Asmita Mukherjee | Hyderabad
India’s restaurant industry is at an inflection point. Rising input costs, tighter margins and the pressure to scale are forcing operators to rethink how they run their businesses. What was once a largely intuition-led sector is steadily moving toward data-backed decision-making, where visibility and control can make the difference between profit and leakage.
For Shivaprakash Mogali, Founder of Digitory, the shift is both urgent and overdue. “At Digitory, we’ve seen that most restaurants are still operating reactively, identifying issues only after they’ve already impacted margins. We’re helping operators shift to predictive decision-making by connecting data across sales, inventory, and recipes. Instead of just showing what happened, we focus on what is about to happen,” he said.
From reactive to predictive
He noted, that gap between hindsight and foresight is where many restaurant businesses continue to struggle, adding that month-end reconciliations often reveal problems that could have been avoided earlier. “For example, operators can identify fast-moving versus slow-moving SKUs in real time, predict stock-outs or overstock situations, and highlight variance between ideal and actual consumption. This allows restaurant owners to act early, whether it is optimising procurement, adjusting pricing, or controlling wastage, rather than firefighting at the end of the month,” he added.
Beyond standalone POS
The need for such visibility is also driving a broader shift away from standalone systems. For years, POS terminals formed the backbone of restaurant tech, but their role was largely limited. Today, that is no longer enough. “Standalone POS systems solved billing, but restaurants today need control, visibility, and scalability. What’s driving this shift is the need for a single source of truth, real-time insights across outlets, and reduced manual dependencies,” Mogali said.
Integrated platforms are beginning to knit together different parts of the operation such as, orders, kitchens, inventory and customer data into a single flow. “With an integrated platform – orders flow seamlessly from QR to POS to Kitchen Display Systems, while inventory updates automatically with every sale. CRM and loyalty systems are directly tied to transactions. This eliminates silos and significantly improves speed, accuracy, and guest experience. As a result, day-to-day operations become more connected and predictable rather than fragmented,” he explained.
Tackling inventory leakages
Yet, even as technology adoption increases, one persistent pain point remains: inventory leakage. For many operators, controlling wastage without complicating day-to-day workflows is a delicate balance. Mogali pointed out that the solution lies in simplifying execution while strengthening backend controls. “This is one of the biggest challenges in the industry. The mistake many systems make is adding complexity at the outlet level. Our approach is to simplify execution while automating control in the backend,” he said.
“This is achieved through recipe-level consumption mapping, real-time stock deduction based on sales, variance alerts for abnormal consumption, and simple stock-closing apps for staff. For the outlet team, the process remains easy, while for owners, visibility becomes extremely sharp. That’s where technology creates impact without increasing operational burden,” he added.
Scaling with consistency
According to Mogali, the challenges multiply when brands expand across multiple locations. Inconsistent processes, delayed reporting and lack of real-time oversight often lead to uneven customer experiences and margin erosion. “In multi-outlet brands, the biggest inefficiencies we see are lack of standardised processes, delayed or inaccurate reporting, and no real-time visibility across outlets. This leads to inconsistent guest experiences and margin leakages,” Mogali said.
Centralised systems, he noted, can bring much-needed discipline and scalability. “With centralized control through Digitory, owners can monitor all outlets in real time, standardize recipes, pricing, and processes, and optimize inventory and procurement centrally. This improves consistency and enables faster, more confident decision-making, which is critical when scaling,” he added.
Cutting through the AI hype
While automation and artificial intelligence are widely discussed across the hospitality sector, Mogali cautioned against overhyping their role without clear use cases. “There is definitely a lot of hype around AI right now. From what we see on the ground, the real impact is coming from automation first, along with selective use of AI,” he said.
He further explained, “Measurable results are seen in automated inventory tracking and reconciliation, smart alerts for anomalies, demand pattern analysis, and assisted decision-making for operators. AI becomes valuable when it is solving a clear operational problem, not when it’s used as a buzzword. The focus should always be ROI-driven adoption, not technology for the sake of it.”
Data-driven menus
Beyond cost control, data is also reshaping how menus are designed and priced. Restaurants are increasingly looking at what sells, what earns, and what can be optimised. “Leading brands are now using data not just to control costs, but to drive revenue and profitability. They are identifying high-margin versus high-volume items, understanding contribution margins at a dish level, optimizing menus based on performance, and implementing dynamic pricing and bundling strategies,” Mogali said.
“With Digitory, since sales, recipes, and inventory are connected, brands get a true picture of item-level profitability, not just topline sales. This shifts decision-making from intuition to data-backed menu strategy,” he added.
The road ahead
Mogali indicated that the industry will become more structured and technology-led. “We believe the next phase of growth will be driven by integrated technology ecosystems replacing fragmented tools, data-driven operations becoming the norm rather than an advantage, and automation at scale reducing dependency on manual processes,” he said.
He also pointed to evolving consumer behaviour and expansion strategies. “Self-service experiences like QR ordering are becoming standard, and multi-outlet scalability is gaining importance as brands expand across cities and geographies. India’s F&B ecosystem is evolving rapidly, and operators who adopt structured, tech-enabled operations early will have a significant advantage,” he added.
In an industry where margins remain under pressure, the move toward predictive, data-led operations is no longer optional, rather it is becoming essential.
