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Mobile Ordering Service – Food and Drink

Mobile Ordering Service – Food and Drink

I’ve experienced it. So, probably have you: Trying to order goods or services when you are on the move is often a pain in the proverbial. Trying to speak and order over the phone whilst on the go is very often a frustrating experience. Either you can’t hear what the person at the other end is saying for background noise, or the line drops off, or you can’t see a menu, etc., etc.

A smart food and drink mobile ordering system can enable your customers to quickly and efficiently place their order via their smartphone or tablet, then simply click and collect their order with the minimum of fuss. This is a great marketing tool. Enhancing the consumer experience can give you an edge over a competitor who has a slow and clunky system for takeaway order placing.

You can think of the mobile ordering service like a type of ‘just in time‘ (JIT) system. There is nothing worse as a consumer, than trying and failing to place an order via your mobile phone, giving up and ordering only when you turn up to the store or restaurant. You then have to wait around while your order is being dealt with.

If you don’t think this still happens, have you ever tried to call up Nando’s and place a food order for collection? It seems that their telephone for taking orders is placed in the bar area, so you pick up all the noise from the entire restaurant. It is basically impossible to have a legible conversation with the person trying to take your order!

I must be honest and state that part of the reason for writing this article about the potential benefits of a mobile ordering service was the recent news from Nando’s. The restaurant chain will allow customers to order and pay from their smartphones as part of a wider marketing drive to broaden its reach in the UK. The click-and-collect service will launch next month (June, 2014) following trials at 14 restaurants nationwide earlier this year.

As reported in Marketing Week Nando’s could pip KFC to mobile ordering after the fried chicken maker began testing the feature last year. This trend of digital (mobile) innovations is proof that the mobile revolution is firmly in the fast lane. KFC have said that their forthcoming digital innovations are being guided by a more “emotional” approach to advertising. It’s also worth noting that in the US the giant that is McDonald’s has been trialling a click-and-collect app where it is under pressure to win back younger consumers. Look out for this arriving in the UK either latter part of this year or at some point in 2015.

Don’t be fooled into thinking however that a mobile ordering service is consigned only to the world of restaurant marketing. West Bromwich Albion Football Club has become the first Barclays Premier League club to trial mobile ordering platform Q App, enabling fans to place orders and make purchases within the stadium straight from their mobile phone.

Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust is delivering unrivalled food service to its patients and has seen waste levels fall from 30% to zero overnight, thanks to the mobile ordering capabilities of Manna, the specialist catering management solution from MICROS.

The potential for all kinds of venues and stadia, to name just two environments where click-to-collect makes a whole lot of sense is enormous. The above examples are all business to consumer (B2C) environments, however in my opinion a well-constructed mobile ordering system could work equally as well in a business to business (B2B) setting, and across a multitude of different sectors.

As a company eapb are learning fast about the current marketing and differentiation possibilities provided by a mobile ordering service. If you are reading this article and think your business could benefit by knowing more, please don’t hesitate to drop us an e-mail and we can advise accordingly.

Paul Brewster, May 2014