous lanes.

A multi-lane drive-thru allows anywhere between two and four lanes to exist in your drive-thru. Cars can enter numerous lines — resulting in shorter lines — and place their order the same way they would in a single lane. Typically, the cars then merge into a singular line between the ordering box and the pickup window.

Businesses from Chick-fil-A, Taco Bell, and McDonalds are just some examples of QSRs that have been reaping the benefits of multi-lane-drive-thrus. Taco Bell has even designated certain lanes of their multi-lane-drive-thrus for mobile pickup, due to the growing popularity of order-ahead and carry-away options.

What Are the Benefits of a Multi-Lane-Drive-Thru?

The influx of large chains embracing numerous lanes in their drive-thru is a safe indicator that there are some major benefits. Here’s what you can expect.

Increase Speed of Service

The biggest benefit of a quick service restaurant to customers is that they’re quick (it’s in the name, after all!). Because of that, being able to offer speedy service that actually is fast is key. Giving your customers an option that allows them to spend less time in line is a great way to boost that QSR experience.

At the end of the day, increasing speed of service is a huge revenue driver.

Lines Look Half as Short, Making it More Appealing

Have you ever pulled into a drive-thru, only to see a massive line and immediately turn the other way? Even if you haven’t, one of your customers likely has. In fact, the CEO of Chick-fil-A estimates over 30% of their customers have turned around if the drive-thru line seems too long. Having two potential lines makes things look smaller, and minimizes the number of customers who would drive away — two lines of five cars seems much less time-consuming than one line of ten cars.

It’s Easier to Meet Demographic Needs

QSR Magazine did a survey that revealed that 42% of people would want more options for mobile orders through a drive-thru — it’s no wonder Taco Bell recently embraced that specific lane for mobile orders. You don’t want to clog up your single drive-thru with mobile orders, but it’s easy to meet this customer desire when you have more than one lane available.

You Can Reach More Customers

Simply put, customers want drive-thrus, even if you’re not a traditional QSR. The same QSR Magazine survey referenced above also discovered that 57% of respondents would order more from fast-casual restaurants if they had a drive-thru as an option. By having a multi-lane drive-thru, you can reach that audience easier.

How Do You Implement and Optimize Your Multi-Lane Drive-Thru?

Here are 3 ways to implement and optimize your multi-lane drive-thru operation.

Embrace Technology

You don’t have to master the drive-thru overnight on your own — there is extremely powerful restaurant technology available that can make optimizing your new efforts easier. This can include using drive-thru timing systems, performance monitors your in-house team can see, and cloud-based reporting that provides valuable and actionable insights.

This technology can lead to majorly impactful improvements. For example, the DTiQ and Summit Innovation solutions have been proven time and again to improve the speed of service times by 20-60 seconds. That much time saved for customers in a drive-thru is huge!

And on the business side, more cars = more revenue. Customers feel good, and your bottom line increases. It’s a win-win.

Train Your Team Sufficiently

Having adequate training is key to both a smooth drive-thru experience for diners and an engaged and capable team. Let teams train on how they take orders from two, three, or four lanes, versus one, and learn to balance the increase in traffic.

Have Enough Staff to Manage Order Influx

Training will only go so far if you don’t have people to manage the demand. If all goes to plan, a multi lane drive thru will lead to more drive-thru traffic — this means more work to be done in-house. Before launching your multi-lane drive-thru on a full scale, make sure you have enough staff to manage it. While still entirely possible, increased demand can make it harder to deliver the same experience with a limited team.

Final Thoughts

As the popularity of the drive-thru experience continues to book, so does the need for restaurants to level up their drive-thru experience. For the reasons discussed above, a multi-lane approach may be the next step to serving up the best customer experience possible. If you’re looking for more support on the technology side of your drive-thru (either single or multi-lane), see how DTiQ and Summit Innovations can help. You can contact us to see our technology in action — and the benefits it could bring your QSR.

Understanding employee theft: how to prevent internal theft from your employees

Bob Cliche on October 4, 2022

Internal theft is stealing money, property, or time committed by an employee, which can be quite costly. According to a report from the National Retail Federation, the average dollar loss per dishonest employee case was over $1,500.

A Real Example of Internal Theft

One particular Subway store was able to verify an employee pocketing money by using the item correct feature on its registers. This employee rang up the items ordered and stated the amount to the customer; while the customer was gathering cash, she item corrected the tender to $0. The employee would collect cash from the customer, place it in the register, and then calculate the customer’s change.

After taking a more thorough look into the situation by using a Forensic Investigation solution from DTiQ named SmartAudit, the owner was able to clearly indicate that the employee had been ringing up fraudulent transactions.

What is Internal Theft?

There are many types of employee theft. Some examples include:

Service theft: Many companies offer discounted or free services for their employees. Service theft can occur when a worker lets a friend or family member use their employee discount – or doesn’t charge them for services rendered.
Time theft: Time theft is common, with many employees not even realizing they’re committing theft. This type of theft can mean falsifying time sheets or when employees take extended or unauthorized breaks.
Money theft: Stealing money is one of the most blatant types of internal theft – but it can easily go unnoticed. For example, if an employee pockets tips from a tip jar before the money is counted, their manager may not be aware of the theft.
Data theft: This type of internal theft occurs when an employee steals proprietary information, such as customer data, to sell or use.
Inventory theft: Shrinkage, or missing inventory, is a type of internal theft in retail that many store managers already have on their radar. Forbes reports that shrinkage accounted for $60 billion in retail losses annually.
Occupational fraud: Employees can steal from their employers by committing fraud. Employee fraud is a type of fraud that is a deliberate act involving the use of deception to gain an advantage from a position of trust or authority.

Signs of Internal Theft

There are noticeable warning signs of internal theft, like missing inventory or a register that’s short at the end of the day. But other indications of theft are more subtle – for example, if an employee always wants to come in early or stay late, it might be a sign that they are committing theft when other staff members aren’t around.

Of course, if your profit margins have taken an unexplainable hit, it’s a good idea to conduct an internal audit to identify the cause. This could be due to employee theft.

How to Prevent Internal Theft

The best way to address internal employee theft is by preventing it before it starts by implementing these loss prevention strategies:

Background checks: Consider background checks during the hiring process
Proper training: Ensure each employee is properly trained and understands the policies in place.
Implement internal controls: Good financial practices reduce opportunities for internal theft. It’s important to use a system of checks and balances. For example, a single employee should never count or handle cash without another worker present.
Implement monitoring systems: Camera monitoring can help employers review suspicious activity and catch improper practices.

Prevent Internal Theft With Help From DTiQ

Preventing internal theft comes with its challenges, considering it is happening within your establishment. This can mean it is a single employee or a group of employees working together who know the ins and outs of your business.

By utilizing a loss prevention system like DTiQ, we can build a custom solution that can allow you to identify internal theft threats. Much like what we were able to for Subway.

To learn more about how we have helped other establishments such as Domino’s Pizza, 7-Eleven, Wendy’s, and more, view our client case studies.

The importance of supplying video to insurance claims adjusters

DTIQ on July 22, 2019

An inventory manager at a restaurant steals high-end food items. A payroll employee tampers with paychecks. A disgruntled customer “accidentally” slips and falls, threatening to sue for negligence. Restaurant and retail store owners face threats to their businesses from every direction. In fact, from theft alone U.S. businesses lost an average of $1.13 million in 2016, with small and midsize businesses taking a disproportionate hit, representing 68 percent of the cases.

In cases of theft, the business owners get stuck with the losses and their only recourse is to terminate the employee. And when it comes to purposeful “accidents,” the best they can do is cross their fingers and hope it doesn’t happen again. A better option is filing an insurance claim to recoup some of the losses, but often this doesn’t go far enough because there is a lack of legally submissible evidence.

So how does an employer deal with their insurance adjustor in a way that stacks the deck in their favor? Proof. Because insurance is often the only way an organization can recover funds or fight off a potential disastrous legal claim, it is imperative to bolster their case using indisputable evidence.

The Proof is in the Pudding

Whether it’s a criminal case or a civil legal proceeding, business owners must be prepared to assume the burden of proving their losses. Insurance claims adjusters are notoriously detail-oriented. They have to be, since their job is to minimize as much as possible the amount of money paid on a claim or, if the opportunity arises, to deny the claim altogether.

They’ll call on business owners to produce documentation of ownership, value (in cases of theft), and claimed damages among other information. For even the most experienced risk management teams, proper and timely claim submission is a max-effort undertaking, requiring careful deliberation and technical know-how.

Most claims start with an allegation or complaint. It may originate from a formal complaint from a witness, an observation from the year-end auditors, or even a confession. The ensuing steps in the claim process involve establishing facts, and corroborating those facts, and building a timeline with evidence.

While written documents and statements are essential to the process, few things are as valuable as incontrovertible video evidence.

The Role and importance of video in reclaiming what is yours

When it comes to maximizing the potential payout on an insurance claim, accuracy and thoroughness are essential. It can be tempting for a store or restaurant owner to enlist the support of employees to provide statements supporting the claim.

But eyewitness accounts have proven repeatedly unreliable and not sufficiently convincing for claims adjusters. In fact, psychologists have found that memories are reconstructed rather than played back each time we recall them. Witness statements can often be biased or otherwise influenced by the situation. It may even change if they’re asked to repeat it.

Standard systems reports—like those from point of sale systems or other databases—rely exclusively on transactional data, providing only limited insight into an alleged loss incident. Together, standard reports and eyewitness accounts will tell a skewed, often incomplete or inaccurate, version of the truth.

Video has no such challenges. It’s the great truth-teller, providing the context and intelligence around and event or incident that written reports and secondhand accounts simply can’t provide. Of course, we’re not talking about the grainy, black-and-white footage from antiquated video surveillance systems.

Today’s video intelligence solutions are end-to-end platforms featuring next-gen hardware and fully integrated software that unifies data from various sources to provide complete visibility and transparency across a store or restaurant operations. HD analog and IP cameras provide time stamped high-definition picture and high-fidelity audio capture every detail, even in low light with night vision capabilities.

More important, cloud-based systems like DTiQ’s 360iQ, enable store owners to search and recall stored footage instantly, from any device, and compare it side-by-side with transactional reports, witness statements, and other supporting information to tell the whole story completely and accurately.

Bad things happen to good store owners. And when they do, video evidence to support an insurance claim is often the fastest and most effective path to start the road to recovery.

Schedule a free product demo to learn more about how DTiQ can help protect your business against loss and low-value insurance claims.