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7 ways wearable technology could impact the restaurant industry

Smartphones sure are convenient.  To a mobile convert, is hard to imagine life without a snazzy handheld device providing fingertip convenience.  Let’s face it, the handheld device is not the culmination of mobile technology.  There are a plethora of innovative new “wearable” technologies emerging, let’s take a look at how some of them could impact the restaurant industry.

  1. Eyewear  Google Glass has been all the buzz since it debuted a few weeks ago.  There is great potential for this technology in the restaurant biz, especially for customers.  One could gather visual and geolocation info to find the right eatery.  The glasses could display menus and special offers.  Customers could quickly upload and share photos or videos of their dining experience.

    High tech accessories: jet powered armor not yet available

  2. Watches  It has always seemed natural to add functional technology to the wristwatch, perhaps because the watch was one of the first types of portable technology available.  Since a wristwatch is usually small, it might be best to have mobile optimized watches sync with a smartphone or other handheld the way Google Glass does.  Using simplified touch controls and voice commands, restaurant-goers could use a watch to order, pick up and pay without ever reaching into their pocket.
  3. Power sources  One constraint that plagues nearly every portable electronic device is limited battery life.  Those bars seem to follow their own unique version of Murphy’s Law, trickling away most often when there is no conceivable way to recharge.  The solution might be a wearable recharging station.  Developers have designed boots that turn thermal body energy into power for a portable device.  Hungry smartphone devotees would never have to worry about running out of juice for using mobile apps to seek out and order their next meal.
  4. Fully wired clothes  Garments equipped with biometric sensors can already do everything from indicate the wearer’s mood to aiding with self-defense to making sure everyone gets enough hugs.  Touch screen shirts and clothes that display digital content could provide additional lines of communication for customers.
  5. Color coded contacts Special lenses are available that change color to help diabetics track fluctuations in glucose levels.  This technology could also help cashiers at a busy take out counter distinguish between customers that are waiting to order and ones that are ready to pick up their meals.
  6. Utensils  “Chew your food!  Don’t eat so fast!”  Such refrains from parent to child have echoed throughout countless generations.  For those of us without a nearby authority figure to monitor our mastication, developers have unveiled a “smart fork.”  This utensil uses motion sensors to measure how quickly one eats, since slowing down can help limit problems like unwanted weight gain or indigestion.  Smart utensils might also be able to provide valuable information to restaurants about their customers.  If a utensil has been inactive for a certain period of time, perhaps the customer has stopped eating and could use a visit from the wait staff.  Servers could receive instant alerts when a patron drops their utensil.
  7. Brain waves  To the unfettered imagination the end-all-be-all of mobile technology would be something people could operate without speaking or doing anything with their hands.  Such telepathic technology might sound farfetched but an innovator has unveiled a technology that reads brain waves and uses them to decide whether to direct calls to voicemail.  If this type of technology were sophisticated enough, it would bring a whole new meaning to the term “hands free.”  A person working the counter at a busy restaurant could easily move customers through the point of sale with the ability to sort orders at the blink of a brain wave.

Restaurant customers aren’t interested in the same old deals

Restaurant traffic resulting from deals and special offers is down, according to recent data from the NPD Group.  This is somewhat expected based on the assumption that if the economic recession drove deal traffic, likewise as economic conditions improve deal hunting becomes less of a necessity for some consumers.  However, the data indicates that consumers’ taste in deals and offers may be evolving as well.

Source: The NPD Group, year ending December 2012Despite the fact  total restaurant visits in 2012 increased by one percent, NPD’s data indicates that visits based on a deal were down by three percent while non-deal traffic rose by two percent.  To contrast, in 2009 deal traffic increased by three percent while non-deal traffic fell by four percent.

Looking closer the meal deals that suffered most were combo meal offers that offer a discount for tying multiple menu items together in one order.  This could be due to the fact that the savings on combo deals has become less significant during recent years.  In 2012 the average combo meal saved a consumer only $1.07 compared to the price of the average non-deal meal.

While combo deals lost some of their luster, other offers continued to resonate with consumers.  Coupon deals, buy-one-get-one free offers and limited time discount sales all increased during 2012.

Mobile customers are particularly receptive to deals, and restaurants are just starting to scratch the surface of that potential marketplace.  Analysts expect the number of mobile coupon users to rise from 12.3 million in 2010 to 53.2 million in 2014 as more people continue to adopt smartphones.  Forward-thinking restaurants will look to integrate mobile marketing initiatives into their strategy.

The ability to access and store coupons online and on their mobile device makes value redemption more convenient for the customer.  Restaurants with a mobile ordering app can offer time sensitive coupons and send promotional codes to specific groups of customers.  Restaurants can deliver offers via email, SMS messages or push notifications directly from the app.  Offers can go out based on an app user’s location or offer special deals to a certain subset of customers.

Digitally savvy consumers are usually drawn to technology that makes their life easier and more convenient.  Hunting for savings is no different.  Like so many other things,  deals, coupons and special offers are about to go paperless.

5 ways to get the most out of your mobile ordering app

Restaurant apps are all the rage, with KFC becoming the latest chain to announce plans for integrating mobile ordering into their business model.  According to a poll by USA Today, going high tech is at the top of restaurant owners’ lists.  More than half of restaurant owners plan to invest in technology in 2013.  Meanwhile two in five fast food customers would view menus and order via smartphone apps if they had the opportunity.

Turn your mobile ordering app up to eleven

In a field as competitive as the restaurant business, staying ahead of the field is more important than just keeping pace.  Now that mobile ordering apps are becoming more commonplace, the next step is to be sure your app is getting the most out of its features and capabilities.

  1. Offer real value and convenience  Flashy, fun new apps come and go but the ones that stay on a user’s homescreen are the ones they use the most often.  These are apps that provide useful services and increase convenience like navigation, social sharing apps and of course mobile ordering.  The prospect of an opportunity to bypass the line at a take out restaurant during a busy lunch rush is too good to pass up.
  2. Make it worth their while  Sometimes the slightest discount or benefit can tip the scales in the mind of an indecisive customer.  Apps that are equipped to work with digital coupons, special offers and promotional codes are a wonderful way to get those wishy-washy customers in the door.
  3. Allow customers to personalize their experience  While they are easy to use for anyone, mobile ordering apps work best for loyal, regular customers.  Loyalty programs allow repeat customers to earn rewards.  The best mobile ordering apps allow users to save favorites from menus, making life ridiculously convenient when placing those regular, repeat orders.  Another great feature is social sharing and feedback.  This gives customers the opportunity to voice their opinion and share their experience with their social networks, the restaurant or the app developer.
  4. Reach customers in the right place at the right time  With user permission, mobile ordering apps have the ability to track when and where customers (or at least their smartphones) were when they ordered.  It is also possible to track how much they usually spend, what they typically order and a wealth of other pertinent information.  Restaurants can use this data to provide customers with hyper-specific offers and reminders.  People tend to take that little screen with them wherever they go, knowing the best places, times and types of offers can make promotions that much more effective.
  5. Put that data to work  Rich data from a mobile ordering app can help a restaurant get to know individual customers, but it can also help to acquaint with an entire mobile customer base and with the restaurant itself.  Examination of broad stroke data like customer habits, peak hours and what menu items are popular with which customers can help a restaurant business plan more effectively.

There are a billion active smartphones in the world and the number is expected to climb to two billion by 2015.  This makes a mobile ordering app an essential tool for any restaurant that wants to connect with all of those smartphone users.  Just having an app isn’t enough.  The winners of the mobile ordering game are the restaurants that learn to take advantage of an app’s features and maximize the app’s potential value.

 

Image courtesy of Phaiton / FreeDigitalPhotos .net

Bridging the gap

Mobile ordering is catching on and some of the biggest restaurant chains are starting to notice.  A recent article in Nation’s Restaurant News noted that despite only making up 30 percent of the total pizza sales, three large chains accounted for 85 percent of all online sales in the pizza category.  In the story an executive calls the big chains’ mobile and online ordering systems a “technology gap” that they can “tout as a major competitive advantage.”

Bridge the gap between your restaurant and all those mobile customers

It is time, once and for all, to dispel the myth that effective, efficient mobile ordering platforms are only available to big restaurant chains.  On the contrary the best option for a small restaurant is to partner with an existing mobile and online ordering provider.

Developing, testing and implementing a unique app from the ground up can be costly and time consuming.  An existing app provider already has a working product ready to use.  All they need is to enter vital information like prices and menu options and the mobile ordering app is up and running.  Such a provider already has a firm grasp of what features a mobile ordering app should have and how to organize the content.

A partner provider has already taken care of difficult steps setting up maintenance, customer support and billing services.  Many providers specialize in building consumer facing applications that are extremely scalable and adaptable to the needs of any restaurant.

These apps are affordable out of the box but highly customizable.  Options like adding charitable donations to orders, choosing cash or card, tipping, choosing takeout or delivery and sortable menus by location are just a few of the ways a restaurant could choose to soup up their app.

Mobile ordering benefits both a restaurant and its customers.  Restaurants see increases in efficiency, reduced operating costs, more customer traffic, higher average ticket amounts and higher order frequency.  Apps can also gather valuable customer data.  Customers get the benefit of convenience, another way to access the restaurant and the opportunity for special offers.

When considering a restaurant people don’t care whether it has one location or a hundred, all they care about is getting a good deal on some yummy food.  The same goes for apps, if the app is more convenient than standing in line or phoning in an order people will download it and use it.

Big chains like Dominos and Pizza Hut are already reaping the benefits of mobile and online ordering, but that doesn’t mean local and regional restaurants can’t get in on the action.  Some industry analysts see big chains taking a big lead in the race for restaurant tech, but it is closer than that.  Partnering with a mobile ordering app provider is the quickest and best way to bridge that technology gap and keep mobile savvy customers coming through the door.

 

Image courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos .net/Jeff Ratcliff

Phones are for much more than talking

Telecommunications milestones usually involve consumers giving up something they have in exchange for a superior alternative.  Radio gave way to black and white television, which gave way to color television only to witness the rise of high definition TV.  Mobile phone use seems to be taking a similar turn as data transmission overtakes voice communication.

“Yeah but does it upload photos quickly?”

In order to accommodate the broadest possible customer base, restaurants need to keep every avenue of communication open.  Customers that prefer machine-to-machine communication will look for mobile apps to take care of their food ordering.

According to a report by the Telecommunications Industry Association US consumers spent $94.8 billion on data services in 2012 compared to 92.4 billion on voice services.  This is the first time data service spending has exceeded voice service spending by their estimate.  The TIA expects the gap to increase to $32.2 billion in 2013.  An international mobile consortium called Groupe Spéciale Mobile Association estimates that worldwide mobile data revenues will overtake voice revenues by 2018.

People are still getting rid of their landlines, but this doesn’t quite signal a total abandonment of voice communication.  Many phones offer voice calling via wifi, which doesn’t show up in voice service spending.  Tablet devices, along with wireless components in everything from cars to household appliances, are gobbling up data services as well.

Mobile devices are so much more than a convenient medium for vocal communication, in fact talking is becoming a secondary benefit for many mobile users.  The idea of hungry diners phoning in take out or delivery orders is quickly becoming obsolete.  As data communication overshadows voice calling becomes the norm, mobile ordering apps are ever more essential for restaurants.

 

Image courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos .net / sixninepixels

Branded app, you can be my wingman any time

Great heroes are even more heroic when they have a faithful cohort.  Maverick had Goose, the Lone Ranger had Tonto, Thelma had Louise and it is pretty hard to imagine Han Solo without Chewbacca.  Likewise, a heroic restaurant needs a mobile app providing staunch support, not stealing the spotlight.

We all need somebody to lean on.

There are two ways to approach a mobile restaurant app.  One is to jump on board with a collective of other eateries under the masthead of a large, well-known business finder.  The other is to develop a unique, “branded” app specifically for that merchant and promote it to your target customer base.  Both approaches have their merits, depending on the needs of the restaurant in question.

Big, consumer-facing organizations promise an avenue to introduce restaurants to a new customer base.  Using a third-party application may save on the time, money and effort that goes into developing an app.  The mobile ordering system can be up and running quicker.  Support, maintenance and customer service infrastructure are already in place.

While it may seem safe to run with the herd and join a collective, it is easy to get drowned out by every other business clamoring for attention.  Moreover at the end of the day your restaurant is working to promote the appeal of the app, not the other way around.

Branded apps put the client’s identity at the forefront, providing a framework and the necessary support for a restaurant’s mobile ordering business to take off and go.  Instead of luring new business, these apps are meant to enrich the experience of existing customers by letting them interact with the brand outside of the physical location.

Research indicates that users who downloaded a branded app were 40 percent more likely to buy products from that brand in the future.  If a branded app is the way to go, there are a few key things to remember.

“Quality begins on the inside, then works its way out.” – Bob Moawad

A lot of people develop apps, and most of them are of low quality.  Turning out an app quick and cheap is one way to cash in on initial excitement and curiosity, but such apps have next to no staying power.  Users quickly surmise that the interface is crappy, the app is useless or it is nothing but a vehicle for spam.

A high quality app becomes a main stay; users go back to it day after day.

“When love and skill work together, expect a masterpiece.” –John Ruskin

Having a branded app won’t help if no one uses it; so make sure the app has lots of appeal to smartphone users.  A good application has a simple yet helpful user interface.  If a customer can’t place an order with a few taps of the thumb, the app is probably too complex.  Great apps offer easy access to tools customers want.  A good food-ordering app becomes even better with the addition of features like saved favorite orders, social media sharing or a tip calculator.

In case problems arise, app users need a lifeline to customer support.  Many mobile users would choose to fire up an app or type a quick message over dialing the phone and communicating by voice.  Be sure the app provides customers with a portal to reach customer service.

Once it goes live, a restaurant has to properly promote its branded app.  Think of an app is a continual investment in customer satisfaction, not a marketing cost.

Apps can also serve as components of larger, integrated marketing initiatives.  People consume media from a multitude of platforms, including mobile devices.  App users can sign up to receive targeted promotions as part of a larger, multi-pronged campaign.

“The best things in life are free.” –Luther Vandross

Many app developers try to recoup costs by charging 99 cents or more per download.  But this can discourage parsimonious mobile customers.  Indeed, free app downloads accounted for nearly 90 percent of the total last year.

For some apps this presents an obvious quandary, “how can I make money if the app is free?”  Restaurant ordering apps generate revenue by improving the customer experience, which in turn causes new and regular customers to order more frequently.  People with busy schedules will prefer to eat at a place where they can order in advance, bypass the line, pick up their food and be on their way.  The app is free to download, but it pays for itself in spades by bringing customers through the door.

As a wise wookie once said, “Aaaaaaaaaargh Grr!”

“The nice thing about teamwork is that you always have others on your side.” –Margaret Carty

In a quick service restaurant the rubber meets the road at the point of sale.  A great app offers flawless integration between mobile and online ordering and the restaurant counter.  All the virtual features of an app aren’t of much use if the app doesn’t provide a practical solution in the real world.

The only thing more valuable to a restaurant than a customer is a repeat customer.  Diners remember the quality of the experience as well as the food.  When it comes to take out food, speed is a big part of the experience.  For speed there are three factors for a customer to consider: wait time, order time and fulfillment time.  The time it takes to prepare food, the time to tap an order into the register and the potential for long lines mean these factors can add up quickly, draining a customer’s will to make a return visit.

A mobile app knocks off all three factors.  Order time is eliminated; the order came in advance via mobile app.  A printer near the register conveyed the order to the staff so they could fit it into the food preparation flow.  Fulfillment time elapses while the customer is on the way to the restaurant.  The customer breezes to the front of the line to pick up the waiting food.  The wait time evaporated before he or she ever got to the restaurant.

Restaurants on a quest to feed all of those hungry smartphone users need a wingman.  Assuming Chewbacca is unavailable, a mobile app is the perfect solution.

Get your daily dose of culinary tech from Foodie Geek TV

Great food is a mixture of art and science that any geek can appreciate.  If you are a foodie, maybe it is time to get in touch with your techy/geeky side.  If you are a geek, why not unleash your inner foodie?  Foodie Geek TV is full of expertise to help restaurants bridge the divide between their kitchens and the vast virtual world of technology, web and mobile communication.

On today’s episode hosts Jessica Bryant and Paul Barron check out how bloggers, brands and social media users are taking to Vine (Twitter’s zingy new video sharing app).   The app seems like it was taylor made for gourmand technophiles.  They also cover the latest in social sharing for foodies and discuss the pros and cons of brands using social media for contests and promotions.  Take a look at the video below.

 

Big UK chains take advantage of mobile ordering

Fast casual restaurants on the other side of the pond are dabbling in mobile ordering, and the immediate returns have been impressive.

“Look kids, there’s Big Ben and Parliament!”

Two quick service giants have reported significant gains in their mobile ordering recently.  KFC is trying mobile ordering on a small scale but eventually expects it to account for about 10 percent of their orders.  Sister-chain Pizza Hut says mobile orders account for 20 to 30 percent of their UK delivery business.  Meanwhile Domino’s in the UK saw orders from smartphones and tablets make up 19.7 percent of their business, nearly doubling last year’s rate.  The group saw parallel increases in total sales and operating profit.

Mobile ordering creates efficiency.  It allows a restaurant to serve more guests more quickly, while budgeting staff and other resources more effectively.  At the current rate of increase mobile customers would account for a majority of the orders at these restaurants within three or four years.  Just remember a branded mobile ordering app is available to chains and restaurants of all sizes, so no need to leave all of the fun to the mega-chains.

Twitter study reveals broader trends

Twitter recently commissioned a survey to compare the habits and characteristics of their users.  The study focused on the difference between people that use Twitter on desktop computers and “primary mobile” users that do most of their tweeting on a handheld device.  A majority of the primary mobile users fell into the coveted 18-34 year old demographic, the backbone of the fast casual and quick service customer base.  It is not unreasonable to suggest that the Twitter habits of primary mobile users reflect the way they use other smartphone features as well.  The average user has 41 apps installed on the old smartphone, so what this study really does is highlight times and places when those users have access to all of their apps, including Twitter.

The bottom line: mobile apps are a direct line to the hearts and minds of your best customers

Primary mobile users check Twitter more often, according to the data they whip out their smartphones and check in several times each day.  They are more likely to do so in the morning, at work or school, during a commute and before or after a movie.  Funny those are many of the times people like to grab a bite from a fast casual restaurant.  See where this is going?  These young, early adopters of mobile tech all have to eat and they are using their smartphones throughout the day.  Mobile and online ordering apps are a great way to connect with these customers.

This study by Twitter is further evidence that the 18-34 demographic are married to their mobile devices.  This demographic provides for the lion’s share of fast casual and quick service restaurant patronage.

Build an app, and they will come.

Mobile apps mark a major milestone in human technological progress, so you should probably have one

Some technological advances stand out in the annals of history.   Game-changers like the invention of the wheel or the printing press altered the very course of human history.  But as momentous as they seem now, folks at the time of those inventions might have thought, “Meh, I’m not getting one of those ‘wheel’ things, it seems like it’s only marginally better than my ‘drag sticks.’”

“I’ve got to have one,” said people in 1450.

In hindsight is safe to say the invention of the wheel sped things up around the old prehistoric job site.  And in the way that the printing press democratized knowledge and literacy, mobile devices and near-universal connectivity are emancipating people’s free time.  Mobile apps may not be able to move mountains, but they can move people through a line, which is a happy circumstance for restaurant and customer alike.

Apps > Mobile Web

To reach customers on every level, a restaurant needs to offer an app to its customers.  In order to overcome the constant storm of innumerable applications available smartphone users, a good app needs to have one quality:  usefulness.  In the app game, this quality is synonymous with value.

Mobile restaurant apps are as practical as they come.   And double down on the benefits, because apps can simultaneously offer value to the restaurant and its customers.

Most every smartphone has a web browser and quality connectivity is becoming more and more ubiquitous every day.   Since smartphones offer easy access to the mobile web the first order of business for an app is to outshine whatever experience the mobile web offers.  Indeed research incicates that the rich experience is driving ever-increasing app use while mobile web use remains flat.

For something a user does often (like, say, ordering food) the speedy, fluid experience of a mobile app blows the mobile web out of the water.  An app can integrate with device hardware like GPS, social media apps and even the camera.  For complex interactions such as placing a take out order, native apps will far outperform the UX on the mobile web.

Utility = Value

The old “billboard” marketing mentality is extinct in the mobile space.

Few users are likely to waste phone memory on an app that doesn’t consistently provide either some utility or “fun” value to them.  And useful apps have more staying power than games, as studies show that users tend to remove such frivolous apps soon after they install them.

The ideal mobile food ordering app offers plenty of both.

The ability to save favorites, receive coupon codes, build points toward promotional discounts and connect to feedback and support is extra valuable to the best kind of restaurant customer:  the regular.  Established regulars will fall in love all over again and such features can entice occasional visitors to convert into steady fixtures.

Data + Flair + Social Media = Powerful Marketing

An app this useful is hard to resist, but what about the fun factor?  One plus is the opportunity to spice up marketing efforts with more creative campaigns.  By accumulating promo points, app users can unlock discounts and other benefits.  Of course the restaurant can design the point rewards to suit its needs.  Mobile devices are always connected.  An ordering app can offer data tracking of a user’s precise location, time and ordering tendencies.  A restaurant can use this data to create precisely targeted marketing efforts.

Games are fun, but it doesn’t really make sense to incorporate a game about, say, unhappy winged creatures into a mobile ordering app.  Interest in games tends to be short-lived, and the best apps have staying power.  There are plenty of ways to spice up an already handy experience.

“Eureka! I’ve invented… what does this do again?”

Social media connectivity lets users share their experiences with online friends, while providing a bit of visibility to the restaurant’s brand.

Some people just like to set goals:  flair allows for just that.  Pieces of flair are digital buttons, badges, ribbons or other insignia that allows users to admire their virtual achievements and show them off to friends.  Customers can earn flair for anything from placing late night orders to visiting several locations within a specified time frame.  The customer gets a warm fuzzy feeling of affirmation and a bit of status among online peers.  Restaurants can design flair to instruct customers on how to better use the app by rewarding them for saving a favorite, or they can cross promote a new location by offering flair for visiting within the first week.One-time promotions can take advantage of unique circumstances to bond with customers.  Our Valentine’s Day promotion encourages customers to include the word “love” in the notes of their order to unlock the promotion.  It is a fun way to acknowledge the day and a way to send a positive vibe to the people working behind the counter preparing food.  Everybody wins!The Future is Now

The technological leaps and bounds of any era might seem unextraordinary at the time, kind of the way that a speeding train feels like it is standing still from the inside.  But ground breaking innovation is always knocking at the door.  The last decade alone has witnessed the dawn of widely available GPS technology, rapid advances in genetic science, alternative energy and of course the proliferation of the smartphone.

Smartphone apps are a unique combination of a utilitarian device and an interactive medium; naturally smartphone users are going include mobile food ordering in their virtual toolkit.

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