Improving your hospitality venue’s profits doesn’t just come down to the food and drink you serve: the experience you deliver is just as important.

We now live in a mobile-first world, where almost half of consumers (46%) say they couldn’t live without their phone, while 59% of smartphone users expect mobile-friendly websites.

Mobile payment apps in particular are a huge growth area as the public become accustomed to doing things on the go. In the age of instant access, convenience, immediate connectivity and customer experience, hospitality businesses need to stay on the ball or risk losing out.

Join our webinar to find out more about Zonal’s Order & Pay solution and hear first-hand from David Gough – Operations Director of Fuller’s upcoming pizza brand, The Stable about how they enhanced their customer experience and generated more revenue through a mobile payment app.

Speakers:

• David Charlton, Commercial Director, Zonal Marketing Technologies
• David Gough, Operations Director, The Stable

When: Tuesday, April 30, 2019

Time: 2.00pm – 3.00pm

Register here.

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.

This is translating into consumer habits with online shopping showing 18% annual growth. The dining out sector is also sharing similar success with 7% growth year on year. And our recent research with CGA Peach, has revealed a growing appetite from consumers to use mobile technology as part of their leisure experience.

Stuart McLean explained “Consumers regularly use mobile technology for online shopping and our research indicates there is significant interest to use mobile ordering and payment when going out for a drink or something to eat.”

With a third of consumers (34%) interested in using their mobile devices to speed up ordering and payment for food and drink, rising to more than half (54%) of 18 to 24-year-olds, Zonal’s mobile ordering system can provide a solution.

A ‘virtual waiter’, iOrder allows customers to avoid the rush at the bar and browse, order and securely pay for food and drink from the comfort of their table. It also allows operators to keep control of the system in-house, from branding to data capture and cost controls.
iOrder is fully integrated, and therefore doesn’t require third party hardware, enabling orders to be directly passed to the till. Without integration, orders can easily be missed, defeating the objective of reducing waiting times and improving customer service.

Operating an integrated mobile order app, such as iOrder, also means no re-keying is required, saving valuable time. Also, operators are reassured that the correct price and any promotions are always applied as the data is fed from the EPoS system. The integrated nature of iOrder also means that out of stock items won’t appear on the app, saving time and reducing customer frustration.

However, only 6% of consumers currently use online payment methods as, according to the research, they don’t trust non branded solutions. Indeed, consumers are far more likely to engage with an own-brand ordering device than that of a third party.

Companies are also more likely to promote the service and engage with the process if they have outright ownership and a flat fee structure, which iOrder offers.

Stuart added: “We need to make life for consumers as easy as possible. The brands that identify the systems and processes to achieve that will be in pole position. However, if they are to win the race they also need to raise awareness and confidence in mobile ordering and payment. To build further customer loyalty and confidence, which is so important in mobile ordering, iOrder can easily be personalised to a company’s brand.”