10 | Hospitality Today | Feb / March 2017
Machines Human Int how to strike the right by Nicola Gibson, Head of Local &
“ Technology gets diners through the door, but 9 in 10 still want to enjoy the art of personal service once they’ re inside your restaurant.”
Picture this; you get into the taxi you ordered via your smartphone and, while travelling, you use an app to book a table at the restaurant you’ re on your way to. As you take your seat for dinner, you pick up an iPad to order your food and drink, before waiting for your food to arrive. Once the food is finished and the plates have been cleared, you log in to your preferred mobile pay provider to pay the bill before making your way home in another taxi ordered through your smartphone.
On the journey back you realise that while your hunger may have been sated, you’ re a little starved of the warmth that comes from top-notch customer service; end-to-end, your dining experience has been facilitated by technology.
Although this may sound more like science fiction than fact, it’ s fast becoming a reality in large cities such as London, Birmingham and Manchester, where self-service is increasingly becoming the norm, as restaurateurs implement technology that offers diners convenience, ease of use, speed, and above all, a tailored customer experience.
But as more and more services go mobile, the real question is how can you strike the right balance; between a personalised onscreen experience and an authentic offscreen customer service?
Technology: Leading the way in the hospitality industry
You only have to look as far as the $ 22.5million investment in Velocity, a worldwide restaurant-booking service, to realise that the future of tech-driven solutions in restaurants is bright. Mobile-pay solutions are at the forefront of this, with Apple Pay leading the charge, along with services like Cake vying for a slice of the action.
Technology is available now to help your diners find, book, pay for and review your restaurant. And, with Statista estimating that we’ ll be downloading 20 billion apps a year by 2020, the role of technology in driving footfall and easing efficiency in restaurants can’ t be ignored. But where does that leave your front of house team?
Well, actually in a fairly good position according to our recent survey of over 6,000 consumers. Although the industry is riddled with technology that helps get diners through the doors and sharing their experiences with your restaurant, once sat down the majority of diners enjoy a more personal touch.