Franchise Update Magazine Issue II, 2014 | Page 22

TechTrends

Grow Market Lead

BY EDDY GOLDBERG

20

Mobile and social

A

and digital, oh my!

s new technologies—and com- than any other technology.
binations of them—proliferate,
In April, Restaurant Hospitality reit’s hard to keep up, much less ported that many well-known restauevaluate which platforms, apps, rant franchises are moving ahead with
and systems will best serve your brand’s tabletop tablet systems. The list includes
goals. From smartphones and mobile Chili’s, Applebee’s, Buffalo Wild Wings,
apps to the cloud and online services Olive Garden, and Uno Chicago Grill.
to GPS and geofencing, and with the According to the article, “[S]ome of
number of integrators and aggregators the sharpest operators around… have
offering solutions, what’s a girl to do? investigated tabletop tablet technology
Here are some brands showing the way. and decided it can be a huge difference• Mobile—gotta have it! Pizza maker for their restaurants. You could
brands have been leaders in online do worse than follow the lead of operacustomer services since business dis- tors like these.”
covered the Internet in the mid-1990s.
Service brands also are deploying
Pizza Hut, Domino’s, and Papa John’s tablets, with home repair and mainteall reported that digital ordering is fast nance companies using them not only
approaching 50 percent and continuing for payments, but also for marketing,
to grow. “Mobile” also includes vehicles. e.g., to show customers different reLast fall, Domino’s announced its Easy modeling options.
Order platform using the voice-activated
If you’re not thinking about using
SYNC system in Fords, integrated with tablets, now is a good time to start.
its Pizza Profiles platform.
• Jersey Mike’s. Sub shops are also
As more brands offer customers jumping into the digital/mobile fray. Last
integrated versions of their ordering, November, Jersey Mike’s announced a
payment, and loyalty programs, these home-grown mobile app that lets cusapps and services are becoming more tomers use their smartphones to order
of a must-have than the competitive ad- and pay online, manage rewards, post to
vantage they were, for both fast-casual social feeds, and find the nearest Jersey
and QSR brands. Wendy’s and Burger Mike’s. The company said this was one of
King have started to offer mobile pay- the first apps to roll digital ordering and
ment, and McDonald’s is reported to loyalty rewards program management into
be testing a mobile product that incor- one, providing customers with a seamless
porates online ordering, payment, and experience. The brand also installed new
a loyalty program.
customer-facing terminals that allow cus• Tablets to tabletops. Tablets, tomers to pay for their order more easily
most notably the iPad, have been a huge and securely by swiping their credit card
game-changer, with restaurants using themselves at the register.
them for in-store ordering, menus, and
“Technology is changing at an expayment—all integrated with their POS traordinary rate,” said Scott Scherer,
system. In its “What’s Hot” survey of CIO at Jersey Mike’s. “We built our
1,200 professional chefs last fall, the own customer terminals so we can acNational Restaurant Associati