It’s a New Year and an optimum time for restaurants to evaluate what they”re lacking in the latest technology. The team atDreambox Creations, the leading full-service digital agency for the restaurant industry with a portfolio of clients that includes LYFE Kitchen, Claim Jumper Restaurants, Black Angus Steak House, and Yard House Restaurants, offers five tech trends that restaurateurs should consider for 2014.
1. Integration: So many brands have soiled-off data, but those brands that can discover insight by looking at it all holistically will be very well prepared. You can never over integrate.
2. Online Ordering: – This segment will continue to grow and will be powered by syndicated ordering, such as allowing third party sites to sell food items on their sites while taking a cut of the profits.
3. Mobile Web Traffic: – This easily accounts for more than 50% of website traffic where mobile users are supported. If you don’t have a mobile web app, you”ll wish you had.
4. Loyalty Programs: – Panera Bread really shook things up with its take on how to effectively offer and manage a loyalty program. The company went beyond earning points for free items by tracking guests’ preferred menu items, offering exclusive previews and tastings to loyalty club members, providing cooking and baking tips, and more. We will see loyalty programs taking it up a notch in order to entice guests to enroll.
5. Alternative Payment Methods: – Cash, charge or debit will not be the only payment options available. We will likely see businesses mastering new ways to facilitate capturing guest dollars, whether it’s low-energy Bluetooth, near field communications, or some other method of obtaining payment.
