With negative reviews given about food quality soaring by 10% (an increase from 8% to 18%) between February and September this year, it is unsurprising that food expectations are the number one grievance for consumers in pubs and bars.

However, according to the latest data from guest feedback service Feed It Back, speed of service remains the second top gripe, with 17% of negative reviews relating to poor speed of service, despite a 4% fall from February.

Feed It Back chief executive Carlo Platia said “The really interesting part is when you dig down into the granular detail of the data and find out that it’s actually the wait time between the starter and the main course that is frustrating customers. With this richness of insight, you have the tangible information you need to improve your customer experience.”.

Our GO Technology Report produced in conjunction with CGA, which polls 5,000 UK adults, backs up these stats, reporting that customers put swift service and convenience at the top of their list of priorities, with 72% of those surveyed claiming food not coming fast enough as their number 1 frustration.  With nearly half of customers wanting more speed when it comes to food orders arriving on time, it’s a complaint common to all age groups, particularly at lunchtimes, when many are watching the clock and every second counts.

This is where integrated systems really come into their own, because they can get serving and kitchen staff working in harmony to give customers what they want: good food, served quickly and accurately.

To reduce this frustration, technology can help ensure orders are taken correctly, processed accurately and arrive in the kitchen efficiently. Zonal has developed a number of solutions to tackle these issues.

When it comes to taking orders quickly and accurately, iServe, is a cost-effective replacement to the traditional order pad, which can be installed on any Apple iOS device to create a mobile EPoS app.  Team members can take orders and print and process payments from anywhere in the venue, without the need to return to the POS.

With iServe, orders are processed faster with staff visits to the bar and kitchen reduced, giving the team more time to focus on delivering a great customer experience. iServe can also drive spend per head through upsell prompts and links with Zonal’s online booking and table Management and loyalty systems to deliver a truly integrated solution.

Once the order has been taken, Zonal’s comprehensive kitchen and service management solution provides visible real-time information to both kitchen and service staff. It removes the risk of delays in the kitchen and poor communication between waiting and kitchen teams, which can be a cause of frustration for consumers.

There is no doubt that technology, driven by consumer demand, is transforming the hospitality industry, and the key to success is integration. In order to overcome issues such as speed of service, operators need to embrace change and unify their systems, automate everyday interactions, allowing them to extend their competitive advantage.

You can read more on the topic of speed of service in our GO Technology ‘The Need for Speed’ report. Download now.

Restaurant Marketer and Innovator Live is returning this month for its second year after a sell-out first year. David Charlton, Commercial Director, Zonal Marketing Technologies will be joining a star-studded line up of speakers for this three day event.

Taking place from Tuesday 15 to Thursday 17 February, the event will feature 40 speakers from around the world, and take place at One Moorgate, London.

David will be the first to take to the stage at Bootcamp on Tuesday 15 February where he will set the scene for the day, sharing how to use technology to capitalise on shifting consumer trends.

The following day, Thursday 17 February, David will join a panel of experts to discuss digital developments and how hospitality businesses can better leverage digital marketing. David will be facilitating discussions alongside personalities such as Michelle Farrell, Head of Marketing at Novus Leisure and Mark Daniels who is responsible for digital strategy and data protection at Wadworth & Co Ltd

David joined Zonal Marketing Technologies in September 2015 as Sales Director progressing recently to Commercial Director. Zonal Marketing Technologies unlocks the power technology for hospitality brands by bringing marketing, IT and operations together through a creative suite of products that simplify the complex, opens the door to creativity, and most importantly drives additional revenue.

“ This is my first time attending Restaurant Marketer & Innovator Live. I am looking forward to discussing the latest digital insights and developments with a great panel of like minded marketing individuals.”

David Charlton, Commercial Director, Zonal Marketing Technologies.

Predicting the future is always a challenge, especially when it comes to technology trends.  The way we use technology in our daily lives – whether social or business – is a constant moving feast.

David Charlton, Commercial Director for Zonal Marketing Technologies looks at the trends for the year ahead.  I am confident that consumers will expect to use their mobile devices to order food and drinks and speed up payment.   The figures say it all.  In under two years the number of consumers who use mobile devices to speed up payment has increased from 2.4 million to 3.1 million [source: GO Technology by Zonal and CGA].

 

APP TECHNOLOGY

Driving the app revolution is consumer hunger for speed.  Two in five (41%) of GO Technology respondents cite the ability to pay quicker and avoid waiting to settle bills as the main advantage of apps.  Almost as many respondents mention the ability to skip queues.

And this year at Zonal, we have witnessed a 400% increase in enquiries from operators for our Order & Pay app as they recognise mobile ordering is no longer an option but fast becoming a necessity to attract and retain customers.

 

DELIVERY

I also have no doubt that our appetite for food delivery from our favourite high street food brands will also continue to see rapid growth in 2019, with voice based ordering and food tracking devices taking it to the next level.  Last year, there was a 28% jump in food delivery orders from the previous year and with almost a third of consumers wanting to know the exact delivery time of their meal, this is where I predict GPS tracking technology will be part of the solution.

Furthermore, as the restaurant sector hots up to win the customer pound, they will continue to seek additional ways to optimise sales and food delivery will be high on the to do list.  This is supported by GO Technology, whereby two in five (40%) of consumers believe more restaurants will start to offer delivery direct from their own websites, as they are viewed as the best source of information about delivery.  In In comparison, only 29% predict a growth in third party mobile delivery apps.

 

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

I also expect to see significant growth in the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI), such as chatbot technology, which has become a staple in our homes thanks to the likes of Alexa, Apple HomePod and Google Home.

In the last 12 months we have been supporting operators to optimise the opportunity of chatbots within channels such as Facebook’s Messenger.  This form of communication is changing the way that bookings and orders are being taken and will become mainstream this year as chatbot technology becomes even more familiar in our everyday lives.

There is no doubt that technology is changing the way we conduct our lives, and the traditional way of doing things has gone out the window, so brands should have a tech strategy for 2019.

DON’T WORK HARDER: WORK SMARTER

How Jolly Farmers maximised covers AND created an enjoyable working environment at the same time.

With margins tightening and competition fierce, every restaurant and pub is under pressure to get more covers, serve more customers, and make more money. But the risk is that this may translate into more pressure on staff, slipping standards, and increased risk of burnout. However, there is another way. Instead of working harder, hospitality businesses can work smarter. A fully integrated booking and table management system has the power to deliver the Holy Grail for any GM or operations manager: higher yield and less stress.

 

INTRODUCING JOLLY FARMERS

Jolly Farmers is a busy pub-restaurant with capacity for 160 covers, popular with families and groups, and part of multisite operator McMullen. Over the past five years, General Manager Carolyn Jordan has lived through a change in the way they operate, with her site introducing the Zonal Bookings integrated booking and table management system to replace the old paper diary.

“You will not look back once you get Zonal Bookings. As long as every table’s allocated, you know that you’re going to have a good shift.”

– Carolyn Jordan, General Manager, Jolly Farmers

 

GO DIGITAL TO BRING ORDER FROM CHAOS

“Before Zonal Bookings, it was just pen and paper and pot luck really. One of the main advantages is the pressure that’s gone off the kitchen – plus we don’t have to worry about people double-booking a table anymore!”

With one unified system recording all bookings centrally, managers can wave goodbye to the chaos of accidental overbooking.

Whether a reservation comes in by telephone, website, email or even carrier pigeon, everything gets logged to the same central system for an accurate real-time view.

Crucially, it also gives you the power to plan, manage and control capacity, rather than simply reacting to demand.

 

TURN MORE TABLES MORE OFTEN

“If you use the table management system you can turn some tables five times in that day. We only cook till eight but we have turned some of the tables around up to six times.”

With knowledge comes power. Zonal Bookings users can effortlessly map out each table and set booking availability times that maximise its use throughout the session, optimising yield.

They can also collect email addresses from online reservations and send them automated reminders ahead of bookings to reconfirm or cancel, reducing the risk of no-shows.

 

SAVE PRECIOUS TIME AND LABOUR

“We used to have to put everything on an Excel sheet and then join tables together, doing table plans for the next day, then going back to update after getting more phone bookings. So you’re looking at two hours’ worth of labour at least.”

Using a purpose-built software solution made for the hospitality industry makes table management electronic, efficient and effortless.

 

RADICALLY BOOST COVERS ON SPECIAL OCCASIONS

“Last Mother’s Day we did 602 covers in total and our capacity is 160. With the old pen and paper system, we had to increase everyone’s turn time to two hours or more. But now we just let the table management system do what it’s supposed to do.”

On those peak seasonal occasions, harness the table management system to better organise table availability and timings, maximising the amount of covers you can serve.

 

REDUCE PRESSURE ON THE KITCHEN

“If you can make chefs’ lives a little bit easier and still take the same amount of money – actually more – then that’s got to be a bonus. And if they’re under less pressure they’re producing better quality food because they’re not rushing.”

By spreading availability intelligently, venue managers can reduce the high pressure caused by steep peaks in demand and ensure a calmer, better work environment for kitchen staff to produce their best.

 

MAKE THE TEAM MOTIVATED, EMPOWERED, AND WANT TO STAY!

“All my team – front and back-of-house – came up and thanked me after Mother’s Day, saying: ‘That was a really great shift, I really enjoyed it.’ And that’s on our busiest day of the year!”

Workplace stress is a notorious feature of hospitality businesses, and in a recent survey 64% of workers complained of getting no help from their employers. Giving your staff a positive, lower pressure working environment can only improve satisfaction and retention.

 

IMPROVE CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE

“It’s so user-friendly. Even your most junior member of staff can easily find customers a table by just pressing quick add. If it’s really busy you can check the waitlist and tell them exactly how long they have to wait.”

EPoS integration gives you real-time visibility of each table – right down to meal stage. This is hugely empowering for front-of-house staff, allowing them to give customers accurate wait-time estimates and say yes or no to walk-ins with confidence.

The simplicity and intuitiveness of Zonal Bookings software makes it user-friendly for all members of the restaurant team to handle. This improves both the promptness and quality of customer interactions.

“I think I want to push our covers to 650 or 700 next Mother’s Day. That will be achievable, if we really focus on manipulating the bookings. If you can push your bigger bookings then you just make more money quite easily without anyone even having to break a sweat.”

And why wait until Mother’s Day? With the fully integrated Zonal bookings and table management system, GMs and operations managers can deliver more covers in any session on any day of the year.

It’s not about wringing more out of your staff, squeezing in another table and chairs, or cutting corners on quality of service.

Instead, harnessing the power of technology to optimise processes can reduce stress and deliver higher yield, using the covers and staff you’ve already got.