[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]A bite-sized rundown of the top news stories from the hospitality technology industry in 2019 so far.
Restaurant digital ordering and payment to triple over next year
Restaurant digital orders have increased by 23% each year since 2013 and will grow three-fold by 2020, says NPD Group.
The report lists 70% of digital orders as coming through mobile apps or websites, with third-party delivery marketplaces accounting for just 40% of them. Respondents claim they often choose to use restaurant’s own apps over third party aggregators in order to collect or redeem rewards/points, incur cost savings or access other features like the ability customize an order.
Oracle Food & Beverage announce Simphony Cloud Platform new features
At the leading point of sale provider’s annual event bringing together leading technology partners in the Food & Beverage space – Oracle F&B Connnect 2019 – Oracle Food & Beverage announced its 18.2 release of the Simphony Cloud platform. The new features are aimed at increasing the smooth running of restaurants without internet interruptions. With Simphony 18.2, point of sale and kitchen management systems can talk to each other unaffected by events outside of restaurant, through a local connection. Other improvements include new mobile point of sale capabilities, managing orders across different channels, and an increased number of integrations available through a wider range of APIs.
Domino’s creates tech garage to work on next generation POS system
Pizza-chain-come-technology-house Domino’s has pledged to grow 60% in the next 6 years through an ambitious plan that will see it double its 2017 fiscal sales by 2025. Included in their roadmap is a plan to roll out more international stores ( +6,500 in non-US locations over the next six years), optimize ‘fortressing’ (increasing the number of stores in a market to strengthen dominance), and continuing to drive innovation through the creation of a Tech Garage in Ann Arbour. The location will serve as a tech laboratory where teams will work on improving front-of-house and back-of-house systems, including a next generation point of sale system.
Doordash trials driverless cars in San Francisco
Third party delivery provider DoorDash is teaming up with General Motors-owned Cruise Automation to test autonomous vehicle deliveries in San Francisco. The pilot is to start with one vehicle, ramping up to several more in six months time. Although the cars will be self-driving, they won’t be empty. A company passenger will ride along to take the delivery to the door. DoorDash and Cruise Automation will look to get customers to sign up for curbside delivery in the future, meaning no humans will be involved in getting your meal from store to door.
Key players in restaurant technology come together to weigh in on the future of mobile payments
The future of restaurant payments is tied to your hand – says Skift Table. Major players in the pay-at-table industry came together last month to talk about the growth of table-side payment solutions. Included is comment from QikServe Founder Dan Rodgers, who talks about the difficulty most restaurants experience when trying to drive app adoption. “For a lot of restaurant guests, they don’t go often enough to justify downloading an app for an experience that they are not going to do frequently” says Dan. To bypass the download gate, companies are turning to web-based apps that launch on customers phone automatically, by tapping their device against an NFC point or scanning a QR code. This also benefits customers, as when it comes to eating out, waiting for the bill is one part of the meal that often drags on the dining experience, according to Skift Table.
Serving the market of one to drive revenues
PYMNTS spoke about the opportunities arising from digital connectivity in the QSR space. Nearly half of all restaurant guests now regularly use mobile ordering apps, and are projected to spend as much as $40 billion in ordering through connected devices by 2020.
With so many customers ordering and paying digitally, means an influx of data that can be drilled down at the individual level. Knowing a customer has a fondness for cookies, but turns their nose up at ice cream, for example, can make for a very successful and ultra-targeted marketing campaign; serving the market of one.
Being able to craft a tailored experience for the customer like this is only possible by ensuring digital connectivity between applications. From the point of sale, to the kitchen, to guest-facing communication systems, CRM and loyalty; a digital ecosystem of platforms firing back and forth in real time is a very real future reality for QSRs serious about providing a personalized guest experience.
More next month![/vc_column_text][vc_separator color=”white”][/vc_column][/vc_row]
