Guest Article
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Nicola Liscio-Heffernan, EMEA sales director for accesso®, discusses how operators can building food and beverage venue resilience and exceed customer expectations with cloud-based systems
T
he dining experience used to be fraught with delays and inefficiencies: making a reservation meant calling a restaurant and waiting on hold until a hurried host took your name down
through the noise of the restaurant. Payment options were cash only or specific cards, and menus were often outdated or inaccurate. As the dining experience has digitised, many of these inefficient and
laborious processes have become obsolete. As the food & beverage (F&B) landscape has evolved, however, so too have the expectations of travelers and diners. Now, as customers are returning to venues and travel destinations in pre-pandemic numbers — or even higher levels — they’re coming back with different standards for their experience. For venues – and specifically those that operate in the F&B sector –
cloud-based solutions are becoming the new normal, with more than 40% of restaurants currently having some form of cloud integration. These innovative systems provide a foundation for customer convenience and satisfaction that will serve restaurants that onboard them for years to come. By investing in cloud-based systems now – and enhancing the guest
experience in the process – venues will be able to more nimbly adapt to changing customer demands over the years to come.
Exploring evolving dining expectations Consumer demands have changed over time, largely in response to adoption of technology. Ten years ago, customers may have had limited use for their phones in the reservation, dining, or purchasing process. Now, phone usage is integrated into nearly every aspect of these interactions. Beginning with reservations, customers expect to be able to book
a table or a room in advance without going through a complicated registration or login process. What’s more, customers now expect updates via text or email if there is a change to their reservation or – if they request a table from a host – they expect a text letting them know their table is ready. Long gone are the days of a frenzied phone call or a flashing, vibrating square alerting customers that they’re ready to be seated. During the dining experience itself, customers expect up-to-date information to be provided from a digital menu. Either through a QR
code scan or a simple-to-access online menu, customers expect to see what menu items are available as well as any nutritional or allergy related information. Customers are also looking for a digital-first approach to payments.
In 2023, nearly 25% of all in-store payments were done via mobile, and that share is expected to grow steadily in the coming years. In the end, the leading guest expectation is that a venue provides options. The customer experience is unique to each individual, so when it comes to payments, operators must be prepared to deliver on a range of approaches – from cash to mobile.
Cloud-based technology can have a powerful impact on the customer experience, easing and streamlining the dining journey. But its potential to positively impact a venue’s own operations cannot be understated. One of the largest benefits of a cloud-based platform is its ability
to communicate with other systems and build integration across teams and departments. While a cloud-based point-of-sale system broadens a venue’s capabilities for payment types accepted, this type of next- gen tech can also be integrated into inventory and order management systems. By having up-to-the-minute data on goods sold, venues can navigate their stock with ease – a particularly important imperative given supply chain strains. Furthermore, by digitising sales across a venue, operators can gain
much more robust data insights. By understanding what customers are buying and when, venues can deepen the meaning and impact of day-to-day operations, such as menu optimisation or promotion scheduling. This level of insight also works on an individual customer level. Through cloud integrations, a venue can establish unique profiles for each customer, which can be leveraged to offer more personalised discounts and incentives, based on historical data. With the right cloud-based order management system, operators
can also open up new avenues for customers to experience their venue. For example, a venue might integrate with on-premises ordering apps, allowing customers to schedule contactless pickup or even on-site delivery directly from their mobile phone and without needing to speak with staff.
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SEPTEMBER 2023 IAAPA EUROPE EDITION
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