Your Digital Identity Technology & Social Media Trends for Restaurants NRN predicts digital disruptions coming in 2 016 www.nrn.com December 30, 2015 Article by Lisa Jennings Restaurants no longer face a choice between operating as brick-and- Restaurants will recapture control of mobile ordering, mortar retailers or having a digital presence. Today, it must be both. payment and delivery And the challenge ahead for any restaurant chain will be staying true to their brand, mission and values as they evolve with the times. The industry will watch carefully as Starbucks Corp. tests delivery with third-party player Postmates. Typically, delivery through such Here are a few examples of food-focused digital innovation to come third-party players is available through the delivery firm’s website in the new year: or mobile app, but Starbucks will integrate delivery seamlessly into its own app. Restaurant companies will become tech companies Guests will be able to use their smart phones to order, pay ahead If 2015 was the year when restaurant chains realized the game- and get their meal delivered by Postmates. changing potential of their digital platforms, then 2016 will be the Some third-party players say consumers won’t want to download year operators take that game to the next level. Over the past year, so many apps from their favorite restaurants, and that the digital restaurant chains have invested heavily in recruiting serious tech market places offered by DoorDash or GrubHub, for example, offer players into top management in chief information officer or chief consumers more efficient one-stop-shopping for their next meal. technology officer roles. Others, however, contend that restaurant operators will want Starbucks Corp. hired a former Adobe executive Gerri Martin- to keep control of their customers’ digital experience within their Flickinger. Chipotle Mexican Grill hired Starbucks’ former CIO Curt own apps or websites. Garner. And countless other restaurant chains have announced the hiring of a first technology chief or vice president who will develop Digital ordering provider Olo is working on the development of and implement new digital strategies that will fundamentally restaurant apps/websites that incorporate delivery as a feature. increase customer engagement, from RAVE Restaurant Group A new service called Dispatch allows guests to order and pay to Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf. through the restaurant apps, then at checkout select a delivery These new hires will enable restaurant companies to move with the option. Guests will then see a selection of delivery price quotes rapidly changing times and to better understand how restaurant from local courier providers and to track their delivery selection diners consume technology. As a result, tech innovation will seem in real time. less a hastily tacked-on prosthesis and more a vital artery that ChowNow likewise is developing online ordering platforms to allow supplies an entire operation. restaurant operators to control the ordering-to-payment-to-delivery process through their own branded apps or websites. In Chicago, Meal kits to influence delivery space San Francisco and New York, the software company is partnering with specially trained Uber drivers to offer delivery, and the service Nibbling at both the restaurant and delivery markets are is expected to expand to more markets during 2016. a growing number of meal-kit providers, which supply partially or ready-to-cook ingredients and an easy-to-follow recipe to create a chef-inspired meal at home. Blue Apron, HelloFresh, Plated and others are popping up across the country offering consumers the promise of a restaurant-quality meal they can make themselves without the fuss of shopping or the need for cooking skills. Typically meal kits are ordered online and delivered straight to consumers at a reasonable price. The trend is making players in the still-nascent delivery space nervous. Some argue that the meal-kit trend will be a flash in the pan and peter out. Others see restaurants getting into the game with their own meal-kit services delivered by the likes of Postmates or DoorDash. Holger Luedorf, Postmates’ senior vice president of business, said time will tell if the meal-kit trend will steal significant market share. “If customers want it and the business model is sustainable, it will stick around,” he said. “But these competitive pressures and other players will bring more innovation out of the overall industry. In the Clockwise from left: Postmates (founded in 2011) has expanded to deliver end, the ones that serve the best food will be the ones that survive.” food, groceries, more. Mobile ordering is emerging as the fastest way for Starbucks customers to order ahead, pay, then pick up their purchases. 2 Taco Bell launches delivery with DoorDash. Facebook Reactions, the new Like button, will roll out globally www.mashable.com January 27, 2015 Article by Samantha Murphy Kelly Facebook users worldwide will soon have more options than the While the report didn't detail when exactly the feature will roll out Like button to choose from when responding to posts on the site. to everyone, Facebook chief product manager Chris Cox said the team has taken measures not to rush the process. Late last year, the company announced Facebook Reactions as a Like button alternative that comes in the form of six emoji with “We roll things out very carefully,” he said. “And that comes from the following sentiments: angry, sad, wow, haha, yay and love. a lot of lessons learned.” While the effort was first tested in Spain and Ireland, and then trickled out to Chile, the Philippines, Portugal and Colombia, Although Facebook users have long wished for a Dislike button Reactions is finally headed to the U.S. and the rest of the world (in contrast to the existing Like button), Facebook CEO Mark in the "next few weeks," according to a Bloomberg report. Zuckerberg previously expressed concern that the option conveys too much negativity. The report notes that Facebook worked closely with sociologists to select images that carefully express certain emotions. In addition "Everyone feels like they can just push the Like button, and that's to offering reactions that may be more appropriate to use in certain an important way to sympathize or empathize with someone," situations — i.e. if a Facebook user's pet died, the Like button was the he said during a Q&A in 2014. "We need to figure out the right way only option to express non-verbal emotion — the company wanted to do it so it ends up being a force for good, not a force for bad." to provide images people would feel comfortable and eager to use. By long-pressing over the bottom of a post on mobile (or hovering over it with your mouse on a desktop browser), a panel with six emoji options will pop up. A number related to how many times each emoji was selected for that specific post appears below it. 3 Facebook's Live-Streaming Tool is Now Available to All U.S. iPhone Users socialmediatoday.com January 28, 2016 Article by Andrew Hutchinson The live-streaming battle is about to heat up – Facebook, which first And while the option undoubtedly has potential, one of its key released their live-streaming tool ‘Live’ to only verified profiles is now stumbling blocks so far has been reach, and in generating enough opening the option up to all U.S. iPhone users, as of January 28. momentum to cross over into the mainstream consciousness. If live-streaming can do that, the value of the offering will increase The process is pretty straight-forward, as noted by Facebook product exponentially – and you can imagine that such a crossover could manager Vadim Lavrusik: happen. But how, exactly, that might occur is not yet clear. “To share live video, tap on Update Status then select the Live Video This is where Facebook may be holding some advantage – with the icon. You can write a quick description and choose the audience that largest network (now up to 1.59 billion users) comes the greatest you want to share with before going live. During your broadcast, capacity to deliver audience reach, and thus, the best opportunity you’ll see the number of live viewers, the names of friends who are to generate more awareness of the offering. While Periscope tuning in and a real-time stream of comments. When you end your has grown steadily over time (they reported that they’d reached broadcast, it will be saved on your Timeline like any other video, 10 million users back in August), that pales in comparison to the which you can then delete or keep for your friends to watch later.” size of Facebook’s network. Periscope’s recent announcement of increased integration with Twitter is a step in the right direction, That last point is important – currently, Periscope videos only remain but even then, Facebook’s audience potential is still much higher. viewable (within Periscope at least) for 24 hours, then they’re gone. Via Facebook Live, your content will remain on your Facebook Page, The question, at this stage, is about which platform can bring the like any other post, for all time. most attention and take live-streaming to the widest audience – because the bigger the audience, the more people (and brands) That capacity, too, may be part of the reasoning behind Facebook’s will be interested in using the offering. Periscope is currently the decision to slowly roll-out Live to all users – as with most product leader, but Facebook is circling, and they have wider plans for video launches, the biggest demand and interest will be in the initial content in the works that could change the game – including the stages, so Facebook will likely see a big influx in demand for video development of a dedicated video platform and a possible services in those first weeks, which will die down, and reduce system TV/Facebook integration.