The Restaurant Industry is Changing, Are You Prepared?
Even before the onset of COVID-19, the restaurant industry has been consistently evolving. The global pandemic has only accelerated those changes.
Consumer preferences and customer behavior is difficult to forecast, especially when major global events cause swift change, but restaurants can keep up by being adaptable.
This means keeping an ear to the ground so you can be alerted to these changes and offering new services to accommodate them.
Thanks to COVID, customer preference has shifted from in-store to online, and from face-to-face to contactless. As safety and health become top priorities for consumers nationwide, contactless ordering and payment will play huge roles in this shift.
How Does Contactless Ordering Work?
Contactless ordering and payments work exactly the way they sound. Customers place and pay for their orders without the need for face-to-face human interaction. This is done via technology right at the table.
Once customers are seated, they can scan a custom QR code on their mobile device, enter their table number, and be redirected to the restaurant’s online ordering platform. Once there, they can view the menu, place their order, and pay with a debit or credit card after they’ve finished.
These scannable QR codes can be placed on any materials, such as:
- Menus
- Table tents
- Placemats
- Stickers
This reduces face-to-face interactions significantly, requiring customers and servers to interact only when orders are delivered to the table. You can virtually eliminate any contact previously required to wait in long lines, order from a server, and touch shared menus.
Benefits of a Contactless Restaurant Experience
Safe
The onset of COVID-19 has amplified consumer awareness and has paved the way for an intense focus on public health and safety. Because the virus can be transmitted easily through respiratory droplets, consumers are right to want to keep themselves protected and help prevent the spread of COVID-19.
Contactless ordering and payments do just this. Because they reduce face-to-face contact by allowing customers to order from their mobile devices, customers get to enjoy dining at their favorite restaurants while staying safe.
Payments can also be conducted in a much safer manner than before. Customers no longer have to hand over their cards to anyone. They can easily make their purchases and submit their payments—even adding a custom tip—all on their own.
Not only does this help customers rest easy knowing that they are safe from virus transmission, they also get the added benefit of knowing their card data is safe because their cards never leave their sights.
Efficient
Safety isn’t the only added benefit, of course. This also increases efficiency throughout your restaurant. Before contactless ordering and payment, customers relied on the speed and efficiency of the waitstaff.
During a busy day, waitstaff can easily be bogged down with other tables, and may take longer than desired to get to each customer and take care of their orders. Now, customers can order and pay at their own time. This leads to faster ordering and faster overall table turns.
Beyond speed, you also increase accuracy when you implement a contactless solution. When customers enter their orders to their exact preferences and specifications, along with any modifiers and instructions, and have the opportunity to double-check before submitting, human errors and server miscommunications become a thing of the past.
Unique Experience
Mobile technology is the way of the future. Customers are nearly tethered to their phones, taking them everywhere they go. Where there is a mobile alternative to traditional processes, customers will follow.
Letting your customers order through this technology gives them more control over their experience. They can see your menu in greater detail, with visuals and modifiers, so they can know everything you offer and have their orders cooked to taste.
Offering more digitally immersive experiences like this keeps you competitive. You can boost customer engagement while providing a unique service that many restaurants still have yet to adopt. And by giving guests more control, you free up your staff to spend more time focusing on customer interaction and service.
Providing a Contactless Restaurant Experience for Your Guests
Ultimately, an ordering solution will only offer as much value as its provider. A technology provider like Paradise POS will be your partner in success through this next chapter of the restaurant industry.
Technology experts like Paradise POS keep tabs on the restaurant industry, identifying new challenges as they arise and swiftly delivering the solutions needed to combat these, like in the case of this pandemic. Paradise POS offers high-end contactless ordering and payment solutions that keep your customers safe.
As an added bonus, these solutions integrate seamlessly with your other restaurant technology systems so that data can be shared across your solutions, leading to deeper visibility into your operation and smarter business decisions.
For more information on contactless ordering and payment, or how Paradise POS can provide your restaurant with the solutions it needs to survive and thrive throughout this pandemic, contact an expert at Paradise POS today!