Consumers may be returning to on-premises dining in droves, but they haven’t lost the fondness for digital ordering they discovered during the pandemic — when restaurants turned to platforms out of necessity and hungry diners took to the convenience and customization they offered quicker than you can say “hold the cilantro.”
Restaurants are looking to redefine themselves for the post-COVID future and are facing a new challenge: figuring out how best to leverage all of their newfound tech to thrive in an omnichannel world. They’re building deeper connections with diners by offering personalized, frictionless experiences, whether ordering delivery or sitting down to a candlelit dinner.
In an interview with PYMNTS’ Karen Webster, Andrew Robbins, CEO of Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) customer experience management (CXM) solutions provider Paytronix, said platforms have become a critical tool for transforming customer engagement — and capturing diner loyalty in the process.
“The quickest win is to get people in to come back and order more frequently,” he said. “In getting them back, [it helps if] if you can tailor the menu specifically to them and help them find the things that they normally buy and raise those things to the top,” so customers can find them more quickly.
In addition to surfacing consumers’ favorite menu items, he added, ordering platforms can display messaging unique to customers’ preferences. Take that cilantro: If a diner typically asks for their order without it, the platform can suggest removing it on every other order in the future.
The same goes for their wine lists: A smart platform can tailor selections to a given customer’s tastes, offering three options and placing a bottle they’ll like at the middle price point.
The Tipping Point
With orders coming in through so many channels and restaurants struggling with labor challenges, building a better employee experience can go a long way toward improving performance and retention.
Over the past couple of weeks, executives from restaurant brands ranging from Domino’s Pizza to Starbucks to Taco Bell have discussed these capacity challenges, presenting a range of tech-forward initiatives to help mitigate their damage.
Related news: Leading QSRs Are Unable to Meet Dining Demand
Robbins said technology can encourage consumers to tip employees higher, which helps with adoption, noting that it “has been wonderful to get frontline workers to embrace tech.” For instance, consumers tip more when brands present consumers with three suggested tips and then “slide the tip to get the middle one” higher.
Give It to Me Straight, Doc
Robbins said that there are challenges for restaurants in understanding what consumers’ reviews indicate on a broader scale — given that, say, a four-star review could mean very different things for different consumers.
He added that responding quickly to bad reviews with special offers can help restaurants reengage frustrated diners and bring them back through the doors. While individually responding to each negative review could be a labor-intensive task for a major restaurant brand, he said smart use of artificial intelligence (AI) solutions can help make the process automatic.
“That’s an area where it’s really important to be able to do AI and try to pick that up and respond appropriately,” he said.
The Omnichannel Customer
Robbins noted that consumers’ ways of engaging with restaurants have expanded, creating more sales opportunities. Not only have they returned to indoors seating, but many also continue to order online for off-premises consumption and outdoor dining options.
“I think the biggest surprise to me is the fact that people embrace so many different ways of interacting with a brand,” he said. “It’s that omnichannel, that multiplicity.”
Indeed, consumers self-report that they want a range of flexible fulfillment options. According to data from PYMNTS’ April study, “The Digital Divide: The Key Factors That Drive Restaurant Choice,” created in collaboration with Paytronix, consumers said pickup features are the most important factor they consider when choosing a dining location — above ordering features, payment features or loyalty offerings.
Read more: NEW DATA: From Outdoor Seating to Touchless Payments, Dining Habits Are Changing
The Delivery Dilemma
Granted, not every channel makes equal sense from an economic standpoint for restaurants. For instance, in-store pickup is significantly more profitable than delivery, but restaurants are either maintaining costly delivery fleets or paying a commission to third-party marketplaces. As such, many restaurants are raising menu prices for delivery orders.
“People are pricing different channels differently,” said Robbins. “You’re definitely seeing people price up for delivery.”
Initiatives of this kind do, in fact, dissuade consumers from ordering delivery. Research from PYMNTS’ 2022 Restaurant Friction Index, which was also created in collaboration with Paytronix and drew from a survey of more than 2,100 U.S. adults, found that of the 58% of consumers who chose not to order via a third-party aggregator, 26% opted against it because it was too expensive.
See more: Loyalty Programs Best Way to Get Diners to Spend More
By making these adjustments, restaurants have the chance to take advantage of more opportunities to win and serve customers in an ever-more-competitive dining environment.
“In a way, times are booming,” Robbins said, “[but restaurants] are definitely struggling from labor shortage and making sure they’ve got enough people on staff to handle business.”
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