How contactless technology and loyalty are powering the in-store experience
The use of contactless solutions has accelerated in restaurants; QR codes, NFC, and every other BYOD (bring your own device) technology have become the status quo vs the exception. Here we’ll take a look at how integrating loyalty with contactless ordering & payments solutions have powered the in-store experience.
Contactless technology has opened new and powerful channels for brands to identify and engage with their customers to increase spend. Using just their mobile device, customers can now simply scan a QR code or tap on an NFC reader to open a menu, select items, pay, and redeem rewards without ever interfacing with a POS. Let’s take a look at how these experiences are becoming a game-changer for brands:
- Customer data: integrating loyalty and CRM with an on-premise mobile ordering platform turns it into a powerful tool for data-driven engagement. Compared to traditional order taking where there is almost no identifiable customer data, a contactless ordering solution now offers brands a persistent funnel of customers into their marketing funnels.
- Safety: amid the spread of covid-19, both merchants and their customers have become self-aware of the need of following AND practicing hygiene while ordering or paying for their items. To truly implement these safety measures, a touchless solution is the way to go. In fact, 47% of consumers say that they will not shop at a store that doesn’t offer a contactless way to pay.
- Server-customer relationship: a great dine-in experience often derives from the interaction a customer had with their server. However, servers need to juggle between great service and menial tasks such as taking orders, payments, and managing checks. Enabling a contactless order/pay solution allows servers to strengthen the customer relationship, since they have more time to focus on the customer it's no surprise we see an increase in tips of 25%.
- Table Turnover: allowing customers to pay using their own devices increases table turnover and allows for a seamless loyalty check-out experience. Gone are the days of writing a loyalty number on a receipt and asking the server to enter it into the POS or handing them a special card.
- Split payments: paying directly through a mobile phone makes life a whole lot easier for the business and its customers. Great contactless solutions offer split payments, where guests from one party can split the check according to what each of them ordered or divide it in any way they like. Throw in loyalty, and customers are now earning points and rewards by choosing the smoothest payments option.
Combining contactless & loyalty undoubtedly elevates the in-store experience, but just how much is that impact? Let's take a look at a real-life example, where one of our customers implemented order and pay at the table along with an integrated loyalty program:
- Three months after launch contactless payments averaged 27% of sales, with one store seeing 67% of sales go contactless.
- Average check size was 66% higher than the typical in-store average check size for the brand.
- Average +2 point tip difference was obtained.
- Average table turn time was 17 minutes faster.
Although there is an increasingly growing number of vendors offering the technology, only by integrating best-in-breed loyalty and contactless solutions can your business truly get to the next level. Talk to one of our experts at Spendgo and we'll take you there.
