Technology: Restaurant Consumers See Most Value in Virtual Menus, Pagers
Which tech tools benefit consumers and restaurant operators the most? Those that add convenience at the start of service, say researchers.
-- Restaurants & Institutions, April 24, 2009
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| At uWink in California, diners can view menus and place orders at tabletop terminals. |
A recently released study by the Cornell University Center for Hospitality Research finds that restaurant customers consider virtual menus with nutritional information to be the most valuable new restaurant technology, followed by online-reservations systems, kiosk ordering and pagers for seating.
The report, "Customer Preferences for Restaurant Technology Innovations," looked at 11 restaurant technology tools and evaluated customer acceptance and perceived value.
Among the findings:
-- Online-reservations systems and pagers are the most commonly used restaurant technologies.
-- Very few restaurant consumers used cell-phone payment systems.
-- Restaurant consumers who use a particular technology consider it to be more valuable than those who have never tried it.
-- Restaurant consumers seem to prefer technologies such as pagers or virtual menus that add convenience in the early stages of service versus those designed for use at the end of the dining experience (various payment options, for example).
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"Based on our study, we recommend that restaurants encourage customers to try new technologies," says Michael J. Dixon, one of the study's authors, in a press release. "But restaurants should avoid forcing technology use, and implement new technologies with considerable support and demonstrations." Below are more lessons for foodservice operators from the report.
How restaurant technology benefits consumers:
Technology improves convenience. By saving diners time and effort, restaurants increase customer satisfaction. Thus, technologies that make placing a reservation or ordering food easier or that speed transactions and reduce wait time may be valuable additions.
The customer feels more in control. Online reservations, for instance, give customers the power to choose when they eat (and perhaps even choose their table). Paging systems (particularly cell-phone pagers) give restaurant customers the freedom to step away and return when they are paged.
How restaurant technology benefits foodservice operators:
Faster transactions means more customers can be served. Handheld devices for taking customer orders in line and table-management systems can help speed up service. And speed is a key aspect of good customer service, say 47.8% of participants in Restaurants & Institutions’ 2009 New American Diner Study.
The Cornell researchers are quick to point out, however, that faster service is most likely to satisfy customers in quick-service and fast-casual restaurants and that it must be managed carefully in casual, upscale-casual and fine-dining restaurants so that diners don't feel rushed.
Technology can help cut labor costs. Online-reservations systems as well as kiosks and other self-service technology applications should help decrease labor costs for these restaurant functions.
Technology can attract more customers. Online-reservations and ordering systems make restaurants more accessible to consumers.
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