Eat Out of Your Own Palm. How Eating Out has Changed Over the Years

By the time 2015 is over, 82 percent of all restaurants will be integrating social media activity with their loyalty programs. It’s not surprising since 180 million social media users are in the U.S. today.

The rule of no smartphones at the dinner table is no more.

On average, consumers with reliable network access spend 3.3 hours per day interacting with their smartphones. The latest high-end devices like the Galaxy S6 edge and iPhone 6 have made it easy to incorporate and simplify most everyday activities, including dining, with the touch of a screen.

Today, 34 million diners use the free app NoshList to check wait times at local dining areas, and three out of 10 will use dedicated apps on their devices to pay their bills. With programs like Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, and the recently revealed mobile payments framework Android Pay, paying for meals is becoming easier and safer than using a credit card. The security encryption used in the programs makes it more difficult for someone to get access to your credit card numbers, making it less likely to have your card number stolen.

Every week, Starbucks reports that about five million transactions are made in their stores by mobile phone apps. By 2019, it is expected that 142 billion payments will be made via smartphones and other mobile devices. With 74 percent of consumers aged 18 to 34 stating they would use a dedicated app for takeout or delivery if the service were available, it only makes sense these numbers are growing so rapidly.

To learn more about the effect smartphones are having on our dining habits, check out this infographic.

Infographic Transcript:

Mobile Social Revolution: Dining With Mobile Devices

No phones at the table may have been a rule when you were growing up, but today, restaurateurs can’t ignore the growing tide of the mobile social revolution. Here’s a look at how mobile social is feeding the appetites of consumers who are making places at the tables for their mobile devices.

Mobile-Conscious Consumers

Smart Device + Social Sharing = Mobile Social

• There are 180,000,000 active social media users in the U.S.
• 154 million consumers active on social media, use their mobile devices to access social media.
• 3.3 hours average time smartphone users spend per day interacting with their devices.
• Mobile-based payments in the U.S. are anticipated to reach $142 billion in volume by 2019.

Mobile Diners

Hungry + Tech Savvy = Pleasing the Palate with Mobile Friendliness

• 3 out of 10 consumers have used a restaurant’s dedicated mobile app to pay their bill.
• 5 million number of mobile transactions Starbucks processes per week through its app.
• 74% consumers ages 18 to 34 who would order takeout or delivery through mobile devices if the service was available.
• 34 million number of diners seated across U.S. restaurant chains using NoshList, a free wait list app, since its launch in 2012 through June, 2014

Mobile Brands

Mobile Interactions + Brand Engagement = High Social Engagement for Dining Establishment

Top 5 mobile brands who rocked social in Q3 of 2014 (per the Restaurant Social Media Index)

• 89.11 Chipotle
• 85.12 Panera Bread
• 82.15 Taco Bell
• 81.71 In-N-Out Burger
• 81.63 Firehouse Subs

By the end of 2015, 82% of restaurants are expected to integrate a customer’s social media activity into their loyalty programs.

How Apple Pay is revolutionizing mobile payments

What does it do?

Allows you to make secure payments in stores or within apps using the technology of your iPhone 6, Apple Watch, or iPad.

How does it work?

• In Store: Hold the device near the contactless reader and place your finger on Touch ID. Payment is automatically made.
• In Apps: Select Apple Pay when checking out, place your finger on Touch ID, and payment is securely made.

What are the benefits?

• You’re not revealing your credit or debit card number when making purchases (keeps information secure).
• You’re not having transaction details tied back to you (Apple doesn’t save transaction information).
• You can use all major credit and debit cards, and major participating banks, with Apple Pay.

What are some things to consider?

• Need either iPhone 6 or an earlier iPhone paired with the Apple Watch to use Apple Pay.
• Need to make sure your phone is charged to use Apply Pay.
• Limited to merchants who use Apple hardware.
• 14,000 McDonald’s U.S. restaurants are accepting Apple Pay at its counter and drive-through windows.
• New York City, Washington D.C., San Francisco locations where indepenent restaurants are using OpenTable’s “Pay with OpenTable” integration with Apple Pay.
• Up to $6,000 this is the value consumers are deriving from mobile technologies.

Whether dining our or in, the restaurant services industry continues to seek ways to serve the growing appetite of the mobile audience.