There is no doubt, COVID-19 is shaping the future of foodservice. Both out of convenience and concern for safety of employees and guests, contactless dining is being propelled forward. In the last few month's guests expectations have changed significantly as the pandemic shifts how people conduct their lives. Although we wish diners would be endlessly forgiving, many restaurants are noticing that their guests are patient only to a point. They want increased safety, they want delicious food, and they want great service - and they want it now.
To keep up with these demands, many foodservice operations have started to evolve towards contactless dining. Using smartphones they already have on their person, guests can view your menu, specials, and pay for their meal all using digital services. This eliminates numerous potentially germ filled touch points both staff and guests could interact with. Guests using their own cell phones reduces the the burden from your team to maintain and clean physical items like menus, pens and check holders. Initially it can seem like more work to set things up, but it's a very easy and simple process. Some businesses get things up and running digitally in less than a day. Quickly, operators will see how much time and money they are saving by implementing these contactless services. With the click of a button you can change your menu, update specials, show current wait times for a table or even allow a countdown clock until their takeout order is ready for pickup. It allows for further communication and transparency between you and your customers.
Online ordering for both guests dining in-house and guests ordering delivery or takeout, can be streamlined to submit each food order directly to your kitchen. Even newer is contactless pouring, which integrates machines within an establishment through QR codes. If you begin to imagine all the areas that could benefit from reduced touch points and overhead in your establishment, adopting more digital based systems becomes the ideal solution. Why pay for additional services when you don't need them? With the proper processes in place for efficient back of the house and front of the house integration, contactless dining can yield higher margins and offer consistent guest experiences.
Outside of the many operational improvements for operators, contactless dining services has even more perks for patrons. Many diners want to engage with brands and businesses through social media channels and want easy access and instant information. Consider the pros of being able to send text notifications, app notifications, manage every customers loyalty points and remain present on their phones. Perhaps now more than ever, it's incredibly important to keep guests coming back to ensure there is enough business to remain open. Marketing tools seamlessly integrate with contactless dining services and further enhance your operations and offering for both prospective and loyal customers. Contactless dining is a tool for long-term growth in the restaurant industry. Maintaining the health and safety of both guests and staff, targeting individual communication for engagement, managing payments with online ordering and wait times scratch the service of benefits that come with adopting contactless dining.
Interested in moving forward with a proven and highly trusted digital solution? Check out more about Boelter Blue technology and how it could help your business be set up for future success.