Drawing Customers in Through Digital Doors

MARCH 2014 | VOL.2, ISSUE: 1 HOW TECHNOLOGY MOVES YOU AND YOUR CUSTOMER Screen Capture: Drawing Customers in through Digital Doors

YOU AND YOUR SELF-ORDERING KIOSKS Q AND A: INDUSTRY IT STAFF NEED MOVE FROM AIRPORT MARKETERS WEIGH IN TO KNOW ABOUT AND MOVIE THEATER TO ON GOOD RESTAURANT WEB PRESENCE FAST CASUAL AND QSR WEBSITES

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8 Cover Story Beyond Pizza: Online Ordering Catches On Accuracy and ease of use, combined with Internet-in-your-pocket ubiquity, are encouraging more restaurant categories to open online channels to takeout and delivery orders. 10 Online Ordering Case Study Señor Grandes’ “No-Park Curb Service,” an inspired mashup of SMS and online technologies, was the owner’s answer to his sudden parking scarcity.

FEATURE DEPARTMENTS 4 6 24 Editor’s Letter Front of House Then, Now, Next Your restaurant’s on- A Bluetooth beacon that tells A look behind, ahead screen presence takes you who’s arrived, another and in the moment many forms today. app that sniff s out fake IDs. at what we mean by... Of these, maybe two Offi ce Lunch Orders. (kiosks and tableside 14 tablets) are still 25 optional. Four Walls Restaurants prep for Back of House Raising Revenue 20 tablet deployments. Knowing where your Q and A: 5 fi sh last swam, site Good Restaurant First Look selection intelligence, Website Ingredients: e iPads and SaaS off ering 18 preventing unpleasant ings like menus, of Altametrics’ new Knowing Your surprises in power/ reservations, online HubWorks division make it Customer plumbing/HVAC ordering and easier to take the leap into Self-ordering consumption or failure. nutrition info make tableside tablets for self- kiosks move restaurant website service menus and games. from airport 26 design a specialty all and movie its own. theater to Ten Things fast casual About Establishing a Related: Anatomy and QSR. Robust Web Presence. 22 of a Restaurant Website

www.RestaurantTechnologyMagazine.com March 2014 3

Editor’s Letter

One Restaurant,

March 2014 Many Screens VoL.2, IssuE: 1

EdItorIaL & art or Restaurant Technology worker reducing that order to one click

Magazine’s third issue, we de- the following week, when she logs on to editorial director: cided to investigate your restau- the same site, while on the train going to ellen Muraskin rant’s online presence—perhaps work. See Jennifer Zaino’s story, p. 8, for [email protected] more accurately, its on-screen presence. more. Since we’ve been taking a primer-like Screens that may seem to be mere publisher: Restaurant Technology approach to every subject we tackle thus menu replacements—tableside tablets— Magazine far, we divided this up into what we see as can take on other roles as well. They also constituent categories. can turn into game consoles—during creative director: There are websites, in desktop, tablet hours where table turns aren’t para- cavedweller studio and smartphone formats. There are mount, or to keep kids who are too cool mail@cavedwellerstudio. com kiosks, both in-store and out-of-store, for crayons occupied, or adults who perhaps on college campuses or army like (and will pay to play) trivia contests. project Manager: barracks. Then there are tablets bolted They can gather market intelligence by kelly lambert to every table; we profiled the ground- presenting quick surveys, or serve as a [email protected] breaker in this category, Stacked, in our customer’s window into his loyalty pro- restaurant technnology first issue back in September. As per Fall gram status. While they’re at it, they also Magazine is published by 2013 announcements, tableside tablets will make painlessly changeable menus. Restaurant Technology will soon be at a major casual dining See John Moore’s story, p. 14. Magazine llc and property near you. Kiosks are another self-service device, produced by penton For a general overview of what goes in self-service establishments. As order- Marketing services. into today’s restaurant’s web presence, ing sites, they are line-busters and up- we tapped Nora Caley, who also writes sellers. As menus, they can offer endless for mother ship Nation’s Restaurant combinations of add-ons without forget- News. See p. 20. ting any. And like tablets and websites, ad IndEx While menus have been a common they can take credit card payments. See

feature of restaurant sites for years, Andrea Muraskin’s story, p. 18. iFc e*Restaurant along with directions, maps and hours of In the coming years, it will be interest- altametrics.com

operation, all of the “screen” categories ing to see how the online ordering story 7 Xformity mentioned are beginning to take on or- evolves alongside the payment story. altametrics.com

dering as well. It may start with a cater- Will Paypal eclipse credit cards? Will 13 eMn8 ing order, from a special catering menu, chip-and-pin eclipse magnetic stripe? emn8.com

with a 24-hour advance notice and one Will restaurants look to their POS ven- 17 hula pre-paid account. It’s easy to picture the dors, their third-party loyalty programs, hulapos.com

convenience of clicking through a menu, their digital marketing agencies or their ibc comcast perhaps while sharing a screen with a online ordering specialists to incorpo- Business. comcast.com/ coworker, agreeing on bagels and flavors rate this function, if they bring it on at restaurants of cream cheese, cartons of coffee and all? And how far up the food service bc e*smartclock decaf. It’s also easy to picture that office chain will it spread? Stay logged in... esmartclock.com Ellen Muraskin • Editorial Director • [email protected]

Would you like To leaRn MoRe abouT adveRTising oppoRTuniTies WiTh ResTauRanT Technology Magazine? eMail us aT [email protected]

4 March 2014 www.RestaurantTechnologyMagazine.com

By Ellen Muraskin First Look HubWorks

Hardware and software-as-a-service make it easier to take the leap into tableside tablet menus, self-service ordering and payment, and higher checks.

HubWorks’ admin app lets operators change menu items and prices chain-wide, via browser.

company called HubWorks, acquired this went up 23 percent there, he says. “People spend more January by Altametrics (altametrics.com), when they can order on demand,” he notes. “ ey get has made it easier for bars and restaurants dessert; they add bacon to their cheeseburgers.” to take the leap into tableside tablets with a Key to the system is a purpose-built content manage- combination of on-site iPads and software-as-a-service ment back-end that takes in the core menu data from (SaaS). Bolted down in restaurant-hardy Kensington en- the restaurant POS and presents it within a layered closures, HubWorks’ iPads hold the menu items, photos, menu interface. While system integrator partners (or a descriptions, calorie counts, ingredients and all kinds of restaurant company’s IT department) do the initial in- detailed descriptions that won’t fi t on laminated paper stallation and confi guration, operators can easily add or menus but are easily tapped forth on screen. And easily change text, pictures and prices. HubWorks’ administra- changed, chain-wide. (For more on the emerging table- tion app runs off a browser, letting restaurateurs change side tablet category, see Restaurants Prep For Tablet that menu—or several menus, depending on time of Deployments, p. 14.) day, individual property or concept—whenever and e SaaS part is the service that actually sends your wherever they like. ey also can upload ads for display. customer’s order, along with encrypted credit card Tablet menus’ appearances are branded and custom- information, up to HubWorks’ cloud and down again ized. Users can fi nd Facebook and Twitter for promotion- into your POS, in (so far) fi ve integrations: Altametrics’ al sharing purposes, but HubWorks walls off the rest of Hula, NCR’s Aloha, Micros, Agilysis and POSitouch. the Internet. After customers have concluded their meals Your menu also is stored in the cloud; the iPads resync and paid, they can be presented with customizable sur- to it every day, at startup. veys. Receipts can be printed or emailed home. Should a Rob Berger, who started the company, says the system customer carry cash, the system will summon waitstaff . was fi rst deployed in bars, where it typically takes too You can set the system to automatically switch to din- long to get a waiter to take your order for another round. ner or late-night menus at specifi ed hours. e actual en it was “discovered” by Buff alo Wild Wings. After day-to-day data load is light, as the iPads only send extending the app out to table-service, average orders order information, and pictures are stored locally.

www.RestaurantTechnologyMagazine.com March 2014 5

Front of House By Ellen Muraskin

Bluetooth LE Knows OUTSMART (PHONE) Who’s In the House FAKE IDS

A new service from Connected Merchant can tell, by detecting the presence of an app on a smartphone, when specifi c guests enter or leave a restaurant. More important, it retrieves their stored profi le, including photo and food preferences/ allergies, as well as that person’s purchasing history, and overlays the POS screen with it, for hostess/greeter and server to see. e hostess can see whether this person is a newcomer or a returnee; she also can use the system to assign him or her to a table. Managers can use their version of the app, on tablet or smartphone, to see who’s arrived (VIP? Food critic?). Cus- barZapp uses the barcode tomers sign up and download their “Mahana” application via Facebook; that’s also function of smartphones how the service gets the photo. to verify the authenticity rough tight POS of young patrons’ drivers’ integration, Connected licenses. Instantly reading Merchant can dig deep the information encoded into the menu and know therein, it can display the all ingredients, then bearer’s name, date of prompt waitstaff to alert birth, height, weight, eye guests, for example, color, hair color, gender, when they’ve ordered issue date, expiration date, something that might issuing jurisdiction and ID cause an allergic reac- number. Revealing fake tion. Spending history or loaned IDs, the app is linked by credit card incorporates Intellicheck and can be associated Mobilisa’s patented ID with the guest check. A Check software. It’s About 108 million people see the Yelp.com website every month. bigger standout—every- licensed to individual one who accompanies the payer also can be identifi ed and linked to the same check, devices, allowing bars and as long as they’ve got the app. Now you know customers as well as the company restaurants to rotate the they keep; if someone’s birthday is coming up, you can send an email invite to the tool among staff. whole crowd. Annual and monthly e email, SMS, and push-notifi cation channels come with the service, as with licenses are available on many loyalty program plays (see Dec. 2013 issue, p. 8). And as with these plays, a) Intellicheck Mobilisa’s web- the campaign’s response can be tracked and the loop closed by the phones that site (www.icmobil.com) for show up and b) guest profi les are shared across all locations of a subscriber chain. $9.95 per month. This ver- Smartphone detection relies on BTLE (Bluetooth Low Energy). A wireless sion includes the ability to communication technology more common in retail till now, its chief advantage is organize scanned IDs into very low battery drain. e size of two quarters and as cheap as ten bucks, BLTE various groups (“Banned,” “beacons” can detect and identify Mahana-running smartphones over distances “VIP,” “Custom”), and to of a few feet, and can go years between battery replacements. For more info: keep track of the IDs of re- www.getmahana.com. entrants (patrons who have left a venue and returned). barZapp 2.0 provides an

option to export scan (Source: Yelp,2013) TripAdvisor.com reported posting its 100-millionth online review in history and to track venue February, and has since topped 125 million. CEO Stephen Kaufer said a new review of a hotel, restaurant or tourist attraction goes onto the website occupancy. Available for literally every second. (Source: The Orange County Register, 2013, Santa Ana, Calif.) iOS and Android.

6 March 2014 www.RestaurantTechnologyMagazine.com

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8 March 2014 www.RestaurantTechnologyMagazine.com

Pizza e PizzaNet hub debuted in 1994. g Catches On

ontrary to popular belief, online by Jennifer Zaino ordering goes all the way back to the dawn of consumer Internet access. Pizza Hut launched its PizzaNet hub in 1994. Today, not only does Via website the chain invite customers to order up pies via Android, iPad, iPhone and Windows Phone; you can and mobile summon delivery from your Xbox 360. Fellow pizza titans Domino’s and Papa John’s now claim that more app, online than one-third of their sales come from digital orders. e bigger news here is orders the other QSR and fast casual concepts hitching their wagons to the online ordering train: are being see Corner Bakery Café, Jersey Mike’s Subs, Moe’s Southwest Grill and Pinkberry. It may start trialed and with catering orders (see Panera), but the benefi ts of accuracy and ease of use, combined with today’s Internet-in- picking up your-pocket ubiquity, are encouraging more people to use the single-order interface to feed a whole offi ce group, party, or even on- steam in the-road cycling club. ONLINE GROWING A BIGGER PIE fast casual Web orders aren’t simply replacing phone orders. “We are defi nitely getting sales from online ordering that we didn’t have before,” segments. says Manuel Collaguazo, part-owner of Pan- cho Villa’s, a family-owned restaurant with two locations in the Minneapolis area. About

www.RestaurantTechnologyMagazine.com March 2014 9

Online Ordering Catches On 41%

41% of Americans a year ago, it relaunched its website and less at risk of fl ubs: lost have used PICKUP PARAMETERS to feature online ordering with the loyalty points or coupon computers to Online ordering is used for help of custom builder iMenu360 discounts, overcharges view menus, delivery more than pick-up, order food (imenu360.com). e restaurant also or just plain being heard or make says Mitesh Gala, CEO and off ers a mobile app, and is signed wrong. reservations in co-founder of Altamet- on with local third-party online and “Rather than calling a the past month. rics, which provides the mobile ordering service BiteSquad place when maybe they are OrderBee online ordering (bitesquad.com), which off ers pick rushed or the cell con- 63% service for restaurants. up, delivery and catering options. nection isn’t that great, “You see the highest adop- Jersey Mikes redesigned its customers can be sitting tion with food products online ordering system and mo- watching a game with a 63% say they that can be delivered,” says bile ordering app —using Splick- tablet in front of them, and would if the Gala – “pizza, sandwiches, option was it’s (splickit.com) platform — to probably when someone offered. and the like, because that integrate it with its customer loyalty asks whether they need (NRA, 2013) really seals the deal when it program and social media feeds. two orders of wings or comes to driving consumer Technology from companies such three, the answer is going convenience.” as Altametrics (altametrics.com) to be, ‘We better get three with 20 That said, QSRs are trying to goes a bit further into social, letting people here,’” says Brian Grinon- expedite the pick-up end of things, customers place orders from within neau, president of mobile marketing as well. At Pinkberry, making sure an eatery’s Facebook page and easily agency WhizFish (whizfi sh.co). His pickup (as well as delivery) works share that with friends. fi rm off ers a downloadable app that as customers expect depends on In addition to bringing new includes social sharing, push noti- a separate ticketing process. This customers to their doorsteps, online fi cations, GPS coupons and food- involves “dedicated people in-store ordering tends to drive average ordering capabilities. “Orders go up who know those orders are com- bigger checks, helped along by a on the average of 25 to 30 percent,” ing in and who manage those order higher incidence of add-on sales he claims. Employees also are freed flows with more of a restaurant and increased satisfaction, as cus- up from manning the phones to take mentality,” says Laura Jakobsen, tomers tend to feel more in control, care of other things. SVP of marketing. “These teams are

Online Ordering + SMS Mashup Fixes Señor Grandes’ Sudden Parking Shortage

he unique online ordering system of Señor “Drive-by” Pickup Grandes’ Fresh Mexican Grill is the brainchild It works like this: Tof owner Jason Schwetz, and the product of his Customers order and pay either through the order form on Señor sudden necessity. Located in a large shopping center in Grandes’ site or via a downloaded mobile app. When they do, they Woodland Hills, Calif., the fresh Mexican QSR’s lunchtime also enter the make and model of their car and the desired time of sales dropped 48 percent, he says, the day an LA Fitness pickup, as well as their name and cell phone number. An automated opened next door. The gym clientele took up virtually all text, immediately generated by a custom program, is sent to their of the parking spaces his restaurant depended on. And cell phone, instructing them to call a certain number and turn on due to high unemployment, says Schwetz, the gym-goers’ their car’s ﬂ ashers when entering the parking lot. average length of stay spanned his entire day part. A staff member wearing a wireless phone headset receives that A drive-thru was not an option. Neither was traditional call. The order is tagged with the car’s identifying characteristics, curbside pickup, due to the lack of available parking and the No Park Curb Service staffer knows to deliver the proper spaces. Schwetz ultimately created his own solution in take-out order to the correct vehicle with a friendly greeting, using Señor Grandes’ “No-Park Curb Service,” an impressive the customer’s name. mashup of technologies that enables customers to order As Schwetz had just invested in a new POS system, POS and pay online, swing by in their cars (a “drive-by,” if you integration was not considered. Instead, his site and app were will) and be met by staffers handing the appropriate order programmed to send all orders to Señor Grandes’ onsite printer to the customer through the customer’s car window. No via Hewlett-Packard’s e-printing service. As backup, he set up two parking — and no waiting — involved. parallel data paths: The ﬁ rst automatically rings the restaurant’s

10 March 2014 www.RestaurantTechnologyMagazine.com

such customers head to rapid pickup “We are collecting shelves where orders are waiting at the requested date and time. just enough Pinkberry does something similar in addition to oﬀ ering delivery in some information to be markets. For a nine-unit Wendy’s successful at franchise owner in northwest Ohio, WhizFish built iPhone and An- delivery, but also droid mobile apps and rendered its to guarantee website in HTML5 for use on mobile devices, as well; customers pay for speed and their selections when they order and receive an estimated pick-up time. customization,” At the restaurant, they just show – Laura Jakobsen, SVP Marketing, their onscreen receipt and they’re Pinkberry. on their way, Grinonneau says.

MIMICKING THE PHYSICAL WAIT IN LINE e role technology can play in well-educated on how to service GO TO THE HEAD OF THE LINE keeping consumers accurately when the demand comes in. For us, At Five Guys Burgers and Fries, informed about wait times can be the most important thing is to man- customers ordering online or via a good for the consumer, and good age timing so that the product is mobile app can build their orders for the restaurant, too. For in-store preserved to manage its quality and and step to the front of the line when service, “honestly, the line helps presentation.” After all, customers they arrive at the are ordering frozen — not melted store. At participat- — yogurt. ing Panera cafes, Eight in 10 consumers say parking factors into their restaurant selection process. (NRA) 80% dering + SMS Mashup Fixes Señor Grandes’ Sudden Parking Shortage By Ellen Muraskin

phone within a minute of that printout, requiring the staff to Schwetz’ own admission, strike fear into the hearts of the U.S. enter the four-digit confi rmation code appearing on the printed programming and digital marketing industries. order to confi rm its receipt. Secondly (the printer could jam; the Explaining the process to employees and customers has web server could have a bad day), they get a call from a live presented a challenge. “We’ve created something no one’s operator—provided by the same online ordering service—who ever heard of or seen—on average it takes fi ve explanations reads the order off the old-fashioned way. And fi nally, all orders to get someone to understand it,” says Schwetz. “The hardest are programmed to go to Schwetz’ personal email account, cell part for people to grasp is that they don’t have to park.” But phone and the manager’s cell phone. the system has a 96-percent repeat order rate. And it has uncovered an “unintended benefi t,” he says: “Some of our Solution Pieces on Three Continents customers from nearby offi ce buildings now or- This very custom solution required multiple vendors on several der and pay online. We set their orders continents to design and deploy. The SMS messaging was on a table; they walk in, sit down, custom programmed in Hungary; the website was designed eat and leave.” and built in Canada. The online ordering apps for desktop and mobile were programmed in India, and an online video that explains the No-Park Curb Service concept was quickly produced by a separate fi rm in Egypt, both for fees that, by

www.RestaurantTechnologyMagazine.com March 2014 11

Online Ordering Catches On 13%

13% of Americans regulate things,” says Mary Chapman, collecting just enough have made director of product innovation at information to be reservations Technomic, Inc. But restaurants need successful at delivery, using smartphones If I knew (when) you but also to guarantee some way of mimicking that regula- or tablets were coming... for tion for online and mobile orders. speed and customiza- in the past Domino’s does this in one of the more tion,” which is a criti- month. pickup well-known ways, via its real-time cal Pinkberry feature, pizza order tracker. Its online system she says. ( ink of all 46% The industry is exploring other “knows how many orders are coming the toppings!) ways that technology can ensure in, knows how to time them, and tells that pick-up service for online you exactly when it is ready to be IT’S THE DATA 46% say and mobile orders enjoys on- picked up and delivered,” she says. YOU KEEP they would if premise food quality and that offered. ere are other considerations Like any other e- or (NRA, 2013) waste, from delays or other prob- around making online and mobile m-commerce activ- lems, is reduced. There’s been ordering work well. at includes, ity, online ordering discussion, for example, about advises Gala, “committing to making should allow restaurants to compile using geo-fencing to time cook- the consumer experience seamless… customer information, Katzman adds. ing in sync with a customer’s and if you are partnering with some- ird-party services such as GrubHub approach. Gala cautions, though, one, ensuring they have the technol- (grubhub.com), he says, generally that the delta between the time ogy expertise to integrate with your control that data, in contrast to a di- that consumers place orders and POS system and other things, like rect solution like his company’s own, pick them up means that “geo- your discount coupons and loyalty in which customers get daily feeds fencing may work better in theory programs.” e coupon they use in of “how many online orders they than in practice.” Hospitality the restaurant should be one they can received and who they were from. expert Sherri Kimes, professor use online, for instance, so that you ey also can see how frequently any of operations management in the don’t get less mileage from your mar- customer ordered from the online School of Hotel Administration keting programs. “You need to work site through the back-end of our at Cornell University, adds that with an organization that can help system,” he says. “So, if they want to she isn’t sure “consumers would ensure a comprehensive experience, do a marketing or loyalty campaign, be too keen on having some kind and who also can help you identify they have all that data to use, as well of tracking device to see when the landmines,” Gala notes. Indeed, as the customer’s contact informa- they’ll show up.” Gala’s fi rm is one of several in the tion.” Online ordering services such Intermediaries in the digital POS arena that off ers integrated and as OrderBee also provide insight into chain can help by giving pick-up hosted online ordering applications a restaurant’s consumers’ actions for orders special attention, too. If to go with. analysis, and can overlay that with someone places a huge order for other data, such as comparing guest pickup using online food delivery APPEARANCES COUNT service scores between consumers and takeout ordering service e look matters, too, says Joshua dining outside the facility and those Eat24.com, for example, the ser- Katzman, business development and eating in-store. vice contacts the restaurant and sales executive at iMenu360.com. Finally, because online ordering makes sure it has the time to fulfi ll ere may be some design consid- encourages group orders, it becomes it, says CMO Amir Eisenstein. Or, erations for franchises, Grinonneau a great way to expand revenue if it’s a new customer, it might notes; they often can set up their own potential beyond seating capacity. send a text message or email to ordering menu but usually have to fi ll With the accuracy made possible by confi rm that the diner didn’t mean some corporate requirements. For the self-service, click-and-pay ordering, to select the delivery option. “We Wendy’s franchise owner it worked operators can now encourage local pay special attention to pick-up with, for instance, WhizFish had to businesses to join their customer and orders to make sure they’re done follow stipulations about the use of loyalty base as groups — perhaps right,” says Eisenstein. “Delivery Wendy’s logo, “but overall it was a through offi ce-wide promotions, is easier and with pickup there is relatively simple integration.” loyalty rewards and geotargeted pro- a bit more of a timing issue. So, Pain-free operation is paramount. motion. Here lies a great potential for with a certain percentage of them, Jakobson notes that simplicity, speed the best of both marketing worlds — we need to pay special attention and customization informed Pink- traditional, across-the-hall word-of- to make sure the restaurant knows berry’s online interface. “We are mouth and online virality. what is going on. It’s all part of the monitoring that we do.”

12 March 2014 www.RestaurantTechnologyMagazine.com

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he arrival of table-side tablet computers, now surfacing in national chains such as Applebee’s, Buff alo Wild Wings and Chili’s Grill & Bar, could help restaurants boost customer satisfaction, increase check size and im- Restaurants prove marketing. It also could dispense with printing and distribution costs, while allowing operators to respond more rapidly to changing food costs. at’s a tempting IT morsel for an industry deal- Prep For Tablet ing with demanding customers, tight margins and fi erce competition. But rolling out tablets to po- tentially thousands of stores requires a bit of work. Restaurants must consider technical infrastructure, Deployments employee training and customer acclimation when they take on a tablet deployment. Applebee’s, Chili’s and Buffalo Wild Wings Tablet vendors, understandably, say they aim to make adoption as quick and painless as possible. are just the fi rst to go big in adopting Companies such as E la Carte (elacarte.com), Ziosk tableside onscreen menus. Many more (ziosk.com) and Altametrics (altametrics.com) brands are in trial. (through its recent acquisition of HubWorks, see First Look, p. 5) choreograph large-scale deployments, typically using a mix of in-house staff and contractor support. e companies off er to educate restaurant management and staff on the technology, which they describe as intuitive and Special report simple to grasp.

14 March 2014 www.RestaurantTechnologyMagazine.com

Initially, the use case for these tablets tends to start out with guests ordering from the tablet and paying their bill. This then evolves into guests using the enhanced features, such as re-ordering, gaming and signing up for E-club membership.

– Mike Archer, president of Applebee’s, and Rajat Suri, CEO of E la Carte

Leveraging the cultural shift to- “Initially, the use case for these Wallace characterizes a tablet ward greater self-service may prove tablets tends to start out with guests rollout as a two-phased activity. Te to be one of the more pressing chal- ordering from the tablet and paying first phase, taking half a day, involves lenges in tablet adoption. Depending their bill,” says Mike Archer, president preparing the site for installation. on the deployment, tablets will let of Applebee’s, and Rajat Suri, CEO of Tis includes installing Wi-Fi, estab- customers order food and beverage, E la Carte, in a joint email statement. lishing connections to the in-house pay their tab and pursue entertain- “Tis then evolves into guests using server and point of sale, and checking ment options. Tose features could the enhanced features, such as re- security. He describes the process well find rapid acceptance among ordering, gaming and signing up for using the French culinary term mise some segments of the user popula- E-club membership.” en place — the practice of organiz- tion. But some diners may need more Similarly, Chili’s, in a company ing all the necessary ingredients encouragement. statement, cites “enhancing the guest before cooking, or, in this case, tablet “I think the biggest issue, as is with experience” as the main purpose in deployment. any technology initiative or change, equipping its restaurants with Ziosk’s As for security checks, Wallace is just in managing and preparing the 7-inch tablets. describes the Ziosk system as highly guest for the new experience,” says Doug Wallace, chief of operations at secure at the device, system and net- Mitesh Gala, chief executive officer Ziosk, says the company expects to de- work level. “During the installation at Altametrics, a Costa Mesa, Calif.- ploy more than 100,000 tablets over the process, we have numerous configu- based company that offers tablet next 12 months. Many will be installed ration and chain-of-custody checks products for restaurants based on the in Chili’s, but other restaurants such as to ensure this is preserved,” Wallace iPad and Android. “People will have a Red Robin Gourmet Burgers and Uno’s says. “Tis is followed up by monitor- lot of questions.” Pizzeria & Grill also will contribute to ing and intrusion-detection systems the installation count. Ziosk reports once the Ziosk is installed.” Hi-Profile DePloyments that its technology has helped its cus- With the tablets in place, installers Questions surrounding deployments tomers increase appetizer sales by 20 move on to Phase Two: switching on will likely intensify this year as high- percent and dessert sales by 30 percent. the tablets to make sure they are run- profile tablet rollouts get underway. ning correctly. Tis takes about three Applebee’s this year plans to install minimizing DisruPtion hours, Wallace notes. 100,000 devices from tablet maker E Tablet vendors say they can help Te Applebee’s installation, set la Carte at more than 1,800 U.S. res- their restaurant customers achieve to commence this spring, also will taurants. Chili’s, meanwhile, aims to first-mover status with a minimum involve one day of on-site work. bring tabletop tablets to all company- of disruption. Executives contend “On the day of installation, the owned restaurants nationwide by the installation takes no more than one hardware is set up, the network first half of this year. Te company day per restaurant. is configured and each device is has partnered with tablet vendor Zi- osk on that task. Buffalo Wild Wings has formed a similar partnership with HubWorks, recently acquired by % 79% of working professionals say their need for high 79 performance Wi-Fi often influences their choice of hotels, Altametrics. restaurants and other businesses. Customer convenience ranks % 19% of users want improved Wi-Fi in restaurants among the top motivations for tablets 19 and coffeehouses. at the table. (Source: Ubiquiti Networks survey)

www.RestaurantTechnologyMagazine.com March 2014 15

Four Walls tested,” say Archer and Suri. “Train- “ e restaurant’s network connec- and security scanning. “We are ing for both restaurant staff and tion most likely is not going to see constantly monitoring all the sites, managers is conducted several much strain,” he says. “ e actual making sure software versions are ac- weeks prior to installation and on data that is transmitted for a transac- curate and ... checking for intruders the day of the rollout.” tion is relatively small. Larger data on the network,” Wallace says. “All of Suri says E la Carte handles all of needs, like downloading new menus those things are managed remotely.” a restaurant’s networking require- and graphics, can be scheduled to For his part, Gala notes, “Tablet soft- ments as part of its service package. take place after hours.” ware updates, patching and security “ e restaurant doesn’t need to do In addition to preparation, consis- are all automated processes.” anything,” he says. tency looms as an important factor Gala adds that tablet installations in a large-scale rollout. Wallace says MENU CHANGES FROM A don’t overly tax networks. Ziosk deploys local teams of two or BROWSER three people, consisting of both Ziosk Content for menus and marketing and deployment partner personnel. initiatives also are delivered remotely For example, the lead engineer who from a central vendor site. In Alta- screen test heads each team could be a Ziosk metrics’ case, authorized restaurant full-timer or a partner employee. e personnel go to Altametrics’ man- teams also work with local contrac- agement website to make changes tors such as cabling companies. Wal- to tablet content from any browser. lace estimates that 60 to 70 teams will Changes may be made chain-wide or work on the Chili’s rollout. for individual stores. At Applebee’s, each tablet rollout Restaurants “can update one will pull together team members or all locations,” Gala explains. from E la Carte, Applebee’s and a “Menus, prices, specials and every- is installed in more than 4 billion productsWi-Fi already, and is expected to surpass 10 billion in 2018. (ABI Research) third-party implementation partner, thing else can be updated and be according to the executives. e diff erent at each location.” teams will deploy E la Carte’s Presto Similarly, E la Carte’s Presto tab- tablets at 10 to 40 diff erent locations lets pull down the right menu and per week. any other confi gurations for each individual store. But content changes TABLESIDE PAYMENTS are a little less DIY: With E la Carte, REQUIRE SAFETY FIRST a restaurant submits a request for Finally, the pay-at-the-table aspect a content update—a change to a puts information security on the menu, for instance—to the compa- installation checklist. ny’s almost-round-the-clock support “ ere is a whole security layer team via phone, email or support that needs to go on top,” Wallace says, ticket. An update may be requested noting that each tablet has the added for an individual restaurant, a re- dimension of serving as a payment gion, chain-wide or franchise-wide, device, with all the PCI (Payment Suri says. Card Industry Data Security Stan- While vendors describe their dard) compliance that entails. tablets as guest-friendly, the degree “PCI compliance is part of the of- to which tablet concerns surface will fering,” Gala says. “However, the card depend on the customer’s technical readers are hardware-encrypted, comfort zone. eliminating the risk of PCI entirely.” Gala suggests a third of guests will Suri of E la Carte and Wallace of Ziosk immediately embrace tablets, while note that their off erings are PCI-com- another third will accept and adopt pliant as well. the technology, while the fi nal third Buff alo Wild Wings is trialing Tablet vendors also hope to make will require assistance. “Some folks HubWorks’/Altametrics’ iPad-based menus in several markets. e ongoing tablet operations as easy ... just require someone to help them idea: boosting ticket sizes by letting on restaurant managers as possible. through the process and hold their customers order and add more sides, drinks or desserts at will. Vendors say they remotely handle hand until they become comfortable tasks such as tablet software updates with it,” Gala says.

16 March 2014 www.RestaurantTechnologyMagazine.com designed for restaurant owners.

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Learn more at www.hulapos.com Or call 800-676-1281 (Press 2 for Sales) Knowing your Customer By Andrea Muraskin

Self-ordering kiosks offer a convenient, informative solution for fast casual and QSR

Tap, Swipe, Go!

ow Bao is an Asian fusion quick-serve chain that specializes in through the options. Perse Faily is bao (steamed buns with savory or sweet fi llings) and dumplings, CEO of Tillster (tillster.com), which with four locations in Chicago. Manager Geoff Alexander’s inspi- provides the technology to Jack in the ration to adopt self-service kiosk technology came to him when he Box and Dominos (follow link at the went to vote in the 2008 election. “I waited in line for 40 minutes to cast my vote,” bottom of page 19 to demo) among says Alexander. “And when I fi nally got in the room, they said here’s your bal- others. “If you as a consumer chose lot. You can wait another 20 minutes or you can use the machine over there that to opt in for the system to remember nobody’s using...So I walked over to the machine and I thought wow, this is really you,” says Faily, “with just a swipe of a easy. is would be a great thing for Wow Bao.” card or putting in your mobile num- Self-service kiosks are familiar by now at airports and movie theaters. At res- ber, it will welcome you back and taurants, they integrate with POS systems: Orders are sent to the kitchen without actually present you with your last the need for a customer to speak with or hand payment over to a cashier. Some few orders,” including any modifi ca- are tablet-based, but unlike the tablets at tables at sit-down establishments (see tions you selected in the past. Tillster article on page 14), they are designed for QSR and fast casual. e idea is that the kiosks also have loyalty-program customer can walk in the door, use the kiosk to place her order and pay, get her functionality, and can be customized food, and go. Wow Boa has been using the technology since 2009. for both virtual punch-card type and point-based systems. e “Remem- EMPOWERING THE CUSTOMER ber Me” program is integrated across Todd Hoff man is CEO of Kokley (kokley.com), whose tablet-based kiosks are being the mobile, web and call center plat- tested in four Panera locations. Hoff man says that kiosks empower the customer forms that Tillster provides. to feel more comfortable customizing an order because options are presented “layered, like questions in a survey,” and every option is paired with a visual. “Do you want mustard, mayonnaise, do you want light mayonnaise, do you want light % 7% of Americans have placed 7 an order on a touch-screen mustard, do you want ketchup, do you want salt, pepper, guacamole? All of that is (Source: NRA, 2013) terminal in a restaurant in the easier to tap than to ask for. You can be a bit creative,” says Hoff man. past month. At Wow Bao, customers can view gluten-free, vegetarian and shellfi sh-free % 46 46% say they would if menus at the click of a button. offered. Kiosk interfaces also are set up for customers who want to order without sifting

18 March 2014 www.RestaurantTechnologyMagazine.com

STEP BY STEP

than on a phone. Kiosks also off er With infi nite patience and infallible anonymity to those who want it. memory, the ordering/payment Wow Bao has a mobile app, but app running on Domino’s kiosk lets customers consider many more options most customers use it for delivery. and add-ons than counter help can. It’s “In our restaurants, the time that you also bilingual. order your food to the time you pick up is literally less than two minutes,” says Alexander. “Would you ever order your coff ee from Starbucks online?” So I walked over Tillster is working with Dominos to to the machine and install kiosks in off -site locations including college dormitories, military I thought wow, this barracks and hotels, where they can speak (see vimeo demo*) as well as is really easy. This display. “You’d think that university would be a great dormitories have a population that is very mobile-savvy,” Faily points out, thing for Wow Bao. suggesting that most students would order from their own devices. “And SUGGESTIVE SELLING yet, the transaction volumes of those Geoff Alexander says Wow Bao’s kiosks are signifi cantly high.” Off -site kiosks, manufactured by Nextep kiosks stimulate impulse ordering in (nextepsystems.com), provide con- a way mobile apps do not. tinual upselling opportunities. “After every item you order, it will ask you CHALLENGES if you want to add something to it, Faily says that the biggest challenge based on the diff erent combos we of- of implementing a kiosk system is the fer; and then, after each one of those same as with any restaurant technol- items, it asks you if you want a drink.” ogy: it requires a shift in the operating Wow Bao’s kiosk sales have a 15 to model. “Where do they get placed for 20 percent higher check average than maximum usage, so that the fl ow at sales at the register, says Alexander, both the kiosk and the lines for the and he attributes that diff erence to counter work seamlessly? Once I put the upsell function. (An associate can a kiosk in the restaurant, I remove the only ask you if you would like a drink bottleneck from ordering, and the once before it gets old, but a com- bottleneck moves...to the kitchen,” puter can wear you down without the she notes. same annoyance factor.) For now, Kokley’s kiosk business is mostly in retail. Hoff man is in conver- COMPARING KIOSKS WITH sation with a handful of chains, but MOBILE he’s coming up against some reluc- According to Hoff man, kiosk systems tance. Potential buyers are telling him have advantages over mobile apps: that they’re concerned about adapting “ e mobile app, you’re not go- to chip-and-pin technology, already ing to change very often. Once it’s widespread in Europe and expected downloaded, it’s static. In the store, to replace magnetic stripe credit cards I’m in full control of the device. I can in the U.S. “And when that does hap- update it any time I want.” e other pen, a lot of what they might purchase clear advantage is the form factor: it’s today they’d have to throw out very easier to browse a menu on a tablet soon,” Hoff man says.

*For a video of the ordering ﬂ ow of Domino’s kiosk: http://vimeo.com/64900570

www.RestaurantTechnologyMagazine.com March 2014 19

Q & A By Nora Caley and Ellen Muraskin

Reid Travis: Our research shows that 50 percent of our web viewership comes from mobile devices. It’s rare that customers are shopping or looking Good Restaurant for us at home. They are in a car with friends and they are googling where to eat. So making the site responsive was important to us. Website Ingredients On the other hand, the 50 percent who use desktops to get to our site include Successful website design in the restaurant industry has potential franchisees, who are seeking its own special challenges. To get some advice on selling diff erent, and more in-depth, infor- steak and sizzle to a hungry, online and (often) mobile mation. Our online traffi c monitoring shows that prospective franchisees read prospect, we queried some restaurant marketers and much more content and stay for longer design professionals who have restaurant clientele. periods. Your link to that information has to be easy to fi nd, but the content itself obviously goes on another page. Stephanie Sheldon: e tool I use to build sites, Squarespace (squarespace.com), makes a mobile version RT: What special considerations do automatically from your desktop you need when deciding on the design. If you’re not happy with components of a restaurant home how it divides up the page for page and their placement? smartphone screens, you can Jason Therrien: Restaurant pay them to adjust their smart- sites do not always put the phone template. You have that user fi rst. e customer wants fl exibility. the location, phone number, Diana Hovey: Don’t focus http://thundertech.com/media/documents/thundertech-mobile-white-paper-foodservice-chains-2013.pdf hours, menu and events as on mobile to the exclusion their top priorities. Don’t dis- of other channels: At Corner tract them by leading with other Bakery Café, catering represents topics that are important to you, 20 percent of sales, so custom- such as history, about, catering, etc. ers are placing orders from their ey can and should be listed, but desks as well as their smartphones. don’t lead with them in your site layout. We also wanted to make it easier for Also, make sure your components are potential franchisees to explore the brand, user-friendly. For example, a PDF of your menu is as we want to double our number of units. nice for ownership to manage, but it’s a terrible experience for the user to download and view compared to just building RT: What else belongs on a restaurant’s site? out another page. Also, make sure to test out your contact Rich Hope: While food and locations are indeed the most components (phone and address) on mobile. Are they set sought-after pages, some consumers also want to know up to be touch-friendly to integrate with the phone’s tools – about nutrition and ingredients related to allergens or click-to-call and mapping with your address? gluten. Maybe the masses don’t look there, but we know that it’s important for people with food allergies. If people RT: How important is it to design a site for mobile as well as don’t know that you have gluten-free products, they are desktop? going to move on. Jason Therrien: undertech did a study* of the top 50 Consumers also want to place orders and earn free multi-unit restaurant sites and found that 80 percent were food. We recently launched a mobile app that brings utilizing mobile. at’s signifi cantly higher than general our online ordering together with our loyalty program, market studies we’ve done, where the numbers are around “Shore Points.” Customers can use the app to find a store, 20 percent. However, anecdotally, smaller chains and order and pay online, find out how many rewards points single-unit stores do not seem to be on the mobile band- they’ve earned and alert their Facebook friends to what wagon as strongly as their larger counterparts. they’re eating.

20 March 2014 www.RestaurantTechnologyMagazine.com

Participants

RT: What applications are important for your website to inter- act with or link to? Jason Therrien: e obvious one is reservations. I’m still Jason Therrien surprised to see how many restaurants don’t use this to their president advantage. Today’s consumers are trained to serve their own Thunder::tech www.thundertech.com needs through websites, so why make them go to the site, then call, then wait on hold just to do what they could have done on your site? Other applications that can be considered are Face- book, Twitter, YouTube, other social apps such as Foursquare, Instagram, Vine, loyalty tools, email signups, mapping tools, event and registration tools, e-commerce for events, gift cards Stephanie Sheldon and merchandise, and employment applications. president Indie Foundry It should be obvious, but install Google Analytics behind www.indiefoundry.com the scenes to measure how people arrive at your site and how many. Also, behind a secure login, you could link to employee scheduling software. Stephanie Sheldon: We link to OpenTable, which is helpful. We have a newsletter sign-up and the social media links. We do have the Market Garden Facebook feed pulled in Reid Travis director of marketing there (marketgardenbrewery.com). I don’t love how it looks, Pancheros but it functions when they have a new beer or a new event to www.pancheros.com promote. We’ve found that a lot of people don’t want to join Facebook. We decided to let the restaurant’s updates show here without relying on customers jumping over to Facebook.

RT: What advice do you have about displaying your menu online? Rich Hope Jason Therrien: Too many restaurants take their menu CMO Jersey Mike’s design and just force it onto the web. Consistent visual assets www.jerseymikes.com are important, but remember that load times still matter (especially on mobile), and people scan screens diff erently from paper. Also, list your day-part menus (if you have them) as separate options on your site. First, this educates the viewer that you off er more options. Second, it creates fewer clicks for quicker browsing. Alfredo Sandoval owner Mercadito Hospitality RT: What about updates? I bet restaurateurs and in-house www.mercaditohospitality.com marketing departments want to be able to do this themselves. Alfredo Sandoval: Yes. No one should have to pay and wait for an agency to make every change. At Bertucci’s, if we need to change a price on a menu or update an ingredient, we do it through the CMS (Content Management System) that our agency, InHouse, used to build the site. You want to make sure Diana Hovey you are taking advantage of the ability to publicize diff erent CMO Corner Bakery Café promotions. We’ve found that the website is a great place to www.cornerbakerycafe.com promote large events like New Year’s Eve, Valentine’s Day and Cinco de Mayo, so those sections always have updated information and graphics.

% Only 12% of 1,000 SMBs surveyed % Following lodging, the most mobile-friendly 12 supported viewing on all three 52 industries were restaurants, with 52% of mobile devices: iPhone, Samsung websites mobile enabled, and taxi and limo

(Source: hibu.) (Source: Galaxy S and fourth-generation iPad. services, with 44% of websites mobile friendly.

www.RestaurantTechnologyMagazine.com March 2014 21

Q & A Anatomy of a Website RT: How do you typically work with restaurateurs or their Redesign: owners/marketers? Jason Therrien: Every restaurant operation relationship is diff erent. Some have brand standards and believe in the Branding, power of the web and digital marketing and we’re able to hit the ground running very fast; others need a lot of education Beauty and on what to do and why. Stephanie Sheldon: I do marketing and branding Utility that connects with clients on a personal level. I get to know what makes them tick. e idea I came up with for Market Garden Brewery, for example — a “vintage newspaper” idea — was based on the management team and the owners, and understanding what the brand wanted to push. We knew that newspapers were near and dear to these folks and we felt that made up a great community. e newspaper layout Corner Bakery Cafe tasked Rockfi sh also lent itself to a big story on top, a rotating picture and a sidebar with many calls to action: planning an event, making Interactive (rockfi shdigital.com), a digital a reservation, direction and social sharing. marketing agency based in Rogers, Ark.,

RT: How did you know that a vintage newspaper approach with bringing its character and menu to would also appeal to customers? life in the digital space through a website Stephanie Sheldon: As a designer, I also keep up with redesign. It had to make users hungry trends. We visited a lot of breweries, and we noticed these kinds of vintage elements there. Also, it felt right for Market and give them instant means to satisfy Garden because brewing is an old-school technique; there their cravings through in-person visits and are lots of old drawings of brewing equipment that we felt fi t right in. Plus, we’re located in an historic building, next to an online ordering. The digital experience historic market. When they excavated, they found all these old that resulted refl ects the brand in bottles related to Prohibition. We wanted to draw on the past. presenting fresh, ingredient-inspired food, RT: What should potential clients look for in designers? unique menu combinations and friendly Diana Hovey: e agency you choose should be build- neighborhood service. ing digital platforms that not only maximize cutting-edge technology today, but can handle future innovation without a complete site rebuild. We worked with Rockfi sh Interactive (rockfi shinteractive.com) when we launched a new website Aesthetics and Branding that introduced online ordering. We also wanted to make it Rock sh had Corner Bakery Cafe’s mouth-watering easier for potential franchisees to explore the brand, as we food photography to start with; this is the site’s main want to double our number of units. visual engine. Jason Therrien: Look for a deep digital understanding, The design rm paired this rich photography with including designing for a world of changing devices, search the neutral accents of its brand elements to create habits and browsers. When you’re looking for a long-term a crisp and sophisticated look that maintains a warm relationship, fi nd a partner that understands site analytics and welcoming feel. and will guide you through what they mean for your site, if A rich, saturated color palette reinforces the you’re going to treat it as an ongoing investment that you’ll menu’s quality and authenticity. Its trademark striped continue to iterate on. cafe awning frames the site, paying homage to its neighborhood heritage. Aesthetics remain a priority, supporting utility and usability throughout the site. Facebook ranked as the top smartphone app, reaching 74.3 percent of the app audience, followed % by Google Play (53.9 percent), Google Search (53.2 74.3 percent) and YouTube (49.6 percent). Pandora Radio cracked the top 5 for the fi rst time with 49.3 percent reach. No restaurant review site appears in the top 15. (Source: ComScore Mobile Metrix, Sept. 2013)

22 March 2014 www.RestaurantTechnologyMagazine.com

Homepage design

Optimal user experience was key as Rockfi sh designed the new homepage, prioritizing content within a clean and organized grid. The grid provides a fl exible platform able to highlight a mix of imagery and content that refl ects Corner Bakery Cafe’s friendly, bustling atmosphere. Roll-over text in each box leverages users’ natural curiosity, encouraging exploration. By interacting with the grid, users can easily engage with multiple facets of the brand, including new menu favorites, cafe locations, social conversations and recent community activity. Custom controls on the menu interface live inside a clean, simplifi ed design pattern, allowing users to fi nd specifi c items quickly and start an online order. The nutrition calculator, despite its Responsive design data complexity, achieves the same visual integrity Rockfi sh built the site on as other areas of the site. a “responsive” platform, A streamlined approach so that users can engage to layout and hierarchy with Corner Bakery Cafe makes intricate data on smartphone, tablet display look clean and or desktop and access simple, and a once clunky the rich content and process engaging. functionality from anywhere The selection fi lter and at any time. These major leverages a slider interface enhancements marked a fi rst people have learned to use for the fast-casual category. on sites like Kayak.

with thanks to Rockﬁ sh Interactive, Rogers, AK

www.RestaurantTechnologyMagazine.com March 2014 23

(Source: NRA 2013)

% 20% of all adults and 35% of 18-to-34- 20 year-olds have placed takeout or delivery orders on smartphones Then Now Next By Ellen Muraskin 35% or tablets in the past month.

A look behind, ahead and in the moment at what we mean by... Office Lunch Orders

Then NOW Next

Gloria sends an email to her lunch group announcing that the order du jour is being sent to Sal’s or Lotus House at 12:00 sharp. She includes the link to Sal’s or Lotus House’s group ordering site, powered by olo.com, Zuppler.com, or Designated offi ce mom Gloria unpins one among dozens of third- When the boss feels gener- the takeout menu du jour from the party platforms now making ous, she repeats the last group lunchroom bulletin board. She makes restaurant menus and order with one click and a copy, attaches the offi ce routing payment options functional picks up the tab. Even orders sticker and sees that it gets to every- online. Everyone peruses as time-sensitive as coff ee one who typically orders lunch from the menu and adds their or hot soup can be ordered Sal’s Deli or Lotus House. When she’s choices to the group order, online, because, as olo.com sure that everyone has checked their complete with their choice CEO Noah Glass observes, name off the routing slip — involving of sides and condiments. “ e big driver isn’t online several walks to other desks or offi ces Everyone pays for his own ordering — it’s mobile order- — she phones Sal or Mei Li and reads order, using credit card or ing.” If customers order from off a long list of sandwiches, sides and PayPal. Even Harry, who’s mobile apps, and if (with their condiments. It gets delivered, word over at CVS getting his fl u permission) that app relays spreads through the offi ce, people shot, can put in his order, the location of the phone it’s fi nd their orders, fi ve to 10 percent since he’s gotten the message running on, operators can of which are wrong. Everyone gives and access to the site via time that order correctly. Gloria $10 or $15. Gloria spends the smartphone. Gloria can see eoretically, at least, those next 15 minutes looking for change who has entered their order. quickly made orders can be and settling accounts. She specifi es pickup at 1 p.m. held until the customer is lo- and prepays with the offi ce cated minutes from the door Then + 10 years: Gloria credit card. Everyone gets or the pre-ordered, pre-paid faxes the order over. what they ordered. drive-through.

24 March 2014 www.RestaurantTechnologyMagazine.com

By Ellen Muraskin Back of House

get tHe 63% StatiStiCal SkiNNy oN Tracing poteNtial SiteS Seafood This past month, the total number of adults that used any kind GE Capital Franchise Finance (geffcenter.com), a major to its of restaurant lender to restaurant franchisees, has come up with an online technology site selection tool for any of its 2,000 customers. Just enter such as looking geography and concept, and SmartChart’s Google Maps and Source up directions pushpins show you preexisting franchises in your area. Propri- was 63%. etary analytics display financial and demographic data culled A Canadian startup is mak- from more than 75 sources; these include GE customers and ing it possible for every chef major national third-party sources, such as ESRI. Data points and seafood consumer to (updated four times a month) include such useful metrics as trace a fish back to the fisher- median income, population density and projected population man and the waters from change. SmartChart also shows you a neighborhood’s traffic which it was caught. TisFish generators: such things as hotels, hospitals, theme parks (thisfish.info)-participating When consumers and airports, alongside their employee counts. Embedded fish harvesters tag every fish ranked their Google StreetViews take you on a virtual tour of the neigh- with a unique code while priorities for borhood. For more information, contact Steve Kruczek at new technology still on the boat; they upload [email protected]. options, loyalty where, when and how it was programs caught to thisfish.info. Ship- and ordering pers and processors can add placed first and their parts of the story all second. After that along the supply chain. At its came booking No More DowNeD Freezer/ reservations, end, chefs, consumers and seeking reFrigerator/HVaC SurpriSeS even patrons (should eater- entertainment ies make the code available) and making Powerhouse Dynamics’ (powerhousedynamics.com) eMonitor can fetch that information by payments. is a remote monitoring system whose electrical, temperature, entering the code on the Tis- pressure and water sensors can alert restaurateurs to wasted Fish mobile site. Tey can dive kilowatts, expressed in dollars and cents, and aggregated deep into information on the across multiple properties of up to 25,000 square feet. Con- fish species, recipes, and even nected to wireless thermostats, water and gas meters, it can send their comments back to % lower or raise ambient temperatures throughout the day and the men in boots who made 48 night, and pinpoint sources of excess usage. Want to know the catch. if heating and cooling systems are operating at the same time, or if left-open doors are causing a refrigeration unit to short-cycle? Log into your eMonitor portal on mobile app and check. Want to know exactly what you’re paying to run any 48% of quick service particular freezer or heat lamp? Want to be alerted by text restaurants if something springs a leak? If refrigerator temperatures go say they are above 40 degrees or freezers above 20 degrees? budgeting to Powerhouse Dynamics claims that typical energy savings of spend more 10 to 20 percent achieve an eight-month ROI. A restaurant- on mobile specific “Food Safety Scorecard” zeroes in on compliant ordering and (sour other customer refrigeration temperatures. Arby’s announced plans to install ce: NRA) technology the system in 860 corporate-owned properties last September. this year.

www.RestaurantTechnologyMagazine.com March 2014 25

IMHO By Jeff Chasney Establishing a Robust Web Presence: You (and your IT Staﬀ ) Need to Know You need to know... and furthermore...

It’s all about “mobile.” Whatever you build If you don’t have the talent or funding to build “speciﬁ cally for mobile or rebuild, it must be mobile-aware. 1 devices,” don’t bother building anything. Save your money.

Mobile means iPhone, iPad and Droid. 2 I know you want to throw Blackberry in there as well. Stop it! Just stop it!

Your IT department doesn’t know how to Leave content development to your ad agency or your creative partner. design effective and compelling window 3 Your IT staff knows how to create reports. Advertising and creative layouts and content. agencies know how to create “window” appeal.

Don't “trust” your brand’s name and reputation to others. Keep hosting OTOH, content development ﬁ rms close to your vest and directly under your management. If your staff typically aren’t the most technology savvy 4 doesn’t have the competence to effectively manage hosting, hire new on the subject of secure site hosting. staff.

Slapping Facebook and Twitter hyperlinks on your site only broadcasts You should integrate, not “link” to social your team’s lack of technology prowess. "Integration" means your site media sites. 5 directly presents content and updates from the various social media sites rather than giving your customers links to “jump” to the sites.

Never assume your visitors want your suggestions, updates, “deals” or You need to have customers opt in. 6 other offerings. Ask for an active “Yes” before you start spamming them or sharing their information with “friends.”

Don’t assume your visitors are social site or navigation savvy. Help them Your audience may be neophytes in web use and navigate through your site. Teach the un-indoctrinated and they navigation and mobile app use. 7 will reward you with loyalty.

Some website components are not Use HTML4 and CSS3 to build a device-agnostic site and use agnostic commonly supported on both Windows, 8 media players. Why not HTML5? Because it is not yet fully available. Its Apple and mobile devices. present form is called HTML4 with CSS3!

Build to attract the audience you want, which is not necessarily your You need to build to your “target” present customer base. Think you can design a customer/age neutral customer. 9 site? Oh, please!

If you don’t refresh your site’s content and direction weekly, you will be This is not a project…it’s a “program.” 10 forgotten in a few months. If you want to be popular, change your outﬁ t frequently; otherwise, you’ll be a wallﬂ ower. MoralS

• No one carries a laptop in • Provide seamless integration with the popular so- • Building a site that will “build” your their back pocket. If you want cial media sites such as Facebook, Instagram and customer base and your sales is not a one- to be ﬁ ndable whenever and Twitter. Incorporating social media content directly time project. You must make a long-term wherever there is an opportu- into your web pages can make your site the “one- commitment to continuously revise, refresh nity, build to mobile devices. stop-shopping site” that your audience comes to. and reinvent your site to remain relevant.

26 March 2014 www.RestaurantTechnologyMagazine.com

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