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Food on the move:

How apps and the mobile web are changing the food scene.

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With cooking shows available 24/7 and an uncertain economy, restaurateurs have to find increasingly innovative ways to attract customers away from their homes and into their restaurants.

The restaurant industry has rarely been seen as a forerunner in utilising new technology, and has been slow to implement change over the years. In fact, the industry has barely seen much of a change since the fast food boom of the 1950s. However, savvy entrepreneurs and the rise of digital technology have seen restaurants investing money in apps, smartphones and gadgets to give them an edge in an increasingly competitive industry.

In this briefing, We Are Apps explores how apps and the mobile web on smartphones and tablets are making waves in the restaurant business and shaping the future of the dining experience.

Introduction

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Eateries and chain restaurants are revamping the way they do business. Day planners are now on smartphones and tablets as a host of new apps are making life and organising day-to-day business easier for restaurateurs. Developers are now creating apps solely for restaurants to use on tablets and smartphones. They provide real-time views of tables, catalogue menus by a selection of names and ingredients, process sales and delivery tickets and send orders to the kitchen. These new technological developments for the restaurant industry aren’t just happening behind the scenes, however.

The dining experience is changing front of house for customers too. Traditional menus are being replaced with e-menus and tablets. With features offering visual aids of

dishes available, nutritional information and what wine goes best with each meal, these new “menus” are engaging customers with their food in innovative ways. These devices also allow people to play games, watch videos, read the news and much more. Customers can even sign up for reward programmes right from their table. These tablets are a win-win for everyone involved. Tablets and apps boost business and revenue, as they keep patrons busy while they wait. This makes their dining experience more enjoyable and increases the chances of diners spending more and becoming repeat customers.

One of the forerunners of this movement is Silicon Valley-based E la Carte, a company that develops tableside tablets exclusively for the restaurant and hospitality industry.

Their tablet, Presto, has proven to be an instant success. It incorporates a credit card reader, table status visual notification, customised menus and over 20 hours of battery life. There’s also a range of functions for customers to peruse while waiting to be served, from games and trivia to drawing apps for kids. For consumers, the ability to split bills anyway they like and order at their own pace is appealing. The company has reported that restaurants implementing the Presto tablet have seen 10% sales boosts and higher newsletter sign-up rates, with customers being tempted by high quality images and upsell techniques.

Other competitors in the restaurant tablet market such as ShopKeep POS, have seen a significant increase in productivity and sales.

Merchants have noted that monitoring usage, controlling inventory and identifying problems have all been enhanced thanks to the cloud-based reporting that the tablet provides.

There’s been some apprehension to the introduction of tablets. Some restaurants fear that such technology decreases the appeal of restaurant dining and the quality of service restaurants provide. Tablet technology is still relatively new, however, and restaurateurs are gradually adapting to employees and new technology working seamlessly together while still providing customers the best dining experience.

Re-inventing the dining experienceTablet Restaurant Management

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Tablets aren’t the only form of technology making waves in the restaurant industry. An app called TabbedOut allows customers to view, open and pay for their drinks or meal using their smartphone without having to wait for the server to bring their bill. It also can locate and call local taxi companies if a ride home is needed and offers social network integration and check-in capabilities.

Mobile credit card apps are becoming increasingly popular in food establishments, with Japan utilising the mobile as a swiss-army knife of technology for years. Eric Savitz from Forbes.com says that smartphones are becoming more like wallets, “holding apps the way our physical wallets hold cards and cash.” Users are being enticed to pay via apps with various rewards and loyalty badges being offered for making certain transactions. It’s certainly a lucrative market for both app developers and restaurants looking to retain and engage customers.

Away from the dining tables, however, another digital food revolution is affecting the restaurant industry.

Ordering food from the touch of your mobile screen

The success of online takeaway site, Just Eat, has seen them launch their first app this year. Offering over 14,000 takeaways, customers can now make their dining options on the move, placing orders on the way home so it’s ready for them when they arrive. This trend has seen a rise in delivery

food – particularly among students – and restaurants clamouring to join the site to offer exclusive online deals in a bid to gain customers. Other apps offering restaurant deals include TopTable, whose website success has seen them expand to reach customers on the go. Discount sites like Groupon and LivingSocial have also created apps, targeting consumers by location in order to target potential customers more directly. Restaurant deals are one of the most popular purchases, and establishments such as the Hilton Hotel and Marco Pierre White’s restaurants are offering customers fixed menus and discount courses via these voucher apps.

Some of the biggest chain restaurants in the UK such as Pizza Express, Wagamama and Wetherspoons have released free apps to attract diners. However, functionality is often limited to locating your nearest restaurant and booking a table. Restaurants need to ensure their apps offer users unique and exclusive content rather than a mobile-version of their website in order to retain customers’ interest.

With the popularity of discount websites like Groupon and LivingSocial offering dining deals daily, restaurants are quickly incorporating offers into apps for customers. Restaurants can now target their customers anytime, anywhere on their mobiles, offering exclusive news, menus and more. Mobiles also eliminate the need to print off coupons, with customers simply being able to show a code from their devices.

On your mobile

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Following the food scene

Restaurants also need to take note of another new aspect of the mobile revolution in food: User Generated Content. Foodspotting, an app from the US but widely used in the UK, lets users rate and share favourite dishes ‘spotted’ in eateries. With visual guides to good food and where to find it, the app has featured on Time’s 50 Best iPhone Apps of 2012. It’s great for users wanting to source restaurants and places to eat locally. It has also seen success through providing users to join a community of similar food lovers. Unlike Time Out’s apps, where clever restaurateurs and food brands can place banner advertising, FoodSpotting doesn’t take advertising yet. However, canny food propositions can still get involved by creating content directly on the app. In fact, the concept of building brand communities and providing shareability for app content is a crucial component to seeing food apps gain momentum for users on the move, looking for new ideas from trusted sources.

One food community straddling both the real and digital worlds are street food markets, which have seen a revival in recent years amongst curious food goers. Street food fanatics can now always find the latest street food with a range of new apps promoting local and community food. Street Food London is a new app that launched in January 2013. It features over 100 London traders and markets that are continually updated, includes social media links, the ability to view all markets on the map and see what markets are open right

now. While the US has been quick to adapt to the current demand of sourcing local produce and eating locally by creating apps for users, the UK has been slow to adapt to these changes.

Time will tell whether Street Food London and similar apps will take off for the UK market but with the increasing demand for local mobile content, expect to see many more locally-focussed apps hitting the Apps Store.

...on your mobile

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There’s another angle to restaurant apps: promotion. Chefs have taken advantage of users’ willingness to use apps in the kitchen and have seen phenomenal success, particularly Gordon Ramsay, James Martin and Jamie Oliver. Great British Chefs – a collection of the UK’s finest chefs – launched their first app last year. It went on to feature in The Sunday Times Top 500 App List and win awards. The success has seen them launch two further apps – Feastive and Summertime – in 2012, the latter becoming one of Apple’s Best of 2012 apps – a rare accolade awarded to less than 100 of the 700,000 apps in their store.*

Jamie Oliver has also launched a successful app range for mobile and tablets, from app versions of his award-winning cookbooks to brand new recipe apps. A well-used technique is to offer a limited amount of recipes free, then charge

for premium content. It’s a win-win situation for the chef. Their restaurant is being promoted and they are earning ancillary revenue from the sole of the app.

The Brand opportunity

Recipe websites and Brands are creating apps too. Country Life Butter released Great British Picnics last year with a range of features from treasure hunts to picnics with a twist. The app also features a range of recipes using Country Life

Butter. Likewise, Philadelphia created an app that lets users create and add items to shopping lists, add recipes to their Recipe Box and share recipe ideas with friends. It’s a great way to entice and inspire users to use your product and the ability to share recipes on social media through the app means brands are reaching a wider audience with their products.

The marketing angle

*We must confess, Great British Chefs is one of our creations.

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Mobile, apps and tablets are changing the way we interact with our dining experience for the long run. Social Media is now a key component to any company’s marketing strategy. With the rise of second screen advertising, tablets and smartphones, connecting with customers through their devices will become essential for restaurateurs.

There’s still a lot of room for technology to take hold in the restaurant business. The potential benefits for both consumers and restaurants, however, vastly outweigh the limitations. Tablets, apps and smartphones are here to revolutionise the restaurant industry for the long-run.

The beginning of the revolution

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Sources

http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/224332 5 Technologies Changing the Restaurant Industry, September 6, 2012

http://www.onthegoware.com/mobile/mobile-apps-change-restaurant-industry How Mobile Apps Will Change the Restaurant Industry Forever, February 5, 2012

http://theblackboard.net/blogs/a-guide-to-restaurant-marketing-apps-for-smartphones/ Brief overview of restaurant marketing apps for smartphones, May 2012

http://elacarte.com/

http://techcrunch.com/2012/11/ 13/e-la-carte-releases-more-powerful-version-of-customized-tablet-for-restaurants/ E La Carte Releases More Powerful Version Of Customized Tablet For Restaurants, November 13, 2012

http://www.waitersrace.com/tablets-and-e-menu-debates-around-the-restaurants-tables Tablets and e-Menu: debates around the restaurants tables, October 2012

http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/220704 Tabbedout: A Mobile Payment App for Restaurants and Bars, December 15, 2011

http://www.bizjournals.com/dayton/news/2012/09/18/local-restaurants-making-tech.html?page=all Local restaurants making tech investments, Sep 18, 2012

http://www.siliconindia.com/news/technology/5-Awesome-Technologies-Changing-The-Restaurants-nid-128967-cid-2.html 5 Awesome Technologies Changing The Restuarants, September 12, 2012

http://www.forbes.com/sites/ciocentral/2013/01/18/mobile-payments-whats-no-go-and-whats-go-go-go-in-2013/ Mobile Payments: What’s No-Go – And What’s Go-Go-Go – In 2013, January 18, 2013

http://www.chainpulsemagazine.com/article/move-over-pos-here-come-tablets-restaurants Move over POS, here come the tablets for restaurants, December 1, 2012