Qu Rolls Out Sales-Driven Innovations to Help QSR and Fast-Casual Restaurants Navigate Market Headwinds

Latest product updates empower enterprise brands to increase average check sizes and protect margins as traffic stagnates

ARLINGTON, Va., July 15, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Qu, the leader in unified commerce for fast-casual and quick-service (QSR) brands, has introduced new platform innovations to help operators boost average check sizes, improve guest experiences, and make faster, more informed decisions amid today's challenging economic landscape for enterprise restaurants. 

The updates come at a critical time for the industry. Fast-casual and quick-service restaurants are experiencing softer sales and declining traffic, leading to profitability challenges and tighter margins. Notably, full-service concepts were more stable and resilient than QSRs through May 2025, according to a recent article from Nation's Restaurant News. As guests become increasingly budget-conscious and inflation fatigue takes hold, operators are under pressure to generate more revenue from every visit, without raising prices.

"Traffic is down, but expectations aren't," said Amir Hudda, CEO of Qu. "Our job is to help operators make every guest visit count — whether that's boosting check averages with strategic upsells, reducing wait times with faster fulfillment, or delivering a unified technology experience that ensures every guest leaves satisfied." 

Built on Qu's cloud-native architecture, the enhancements are designed for impact and speed, addressing operator pain points across ordering, operations, and guest experience.

Helping Operators Capture More From Every Visit

• Intelligent kiosk upselling and promotions: Brands using kiosks have consistently seen higher check averages, and Qu's latest features are helping them go even further. New upsell and cross-sell capabilities prompt guests with timely, high-margin add-ons at both kiosks and POS. Qu customers are realizing increased check averages of up to 22% from kiosk cross-sell alone. When idle, kiosks also display branded video content or screensavers, turning wait time into promotional time.
  
  
• Smarter cross-sell performance tracking: Operators can now see which prompts drive the highest acceptance rates and revenue lift, making it easier to optimize promotions and refine pairings based on real performance data.
  
  
• Increased third-party order acceptance: Qu reduces third-party order failures to just 0.2%, well below the 0.7% industry average. For locations with $50,000 in monthly marketplace volume, that translates to over $3,000 in recovered revenue per location annually. This performance earned Qu the exclusive "Excellent" rating in DoorDash's new Preferred Integrations Program — the only POS platform to receive the distinction.
  
  
• Multi-currency POS capabilities: With U.S. franchises projected to expand their international footprint by 12% in 2025, according to Americas Franchising Group, Qu now enables seamless transactions in Canadian dollars and Mexican pesos. Automatic currency conversion and unified reporting simplify operations for border-region and international locations.

Helping Teams Work Smarter and Serve Faster

• Real-time kitchen orchestration with item state tracking: The intelligent kitchen display system guides prep teams on when to start and finish items, improving speed and reducing errors during peak shifts. Item states can also be shared with guests, enhancing transparency and reducing miscommunication at handoff.
  
  
• Enhanced voice and chat reporting: The Notify app provides access to real-time sales, labor, and campaign performance insights through voice and chat, eliminating the need for manual reports. A new feedback feature now allows users to rate responses, helping improve the accuracy and relevance of future answers.
  
  
• Integrated energy and equipment monitoring: Qu's IoT integrations track equipment performance and energy usage in real time, helping operators reduce waste, prevent costly breakdowns, and extend appliance life. This frees up time and resources for the team to stay focused on the guest experience.

The Bottom Line
Whether it's boosting check averages, reducing wait times, or preventing service disruptions, Qu's latest innovations give fast-casual and QSR operators the tools they need to drive sales and protect profitability, even in a high-pressure market.

These and many more updates are now available to all Qu customers. To learn more, visit qubeyond.com/spring-product-release-highlights-2025 or explore more at qubeyond.com.

About Qu
Qu is evolving restaurant POS to create a truly connected restaurant experience for guests and operators at quick-service and fast-casual restaurants. Qu's industry-leading, cloud-native Unified Commerce Platform fuses the ordering, operations and guest engagement functions, delivering the real-time data needed to drive loyal, repeat guests. Based in Arlington, Virginia, Qu is backed by leading restaurant entrepreneurs and investors, including Cota Capital, Enlightened Hospitality Investments (EHI), Bobby Cox Companies and NRD Capital. Visit qubeyond.com and stay connected with LinkedIn.

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SOURCE Qu