12 Reasons Restaurants Need To Add Mobile To The Menu (Infographic)

Adopting a mobile app is critical for any restaurant that hasn’t already done so.  It’s been proven time and time again that mobile is not a trend.  It’s here to stay.

Mobile has had a tremendous impact and growth over just the last year. From 2016 to the projected numbers for 2017, mobile payments have grown $35 billion. And, more and more consumers are expecting restaurants to provide tech tools like smartphone food apps, mobile payment options or electronic payment at the table. Failing to meet this growing expectation of customers means delivering a bad customer experience and turning away potential diners.

Mobile is a diving board into a lot of other new and still-developing technology.

This isn’t just another tech-fad that’s going to disappear. Everyone is going mobile and trying to tap its potential benefits, especially those benefits that allow a business or restaurant to improve the customer experience and even boost sales. For restaurants, some of the most interesting data is that the majority of diners feel that restaurant technology, like mobile apps, improve their guest experience and 34 percent of diners say these tech options influence their decision to dine out or order takeout/delivery more often. Thus, there’s a definite connection between mobile’s ability to drive sales and bolster return business.

Mobile has the bonus of giving brands, including restaurants, more access to their customers, whether they are first timers or long-time patrons. Nearly everyone today has a smartphone, and they check it a lot, especially the younger generations. Thus, mobile delivers a channel where the customer is ever present and always active. Best of all, it creates the opportunity to target customers when they are most receptive to restaurant-based messages.

In other words, mobile lets you target customers when they are hungry and presently looking for a place to dine. Thanks to mobile, timely relevance is a huge persuader for customers. If you put your restaurant’s messages in the right location, at the right time, you’ll attract that person to your business. However, if someone can’t find your brand when they want to (this includes your menu, address/directions, and other relevant information), then you won’t find them eating at your establishment. Consider the infographic’s data that 69 percent of people look up a business location on their smartphone or tablet device; if that info isn’t available to them, they’ll move onto another eatery.

Mobile technology is great and is only getting better. Aside from the increasing expectation by consumers that businesses have mobile technology and tools available, the second most compelling part of mobile is that this is just the beginning; we’re only just starting to scratch the surface of the potential that mobile can have. Mobile is a diving board into a lot of other new and still-developing technology. Not only will you fail to meet customer expectations by continuing to ignore mobile, but you will also be ignoring the future itself.