Mobile apps, online ordering, and automated kiosks—what’s a restaurant’s best bet for adding tech? More and more eateries in the hospitality industry are paving the way for an automated future—one where sales increase, costs go down, and customers are happier to skip a line and some in-person wait time.
New restaurant technology is becoming a standard, and a digital lunchtime of ordering and paying before picking up your food is becoming the norm. A restaurant with a mobile app benefits with: enticing photos of food for customers to peruse, click-to-call buttons for customers who use the app to get ahold of the restaurant, and easy access to leaving reviews on important sites. Not to mention access to the entire menu, specials, and discounts or loyalty rewards.
Online ordering often facilitates a better service experience once a customer is in the restaurant. Order fulfillment for staff is better streamlined when orders come in online, providing the staff is ready to juggle in the in-person customers with the online orders. For deliveries, having the order, address, and payment handled automatically frees up staff to make the order and get it out the door faster.
Stand-alone payment kiosks are popping up on tabletops as well as in restaurant and hotel lobbies. Millennials are drawn to quick service and self-serve options. Increased sales have been reported at restaurants where kiosks are available as an option.
There once was a time when restaurants started adding drive-throughs to satisfy customers’ desires. Time has come again where the customer dictates the next best thing, and for many, it’s waiting right on their mobile phone.
