Survey: Nearly half of restaurants plan to increase tech investments in 2026
Restaurants are leaning on technology as increased prices and decreases in traffic continue to put pressure on operators.
While pre-tax profit margins for restaurants remain around 4%, nearly six-in-10 (57%) restaurants have reported a decline in guest traffic, according to unified commerce platform Qu’s latest Restaurant Technology Benchmark Report. This number grows to 67% for quick-serve chains.
More than half (55%) of restaurants surveyed cite operational execution as the top barrier to delivering a better guest experience, followed by fragmented systems and data (37%). More than six-in-10 (62%) say improving order flow across all channels is the top priority for 2026.
Nearly half (48%) of restaurant brands surveyed plan to increase tech investment in 2026, naming digital guest experience as the top priority (57%). More than half (54%) of QSRs planning to increase tech spending this year, compared with 44% of fast-casual restaurants.
“When restaurants face declining guest traffic, growth can’t come from pricing alone,” said Amir Hudda, CEO of Qu. “The guest experience must be improved across channels, from ordering to kitchen to fulfillment. To effectively address these challenges with technology, restaurants need intelligent systems built on unified data. Without that foundation, AI becomes another tool layered onto disconnected systems rather than a true growth engine.”
A large majority (73%) of operators are actively investing in AI or plan to start in 2026. Use cases for the technology focus on guest growth (53%), followed by operations (40%). Despite this, only 5% report measurable operational value or guest impact from AI to date, with an additional 33% reporting that value is emerging. QSRs emphasize front-of-house technologies as the most beneficial, especially voice ordering (33%) and drive-thru computer vision (23%).
[READ MORE: Survey: Tech problems mount for QSR employees]
“What’s encouraging in this year’s data is the clear shift from experimentation to execution,” added Hudda. “Restaurants are increasing technology investment, accelerating AI adoption, and prioritizing operational improvements at scale to improve guest engagement. Operators recognize that the next phase of growth will come from modernizing how restaurants run across every channel and connecting the guest experience with smarter, more integrated systems.”
Qu’s report also revealed a notable perception gap between restaurant CEOs and the leaders responsible for running daily operations. While more than half (53%) of CEOs reported no major system instability affecting their brand, only 17% of non-CEO leaders said the same. Qu says this suggests that executives closest to operations experience technology challenges and guest impact more directly.
Qu’s Restaurant Technology Benchmark Report analyzed the challenges faced by 168 brands representing 94,000 fast-casual and QSR locations.
