Restaurants are becoming increasingly aware of how location based analytics can aid in driving AUV and positive product and customer experiences. Oracle conducted a global survey to discover the top consumer trends that restaurants should lean into this year. These trends show a rising demand for technology throughout the customer experience. As most restaurants witnessed throughout the pandemic, there is an increasing shift toward digital preferences as customers expect fast, personal, and efficient service.

This year’s four key restaurant consumer trends include:

1. Incremental off-premises demand impacting customer satisfaction
2. Click and collect positively influencing spend and loyalty
3. Consumers wanting data informed personal offers
4. Environment and sustainability initiatives having significant influence on loyalty

The increase in digitization and decrease in customer touch points brings a unique challenge for restaurants to “retain direct connection with their customers and build brand affinity.” Oracle states the best way for restaurant owners to deliver a seamless customer experience both on and off premises is to expand their digital presence. We couldn’t agree more. 

At Skyfii, we transform the way Quick Service Retailers (QSR) collect, analyze, and extract value from their data for a differentiated customer experience. We help you understand and optimize the customer journey across all service channels. This allows you to decrease wait times, optimize efficiency, provide personal offers, and boost customer loyalty and satisfaction.

Let’s take a look at different QSR touchpoints to understand how tech and analytics can provide a personalized and more efficient customer experience.

Drive-thru

Oracle’s research found that 83% of customers are annoyed if they have to wait more than five minutes at a drive-thru. In addition, 45% of consumers feel wait time is longer when ordering in-person. By understanding historical and real time experiences of customers, you can both plan and respond to expected demand to ensure the most efficient service times. 

Skyfii’s platform can help you:

• Measure vehicle wait times 
• Alert staff in real-time as queue length grows
• Recognize license plates to understand loyalty, i.e. measure returning cars
• Analyze abandonment rate, i.e. vehicles that do not convert though to purchase
• Identify individual service channel performance, e.g. in-person vs kiosk ordering

This allows you to optimize drive-thru performance for all service
channels including app, voice, in-person, and kiosk. Skyfii can also help you market the most relevant channel to customers based on
their demographic. For example, Oracle confirmed that older generations (55+) prefer in person ordering interactions at the drive-thru, while younger generations prefer digital. When customers are serviced efficiently and according to their preferences, it can lead to higher NPS, CSAT, and loyalty.

Dine-in

As a restaurant owner, prioritizing off-premises orders and in-person dining can be a challenge. You want to provide fast and efficient service to everyone without compromising the customer experience. Plus, Oracle’s survey showed a rise in the number of customers that want to dine-in— 74% of QSR customers intend to dine-in monthly and 65% of customers prefer in-person interaction ordering when doing so. 

So how do you optimize your staff, ensure efficient operations, and provide the best possible customer experience? An AI driven analytics platform that provides historical, real-time, and predictive insights can help.

The key to improving dine-in experiences is to reduce queue and wait times for in-person interactions. Skyfii can help you monitor and manage the service times of counter, table, kiosk, and app ordering for customers that dine-in. In addition, you will be able to:

• Manage and predict kiosk use and throughput
• Monitor counter queues and congestion to alert staff
• Monitor throughput of orders to optimize staffing scheduling
• Analyze abandonment rate, e.g. kiosk vs. counter
• Identify kiosk faults 

When you can consistently provide efficient service, your customers are more loyal and will report higher customer satisfaction scores. Another way to ensure an enjoyable customer experience is to provide clean and well-stocked restrooms. Skyfii can help you maintain safe occupancy levels by providing alerts to staff if restrooms are nearing capacity as well as monitor cleaning and stocking cycles. This allows you to reduce congestion, queues, and cleaning costs with just-in-time service. 

Click and Collect

Click and Collect is growing in popularity year over year. The ability to manage and capitalize on the growth of this channel is key to sustained loyalty and increased sales. Oracle’s research found 59% of global QSR customers would spend more if click and collect was available and 44% said click and collect makes them more loyal.

Skyfii can help you monitor and manage click and collect service times all the way to the carpark bay. You will also be able to:

• Measure pickup point and vehicle bay usage in real-time
• Plan optimal order pickup areas and parking design based on historical trends
• Detect idle/parked vehicles 
• Determine parking egress/ingress efficiency
• Analyze vehicle type, make, and model for audience segmentation and design. 

These use cases help you provide the most efficient click and collect process which boosts customer loyalty and satisfaction. 

Delivery

The pandemic accelerated new consumer habits, with delivery services at the forefront. Customers don’t just want delivery as an option, but they want it as quickly as possible. In fact, slow delivery times can cost your restaurant.

Third party delivery services are now charging restaurants increased fees for slow service times (2022 Wall Street Journal).

Skyfii can help you monitor and manage the service times on delivery apps to improve overall delivery times and remove the potential for additional fees. With Skyfii’s analytics platform, your restaurant can:

• Measure each pickup point performance, e.g. in-restaurant vs. curbside
• Notify staff of waiting vehicles
• Notify third party delivery companies of order status
• Provide validated reporting to service delivery companies
• Determine parking egress/ingress efficiency
• Monitor service times to avoid penalties

When you understand the performance of delivery channels and their impact on other service channels, you can prioritize orders to avoid additional costs or negative reviews. Most importantly, you can provide the most efficient delivery service possible to ensure food quality is not compromised.

Personalized Marketing

Oracle’s research discovered 55% of customers love the idea of receiving offers based on their location and 45% also love the idea of receiving offers based on their purchase history.  Data informed marketing is not only welcomed but expected in the QSR space. Does your restaurant do this well?

Skyfii’s platform helps restaurants build a large database of customer demographic, behavior, and sentiment data quickly. We do this by integrating audience profile data from sources like WiFi, social, loyalty, CRM, POS, app, and web. Then, Skyfii’s proximity marketing tools allow you to send multi-channel, targeted messages based on segment, behavior, or location. 

Because the Skyfii platform can measure customers’ physical and purchase behaviors, we can measure the performance of offers, channels, content, and targeting. In addition, we can help you measure and improve customer sentiment. Through Skyfii’s marketing platform, you can trigger surveys via email, SMS, or WiFi Captive Portal to customers based on their location, profile, and specific service channel. This helps customers feel heard and gives your restaurant an opportunity to make changes to improve the customer experience. 

Holistic Analytics for QSR

Oracle’s research states the best way restaurant owners can deliver a seamless customer experience both on and off premises is to expand their digital presence. We’ve discussed how Skyfii’s analytics platform can help you provide a personalized and more efficient customer experience. We’d love to show you how our platform can help you decrease wait times, optimize efficiency, provide personal offers, and boost customer loyalty and satisfaction. Request your free demo.