2021 will be the year when everything in the restaurant industry is turned upside down. We have to think in new directions, the economy is at rock bottom and the customers’ expectation of the reopening is different.
Customers will not flok to restaurants like they used to. Some will still be nervous about going to the café as this industry, unfortunately, has quite unjustifiably stood as the scapegoat for the rapid spread of bacteria and COVID-19. The restaurant industry has been incredibly much in focus and this has made consumers even more aware of hygiene and more critical about their movements.
What have consumers become particularly aware of during the COVID-19 pandemic and how will this affect the industry?
Customers have become particularly aware of hygiene and physical menu cards, which change hands many times a day. Several studies show that a menu card is actually among the most bacterial objects in a restaurant. The bacterial count can be up to 180,000 per. cm2 on a menu card. Compared to a bacterial count of 500-1000 per cm2, which is typically found on a public toilet board, it is a very high number. Especially since a menu is the last thing a customer touches before eating.
Likewise, 2021 will undeniably be the year in which everyone in the restaurant industry is forced to turn over as much revenue as possible on the individual customer, while costs on staff can be kept to a minimum.
The personal service, which even long before COVID-19, was predicted to be reduced in favor of mobile and self-service orders that are becoming more and more widespread.
In other words – there will, more than ever, be two types of customers in the cafes and restaurants.
Customer scenario 1:
This type of customer wants to flip through a physical menu card, await a visit from a waiter and then place his/her order. The server typically takes the menu card back. If you want an extra draft beer, a glass of wine, dessert or something else during the visit, turn your attention back to a waiter, who can then hand over the menu again. The customer is then awaited by the waiter so the customer can place his second order. Finally, the customer also pays at a waiter or alternatively at the bar.
Customer scenario 2: (Read more in our other blog post here)
The other type of customer simply wants to skip this long process completely in favor of ordering and paying at their own pace via their own phone. If you want an extra draft beer, a glass of wine, dessert or something else during the visit, this is done easily and quickly via the customer’s own phone. The menu card on the mobile is always at hand. When the customer is ready to go, the customer also does not want to spend time finding a waiter for payment. Payment is an integrated solution in the mobile order. The customer can now simply say thank you for the food and go home.
Make sure to offer your customers both solutions. In this way, you meet both types of customers and give customers the opportunity to choose their preferred way of ordering.
The mobile customer also frees up a lot of time for the individual waiter, which thus, faster and more efficiently, can take orders from customers who want to place their order with the waiter.
A waiter saves an incredible amount of time by accepting orders and payments from the mobile customer. This extra time can then be spent on more quality time on the individual customer and check if everything is as it should be. More and more cafés have also realized that this solution can minimize staff costs while increasing and streamlining the quality time with customers.
Our mission at Horago is to deliver a product that, in addition to offering digitization of menu cards, focuses on customer service, additional sales and modern technology.
In conclusion, data show that 42% of all orders via Horago have additional sales. So it’s easier to order extra cheese and bacon in a burger, extra sauce for a steak or maybe a bowl of chips for a draft beer. Horago never forgets to offer extras to your customers. So now you as a cafe owner know that sales are always optimal for the customer – and for you.
Horago is also never sick, never in need of a vacation, never goes on maternity leave, is never angry or sad. Horago is ALWAYS there and tirelessly takes care of all your customers. Bon appetit!
