Tech at the Table

Foodservice may have arrived late at the tech party, but now that we’re here, we are rocking the house. From digital apps that help diners reserve a table, summon a server and pay the tab, to software that allows restaurateurs to streamline ordering, track sales and build customer loyalty, tech has assumed its well-connected place at the head of the table. Over the next few weeks, we’ll share some of the ways it’s transforming the dining experience as well as BOH operations…extra points if you’re reading this on your tablet or Smartphone!

Tapping into the ubiquitous presence of technology is good business. Consider this latest research from the National Restaurant Association (NRA): 36% of consumers say they are more likely to use technology options in restaurants now than they were two years ago and more than three out of five adults used some form of restaurant technology in the last month. In large numbers, they say it enhances convenience (8 out of 10), speeds up service and increases order accuracy (7 out of 10), and a full one third say tech options are the reason they choose one restaurant over another, as well as dine out or order takeout and delivery more often. Operators are listening—at least half of restaurateurs across all segments told the NRA they plan to devote more resources to customer-facing technology this year.

Tablets. With pay and play applications that are easy to use, multi-functional and very entertaining, tablets are becoming a must-have for progressive operators. At Applebee’s, guests will be able to order items, play games and pay without a server with the planned installation of 100,000 tablets. Chili's diners have rapidly adopted the restaurant’s Ziosk tablets to interactively peruse the menu, order beverages and desserts, play games, share real-time feedback, and pay the check at the table. During its six-month trial run, Chili’s CEO noted improvements in guest satisfaction and engagement, and increased participation in the chain’s loyalty clubs, according to Restaurant News. At Buffalo Wild Wings, the BEOND tabletop tablet from Buzztime is being rolled out to all its locations by end of 2015 fully loaded with music, multi-player and arcade-style games, and a few hands of multiplayer poker. More features are being added to allow users to browse a menu, order and pay their bill. The device also enables operators to harvest a ripe crop of preferences from consumers who register, and follow up with personalized offers and invitations to special events. Pizza Hut’s touchscreen table lets sit-down diners custom order a pizza, play games while they wait for it and then pay their bill. Other restaurants use tablets in the kitchen as well, such as Tex-Mex chain Taco Bueno, which uses the devices to push recipes to its line cooks.

Kiosks. The high-tech kiosk offers another type of interactive, customized experience for diners, enabling diners to peruse the menu, add or subtract ingredients, save their preferences for the next visit, and swipe their credit card, before moving on to pick up their meal. Panera is a main player in this field, and White Castle and McDonald’s are jumping on the bandwagon. “Remembering how a customer likes his favorite meal helps create stickiness among guests — and that’s what this is all about, increasing retention, frequency and average check size,” the chief marketing officer of Tillster technology, creator of tech platforms for dozens of well-known restaurants, told the NY Times. University of Southern California made headlines earlier this year as the first campus to install a burrito vending kiosk—Burritobox—featuring an interactive touchscreen that displays the day’s five fresh burrito options; guacamole will run you an additional 75 cents.

Mix your own by phone. The Coca-Cola Freestyle machine, capturing the ‘customize your own’ culture with more than 100 choices of beverage mixes, went one step further with its new app, enabling the thirsty to craft their own concoctions on their Smartphone’s. The Freestyle app lets users choose up to three flavors for a specialty mix, scan the app at the Freestyle machine, and dispense; a location finder is embedded that directs users to the nearest venue. Not be outdone, Pepsi has jumped in with the Pepsi Spire, consisting of three different touchscreen fountain unit models for creating personalized beverages. The most elaborate, Pepsi Spire 5.0 will feature a 32-inch touchscreen that allows consumers to create more than 1,000 beverage combinations, according to Kiosk Marketplace.

In two weeks, we’ll boot up some of the latest apps that are paying the check, eliminating the wait, and in some cases, even the server.