Restaurant Payments REPORT
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
DIGITIZING Restaurant Payments REPORT MARCH 2021 FEATURE STORY – PAGE 10 How Machine Learning, Contactless Payments NEWS AND TRENDS – PAGE 14 Are Helping Piada 71 percent of consumers want restaurants to continue offering contactless payments, ordering methods and menus, even after the Italian Street Food Meet pandemic ends Shifting Ordering Needs DEEP DIVE – PAGE 20 Restaurants seek to meet diners’ needs and relieve concerns with self-serve kiosks, QR code menus and mobile apps DIGITIZING Restaurant Payments What’s Inside A look at how the ongoing pandemic has accelerated the uses of digital ordering and payments at 04 restaurants and how eateries can help keep pace with these changes Feature Story An interview with Matt Harding, senior vice president of culinary and menu innovation for Piada Italian Street Food, and Jason Profitt, the restaurant’s director of technology, on how the Italian fast casual chain is keeping pace with changing digital ordering 10 and payment trends News & Trends Recent headlines from the space, including why digital restaurant payments may be opening up QR codes’ 14 path to ubiquity and why 59 percent of consumers plan to continue using mobile third-party delivery apps for restaurant orders even after the pandemic has eased Deep Dive An in-depth examination of how restaurants are adopting digital ordering, menu browsing and payments 20 technologies to provide swifter and safer on-site dining and takeout experiences About 25 Information on PYMNTS.com and American Express Acknowledgment The Digitizing Restaurant Payments Report is done in collaboration with American Express, and PYMNTS is grateful for the company’s support and insight. PYMNTS.com retains full editorial control over the following findings, methodology and data analysis. WHAT’S INSIDE he global health crisis rap- online. The monthly average spend for dining idly accelerated the volume of in person is $205. diners ordering takeout and deliv- Developing convenient and seamless digital ery online and through mobile payment and ordering capabilities is becoming apps from their favorite eater- critical for restaurants of all types, especially ies rather than risking exposure in person at as consumers appear to have no plans to sit-down restaurants. Consumers spent $486 return to their pre-pandemic ordering and billion on food eaten at home in 2020, and 89 payment behaviors. Another recent PYMNTS percent of those orders originated from dig- study found that 87 percent of the consum- ital channels, according to recent PYMNTS ers who have moved to online ordering from data. This includes websites as well as both restaurants plan to continue ordering online restaurant-branded and third-party aggregator once the crisis has passed, indicating digital mobile apps, such as DoorDash and Uber Eats. channels may be well on their way to becom- Enabling digital payments and orders — both ing the primary ways for restaurants to engage online and in person at restaurant locations — customers and grow their revenues. is becoming a key factor that will help attract These developments could provide a key boost customers who are choosing between restau- for restaurants, especially as takeout and deliv- rants. This is especially the case for millennial ery become more critical to their business and Generation Z diners, with 61 percent of operations. One recent report found that 89 these consumers stating that digital pay- percent of small, independent restaurant own- ment options were critical when making such ers are dependent upon takeout orders to stay decisions, according to one recent study. afloat, and this dependence is prompting orga- Fifty-seven percent agreed digital ordering nizations to roll out initiatives to meet these capabilities were essential, up from 46 per- needs. Restaurant technology and back-end cent in 2019. Consumers in these generations software provider Resy is working with card are also spending more when they order digi- network American Express, for example, on a tally, as recent PYMNTS data found that bridge promotion called #TakeoutTuesday, which is millennials — those between 32 and 41 years intended to keep operations moving on what is of age — spend an average of about $279 per typically the slowest day for eateries. month ordering from table-service restaurants © 2021 PYMNTS.com All Rights Reserved | 5 WHAT’S INSIDE Ensuring that restaurants have access to the percent of diners stating they would continue digital tools they need to process takeout and to use mobile delivery apps after the crisis has delivery orders is equally key. Those restau- passed. Restaurants will need to be sure they rants will need to carefully consider how to can offer these online payment and ordering go about integrating these tools and how to options to keep these diners satisfied and to ensure their own brands can stand out from a grow customer loyalty as consumers become more crowded pack. more familiar with these tools. AROUND THE DIGITAL RESTAURANT Eateries appear ready to take on this challenge. PAYMENT WORLD Restaurants surveyed in one recent study One recent study found that 53 percent of con- stated they expect 62 percent of their 2021 sumers now consider takeout and delivery to revenues to come from takeout and delivery be “essential” to their current lifestyles, with orders, and they are adjusting their daily oper- digital channels playing an integral role. Use of ations accordingly. Restaurants are expressing both curbside pickup and mobile delivery apps more interest not only in consumer-facing is ramping up, with 46 percent of individuals digital tools but also in technologies that can now ordering takeout through these methods. smoothly support these features. Ninety per- Consumers are also expected to cling to cent of eateries have either already invested or their smartphones in the future, too, with 59 plan to invest in kitchen automation technology, 6 | © 2021 PYMNTS.com All Rights Reserved WHAT’S INSIDE for example, allowing them to more efficiently fulfill orders as well as collect consumer data on order and payment preferences. This would Industry help them successfully compete. Consumers do not appear ready to go back to INSIGHT pre-pandemic dining behaviors, with another What ordering and payments technologies are proving report revealing that in-person dining com- important in helping restaurants serve diners during fort levels are fluctuating. Comfort levels were the pandemic? What should restaurants keep in mind at 44 percent at the end of January and rose as they work to adapt their services? to 51 percent at the end of February, yet only “The pandemic placed an unprecedented burden on 44 percent of consumers stated they would restaurants to find ways to sustain their business … feel safe dining at restaurants in early March, This included the increased adoption of mobile and indicating increased wariness. Off-premises web-based ordering for delivery and takeout and [the] orders have not waned, however. The study adoption of QR codes to safely pull up menus and order- found that 80 percent of restaurant traffic now ing information. Customers quickly adapted to these new trends, and we do not expect a [reversion] back to takes place outside restaurant locations, such ordering behavior[s] prior to the pandemic. While we are as from orders placed via phone calls, through entering a more positive chapter with increasing vacci- mobile apps or online. This indicates that dig- nation rates, restaurant owners should still continue to ital ordering channels will continue to play a digitize their operations. Customers are still very aware of key role in the restaurant industry in the near sanitary and touchless practices, and both will continue future as consumer trust toward sit-down din- to be important factors in their dining decisions. For this, ing slowly returns. restaurant owners should allow and embrace the way their customers want to pay, including contactless and For more on these stories and other digi- QR [code] payments. We also expect to see increased tal restaurant payments headlines, read the adoption amongst restaurant owners in technology that report’s News and Trends section (p. 14). allows them to automate their kitchen operations for a more efficient back of house, and the expanded use of PIADA ITALIAN STREET FOOD ON kiosks and menu-based QR codes to streamline the din- KEEPING PACE WITH CHANGING ing experience to increase sales volume.” PAYMENT, ORDERING TRENDS Restaurants have long employed varied CURTIS WILSON menu items to appeal to different consumers’ Vice president and general manager of restaurant, tastes, and the same can be said of offer- travel and entertainment, global merchant and ing the right variety of ordering channels and network services American Express © 2021 PYMNTS.com All Rights Reserved | 7 WHAT’S INSIDE payment options to help attract customers. DEEP DIVE: HOW THE PANDEMIC PUT Diners have grown familiar with digital order- ORDERING, PAYMENTS TECHNOLOGY ON THE MENU ing after a year of opting to eat at home to avoid pandemic-related risks, and they are Restaurants have had to redesign their order- now expecting more options than ever when ing and payments services to keep serving interacting with their chosen eateries. In this customers safely during the global health crisis, month’s Feature Story (p. 10), Matt Harding, and digital solutions are playing a key role in senior vice president of culinary and menu those transformations. Venues have adopted innovation for Italian fast casual restaurant a variety of technologies, including on-site chain Piada Italian Street Food, and Jason equipment and mobile tools that enable diners Profitt, the eatery’s director of technology, to place orders remotely and skip face-to-face discuss how the pandemic has impacted con- interactions. This month’s Deep Dive (p. 20) sumers’ ordering and payment wants and examines restaurants’ key technological adop- needs as well as how the company is using a tions as they work to provide swift, socially holistic all-in-one system and machine learn- distant purchasing and transaction experi- ing to help foster more seamless experiences.