63075 Effect of Pandemic on Restaurants INTRODUCTION: The COVID -19 pandemic has severely affected the various aspects of life, be it social, political or economic. The restaurants and hospitality...

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Effect of Pandemic on Restaurants
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
1. INTRODUCTION
2. PROBLEM STATEMENT
3. STRATEGIES & WAY FORWARD
4. REAL LIFE CASES
5. SUMMARY
6. REFERNECE
1.INTRODUCTION:
The economy and its components follow a Business Cycle. This means that there are periods of downturn where the demand is slow and periods of recovery when the demand picks up and there is recovery and growth in the economy. These downturns may vary in their time periods but there might also some external disruptions that might altogether change the dynamics of a particular industry. The same holds true for the restaurant industry which has been hit hardly by the current COVID-19 pandemic. There is no doubt that the current COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the normal business operations in every field, but the tragic part with restaurant industry is that, it has altogether change the way how the consumers and sellers going to interact with each other in order to buy any eatery items.
2.PROBLEM STATEMENT:
2.1 Change in Customer behaviour -
Even today, when the things are restoring to normalcy, most consumers are avoiding restaurants and public spaces and preparing most of their meals at home. In this current crisis the restaurant industry will really need to identify the challenges and adapt themselves by taking innovative measures, in order to boost up the demand. (Jones, 2020)
2.2 Excess Inventory of Perishable Goods -
With almost no customers, the demand has fallen greatly leaving behind the excess inventory of perishable items like vegetables and other milk products. Due to the perishable nature of the goods, the problem has further been aggravated for the restaurant industry. (Lindquist, 2020)
2.3 Cash Flow difficulties -
As it is a known fact that many fine dinning restaurants are located in the posh areas where the rents are excessively high and with other maintenance cost the restaurant are either closing their operations or using their savings to manage the crisis. (Nouriel Roubini, 2020)
3.STRATEGIES AND THE WAY FORWARD:
3.1 Change in Menu -
As more customers are preferring for take away options, the restaurants have to customise and design their menu in such a way that the food items are easy and handy to carry. Moreover, new dishes have to be introduced that are easier to transport and heat at home. These dishes should be packed in an attractive packing and provide customization option to customers in standard dishes as well.
3.2 Touchless experience -
A complete touchless experience will be a game changer for the restaurant industry in future. Once the situation will start towards normalcy, customers will be looking for a fully touchless ordering experience where they can handle each and everything with their mobile devices. The restaurants can convert their point of sale systems into the self-service kiosks, which will help the restaurant workers to take orders and deliver the food without any physical interaction.
3.3 Fine-tuning the Operations -...