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Nobody likes waiting in long lines, searching for loose change, or trying to locate their plastic or even paper loyalty card.
Wouldn’t it be much more convenient to walk into a coffee shop, walk to the counter, and walk out with your cup of coffee in a matter of minutes? The days of opening a wallet or having a waitress poke a hole in your loyalty card are museum anecdotes.
Imagine a day when you are driving and picking up your food without problems. Or as you walk towards the entrance, the restaurant sends the menu through a mobile, courtesy of an NFC point of contact. You can then customize your order on your smartphone, send it and make a mobile payment with a simple touch, no lines or waiting.
The catering industry is seeing the emergence of new Near Field Communication (NFC) solution providers as well as the launch of mobile apps designed to streamline the restaurant experience (and diners).
Closer and closer to the “Internet of things”, a world made up of sensors and touch points throughout the restaurant, connecting customers with their NFC devices.
The placement of NFC tags in establishments, on smart posters, on store windows and even on menus, will allow customers to check-in through a smartphone, be notified when their table is ready, receive discounts personalized requests, request a snack or a drink while they wait, all through a mobile application.
Once seated at their table, restaurant patrons can touch an NFC tag (or scan a QR code) affixed to the menu, table, or cup holder. Customers will receive special promotional information, nutritional content, request the assistance of waiters or even have their bill delivered quickly, to make contactless payments.
What are the benefits of NFC technology for restaurants?
From a restaurant operator’s perspective, NFC technology will also open the door to a number of benefits:
- Reduced waiting times for customers.
- Easier transactions.
- Improved customer analytics.
- Ability to make real-time decisions regarding seating, staffing, and special offers.
Additionally, NFC will provide restaurant operators and vendors with the ability to integrate mobile technology into their social media marketing efforts: real-time Facebook likes and shares, interactive reviews, and personalized promotions and giveaways.
Mobile payment deployments at chain restaurants have become more prevalent, from coffee giants Starbucks to McDonald’s, and even in bars.
According to a new report from Juniper Research:
The NFC retail payments market exceeded $ 180.000 billion worldwide in 2017, with North America, Western Europe and the Far East accounting for 90% of the market value. In these geographic regions, more than one in four mobile device users paid in store using an NFC-equipped device in 2017.
Loyalty programs with NFC
Beyond the benefits of contactless payments, NFC offers these companies the ability to increase the customer-restaurant relationshiptea. NFC enables efficient distribution and redemption of relevant and timely mobile coupons and promotions, streamlined social media integration, and real-time data collection.
In the summer of 2011, the Korean Times reported that the Korean coffee shop chain Café Bene became the first merchant to introduce an NFC-based coupon system that provided customers with a loyalty “stamp” on each visit. Customers with NFC phones would simply place their phones near an NFC tag to receive free instant coffee coupons that they could redeem on their next visit.
In addition to the many consumer benefits, NFC offers businesses a new and efficient method of tracking their customer base. The food, retail and hospitality chains that are spread all over the world have begun to to implement NFC-based loyalty programs.
The Mexican fast food chain, Chido, has announced that its first restaurant in Paris will have a mobile loyalty program that will allow customers to access their NFC phones on a tablet with an NFC reader built into the registry to access the program. chain loyalty.
Last February, Orange UK announced what it called the “First contactless rewards program” from United Kingdom. The application “Quick Tap Treats” allowed all Orange customers with NFC phones – approximately 200.000 customers – to touch, touch or scan any of the specially marked signs at all 110 EAT restaurant chain locations to receive a free daily gift.
The latest form of contactless technology provides restaurant operators with the ability to place NFC tags on their storefront, and Samsung announced a few weeks ago that any NFC-enabled mobile will be able to accept payments, rendering dataphones obsolete.