Get These IT Essentials Right to Protect Customers’ User Experience

The restaurant industry is roaring back into action as pandemic lockdowns wind down. That said, the processes that became norms during the pandemic, such as online ordering and contactless pickup, are here to stay for the convenience of hungry customers.

In fact, a recent Paytronix/PYMNTS report revealed 92 percent of vaccinated dining customers plan to keep ordering online, and another found sales generated through digital ordering platforms grew more than three times once the pandemic began.

With digital experiences guiding the future of the restaurant industry, it’s imperative for business leaders to get IT priorities in order to ensure user experience remains in top shape for the influx of customers who are looking for nourishment via digital ordering platforms – and rest assured if your online ordering fails, they will quickly choose the next restaurant that can serve them and getting them to return will be difficult.

Full-Stack Observability Should Be Your Guide – Business Context Included

Now is the time for businesses to prepare a technology toolbox to manage any performance or security threats that may come, especially for larger chains and restaurants who rely on apps to drive customer sales and retention. A strategy centered on full-stack observability with business context enables IT teams to monitor the entire IT stack from the level that interacts with customers to the network and infrastructure of an application as well as all the code running the applications. This lens allows IT to tie the data and results back to the business, providing answers and insights to questions about why a certain performance issue is happening or what exactly is slowing the seamless flow of business. 

For example, if a bug prevents customers from customizing their chicken sandwich within a delivery app, full-stack observability with business context gives IT the power and ability to catch the issue, address it in real-time, and fix it before the customer notices anything is off, allowing them to sub mustard for ketchup if they wish. Delivering flawless experiences on a consistent basis builds long-term trust between an organization and its customers, eliminating obstacles between them and the delicious meals they could be enjoying instead of waiting for a page to load. 

Security Is a Key Ingredient 

Recent breaches in major restaurant chains have made headlines, outlining how the personal data of millions of customers can be compromised through hacker access to online ordering applications. 

Beyond the applications that customers use to order, there are a myriad of other apps that keep restaurants running on the backend that should never be compromised. This includes reservation scheduling applications, ordering through a mobile app, point-of-sale systems within the restaurant itself, and even the apps used by HR to process employee payroll. Employees and customers trust companies with their data every time they clock in or place an order, and it’s the business’ responsibility to make sure everyone is protected. It is critical to also understand what normal day to day operations should look like. If you see an anomaly which spikes service requests, it needs to be flagged to determine if a breach is underway.  A fast resolution is absolutely critical to ensure your customers do not lose faith in your ability to serve them. 

Finding the appropriate security tools for your organization is essential and they should not be determined in a silo. Part of full-stack observability includes connecting application performance with security, so the plan needs to interlock with the strategies IT is implementing for performance, and both should ladder up to the overall business goals. 

By integrating full-stack observability and security into an overall IT strategy centered on business context, an organization has already put themselves two steps ahead of the competition in improving overall user experience that will keep the business thriving as the restaurant industry’s digital proliferation grows. The more you can foster connections within your own organization, the better the overall experience is for your customers and ultimately, your business as a whole.