In recent times, the food industry is up and gaining huge popularity with the support of technology. The restaurants and food delivery businesses greatly help serve their customers in the best possible manner.
Moreover, the industry appears highly profitable because of its broad potential and insanely expanding demand for restaurants of varied food themes in various cities. Today, you can see many hardcore foodies, and there is a complete list of restaurants that are delivering affordable services and provide end-users with a highly convenient experience.
Irrespective of the size and type, various restaurants are developing mobile applications, enabling their customers to make reservations, check out the menu, order takeout, updating dining preferences, and more.
As per one recent survey, most diners use restaurant mobile apps to check menus, pricing (55%), search for deals, order food online and make reservations. So, restaurants should benefit from this mobile trend to increase customer engagement and enhance the dining experience.
Here are some of the benefits of using mobile app technology in the food and restaurant industry:
Location-based Deals
Do you know about Apple’s iBeacon? It is mainly a small device that you can set-up in and around your location to send push notifications and some of the deals to people in your locations.
Moreover, you can also rely on a person’s GPS settings to let you know where they are and send out relevant deal information in case if you have got more than one location.
For instance, if one Bookatable application has started using beacon-based technology in 119 of their participating London restaurants, sending push notifications to users of the app, which walked within a 50-meter radius of any restaurants.
By doing this, they can jump out at users of the application, who might be searching for delicious food to eat, but weren’t sure exactly where to go. Eventually, the Bookatable got more visitors into their participating restaurants, increasing their business by reducing or expediting that decision-making process.
It delivers enormous location-based deals using beacon technology; however, beyond sending push notifications about offers and deals to boost purchases, it also ensures that where people are going and find the right place without any hassle.
In-App Ordering = Enhanced Customer Experiences
Another benefit of mobile technology in the restaurant industry is flexibility as users of the app can order food easily and get an amazing experience. It would help in decreasing lines and improve efficiency at the restaurant itself.
KFC is the most popular restaurant that has benefited mobile technology for busy consumers to order their favorite meals with a mobile app. The app easily lets users place an order and pay for it using their smartphone.
KFC makes it easier for busy consumers to order their favorite meals with a new mobile and Web application that lets users place an order and pay for it using their smartphone. Thus, the restaurant has decreased the line and waits for customers who prefer to order food online.
One other example that should be considered is Starbucks, a quick-service giant, which gets huge success with mobile app ordering. After introducing, mobile order feature, the brand has noticed small lines, instant service delivery, and more efficient in-store transactions in the U.S.
Mobile ordering will decrease human error that enhances order accuracy and guest satisfaction. In addition to this, it hosts and servers spend less time answering the phone; therefore, they can focus on customers who are dining in the restaurant.
Referral & Loyalty Programs
Do you know that referral and loyalty programs work amazingly for your restaurant also? They can greatly impact your daily business. Let’s take one example, Pizza Ranch ran a promotion on Black Friday.
In that promotion, it gave their customers double points for coming in and purchasing From them, which helped them generate 67.6% more business for that day compared to the normal days. It was a big and low-cost strategy to employ that their ROI was 780% on the money and time that they have invested.
The reason it works is the reality that mobile-based loyalty programs are far more personal than the ones that involve a simple punch-card being handed out to every customer who purchases a drink. The data and the interaction are on their phone, a device that hardly ever leaves their side.
In addition to this, you can protect the constant use of your loyalty program and purchases more to contribute towards final goals by sending push notifications, reminding your loyal customers how close they are, or suggesting for them to come in for a meal, which would put them over the edge points-wise for their prize.
As per the latest research, more than 65% of restaurant customers would be willing to download your restaurant’s application if you promised them exclusive offers and deals from time-to-time.
Saved Preferences Means More Customer Engagement
Mobile applications are also helpful for restaurants to engage with their customers. For example, guests update their dining preferences to comprise their favorite menu items and drinks or even list their preferred tables when making reservations within a restaurant’s mobile application.
They can also include a link to their Facebook and Twitter accounts to their mobile applications. By doing this, you can encourage diners to share their experience with your restaurant on social media, driving further customer engagement.
Moreover, when restaurants are adding the basics to their mobile applications like menu information, hours of operation, and phone number, they can engage with the customer in a way, which will be helpful to make the customers’ life simpler.
So, these are the major benefits of using mobile app technology in the restaurant industry. If you have a restaurant business, having a high-end mobile application is the best solution for a comprehensive range of benefits. You can hire a leading mobile app development company specializing in skilled mobile app developers to work on your project.
