Top tech trend for 2009:
Mobile apps The killer tools for fast
casual ordering and loyalty. By Jennifer Litz
The smallest to the largest fast casual eateries started logging
onto mobile ordering solutions for customers in 2009, and the
momentum will continue as many more begin to use these onestop
solutions to help customers find, order and pay for their food.
After all, convenience is king in our increasingly smart-phonebased
world.
“With a mobile app, you have the opportunity to make
things simpler because you can identify the user a lot more
accurately than you can (on the Web),” Jeff Scott, editor of
app-rating Web site 148apps.com, said. “(You can tie) phones
to an account, so when a user has entered his credit card info, you
don’t need to ask for it again. An iPhone can also tell your location.
You probably can’t get the accuracy of an apartment number,
but you do have the closest cross streets, which they ask for a lot in
ordering.”
Scott urges fast casual operators and developers to take
advantage of push notification, which can alert app owners to
special deals.
“Let’s say the local baseball team has a big away game
starting in three hours. You could push a notification timed right
before the game to your app owners, when people are looking for
food to take along the way. There are all kinds of things you can do
like that to push out special offers and one-time deals.”
Early industry adopters have shown the app advantage in
motion. Industry leader Chipotle Mexican Grill was one of the
earliest adopters in the segment. The company made
its ordering application available on the
Apple App Store in August 2009, after a
false start earlier in the year (the server
had been overwhelmed by customer
response, and crashed). The revamped
and much-praised mobile ordering app
gives iPhone and iPod Touch users the
ability to create their Chipotle order,
place it at the Chipotle location of their
choice and also pay for their food directly
from their device. Using location-based
technologies, customers also can quickly find
the nearest location.
“With over 40 million iPhone users and a high consumer demand
for delivery and takeout meals, mobile ordering is a tremendous
opportunity for restaurants,” said Joseph Gagnon, chief executive
officer of ordering solutions provider Exit41. “We expect our
mobile applications to become an increasingly important way for
consumers to order food from their favorite restaurants — and a
significant portion of our business in 2010.”
