M
obile ordering has been a phenom- enon within the hospitality industry for many years now, with brands like
McDonald’s introducing kiosk technology and companies like Starbucks and JD Weth- erspoon throwing huge budgets at native apps that allow their customers to order and pay via mobile, speeding up service and encouraging customers to spend more. Within the past 12 months, though, times have started to change and uptake of mobile ordering technology has moved beyond the early adopters. As Graham Cornhill, co-founder and managing director of web- based mobile ordering software company wi-Q, explains: “The need to apply such costly resource has diminished, with far superior white label mobile ordering solutions now readily available to purchase on the open market at a fraction of the cost of developing and maintaining in-house.” Consequently, he says, uptake has increased exponentially, particularly in the past 12 months. It’s certainly been wi-Q’s busiest year yet. And the technology is only set to become more popular. According to Business Insider Intelligence, orders placed via smartphone will make up more than 10% of QSR sales next year. By itself, they expect mobile ordering to be worth $38b (£29.4b) globally.
APP OR WEB?
When you think of mobile ordering, the first thing that comes to mind is likely an app. But it’s not the only option. Web-based mobile ordering solutions – like wi-Q and mobile ordering platform Qikserve, which helps operators deploy multi-channel self-service ordering and pay- ment solutions, including kiosks, order and pay and click and collect – are an increasingly popular alternative.
“These give users instant access through their own mobile device with just two key strokes instead of having to download an app and use up valuable memory or real estate,” Cornhill says. Adds Qikserve president and founder Dan-
iel Rodgers: “The customer acquisition cycle will ultimately cost margin but if you don’t have an app, you don’t need to get the guest over that first app download hurdle,” he says. “Operators should be thinking about other ways to engage digitally, not just the default for mobile ordering, which is an app. Mobile ordering can also be fulfilled with mobile web and it’s a much easier thing to deploy.” That said, a growing number of operators are also seeing success with white label order and pay apps, developed by providers like hos- pitality software company Zonal. In the last 12 months, the team has seen a huge increase in demand from high street operators seek- ing white label, fixed price, own-branded apps with bookings functionality.
“They are looking to reduce their reliance
on third-party booking tools, which see out- lets handing over valuable margin and data, and regain control of their operating costs and consumer insight,” says strategic product manager Glenn Tait.
26 | Technology Prospectus 2020
Mobile ordering technology is no longer the preserve of big brands like McDonald’s, Starbucks and JD Wetherspoon. Elly Earls finds out why ever more small businesses are getting in on the action and what they should look for in a provider
WHAT TO LOOK FOR IN A MOBILE ORDERING PROVIDER
The key to any relationship, says Cornhill, is whether the provider has full integration into the venue’s POS, property management systems (PMS) and payment systems. “Without this, services simply cannot be delivered,” he says. Or, at least, not as effectively. “Operators have
to make a choice around how much operational friction they’re willing to take,” Rodgers advises. “If they want to go down the digital ordering route, they can either be fully integrated into the
UPWARDLY MOBILE
PMS and automated all the way through to col- lection and delivery, but that adds cost. The alternative is to accept some operational fric- tion with non-integrated solutions.” Businesses also need to consider what man- agement systems are available at the back-end of their mobile ordering solution. “Venues should insist on the ability to man-
age their own menus, specials, price lists and communications, with the ability to make changes in real time. Without this capability you are at the mercy of the provider, which
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