News Briefs

A whalloping 89% of diners are bothered by inconsistent experiences making more than half (57%) of them less likely to go back, according to Tillster's 2024 Phygital Index Report.

Consistency is key for delivering on the demands for a phygital restaurant experience, according to the second annual report from the global provider of unified commerce solutions for restaurant brands. Tillster’s sixth annual consumer index uncovers what consumers are seeking from their dining experiences when it comes to digital ordering, self-service kiosks, delivery, pickup, coupons, loyalty programs, and more.

Great Expectations

The survey of more than 1,000 U.S.-based quick-service and fast-casual diners uncovers consumers' expectations for digital ordering in the restaurant and off-premise. Demand for customizable and personalized experiences continues to grow, and this year diners continue to set a high bar for expectations when it comes to consistency across the digital and physical experience. 89% of diners say inconsistent experiences across locations of the same QSR chain bothers them, and these inconsistent experiences make 57% of diners less likely to go back. Nearly half of QSR customers have experienced digital tools not working together the way they should be which leaves the vast majority of them (93%) frustrated. However, this creates an opportunity for restaurant brands to close the gap and benefit from improved consistency in the experience provided across physical and digital engagements with customers which can ultimately drive higher frequency, deeper loyalty and larger check size.

To help brands create more seamless, personalized and customizable phygital experiences, the Phygital Index Report uncovers a range of pain points and solutions, including:

• Self-service kiosk adoption is growing, helping operators navigate labor and cost challenges. 57% of those who use kiosks wish restaurants had more self-service kiosks available, compared to 36% of diners who said the same last year. Kiosks are gaining traction for the convenience they offer customers and for the way they can help offset labor costs for operators.
• The third-party bubble burst. Diners have favored third-party platforms for the variety of choices, but the advantage is waning. Today, 17% of diners expect to reduce their use of third-party websites/apps in favor of restaurant-specific websites/apps in the coming year. There’s an opportunity to shift focus to mobile apps and websites, where 47% of diners are eager to see more exclusive offers and discounts. With the shift, operators gain the opportunity to engage and retain customers in new ways with first-party data and direct connections.
• Pickup picks up, but parking is a problem. 89% of diners who have used curbside pickup say they would be more likely to visit a QSR that offers curbside pickup in the coming year (up from 69% last year). While diners demand more curbside, logistical challenges are a pain point. Over half of customers (55%) who ordered pickup in the last three months have had issues with parking when collecting their order, presenting a clear focus area for operators.
• Personalization has become the expectation. More than half (58%) of diners are likely to recommend a QSR based on a positive personalized ordering experience. In fact, 33% of diners have even decided not to order from a QSR because the ordering experience was not personalized to their preferences — up from 21% who said so in 2023. There's an opportunity for restaurant operators to uplevel personalization in the ordering process.

“As restaurants continue to adjust their digital transformation strategies, it’s never been more important to build synergy between the digital and physical tools and components of the QSR dining experience,” said Perse Faily, CEO of Tillster. “It’s clear from our Phygital Index Report for 2024 that today’s diners want interconnected, yet tailored and personalized experiences. We initiated this report to uncover consumer preferences to help brands and operators deepen their understanding of the tools and how they can create more seamless, meaningful and valuable experiences for customers and boost profitability.”

View the complete Tillster’s Phygital Index report here..

PopID and Steak n Shake announced today that all Steak n Shake locations in the United States now accept PopID Check In (to review favorite orders and loyalty points) and PopPay for checkout. With more than 300 locations, Steak n Shake is the first national restaurant brand in the United States to adopt biometric check-in and checkout nationwide. PopID’s biometric check-in feature makes kiosk ordering faster, easier, and more personalized.

The implementation of PopID in every Steak n Shake location was accomplished rapidly and at low cost through a partnership between PopID and ACRELEC, a leading supplier of kiosk-ordering hardware and drive-through products. Cameras were shipped to every restaurant for attachment to the existing ACRELEC kiosks. “As explained in our recent publication, ACRELEC believes that our integrated biometric solution provides various benefits to restaurant operators related to throughput, ticket size, and loyalty engagement,” says Bruno Lo-Re, President of ACRELEC America.

“We are thrilled about our partnership with PopID and to be on the edge of biometric technology for the benefit of our customers. Our guests now have the option to use biometrics for a faster and more seamless experience,” says Sardar Biglari, Chairman of Biglari Holdings, the parent company of Steak n Shake.

Now that biometrics are enabled for all ordering and payment inside Steak n Shake restaurants, PopID and Steak n Shake will begin implementing biometric check-in and checkout at the restaurant’s drive-through units. “Similar to the kiosks, biometric check in can increase loyalty participation and revenue at the drive thru while also reducing payment processing costs,” says John Miller, CEO of PopID and Chairman of Cali Group. “Additionally, biometric payment at the order confirmation screen enables staff members to work on tasks other than taking payments by card and phone at the order pick-up window.”

Domino's Pizza Inc. introduces its new and improved loyalty program. 

Domino's Rewards offers loyalty members even more opportunities to earn and redeem points across its corporate and franchise store locations. Domino's enhanced rewards program allows customers to:

• Earn points for less
  • Loyalty members will now earn 10 points on every order of $5 or more
• Redeem points for even more menu items – and earn free Domino's after just two orders
  • Members can redeem a variety of points for more menu items:
    • 20 points: A free dipping cup, a 16-piece order of Parmesan Bread Bites or a 20 oz. drink
    • 40 points: An order of Bread Twists or Stuffed Cheesy Bread
    • 60 points: A medium, two-topping pizza; pasta; Oven-Baked Sandwich; or a 3-piece order of Chocolate Lava Crunch Cakes
• Earn more rewards
  • Loyalty perks are now even better, as members will have exclusive access to member-only deals, special discounts and opportunities to earn bonus points!

"We are thrilled to give the brand's loyal customers additional ways to earn free Domino's items more often," said Mark Messing, Domino's vice president of digital experience and loyalty. "At a time when most brands are scaling back their loyalty programs and making it more difficult to earn and redeem points, Domino's is doing the opposite. We want to make it easier to reward our customers and give them more options so they can get rewarded faster."

Marketing a LTO 

From now until Oct. 22, 2023, rewards members can take advantage of a limited time offer to redeem 20 points for a free order of Domino's new Pepperoni Stuffed Cheesy Bread, which is normally a 40-point redemption, in celebration of the product's recent launch. 

Raydiant announced a new partnership with Shaquille O'Neal-owned Big Chicken.

Big Chicken approached Raydiant in 2023 with a challenge to enhance the in-restaurant experience across all the brand's franchise locations. Over several meetings, Raydiant demonstrated how its cloud-based system, which seamlessly integrates with Big Chicken's strategic POS provider partner PAR/Brink, could power dynamic digital menu boards and enable real-time content updates based on item availability or limited-time promotions.

• 85% say integrations with other systems is driving POS purchasing decisions, according to HT's 2024 POS Software Trends Survey 

The solution proved highly successful and brought substantial ROI to Big Chicken, leading to excitement about rolling out Raydiant as a main tech solution for all store locations.

As part of the partnership, Raydiant will provide white-glove service to all the star-powered chicken chain locations, handling content creation and management for digital screens on behalf of the brand. Raydiant also showcased its offerings to franchisees at Big Chicken's recent annual franchisee meeting, generating significant interest and commitments from more than 10 franchise owners to implement the solution due to the near-immediate impact they witnessed.

"We are thrilled to be selected as Big Chicken's digital experience and in-location operating system partner," said Bobby Marhamat, CEO of Raydiant. "This partnership is a testament to our platform's impact on brick-and-mortar brands looking to create more engaging in-location experiences that drive repeat visits and revenue. We look forward to building on our success and bringing Big Chicken's lively in-restaurant experience to fruition across all locations."

The companies are also exploring future solutions, including drive-thru signage, programmatic advertising opportunities, and deploying Raydiant's Visitor Insight offering to provide location-based analytics on customer behavior.

Virtual Dining Concepts (VDC) expands its collaboration with IHOP, allowing three of VDC's top brands to be available for delivery from IHOP restaurants nationwide.

The collaboration introduces two new brands, NASCAR Refuel Tenders & Burgers, developed in collaboration with the popular American auto racing company, NASCAR, and MLB Ballpark Bites Presented by Mastercard, created in partnership with Major League Baseball (MLB), and expands on the popular virtual brand, Pardon My Cheesesteak. 

At MURTEC 2024, Dine Brands' CEO John Peyton talked about its use of virtual brands, specifically at its IHOP locations.  Since IHOP serves guests mostly in the mornings, it has the space within its kitchens for these brands that target dinner and late night hour diners, he shared. 

"We are thrilled to join forces with IHOP, as this presents an incredible opportunity to expand VDC's presence and serve our brands to new guests across the country," said VDC Co-Founder, Robbie Earl. "This embodies our commitment to delivering exceptional food and experiences across the country with top restaurant chains."

Demonstrating the powerful impact of this relationship, VDC and IHOP have successfully secured placement of the three brands in more than 1,000 IHOP restaurants nationwide. As of Q1 2024, Pardon My Cheesesteak is being served at over 900 IHOP locations, while NASCAR Refuel Tender & Burgers are currently served in over 400 locations, with an additional 130 locations slated for the near future. Looking ahead, VDC and IHOP are committed to further innovation.

Delivering Incremental Sales 

"Our off-premise channels continue to deliver incremental sales and profits to our franchisees and the IHOP brand. Our work with VDC and the three brands we're implementing will be a growth driver for our restaurants, specifically as we look at non-peak hours during lunch, dinner and late night," said Jay Johns, President of IHOP. "These new brands are relevant for today's consumer and perfect for our existing equipment and capabilities in our restaurants nationwide."

Pardon My Cheesesteak, NASCAR Refuel Tenders & Burgers and MLB Ballpark Bites Presented by Mastercard are now available for delivery in select cities nationwide, with additional locations slated for the near future. Fans and guests can place their orders online at joinvdc.com/brands. 

Ahead of this year’s event, new data from TravelTech Show has revealed the key trends and priorities of travel companies. Most significantly, 62 per cent of travel buyer respondents said they expect their budgets to increase over the next 12 months with over a quarter (28 per cent) of increases expected to be by as much as 20 per cent.

AI looks set to take the lion’s share of those budgets with over half (56 per cent) stating they are planning to invest in it over the next year. Followed by booking and reservation systems for 32 per cent of respondents and mobile and apps for 20 per cent. In a similar vein, 80 per cent also stated they plan to increase their use of AI specifically in the year ahead. Nearly a third (32 per cent) expect to see it having the biggest impact on customer service and customer experience (CX), whilst almost a quarter (24 per cent) state it will add value to applying customer preferences to make targeted recommendations. A fifth (20 per cent) expect it to have the most impact on booking assistants.

Often seen as a key driver for bookings social media looks set to be in potential decline as websites were voted as the best for driving bookings (40 per cent), followed by OTAs at 20 per cent, and search engines and social media sharing joint third position for 16 per cent of buyers.  

With an ever-increasing number of tools and platforms coming to the market, whilst operators are aware of what the options are, they are also keeping a keen eye on where and how they are having an impact on operations, revenue and profitability. Over two thirds (68 per cent) stated that technology is helping to mitigate the impact of inflation and staff shortages. More broadly the main benefits of technology are seen as increased efficiency (32 per cent), followed by increased revenue and profitability, guest relations and personalisation and managing bookings all sharing second place for 12 per cent of buyers each.  

Commenting on the results of the survey, Nimet Sayeed, Event Manager, TravelTech Show said, “Unquestionably travel companies are keeping a keener eye than ever before on attracting new bookings, response rates and meeting customer needs. All of which continue to take priority against the backdrop of continuous market changes, whilst at the same time seeking to deliver profitability and growth. New solutions entering the market offer a practical and effective roadmap to achieving these objectives. Whilst the majority of companies are set to increase their investment in new technology in the year ahead, to ensure a return on that investment, and for any new technology to be effective, it is vital that operators have a clear and present understanding of what their business challenges and objectives are so that they can implement the best-fit solution to their tech stack.

“There has been a marked shift towards greater online interaction and behaviour by both the customer and the operator in recent times, for every stage of the customer journey. For many operators much of their success is down to the agility and efficiency technology delivers.  As AI continues to evolve, arguably it might be regarded as a ‘one stop shop’, that can answer many of the questions that operators are being faced with. This year’s TravelTech Show will enable operators to find out more about just how many questions AI and other solutions can answer across the two-day programme of exhibitors, panels and networking sessions.”

100 travel and travel technology company representatives took part in the survey in April 2024.

TravelTech Show takes place from 19 – 20 June 2024 at ExCeL, London.  

Please note: TravelTech Show is free to attend for travel technology specialists involved in or responsible for the technology within their travel business and consultants who help travel businesses select technology solutions. Suppliers must purchase a visitor pass if they wish to attend. TravelTech Show has the final right to accept or deny any registration."